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Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Secondary education

GOOD LUCK to all those dealing with A & AS level results tomorrow!

55 replies

Milliways · 19/08/2009 15:57

Getting tense here, so DD has invited a crowd of her friends around tonight to pass the time together.

Here's hoping they will all get the right results for whatever course/career they want to follow.

Good luck everyone

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lotspot · 20/08/2009 21:13

DS got in to his first choice too!! very pleased!!

And DD got AABB!!!! she only dropped one mark in one exam!! super genius child that she is =)

very proud mummy here!! congratualations to all others!!

eurgh I've got to do this all over again next year lol

foxinsocks · 20/08/2009 19:42

thanks so much for the explanations lily, plesaedelete and rusty, that makes so much more sense now. I assume it's the school who gives them their predicted grades.

hope everyone got the news they wanted

larry5 · 20/08/2009 15:19

DS2 who is now 32 is a self employed sound and lighting engineer. He did a BTEC at college which he failed because he didn't do the written work although the practical side was good. He was lucky as he got employment while he was studying working for a sound engineer doing very basic things like humping boxes to operating very basic sound desks.

What he found was that because he started working full time when he was 18 he had built up the contacts by the age of 21 and the graduates in sound engineering were three years behind him and had no experience. I don't know how much he earns but it is more than his brother who is an assistant head teacher.

So what I am saying a degree is not always necessary.

piscesmoon · 20/08/2009 14:51

That sounds really positive dinasaw-hope all goes well for him.

dinasaw · 20/08/2009 12:21

Many thanks for the hand holding this morning.

vinblanc · 20/08/2009 12:18

Good positive thinking, dinasaw

dinasaw · 20/08/2009 12:16

We've just spent a nervewracking morning with Ds1 who rang round a few universities. All the places on the music tech courses he was interested in are now full so he is on waiting lists.
We've had long conversations and discussed all the options and he is now planning a gap year working at the local supermarket, continuing making a racket with his band and getting lots of work experience as a sound engineer. He will also go back to college and convert his AS in Eng Lit to an A2 and hopefully improve his grades from a BBC. He can then go to University next year if he wants to or he may have a job as a sound engineer by then.
He said he isn't ready to go to University just yet, but maybe in a years time.

RustyBear · 20/08/2009 11:41

(Bearing in mind that the government has plans to change the school leaving age, so this system may have changed by the time your DC have to think about it)
After GCSEs, which all children take at 16, some children currently leave to take a job, others go into the sixth form to do A levels.

In the first year, they do AS levels, typically in 4 subjects, which are examined in several modules, either by exam or by coursework, leading to an overall grade from A (top) to E. Most students will go on to do further modules (A2) in the same subjects in the second year, though they may drop one, which will then stand as a qualification in its own right, as an AS level.

You apply to university normally in the autumn term of your second year, (though it is possible to apply as late as March)and offers will be made by universities on the basis of your results at AS, the grades your school predicts you to get, and the personal statement which all applicants have to submit. The offer will normally be for 3 A level grades & will vary according to the university and the course - a popular course at a top university will usually need 3 As, while a less popular course or university may ask for lower grades.

Once you've got all your offers, you can choose up to 2 - normally a higher offer as your firm choice & a lower one as 'insurance' in case you don't get the grades.
If you get the grades for your firm offer, or for your insurance offer you normally have to take the place, or withdraw completely that year & apply again.

If you don't get grades high enough for either (or if you don't have a second offer), you can go to 'clearing' - which is a system which offers all the spare places on all the courses at participating universities.

This is a very basic outline, as there are lots of other options for post-gcse, including the International Baccalaureate, vocational courses & NVQ courses, but I don't have a lot of experience of those.

PleaseDeleteMeLetmeGo · 20/08/2009 11:35

fox - AS is the first year of your A-level course - you sit an exam and get a standalone qualification then you can carry on and do the second year (A2) which gives you the full A level.

I'm just back from strangling ds2. He wouldn't go on Track preferring to go to college with his mates as it's more exciting FGS! Anyway HE GOT IN!!

Lilymaid · 20/08/2009 11:26

Fox - you are offered a conditional place on the basis of your predicted A2 grades (and the strength of your application). You can apply for a total of 5 universities/courses and then, if you are lucky, you can accept two offers, one as a firm offer, the other - usually requring lower grades - as an "insurance" offer.

foxinsocks · 20/08/2009 11:23

and I don't know what an A2 or an AS is

foxinsocks · 20/08/2009 11:22

I know this is probably not the thread as you are all nervous and waiting for results!

But as I wasn't educated in this country, I do not understand this at all. I wondered if someone could put it, in plain English, how this works.

Am I understanding that you get places offered before you sit the exams? Based on what? and then how does it work after that?

I worry that my kids are going through the education system here with a totally ignorant mother!

RustyBear · 20/08/2009 11:17

Some universities do actually make offers based on points - DS had an offer from Coventry that was (I think) around 240 points, though it did stipulate that he must pass at least 2 A2 levels, so he couldn't just use AS points. All the other places he applied to asked for AAB or ABB.

titchy · 20/08/2009 11:00

Adjustment - if students get results that are better than the offer they hold from their preferred institution they have 5 days from today to try and trade up to a more prestigious institution.

Probably useful if you were expecting a couple of Ds, and got 3 Bs. But if you needed an A and 2 Bs, getting three As probably won't do you any good as unis who demand three As will be full up.

vinblanc · 20/08/2009 10:43

What is 'adjustment', snorkle?

(PFB is awaiting AS results, so we are on a steep learning curve in this household).

titchy · 20/08/2009 10:38

Yes vin is right - it will only be the top three grades that can be counted towards uni entry.

soremummy · 20/08/2009 10:32

I feel sick waiting for him to come back with his results I wasnt allowed to go with him. Wish he would turn his mobile on or get his backside home

snorkle · 20/08/2009 10:32

Is he going to try for a different course using adjustment dinasaw?

vinblanc · 20/08/2009 10:09

From what I understand, not all universities admit based on UCAS points, for example, they just look at the top three A2 grades (including any required subject).

dinasaw · 20/08/2009 10:08

Many thanks for the help. Ds1 has been convinced that he wouldn't get good grades. This has been right to the point of wanting to stay at the local college to do the foundation degree which needed 80 points in the subject he wants to do.
We've been trying to point out to him he can do anything he wants. He's now realised this is the case.

snorkle · 20/08/2009 10:04

yes that's right dinasaw. Well done to him.

dinasaw · 20/08/2009 10:00

Thanks vin! Just managed to find the very small piece of writing on the ucas site which explains it. But he can add in the results of the As courses he didn't take to A2, can't he?
So a BBC at A2 and BCD at As (courses which he didn't do the A2 in) adds up to 400. Is that right?

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vinblanc · 20/08/2009 09:53

A2 includes the AS results, so you don't double count.

dinasaw · 20/08/2009 09:47

Help!
Ds1 has done better than he expected. Can someone help me understand the ucas points?
He's got BBC at A2 and a B at AS. I add that up to 330 points, is that right? And what about the AS results from last year? Are those now converted into the A2 results? Do you count the As results he didn't continue with to A2?

Lilymaid · 20/08/2009 09:47

Congratulations, of course, to all who have got in to their first choice universities. Good luck to those who have to go through clearing etc. I'm hoping I won't have to provide any tlc to my friends and that all their DCs have got the grades and the places that they wanted.

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