Preparing for A Level Results Day 2011

Everyone anticipates Results Day with mixed feelings. On the one hand you want to know what you got and whether that dream has come true; on the other you are sure it all went horribly wrong in the exams and, quite honestly, you’d rather not know what the results were. Either way, 18 August will come round sooner than you think. In the meantime there are several things you can do to make life easier for yourself and reduce the stress levels.

Extenuating Circumstances
Make sure that any information you want a uni to take into account when making a decision about your place, should you have missed your offer, is with them well before the Results are published.

Stick around for Results Day
The most important thing you can do to help yourself on Results Day is to be here. This is not the time to be out of the country if you can possibly help it. Even if you are supremely confident that you will meet your offer for your firm, and/or that you won’t be interested in Adjustment or Clearing in any case, you will still need to get hold of your results somehow and to be able to make phone calls and/or to send emails. Modern technology is wonderful but can’t do everything; if something does go wrong your advisers can’t help you if you are a long way off!

If it is really impossible for you to be at home on Results Day, then careful planning is even more important. You will need to make arrangements that your school/college is happy with to get your results forwarded to you or collected on your behalf. This is not something to be organised at the last minute unless something unexpected comes up.

Make sure all the admin is in order

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If you have been using a term-time address or have moved house recently, make sure that both UCAS and the unis have your correct home address. This is really important.

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Likewise, if you no longer have access to the email account you registered with UCAS, update your details accordingly. Remember that this is absolutely not the time for 'joke' email addresses - so if you haven't got a sensible one, create it now (and remember to check the account regularly!).

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Check that the names on your UCAS application and your exam entry form are the same[font="&amp;quot"]. A discrepancy here will cause delays in matching up your results and forwarding them on to your unis. Contact UCAS as soon as possible if the names are not exactly the same.

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Check that the pending examinations listed on your UCAS application match what you actually did. If you have changed (by dropping subjects or adding new ones) the exams you stated you would be sitting at the time you applied, you need to make sure that you have informed both UCAS and the unis. The reason for this is that – apart from it being a material change to your application which you agreed to let UCAS know about when you signed up – if your exam results can’t be matched up with what UCAS/the uni were expecting to receive, this is likely to delay confirmation of your place.

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Whatever happens on Results Day, this is not the time to find out you have mislaid some vital piece of paper. Therefore, it’s worth making sure beforehand that you have collected together

[INDENT]

all your UCAS paperwork, especially the letter confirming your choices, a copy of your PS, your CRB or health clearance if appropriate, and any other information you have sent to unis (perhaps as part of an application through Extra, or to report mitigating circumstances)

any information you have received from your firm and/or insurance unis relating to contact on Results Day, accommodation, or anything else that the uni will want you to do quickly once your place is confirmed

all your exam certificates – GCSE and AS – so that you know where they are if/when you are asked to produce them

your results slips with your UMS scores on them

your Student Finance paperwork

[/INDENT]
Other things you can be getting on with while those weeks between now and 18 August (well, all right, 4 August for you Scots :biggrin:

) are passing by:

Make sure you understand what happens on and around Results Day
Read the TSR Wiki articles on Results Day and UCAS Track on Results Day. These will help you work out what’s going on and why.

Planning for Adjustment
If you think you might be eligible for Adjustment you need to give some thought to whether you would like to try your luck elsewhere and, if so, where, bearing in mind the need to be realistic in your expectations. If you do turn out to be eligible, you will have very little time to do anything about it and you don’t want to waste what time you do have on research you could have done earlier.

Things to remember about Adjustment:

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It is optional. If you are happy with your existing firm, stick with it. This is after all the uni you chose after careful research, visiting on open days, gossiping on TSR, etc etc.

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Getting a place somewhere else at this late stage could mean that you are further back in the queue for accommodation etc than you are at your existing firm.

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The most competitive courses/unis are unlikely to be offering places through Adjustment; some have definitely said they will not be.

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Even if a uni is taking applicants through Adjustment, this does not guarantee success for you, so you may find yourself getting your hopes up only to have them disappointed.

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Because the range of choices in Adjustment will be limited, you may do better to take a gap year and re-apply with your actual grades.

If this all sounds rather negative, it’s not meant to. Some people will certainly benefit from Adjustment, but they are most likely to be those who have done their homework first (see below for advice about preparing for Clearing; much of this is also useful in planning for Adjustment) and who target their applications appropriately.

