Headteacher's Reports for Uni

[calvi]

Can anyone tell me exactly what this contains and how the information is obtained? Is it a compilation from school reports going back to Year 7 - gulp?

Not sure what you are on about - do you mean the UCAS reference?

I think that is what I mean. The report the school writes as part of your application.

It is meant to be a forward-looking document, to quote UCAS "references are designed to provide universities and colleges with an informed and academic assessment of an applicant's suitability for further study"
I don't think that Universities want to know about your DC being a Milk Monitor in Y7.

That is a relief - thanks!

IME these references are usually a compilation of mini reports from A-level subject teachers, with a bit of more general blurb about their 'character'.

The only mention of pre-Alevel stuff is usually a very very general statement about their GCSE performance or mention of any particular difficulties that they have overcome.

Never seen anything preGCSE mentioned.

I think in DS1's school this reference is compiled by his tutor based on references from each A level subject teacher and possibly in his case housemaster.

Although i have not seen his or any reference when he enquired generally they said they never outright put anything bad in. It is just what is left out that might show weaker points. (in his case virtually no participation in anything but lessons!)

Does anyone know if the tutor can put in mitigating circumstances with regard to GCSE grades?
DS did pretty well, mainly As and 2 x A although he had been predicted much more As than he got. Sadly my mother who he was very close to as the eldest grandchild died when he was midway through his exams and we had to plan the funeral pretty much around his exams as we had to fly back to the UK as we live in the Middle East. He had a few exams the week after his nannie died and then he had to fly back for the funeral the day after an exam and return again 2 days later to sit another.
we've recently heard that the Uni he wants to go to want at least 3 A but ideally 5 and wonder whether he should just give up on this or if it is worth explaining why he didn't do as well. Also, 3 of his exams were taken early, 3 years, 1 year and 6 months early and he got As. Would it be worth the tutor saying in his opinion he would have got A in them if sat at the 'normal' time?

I know my son was shown his UCAS reference although he didn't have the opportunity to change anything and didn't tell us much about it. Must have been ok because he got the 5 offers.

Would suggest you and he attend the university open days and discuss admission requirements. No point applying to somewhere that he will not meet the requirements for, especially if what has happened in some subjects this year is repeated - people applying for a course where the requirements were BBB & then they get asked for ABB etc. (or if they are only predicted BBB not getting an offer at all).

If a candidate is ill or someone close to them dies during or just before the exams there is a procedure for letting the examination board know & the candidate gets some extra points, although I'm not sure that pupils at my son's school have done this even when they have lost a sibling or a parent in exam year.

Remember the candidate can always say something in their personal statement but I wonder how doing this would be interpreted, understandable if you lost a sibling in the term before the exams, not so unusual to lose a grandparent (although v upsetting nevertheless).

o/seas: read the page that I linked to ("Describe their suitability/any factors", towards the bottom of the page)

Ladylapsang, wish we'd known that before about letting the exam board know. When my mother died (think it was the day before his english exam) I contacted the exams officer at his school who basically said very sad but not relevant Nothing we can do about it now though as his GCSEs were last summer. Bloody annoying though. He was predicted A in both english exams and got an A and a B but appealed the B and it was changed to an A. Several other subjects were predicted A and he got As and looking at these they were the ones that were around the time of the funeral. He was very close to his nannie as she'd looked after him for several days a week when he was younger and they spend a lot of time together. I can understand it not being relevant in exam year but he literally had to fly overnight after the funeral long haul to sit his exam.
Oh well, wish we'd known all that before.

senua thanks for that, will have a look.

Mumoverseas - Think they only get a few marks extra so a B would not be changed to an A* anyway. At least the B was upgraded, my DS was one mark off a higher grade & we appealed & it wasn't increased. What subject does he want to read?

mumoverseas

Make sure that the UCAS form includes the entenuating circumstances at the time of his GCSEs and states that these were not taken into account by the exam board.

Or if the school/college are unhelpful about including this info then I'd encourage hime to state in his personal statement that he was disappointed not to do better in his GCSEs and then given the reason.

However you do this, it is very important that the unis are able to evaluate the GCSEs in context.

ladylapsang. He wants to read law. At Cambridge! Hence my concerns as apparently they want at least 3A at GCSE, ideally 5. He has mostly As but only 2 at A
Shame your DS's appeal wasn't successful. Apparently last year there were a lot of appeals in relation to the English exams.

muddleduck thanks for that. Will talk to him about this. Hopefully all is not lost

More than anything else, when it comes to completing the UCAS form your son needs to be realistic about his options. By all means go for the uni expecting 5 A* grades but without then the expectation must be you will not get an offer, no matter what mitigating circumstances.

So they need to put down some uni courses that will fit with his expected grades and one that is lower. He will then have a reasonable expectation of getting a number of offers and can then make appropriate decisions as to which he chooses.

Off-spring, just like their parents with admissions to preferred schools, can make assumptions that the world is queuing up to offer them a place at uni. It is not like that and everybody needs to live and work in the real environment. So a little parental help is needed to ensure realism.

mumoverseas - if his gcse grades are going to mess up his application to Cambridge (which may well be the case - due to almost all candidates having a full whack of As), he may be better off applying after A levels. If it is possible for him to take a year off, I would have thought the university will first look at his A level grades and if they include a couple of As and a couple of As they may not look at the GCSEs.

lazymum, he has to have a gap year before Uni in any event as he will not have been back in the UK for the required 3 years prior to him attending Uni otherwise. Might suggest what you've said to him although the advice given to date was to apply this October with his peers but to defer a year.

