Article: Is it possible to predict what universities will do on results day?

Scroll to see replies

No if they ve already rejected you its game over i m sorry, as they get your grades at the weekend so they get a few days to consider whether or not to take you with missed grades or not.

The only situation you could contact them is if you missed by say 1/2 ums and you've decided to go for a priority remark but even then they don't have to accept it but that's up to you whether you want to take the risk of trying to get your grades increased.

Not quite true, I know people who have begged Universities after being rejected on results day and have been accepted in the end.

Reply 181

claireestelle

Original post by Kemosabe99

Not quite true, I know people who have begged Universities after being rejected on results day and have been accepted in the end.

The question is how close to their grades were they, if it was 1 ums then maybe that's why "begging" worked for them as they were so close anyway but generally if you were more than 2/3 ums off and refused to get a remark then they're not going to say yes unless they cant get anyone any better in clearing. Also if those people had conditionals showing as their status rather than unsuccessful on results day the uni hadn't entirely rejected them at the point of getting their results. Getting in through actual genuine begging would be pretty rare there could be more to those peoples stories than meets the eye including the reasons mentioned above.

Reply 182

Kemosabe99

Original post by claireestelle

Best mate was going to Birmingham last year, she got BCC on an offer of ABB - rang them up and basically begged her place onto the course.

No extra story just exaplined that despite her bad grades she was willing to work really hard and she loved the university ect... and they allowed her on.

Reply 183

claireestelle

Original post by Kemosabe99

They could have been 2 ums off each grade and dropped one grade in each subject.
I m not saying its absolutely impossible but its very unlikely to happen to most people as if they believed you could do the course and read through your ps and everything and still thought lets reject them then there's barely anything else you can say to them.

In your friends case it could be that in the end a uni has more spare places than they d originally thought/ and were peoples insurance choice so were waiting back for those people then turns out that insurance wasn't need so they decide to take that one person they initially rejected so as to not need to take an applicant through clearing. I certainly wouldnt suggest to everybody that they "beg" for their place as its unlikely any good will come of it. Only consider it if the options above apply or theres any info that the uni didnt have that they should have.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 184

Persipan

Original post by Kemosabe99

Not quite true, I know people who have begged Universities after being rejected on results day and have been accepted in the end.

You're assuming that what worked was the begging, whereas it's just as likely that the unis in question altered their decision (or hadn't yet confined the decision anyway) because their own situations changed ie they had students decide not to come after all, and wanted to plug the gaps.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 185

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by Kemosabe99

Not quite true, I know people who have begged Universities after being rejected on results day and have been accepted in the end.

Once a rejection has gone through on Track the only way a university can pick a student back up is for the student to get placed into Clearing and then arrange to apply that way. It is a MASSIVE ballache process.

It's more likely that the people you know who were "rejected " were still conditional on Track but had missed their grades. In this case it is recommended that they phone the uni concerned. Not to "beg" trust me admissions staff are no more attracted to desperation than anyone else is. The phone call is usually just to be told a decision over the phone or to answer any questions admissions staff have (eg would you consider a joint honours course instead).

Please don't advise applicants that begging is ever productive. I can assure you that it isn't- it's a complete waste of everyone's time and absolutely horrible for both the applicants and the admissions staff. We don't want to deal with crying applicants that we've sent a rejection to UCAS for- that decision goes through 3 people for checking and is not taken lightly. If there is ANY chance we'll hold back on sending a decision to UCAS.

Reply 186

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by Kemosabe99

Again I doubt her place showed as unsuccessful on Track.

Reply 187

Carnationlilyrose

Original post by PQ

PRSOM, as usual.

Reply 188

12397

Well I've been looking on the UCAS website and saw both of my universities are in clearing at first I worried however am I right in thinking this could bode well??
For example my first choice is AAB however may there be slight leniency in the candidates they accept as realistically the pool off AAA-AAB etc in clearing is not going to be very larger so wouldn't it make sense to say offer the student with ABB etc a space as really for universities the most important thing is to fill spaces...

Reply 189

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by 12397

Have a look at the first 2 posts of the thread I've merged this into - it could be a good thing (especially if they're explicitly advertising for students with ABB in Clearing) but it's very difficult to draw any conclusions.

Reply 190

12397

Original post by PQ

Thanks but the thread is slightly different because what I'm really saying is do universities when filling they're places maybe drop their entry requirements for certain Conditional holders if they know they're not going to fill their spaces as say with an AAB entry they may drop to say ABB/BBB as really the pool of those in clearing at AAB is going to be rather minimal !

Reply 191

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by 12397

See post 2 of this thread

Reply 192

Aston University

Official Rep

Original post by thanbirh

Does anyone know if it is likely that Aston University will places for Pharmacy in clearing?

Hi,

Just to clear this up directly, yes our Pharmacy course will be in clearing. You can see a listing of all our clearing vacancies here.

May the odds be forever in your favour.

Josh

Reply 193

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by Aston University

May the odds be forever in your favour.

Josh

Sinister

Reply 194

Aston University

Official Rep

Original post by PQ

Sinister

Always seen Clearing somewhat equal to the Hunger Games myself, just make sure to wake up early and don't eat any nightlock...

Josh

Reply 195

Persipan

Original post by Aston University

May the odds be forever in your favour.

So, applying for Pharmacy at Aston through clearing will be a hellish death-match in which hardly anyone will prevail? Tempting...

Reply 196

lukasthepoet

Original post by SlowlorisIncognito

It's not a GCSE grade. Grades for GCSE English and maths are usually pretty hard requirements, if you miss the B or C grade the uni is asking for, you probably won't get a place even if you achieve/ exceed the A-level grades you need.

•

- Can I ask why that's the case/what sources you have to confirm this?
It doesn't make any sense to me why a uni would reject a student with A*A*A at a level but c in maths (when they want a b), are you saying if that were to happen they wouldn't even consider the student at all?

Reply 197

Carnationlilyrose

Original post by lukasthepoet

•

It's because this is the baseline level at which the university has determined that all students need to be at to handle the course. If they have gone to the trouble of specifying a grade above the standard baseline of basic passes, then there is a need for it in the course. It is also a good way of shortlisting in an oversubscribed course. Universities budge far less on GCSEs than they do on A levels. As for evidence, well, it'd serve no purpose if I told you my student John Smith was rejected for X course with this given as a reason, because that's not hard evidence even though I have had many examples, but you can find hundreds of threads on here showing the experience of applicants over the years if you care to do a search for it. In addition, universities communicate this kind of information to sixth forms in schools so as to guide their applicants.

Reply 198

Nottingham Trent University

Official Rep

Original post by MR95

i need 280 ucas point for nottingham trent university , whats the lowest i can get ? and still get into the uni itself ?

Hi MR95

This is very much dependant on what results you get and whether our grade boundaries change in advance of Clearing. In some cases they go up and in some cases they go down. It's a mysterious process!

Try not to worry - if you don't make your grades on results day, give our friendly Clearing team a call on 0115 848 6000 and we'll do our best to match you to a course that suits your grades. It might be that we can offer you a place on your original course or we could make you an offer on an alternative course.

Good luck!

Erica

Reply 199

MR95

Original post by Nottingham Trent University

thanks erica much appreciated , i mean ive heard quite a few people get on my course last year with 240 ucas points , therefore i hopefully should be okay !