This is only the third year for Adjustment. Here's a quote from UCAS about the first year: "Over 40% of applicants had the opportunity to use the scheme. Of a total of 3,600 registrations, 384 were placed in their Adjustment choice, 2,355 reconfirmed with their original choice and 444 were placed in another choice (main scheme, Extra or Clearing). 417 of those who registered were not placed." What isn't clear is how many of the 2,355 who stayed with their original firm applied for an Adjustment place and were unsuccessful (as distinct from those who may have registered but then didn't do anything about it). Presumably the 417 who weren't placed were people - probably with high grades going for competitive courses - who decided that they'd rather reapply than stick with what they had and couldn't find anything they fancied and/or got turned down for Adjustment places. In 2010, 377 people got places through Adjustment, although UCAS hasn’t published the detailed breakdown as it did for 2009. The success rate (ie the proportion of people registering for Adjustment who do change university) seems to be about 10%.

Preparing for Clearing
Even if you don’t think you are going to need it, or don’t plan to use Clearing whatever happens on Results Day, it’s worth reading the Guide to Clearing, 2010 Clearing Experiences and 2009 Clearing Experiences. There’s no harm in having a Plan B just in case. If you are waiting to go in to Clearing, or think there’s a good chance you might need to, here’s some suggestions for making sure you are ready to go on the day, as soon as the Clearing lists are published:

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Use the UCAS Course Search to find the courses that were in Extra at the end of June, as this can be a guide for what might be available in Clearing.

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Use this information to identify courses that interest you, with standard entrance requirements you are likely to be able to meet, or come within a grade of being able to meet. Be flexible – consider alternatives or joint honours - think laterally!

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Check out those courses/unis as much as you can – look around on TSR and make the most of the uni/department websites. Don’t forget to take into account the uni’s accommodation policies for Clearing applicants, and other factors such as the Students Union and the support it offers.

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Use this information to pull together a shortlist of options that, if they do come up in Clearing, you know what you would want to apply for. This way you are ready to go as soon as your results are in your hand. You will also be able to demonstrate to the admissions tutor a level of knowledge of the course and interest in it that will help your cause considerably.

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If there is something that interests you that isn’t in Extra but may have been in Clearing last year, there’s no harm in working that up too, just in case. Not being in Extra reduces the chances of the course being in Clearing but doesn’t remove them. Equally, courses do turn up in Clearing that weren't on offer in Extra.

Having a Plan B can make you feel a lot better as Results Day approaches – you are in control and can make informed choices quickly if you need to. This is a significant advantage, not just because you will be in the front of the queue, but also because it reduces the risk of making a bad decision that results in you dropping out a few months later.

Don't want to go to your Firm or Insurance any more?
If you have changed your mind about your Firm and/or Insurance and are sure about it, see Changing your Mind. It is much better to organise any changes before Results Day rather than after. This is particularly true if your wish is to cancel your Firm so that you can go to your Insurance. Remember that your insurance is not obliged to accept you as a ‘conditional firm’ applicant, so success is not guaranteed. If you wait until Results Day to negotiate this change you will find that you will be released into Clearing, not to your Insurance, who may still be able to offer you a place (as a Clearing applicant) but is not required to. The deadline for negotiating a pre-Results Day rejection - in practical terms - is around 10 August, since after that unis are getting organised to process the Results. In any event the unis won't usually speak to you about your application from the week before Results Day (ie on or after 11 August).

(edited 12 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

MagicNMedicine

As it's coming to crunch time for UCAS results week now is the time IMO to get together a "what if" strategy. By this I mean that you are going into an event (getting to your results on Thursday) which is going to put you in a highly charged emotional state and you can't make a lot of good strategic decisions when you are in that state, especially if you've been up all night the night before and stressed out. You need to kind of have a plan in your mind for what you are going to do if things go a bit wrong (written down if needs be) so when you are dealing with the disappointment you can just put it into action and not have to think too much.

In Clearing things move quickly and you need to make quick decisions, but the problem for a lot of students is they go into paralysis because they are dealing with the shock of missing their grades and being told they aren't going into their firm, so they just start crying and thinking their life and dreams are over and there's no point doing anything, and they just give up for a while, meanwhile the people who knew they were going into Clearing from the start and were on the ball right at the start of the day, are cleaning up the few good remaining places.

