Does DC really need A grades at A'level to study at a good uni?

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Totally new to this uni application lark as eldest DC has just started Yr 12 and it's a million years long time since DH and I went to uni. So this is all very confusing.
DC has no idea what to study or where at the moment ("Ffs leave me alone Mum. I've only just finished GCSEs and I've got a party to be at") but is likely to end up doing some kind of humanities degree. I did a quick random trawl through various uni's admission requirements for some standard degrees, English, history, economics, geography etc and was shocked to see that standard offers seem to require at least 1 and sometimes 3 A's at A2. DC is targeted to achieve B's at AS and that's assuming she achieves her highest scores. By the way she thinks these predictions are teachers' kidology but that is a whole different issue!

So here's my question I suppose. Is it no longer possible to go to a "good" uni to do a standard subject with B's at A level. And by "good" I suppose I mean a place that was a uni in the 1980's ie not a former poly and by 'standard subject' I mean History, geography, English etc not law or medicine or something very competitive.

Please don't flame me on my definitions. Of course former polys are good, but I'm just trying to establish a yardstick and manage my DCs expectations.

Thanks for explaining. How confusing the points system is.

You dont need to understand the points system for most of the unis the OP is referring to (thanks goodness) - the majority of RG unis use stright forward grades for their offers.

And im afraid the answer to the quesiton is 'it depends'. For top (most popular) humanities subjects (English and history for example) at RG and other top unis - the answer is yes, mostly As and lots need A* too. For the same subjects at solid mid range unis - Hull, Kent, Lancaster - slightly less.

But also worth considering is a slightly less popular subject at an RG - such as american studies - where the grade requirement is less.

And id say dont rule out some of the ex polys if your DD decides to do something more vocational or technically orientated - eg marketing or business management - some of them are way better at preparing the students for the job market in these areas than the Rg unis would ever want to be.

I second looking at other courses which are less 'mainstream' e.g. Environmental Studies/Sciences, Geography and Planning - instead of Geography. Film and English (you can do this at top RG now e.g. Bristol/York), American Studies, Sociology, Social Policy, Anthropology or Management all usually have slightly lower grades.

My DD was in a similar boat to your DD in terms of getting Bs. She was bright but we went through a difficult period during her time at sixth form and she went through a bit of a crisis of confidence. She ended up with AABb but even that limited her.
She thought about Psychology or Geography but she would miss the grades to get into a top RG. She personally decided she did not want to go down a more vocational route at a points uni and she was very keen to go to a RG. We ordered prospectuses of all the unis she fancied and trawled their websites. Some had useful 'if you are interested in... try...' which led us to a degree which isn't mainstream but is highly regarded and at one of the top RGs. She absolutely loved it (more so than if she had done Psychology or Geography) as it was the 'bits' of those subjects but much more specialised and relevant to her interests. She has now graduated and is on a top graduate scheme so it hasn't held her back in any way. For her, the advantages of a RG were more important than a 'mainstream' specific course.

Hope this gives you another option to think about. Good luck - it isn't easy!

"Is it no longer possible to go to a "good" uni to do a standard subject with B's at A level."

Yup, that's about right. Pretty much any uni you look at and think "that's okay" will ask for at least one A.

You might find some courses at non former polys which offer BBB, but that's about it.

DD was offered ABB by Reading, but only because her fourth AS was an A, otherwise it would have been AAB. Her three "backups" all offered AAA. The fifth was DDD, but that wasn't for a standard/academic subject.

Is it worth looking at which courses/Universities went into clearing last year to get an indication of where there might be some flexibility on grades?

Also be aware that on competitive courses, they will be rejecting candidates who exceed their published standard offer.

The thing with the basic offer, as well is, that most people who get onto the course at popular universities have far in excess of it. So you might see ABB as the standard offer, but most people receiving that offer have predictions of AAB or higher and will get higher grades.

Straight, standard humanities subjects have always been competitive. So to go to a RG Uni to do one, yes you will need more than BBB.
Some years people do get in with BBB, having missed the offer by a grade. However, their predictions were not BBB and the offer was based on predictions.
Your child needs to realise how vitally important this L6th year is and that he needs to really prove himself with great AS results in order to get the very best predictions for UCAS. Of course there will be places to go with BBB, but the choice will be less.

Yes, to the point that at popular places, many with predictions of the standard offer, will still not get an offer.
It is all supply and demand. At the top places, there are few places and far more people with great grades, so they can and will be very picky.

