Ask an Admissions Tutor IX, 4th August - 2nd September

No I am offered Further Maths I just didn't take it

Our son is aiming for Computer Science at Cambridge.

He has an unusual history (for various reasons but not "extenuating circumstances" and took his exams young, over a couple of years, and in a bit of a strange order. His GCSE grades are eclectic (including Bs and Cs) but the ones that matter are good: Maths A*, Chemistry A*, Physics A.

This past year he did all of A-level Maths (A*, UMS 96), the first year of A-level physics (A), and several GCSEs. Next year he will take Further Maths A-level, Physics A2, and what used to be Chemistry AS (and is now just the first year of Chemistry A-level).

He will apply post-results and will have Maths, Further Maths and Physics A-levels, and that first-year-of-Chemistry. He has interesting supercurriculars and we're hopeful for him.

During his application year, he is interested in doing an industry placement and has good chances at some relevant and challenging work. Our concern is whether he should pursue any more academic work that year as well or instead.

1) Will it be all right to have only that first year of chemistry, or would it be a better idea for him to complete the chemistry A-level during his gap year alongside or perhaps at the expense of a full-time industry placement?

2) We understand that universities like to see that students have taken their three or more A-levels the same year, to give an indication of their ability to manage course load. He will have not done precisely that, but will have done something perhaps equivalent enough (Maths A2, Physics-first-year + 3 GCSEs last year/FM A2, Physics A2, Chemistry-first-year this coming year). That means he'll have one A2 result (Maths) from 2016 and two A2 results (FM, Physics) from 2017. Is that likely to be seen as acceptable, given that he had other courses at the same time, just not all A2 courses?

Thanks very much for any guidance, and for all of your participation here :-)

So now that ums is removed, how will they shortlist applicants for interview?

Hello and thanks for your questions. It's not uncommon for students to have done an A Level a year early (especially Maths) and doing two more plus an AS in his final year will be fine and not a problem. I don't think he's need to complete Chemistry A Level in his gap year. If he has something lined up that is relevant and worthwhile then that's a good use of his time.

Thanks for the advice. Can you give me a perspective on whether my profile would be good enough to apply for a deferred entry place? I think that I would benefit from a gap year to enable me to try and do some practical archaeology and also to read more on early modern history so that I am better informed when choosing options during the degree itself.

Are open applications treated the same way as normal applications? Which interview tests will there be since different colleges have different interview tests?

Yes, once you have been assigned to a college (which usually happens a few days after the application deadline) you are treated as a standard applicant to the college. You will sit the pre-interview or at-interview assessment as normal and, if the college does ask for an additional test (very rare) then you will do that at interview in the same way as everyone else.

What's a good/ typical BMAT score? I'm getting around 7 and 7.5+ in sections 1 and 2 respectively

Also, are there at college assessments for engineering? I can't find any example paper

Hi! I'm currently studying Linguistics and Comparative Literature at Queen Mary, University of London, which is RG. I'm on course for a 67, and got 63 and 65 in my first and second year respectively, which I know is below par for Oxbridge. However, in my first year, my health deteriorated and I was hospitalised about six times, and in my second year, I had a baby. I still managed to get high 2.1s and firsts in my relevant modules, and even handed in an assignment two days after my son was born (and only asked for an extension for one assignment, which I think shows dedication and an ability to handle a high workload) I hope to apply for a Masters in Linguistics, but given that most will be applying with a higher degree classification than I, is it a wasted application? Thank you

With three As at AS Level (are you in Wales or Northern Ireland given that you still have UMS?) you will be a good candidate and there's no reason why you would have to perform at a significantly higher level than normal to get an interview. The D in Economics will obviously be a concern but not an insurmountable one by any means.

We won't be using the assessments to de-select large portions of the field in the same way Oxford does for popular subjects there. They will be a useful data point and will be a factor in de-selection and offer making but not an overriding one.

First of all thank you for taking the time to help us in this thread! I narrowly missed my offer this year by 1 UMS in Physics and as such I am considering to reapply for Engineering.

I have a relatively strong GCSE and AS profile (9A* at GCSE, 7A grades at AS with above 95 UMS in relevant subjects).

However, I am concerned about my low A2 grades, hence why I am unsure whether to reapply. Would it be possible for you to make a quick judgement? Exam boards are all OCR.

Maths - A* (C3 = 93, C4 = 91). Average = 92%
F. Maths - A* (M2 = 100, FP2 = 82, S2 = 100, S3 = 93). Average = 94%. Averaging 3 best = 97.6%.
Chemistry - A (Unit F324 = 92.2%, Unit F325 = 82.6%, and in the practicals I got 90%). Average = 87%
Physics - A (85.6% in G484, 96% in G485, and 80% in the practicals). Average = 89.7%
Will be retaking G484 and the physics practical.

Was predicted four A*s this year, but an extenuating circumstance (serious illness in close family) has affected my A2 grades. If I reapply I will mention this in the ECF form.

May I ask, if you were looking at my application, whether you would consider my application as strong, and so worth reapplying?

Many thanks for your help - it's honestly a relief to have some idea whether to reapply!

Hi thanks so much for replying, I'm a bit confused about the UMS thing. I'm from England but some of my subjects are the new, reformed, 'linear' subjects and some aren't? (I go to a state school btw)

For example my maths and german are unreformed and so I assume that the marks I have for that are UMS ones? (eg. my marks from this count towards my full a-level)

For history and economics (my reformed subjects) I just asked my teachers and they told me what I got, as both of those subjects' exams are out of a 100 I just took those marks as UMS percentages.

Bit confused about this, if I have what I got in the exams for my 'linear' subjects (in terms of marks) do I not put this on my UCAS application or on the Cambridge SAQ? Obviously scoring 95% on my history AS level considering I'm applying for history is something I'd like to include as part of my application....

Should I bother to apply to Cambridge with AAAB at AS? I'm dropping the B as it isn't relevant to Economics. I'm predicted 3 A*'s in A2 and got 92% UMS in Maths

Ok, so reformed subjects do not have UMS. They have raw marks which are not the same as UMS. We are not collecting raw marks on the SAQ or through UCAS. Schools are able to tell us raw marks if they wish and, in your case, I would suggest that they mention them.

We will be collecting UMS on unreformed AS Levels and A2s on the SAQ as in previous years.

I hope that this clears it up.