Some universities have a quota for deferred places for certain courses, making it even more competitive. Check it out.If he is taking a year off anyway then what is against applying next year for an unconditional place with his A level results. Maybe 'admission' will be back on to give more accurate info on deferrals and applying post A level cos it looks like she has some 'inside' knowledge.

Sorry lazymumofteenagesons no inside knowledge, just three sons, one of whom is at uni, so been through the UCAS system. Saw too many of my son's friends "crash and burn" by having unrealistic expectations of which uni was possible.

o/seas: The website says "Most Colleges will require applicants to take the Cambridge Law Test. The test is designed to provide an assessment of your potential for the study of law. It'll be used as an additional piece of information for admissions decisions alongside your school/college examination results, the other information provided in your application, and, where applicable, your performance at interview."

So applicants have:
a) interview and admissions test in Y13
b) actual AS results from Y12
c) PS, reference & predicted A2
d) GCSE results from Y11 or even earlier.

If you were an admissions tutor, which would you place most reliance on? It is fairly certain that every cohort of applicants has a few who will always get in, some who will never get and then there is the lump in the middle. The middle ones will be much-of-a-muchness and it is difficult to differentiate which ones get the offer: it is when you get to this stage that minor things, like the number of A* at GCSE, will come into play. Your DS needs to ensure that his (a) - (c) are so impressive that no-one needs to look at his (d).

I would make sure that the PS or the reference mentions the extenuating circs re the GCSE results and lack of knowledge of the compensatory marks scheme, but then leave it at that.

I can't remember, is he doing anything which demonstrates his "genuine interest in law"? - work experience, visiting Courts, reading journals, keeping up with the election etc

Oh and I forgot to say. I would go for Plan A and apply in Y13. If it goes wrong then he can always apply again in his gap year i.e. have two bites at the cherry.

Hi Senua,
Thanks for your very helpful advice. I was completely in the dark about it all until a few days ago. Thankfully, I got a huge information pack from DSs school a few days ago (no doubt that explains the 1,125 per term increase in fees) Really useful info ref UCAS and the system.

I agree, if I was an admission tutor I'd not really be considering too much the grades got at GCSE years before. However, DS recently went on a 4 day law conference at Cambridge and one of the questions that came up was about the A at GCSE and one of the members of staff from admission said 3, ideallly 5 at A which is what got us worried. I am somewhat annoyed at his old school about not telling us about the compensatory marks scheme.

Yes, he is (hopefully!) doing enough to show his genuine interest in law. He has been interested for years hence him studying GCSE law when he was 14 on a distance learning course and then flying back to the UK to sit it at Cambridge (he got an A after 9 months study)He has attended Mags Court and sat at the back for several days. He reads all my legal journals and last summer did a weeks work experience at my old firm of solicitors which was invaluable. (it is proper work experience, not the type that some firms offer, ie photocopying, making court bundles and the coffee!)
He has also attended the Cambridge 4 day law conference and the oxford one and has something else coming up in July.
In the process of trying to get him work experience in chambers over the summer.
Hopefully this will be a huge plus for him?

I agree, he will apply this autumn with his peers and if needs be, will then apply again next year.

One question I couldn't find the answer to in the UCAS bumph I have. If you accept an offer for a defererd place which is not a first choice (ie insurance) can he then apply again the next year even though he has accepted a place?

I love MN, you ladies answer more questions than DS's school!

Hi Senua,
Thanks for your very helpful advice. I was completely in the dark about it all until a few days ago. Thankfully, I got a huge information pack from DSs school a few days ago (no doubt that explains the 1,125 per term increase in fees) Really useful info ref UCAS and the system.

I agree, if I was an admission tutor I'd not really be considering too much the grades got at GCSE years before. However, DS recently went on a 4 day law conference at Cambridge and one of the questions that came up was about the A at GCSE and one of the members of staff from admission said 3, ideallly 5 at A which is what got us worried. I am somewhat annoyed at his old school about not telling us about the compensatory marks scheme.

Yes, he is (hopefully!) doing enough to show his genuine interest in law. He has been interested for years hence him studying GCSE law when he was 14 on a distance learning course and then flying back to the UK to sit it at Cambridge (he got an A after 9 months study)He has attended Mags Court and sat at the back for several days. He reads all my legal journals and last summer did a weeks work experience at my old firm of solicitors which was invaluable. (it is proper work experience, not the type that some firms offer, ie photocopying, making court bundles and the coffee!)
He has also attended the Cambridge 4 day law conference and the oxford one and has something else coming up in July.
In the process of trying to get him work experience in chambers over the summer.
Hopefully this will be a huge plus for him?

I agree, he will apply this autumn with his peers and if needs be, will then apply again next year.

One question I couldn't find the answer to in the UCAS bumph I have. If you accept an offer for a defererd place which is not a first choice (ie insurance) can he then apply again the next year even though he has accepted a place?

I love MN, you ladies answer more questions than DS's school!

I'm that impressed I said it twice!

Wow, MOS, your son sounds really committed! All the best to him.

thanks mumblechum. And he is an arrogant little git that has to have the last word. I think he'll make a jolly fine barrister