You can always ring up and ask what the average grades achieved were, of those who got onto the course last year, or the average predicted grades. And you'll see that at the popular places, both of these figures may well be far above the standard published offer. Sorry, that is probably even more depressing news! It is a very competitive world out there for 18 year olds.

For what it's worth, I teach a fair number of A-level students, and I find that far too much of the 'which uni to choose' work is done by parents.

After all, your son/daughter will have to live there/do the course/live with the decision for the rest of their life. Let them do most of the work and thinking about their next step, and offer some guidance. The most important thing is that he/she buys into the decision and gets a better degree as a result.

As for what grades she needs, let her work out what courses she's interested in, where she wants to go and then look at the grade expectations for those universities.

In my day, I got into Cambridge with AAB How times have changed! Where would that get me now?

I got a EE offer from York for a solid academic subject back in the dark ages - I assume they don't do that any more.

"In my day, I got into Cambridge with AAB"

I had the same offer - but, realistically, that was 2 x top possible grade, and 1 x next grade down (I assume you predate A?). So I suppose an offer of A A* A - which I think they give these days - is essentially the equivalent - ie they're allowing for the fact that you may drop a grade on one subject but are basically a straight-A student.

I guess also, back in the 80s only 15% of 18 y/os went to uni, now it's 50% - lots of the 'missing' 25% back then will have been very bright but just not from a background where staying on post-16 was the done thing. So it's not surprising grade requirements have gone up. Certainly I can think of plenty who left my school at 16 who for sure would have been able to get top A level grades if they'd stayed on.

LeBear and Takver - I can beat that- I got into Cambridge with ABB and a U in an S level!! Admittedly my College did a subject specific written test on interview day, which probably swayed it somewhat. It's depressing that my DS who is now starting to think about all this probably couldn't get into a decent mid table Uni to do his chosen subject with those grades

Can beat that even further with my then boyfriend's EE offer! Mind you, suspect they might still offer matric offers in similar circs (though maybe not as there's more support for using technology/extra time etc in exams now)

In fact, just looked it up out of curiosity and Cats at least say they still give matriculation offers in exceptional circs.

Back in the day (80's) it was common for Oxford to do the EE offers. Those were the days eh

I looked up mine and the requirement is AAB - that is what I had back in 1983 but I don't know what the requirement was then. But more significantly the head of department is the then very junior lecturer I had a massive crush on at the time

Ooh, I think my sister had one of those there EE offers. Always knew she was brighter than me

Everyone who got into Oxford via the entrance exam got an EE offer - that was the way it worked.

Of course, the entrance exam was a darn sight harder than A level...

I got the best A level results in my sixth form - AABB, and one of those Bs was the best FMaths grade anyone had ever got from there. These days multiple people get straight A every year.

It is scary, though. DD was getting offers of AAA from unis that had offered me CCC.

What I want to know is how many people who got matriculation offers from Oxford in the old days then really did succumb to the temptation to slack off for the next six months and actually ended up with (say) DEU?

They have these on their offers because they want to compete nationally and internationally, not because they really really want A A A students - why would a student like that go to Southampton rather than Durham?*

Ime (as an academic) this is not true. Universities definitely want committed, interested students but they also want students with strong grades. Indeed in some subjects (science and maths) not having the required grades really means that the students can't handle the course. University management may force departments to take a few students with dropped grades in clearing but academics themselves are often not keen, when the lowered grades indicate that the student won't be able to cope. I don't think, for example, that it would be in the interest of any student to get into RG Maths with a B in Maths.

Southampton is comparable in Durham in some subjects, by the way. It would certainly make sense for engineering students to choose Southampton over Durham.

Southampton is comparable in Durham in some subjects, by the way. It would certainly make sense for engineering students to choose Southampton over Durham glad to hear an academic offering this advice - the better university depends on the subject being studied and their expertise, not the name of the university

Uni requirements have changed because in the good old bad old days relatively few of the population went to uni, and now it's almost half. So for older more 'elite' unis grade inflation is here to stay.

More obscure subjects tend to have more generous offers, and more remote universities. It's not for everyone, and the climb from GCSE is a steep one, but nowat the start of y12is the right time to make your DC think of options and what choices might be cut out by dropping grades. Point out there are better parties at Uni if you get there, so worth missing a few in y12.

I was offered CCC, BBC and BBB to study medicine back in the dark ages
My first choice (the 3C one) was very popular back then, with an application to place ratio of 25:1, or something like that. So it's not just a supply and demand issue. The offers were lower because they interviewed and had faith that students would out-perform the offer, which most did.
AAA offers at Exeter etc are just mind-boggling!