So what happens on results day is for lots of students the only thing they can think of doing is phoning their firm and trying to beg their way in, as I've explained and discussed on other threads that rarely works because the uni had everyones results since Sunday and if they did have a shortfall of places (which many don't) they will have already decided who of those who missed grades, to make offers to, and they will have filled their quota and can't withdraw offers to anyone now. Most students will try to beg their way in anyway but this is the first avenue where you will lose time, first it can take ages to get through on the phone, because everyone else that missed their offer is phoning up and it can take a while for the admissions staff to politely get the message through to them that the course is full and they aren't able to take anybody else who missed their grades no matter how persuasive they/their teachers try to be, so by the time you have got through and been told that yourself (and then got upset all over again) you've set yourself back if you want to go through Clearing.

I advise over this weekend and next few days form definite views and alternative scenarios, it's like the "wargaming" the government does for different potential scenarios (Eurozone breaking up, outbreak of foot and mouth again, terrorist attack on London, bird flu etc), you know that the situation is not going to be ideal and will cause major problems but if you have at least planned a response before the situation happened, it means you can just go on autopilot and put it into action when you are in the panic of the moment.

So here's (IMO) the things to think about.

1 - On the day the first thing you need to do is maximise your information flow, as early as possible. The things you will need to know are - is my place confirmed? what grades did I get? what places are in Clearing? Plan now for how you are going to find out if your place is confirmed, can you find out from UCAS track? can you find out from the university website (some will have a log in on the day on their home page which will be less busy than UCAS track which the whole world will be logging into and crashing the site). Also plan for how you are going to find out what is in Clearing...yes the internet will tell you but again sites can be slow on the day so go and get a newspaper that has the Clearing places in, as soon as the newsagents opens.

2 - Decide now about your insurance. Do you really want to go there or do you not really want to go there if you are honest with yourself. If you don't really want to go then admit this now. You will need to contact them early on to ask them to release you if you end up missing your firm but getting your insurance. But think this through carefully, mentally imagine you are going to your insurance and see how you would feel about going through the next phase of arranging accommodation, looking forwards to the course etc? Does it make you feel totally flat and you know deep inside that you don't want to go? Then there's your answer.

3 - What are you going to do if your firm offers you an alternative course? Look at the joint honours courses at your firm which include your main subject, and the other similar courses from that department. It might be worth writing down a shortlist of alternates that you would accept. Then when you find out on the day you've missed your grades and been offered an alternate course, you know how you felt about it before, and you aren't just saying yes out of panic and fear that you won't get anything else. Again be totally honest with yourself, what is your priority, your firm as an institution or the course? You are going to have to study this course for three years and stick with it when it gets hard.

4 - What universities are you willing to go to in Clearing? This can be a difficult one to mentally accept if you've been a long time TSR user and seen all the arrogance and snobbery on here, but remember that snobbery only really exists on here, in the real world people and even most employers are less bothered than people think, unless you are going for one of the super high competitive careers like investment banking, corporate law etc (in which case you're already in trouble if you've not done as well as you wanted at A level). Being realistic you are not going to find one of the big name blue chip universities in Clearing and only in a few less competitive courses will you be able to get an established red brick Russell Group type (there may be some places, but they are like gold dust and will go to those who are on the ball right from the start, which is where faffing around trying to get through to your firm to beg your way in will waste your time). If you can get to one of the lower profile of the established universities (UEA, Sussex etc) in Clearing, then you've got a good outcome. Most of the Clearing market is ex polys, but again I wouldn't be too put off by some of the snobbery on here, if it does a course you really want to do then look at it. If you've missed your A level grades then you will need thick skin to come on TSR around that time because you will have some 16 and 17 year olds telling you that you 'should have worked harder' and that you're 'wasting taxpayers money' by going to an ex poly in Clearing. It may be worth making a quick shortlist of potentially viable targets that you would be interested in going to, you can revise this on Thursday morning when you get the paper and see who is actually in Clearing.

