Shocked at university entry requirements

[BeardedMum]

So DD is applying for university next year and has started to look at which open days to attend. DD has good grades (I thought!) and wants to do Science subjects possibly physics or engineering.

When looking at university courses it looks like a lot of them wants all A’s or A*AA. I thought those were Camebridge grades. DD is more likely to be predicted AAB or maybe ABB. Are really all the university students straight A students?

Also what happens if your predicted grades are not enough to get an offer from your chosen university, but you manage to pull yourself up. Let’s say you are predicted ABB and manage to achieve AAA.

I am so confused. If it helps she got all 8s and 9s for GCSEs.

If she gets better grades then predicted she can apply through clearing to a university with a higher entry criteria if they have space.

*Clearing opens on results day and I think she would have to contact UCAS.

Have you looked at mainly Russell Group universities OP? There will be lots of second-tier universities with lower requirements than that.

Most entry requirements for universities are quite high now, but the published grades are often not the same as the actual grades achieved by the entrants. Sometimes students will get an ‘alternative offer’ if they have something else to show the uni, such as a good grade in their extended project. Sometimes students miss the grades on results day, and universities will ‘confirm down’ by a grade in one subject. Students who outperform can enter ‘adjustment’ during clearing and change to another university, though not that many do. You have my sympathy, it’s very confusing. The best thing to do is ask the admissions tutors at visit days and see what they say.

There does seem to be a big difference at the moment between what universities say that they want and what they actually offer. One of my students applied last year, expecting an offer of AAB and was then given an unconditional (EE). To be fair, she then rejected that offer and instead went elsewhere - but you may well be surprised at what is offered once the applications are in.

If she is considering taking a gap year she can apply after she has her grades, if you think she might do better and get unconditional offers. Why do you think that she will do better in the actual A levels than predicted? Is she not working hard enough? Teacher not quite understanding her and underestimating? Work harder than expected? I would try to focus on this issue and hopefully that will help to support her and find the right uni for her.

This is quite standard for top tier unis, the offer is made on the predicted grades, and a grade slipping will usually mean the student still gets in,

If her grades are predicted lower, then she may struggle to get an offer at the higher entrance ones, can she speak to her teachers about the reality of her predictions?

In reality you pick one as aspirational and an insurance offer as one with grades you are confident of getting. And not be afraid of holding off a year.

Please don’t worry. At my school, last year’s Year 13 had a success rate of 74% getting their firm choice, despite only 36% of them getting the grades originally required (of As and A*s). The universities were desperate to have them!

I personally don’t think universities have caught up with the new Linear exams and the one chance only to sit them, after two years. They don’t want to lose their ‘prestigious’ status by advertising more realistic grade requirements and therefore, are having to lower heir expectations on results day or offer more unconditional offers, as a consequence.

With your 5 uni options you normally would put down one or two aspirational choice (so aaa), then some safe choices.

Depending who makes you offers you put down an aspirational choice as your first one, then a safe one as your insurance.

I have been visiting undergraduate Physics departments with DS2, so have fairly up to date information on this.

There are a few universities that are oversubscribed; they can pick and choose who they give that A* A A offer to, and are very unlikely to drop the requirements on results day: Oxford, Imperial, Durham etc.

There are a few universities that also tend to be oversubscribed (depending on the year group) and are unlikely to drop the grade offer on results day: Manchester, UCL etc.

There are many other good universities that on results day may well be willing to drop a grade below the offer, and give her a place even if she narrowly misses the grades. Look at Nottingham, Southampton etc.

For a pupil with an AAB / ABB prediction, it's also worth looking at some safety choices e.g. Leicester.

Lastly, I would recommend looking at the BSc Physics courses (not the MPhys / MSci four year courses) as the typical offer is slightly lower.

Aim for those 3As is the best option. If you can get ABB then with determination you can probably increase the grades. Don’t settle for second best.

Then choose the five universities carefully. The one they really want and at least one insurance offer lower down. If she’s considering engineering then some universities have specific ‘women into engineering’ programmes aimed at increasing the number of women taking the subject.

When I went to uni they asked for higher grades than I got and I got in.

I don't know if it's the same now, but I checked my UCAS application before going into college to get my a level results - it said I'd been offered a place! When I got my results and one was lower than I was hoping, I wasn't really that bothered as I knew I was already in uni.

Fluffybread that still happens. For most people, UCAS track updates in the morning with the confirmed place before the schools/colleges open for collecting results.

Encourage your DD to go to plenty of open days. Really try to get a feel for the different places. Our trips always covered three things: course talk, library, accommodation. From that and a look at the local area DD was able to get a feel for which place she could see herself spending 4 years at.

DD is coming to the end of 1st year Physics at Sheffield. She was offered AAB and got in with ABB.

It isnt simply about A level grades but also 'fit'. DD was holding similar offers from Bristol and Sheffield but in the end firmed Sheffield as it was the better place for her.

My step daughter studied bio medical science with CCC. Most universities will take some grade flexibility.

If you do better than expected then there is something called 'adjustment' which is, I understand, like clearing but upwards.

Another option would of course be to withdraw and reapply for the following year using the actual obtained grades.

If she is looking at engineering, make sure that the degree is affiliated to the relevant professional body, eg: the Institution of Civil Engineers etc. Check the body’s academic requirements for charters hip, they generally require a master’s degree too, simebacceired an undergraduate MEng, some require postgraduate stufy. I know this sounds very onerous and far off, but it will be very difficult with an unaffiliated degree.

Be careful, the downside of clear down or adjustment up is having to choose an institution at very short notice. Within a very short period the student has to find both a course and then sort accommodation. This can make what should be an exciting time into a very stressful one.

DD decided that even if her final grades were significantly higher then she would go to her firm choice. If her grades were significantly lower then she would rethink the whole project.

What?? They want high grades for kids to get into university. Perish the thought!

It often has to do with how popular a course is. She’ll just have to put in the work.

Students are competing against each other to get Uni places, so if there is high demand, the Uni will want higher grades. If they take the "best" applicants they can get, they'll get hopefully better end results so they climb the league tables.

If they have 300 applicants with A*/A grades for 200 places, then they're not going to offer a place to someone with Bs.

Currently, we're in the low birth rate years, so Unis will be more open to lower grades just to fill their places. But over the next few years, the higher birth rate years start coming through again, so there'll be fewer lower grade and unconditional offers.

make sure that the degree is affiliated to the relevant professional body,

This is so important whatever degree you do to check that it will facilitate any onward study/career.

Thanks everyone for your responses very helpful and so much easier to ask MN than try to google in the jungle out there.

The reason we expect her to do worse than what we think she can achieve is that in two of her subjects she has had periods of either no teacher when one left and no replacement for weeks and a lot of different teachers due to a mixture of teachers leaving and maternity leave. We realise too late that a lot of other parents had hired tutors to cover the gaps.

They don’t want to lose their ‘prestigious’ status by advertising more realistic grade requirements

That's not quite true. Basically if they make the grade boundary lower, everyone they make an offer to has to legally get a place if they achieve the grades, and as such, they couldn't cope with the level of students. So the grade boundary is higher and then they pick and chose from those who don't achieve to fill the course to the required level.