5 - Clearing strategy if you go in it. Speed is of the essence so write yourself a crib sheet beforehands (basically the main points of your personal statement, how to sell yourself), a lot of 18 year olds are nervous phoning strangers anyway never mind when they are stressed about missing their grades so write down a crib sheet of the points you want to get over so that you don't need to worry about going blank on the phone. When admissions tutors have places in Clearing they want to get them filled ASAP so they can relax, what they want is people who are a) motivated enough to want to do the course even if it wasn't their first choice, b) will be academic enough to get through ok, c) won't be a problem student - so go easy on making excuses for why you missed your grades, they know you missed them and that's why you are in Clearing, but they didn't recruit enough students, thats why they are in Clearing, so they aren't in a position to lecture you about it. Going overboard about excuses will make them worry that you are going to be 'one of those' students who appeals when they get a 2:2 and causes them extra admin. Another point - have 2 phones available, try to do this stuff from home when you have a land line as well as your mobile, because on results day the excessive traffic sometimes knocks out mobile networks intermittently, so I would do most of my phoning of unis from a landline to be honest. Have a mobile there so you can get call backs, usually when you phone in Clearing the first person you speak to will take your basic details and pass them on to an admissions tutor who will phone people back one after another, so you need another phone to take call backs in case you're on the other line. Don't waste time talking to friends on the phone till you've got your situation sorted. The more paranoid admissions tutors will just accept anyone with a pulse who sounds remotely credible because they are afraid that if they don't get enough people then the uni might cut their course (and job?) in the coming year or so.

The other part to think about is what your options are for not going to uni this year - which is a viable option whatever you might think about fees etc, but as this is a long enough post already I will let people read and digest this before going on to that one...

Reply 2

MagicNMedicine

ok just to continue with things to think about

6 - What if you don't find a suitable uni course? In the current environment with fees there is a temptation to think well this is the best chance of going to uni because if I delay it a year I will come out with a lot more debt. However a much more powerful argument IMO is that in the current environment with fees, you get ONE SHOT at higher education, and you have to get it right. It is far better to take a year out, get on the course you want at the place you want (do resits if necessary) and have higher debt in the long term (the repayments are no worse under the new scheme even if you end up paying it for longer), than to go somewhere that is not right now and end up dropping out and wanting to change, or just getting a low class degree at the end of it.

I can guarantee that on TSR in about 6-8 months time there will be threads on here from people who went somewhere on clearing that they didn't really want to, then find out it isn't really for them and are asking people is it too late to change and stay under the existing fee system if they reapply next year (it won't be).

Also people will say they just grabbed what they could even if it wasn't exactly the course they wanted, because they want to go to uni so they can go for graduate schemes. But they will probably find that they won't be able to apply for many graduate schemes if they end up with a 2:2 or 3rd which is a possibility if they aren't really motivated for the course. And most of the graduate schemes these days that want 2:1s, want a certain number of UCAS points as well so if you haven't done that well in your A levels, a university education might not be able to get you onto graduate schemes anyway. This doesn't mean you shouldn't go to uni, just don't go if your only reason for going is that you are bargaining taking on the debt for getting a graduate job after - be aware that low UCAS points might scupper that in any case.

I would say don't fear the year out option. You have time and space to think and you can use it constructively, retakes, higher grades, new application to uni, more focused this time around, and a year will come around quickly if you are working towards a target. Yes you will be taking on more debt next time but out of the two suboptimal options, taking a year out and starting where you want in 2012 is far better than starting in 2011, then wanting to change course/uni and ending up with even more debt in the long run as you take on 3 years under the higher fees and already had a year under the current fees!

Also don't fear the more-than-year-out option, I had a few years between A levels and going to uni and it didn't do me any harm when I got to uni. Just bear in mind that the likelihood is you will get one shot at higher education so make sure you use that shot on what you really want to do.

So on this point when you are thinking about your 'what if' strategy, consider what you will do if you don't get what you want...
- retake next year and reapply? will you have more chance of getting in next year? (be realistic with yourself here if you tried your best and you didn't get the grades you wanted, it may be that you are just going to be in the same boat next year)
- forget uni for the time being and just look for a job somewhere?

Reply 3

anythingbutord

Original post by Minerva

]If you have been using a term-time address or have moved house recently, make sure that both UCAS and the unis have your correct home address. This is really important.

Can I just add that with everything being electronic these days, if you have used your school / college email account when applying and no longer have access to this, please contact both UCAS and your choices and change this to your personal one. Nothing annoys universities more than not being able to contact you with requests for information, or to give you your enrolment information etc!

Reply 4

Minerva

Original post by anythingbutord

Good point :biggrin:

- with the additional observation that email addresses used for uni applications are best played straight - this is not the time for '[email protected]'.

Reply 5

revisionnightmare

Original post by Minerva

Good point :biggrin:

- with the additional observation that email addresses used for uni applications are best played straight - this is not the time for '[email protected]'.

Although I'm confident I've got my grade up as I only needed a C in one module to do so (I'm on a gap year having done 1 resit), I'm in Miami at the moment and will be on results day. I'm currently 7 marks off the grade and just need to make up those marks. So what would the best thing for me to do be? Waking up at about 4am Miami time - 9am UK time and if I have messed up email the university? Or do you think I should call them now and discuss it?

Many thanks.

Reply 6

TheSownRose

Original post by revisionnightmare

There is little point phoning them now because it's all speculation - you say you might have missed the the grade and they say that if you have they might be able to take you... Pointless, you'll know nothing than you don't already know, namely you need to get a particular grade, you may or may not have got it and if you haven't you may or may not get into university.

Reply 7

revisionnightmare

Original post by TheSownRose

But as the same time couldn't I get an idea of how many people they'll let in who have just missed the grade as I already know my current, pre-result, marks aren't far off anyway? I'm confident I've got the grade but one of my friends last year who's now at Cambridge got a U the first time he sat the paper I'm resitting - got a C the second time so got an A overall - despite telling me he thought he'd done quite well. I know that's an extreme example but stranger things have happened with OCR - another lad had his grade put up 15 UMS after a remark yet our future is based on these things.

Reply 8

Potally_Tissed

Original post by revisionnightmare

But as the same time couldn't I get an idea of how many people they'll let in who have just missed the grade
They won't know yet. They'll still be waiting for A level results day to see how many people make/miss their offers.

Reply 9

TheSownRose

Original post by revisionnightmare

They won't know anything about that yet and they won't know how you compare to other people who may turn out to narrowly miss offers either.

I repeat: everything at the moment is speculation, you're going to get nothing useful from talking with the university until you know your final grade.

Reply 10

Minerva

Original post by revisionnightmare

You need to be ready to ring the university as soon as you have your results, if you haven't met your offer and your Track is not showing either 'unconditional' or 'unsuccessful'. If that means 4am in Miami....

Reply 11

revisionnightmare

Original post by Minerva

So basically about 9am UK time would be the time to start calling up. Would you advise against email correspondence, seen as a phone call could prove extremely expensive (although I'd probably call them anyway, just out of interest).

Reply 12

Minerva

Original post by revisionnightmare

Yes I would - email accounts may not get checked as frequently as you would need for this to get you anywhere. It's the phone that is King on Results Day. As to the expense? Depends how much you want that place and whether you're prepared to argue for it if the opportunity arises. If you've been let in anyway you won't need to phone; if your Track is already showing 'unsuccessful' on Results Day morning there's no point in ringing the uni that's rejected you, so you should save your pennies for phoning any unis you want to try for in Clearing. It's only if your Track hasn't updated that you should ring the uni you're currently hoping for.

Reply 13

revisionnightmare

Original post by Minerva

Thanks a lot!

Reply 14

tehforum

Original post by Minerva

Good point :biggrin:

- with the additional observation that email addresses used for uni applications are best played straight - this is not the time for '[email protected]'.

There's a reason why you've got all those titles.

Nice post - and I'm not even an A2 student.

Reply 15

hg1993

Im on holiday when results come out (my family live in Spain and its the only chance il get to see them this year). If someone was to pick up my results for me and tell me them over the phone would i be able to call up my unis from spain? or if i dont get the results i need, be able to call up clearing?

Reply 16

oxymoronic

Original post by hg1993

You will need to agree a point of contact with your school for them to release the results. They won't just give them to anyone who rocks up on results day and asks for them. You can also give permission to UCAS for someone who isn't you to call them about your application, but you need to do this before results day, so if this is something you think will be useful then get a named person added to your files.

Once you have your results (it would probably be easier for them to email you a copy of your results slip or type it all out) including your module grades, you can call the universities from Spain, yes, if you need to do so. You don't "call up clearing", you call each university you're interested in as many times as it takes. If you've got the grades you needed then you do not need to call the university.

You will also need to ensure you have access to the internet for results day as well as a phone so that you can research clearing options and check things out on track.

Reply 17

freedomhunter

Say if you havent made your grades on results day, and youre eligible for clearing or you want to plead to your firm to let you in - who do you call? Do you call the faculty department or the clearing hotline?

I would have thought it would be the faculty department esp if you have already made an offer for the course...

Thanks in advance for all your responses..

Reply 18

Alison1992

admissions so you can speak to the department

clearing only if you've already been rejected

Reply 19

oxymoronic

If you've been rejected already then you don't call anyone in the university you've been rejected from, you call the clearing hot line for the universities that you want from clearing.