How much leeway do universities give in terms of offering places regarding results?

"We don't even look at your personal statement. It's all about the grades. If you have the right predicted grades, we will offer you a placement. Simple as that."

I will be applying to study for Aerospace Engineering this year however my AS grades don't provide me with the greatest feeling of security in terms of applying for places.

At AS, I received BC(C)U

B - Maths
C - Spanish
(C) - General Studies
U - Physics

I'm hoping to get ABB overall, or AAB if I decide on resitting some modules.

Maths I believe I won't have a problem getting an A overall, and Spanish, a B shouldn't be a problem too.

With Physics I am doing the reformed A-levels, so last year's results won't count towards my final A-level grade so I am essentially starting from scratch, although universities will still see I got a U.

I've got a Tutor for physics now and am heavily investing my time into revising physics, so the first month of this year is already going better than the whole of last year, so I hope to achieve a B.

My question is, is it a waste to apply for an AAA uni if I only have ABB predicted grades? I'm not sure how much leeway universities give in terms of offering places to applicants, whether they will allow for predicated grades to be 1, 2, etc below their entry requirements for making an offer.

I went to the University of Liverpool open day and sat through their engineering talk and one person asked 'how much weighting does the personal statement have when making an offer to an applicant'. Their reply was, "None. Engineering is all about the grades. We don't even look at your personal statement. It's all about the grades. If you have the right predicted grades, we will offer you a place. Simple as that."

This has slightly scared me as I don't want to waste any of my 5 choices for 1 or 2 AAA universities if it's almost evident that I won't get offered a place.

I wouldn't go for more than 1 AAA,if any at all with with your as grades sorry. There ll be people who got AAA at as applying for the same places as you.

Yea, that's fair enough.

I'm more than happy with people being blunt and to the point because in all honesty, it was my own fault that I didn't do as well I was hoping, so consequently I'm not going to have the same opportunities as everyone else and will just have to deal with it.

If you did really want to go for AAA unis then you could always work really hard to get those grades,take a gap year then apply then. Assuming they accept resat as exams that is. A year isn't that much time really.

Problem is, I've already re-taken Year 12 so will be starting a year later than everyone else. I know people always take a gap year or a few years out before going to Uni, but I feel like now is the right time so I don't really want to take another year out, especially because I already feel so out of place being older than others and I feel like I don't fit in, so I would hate for that to have more of an impact than it has already.

I'm guessing unis look more at predicted grades/put more weighting on them than AS grades?

I guess though if someone were predicted AAA with grades like mine then something would seem problematic or not quite right, so it may be well within their right to not offer me a place, so would be a waste of an application.

That's down to the individual uni,as grades are solid data,predictions are just that. Exactly, they may think it's not quite right having those predicted grades.

Ok, thank you.

I may have to change some university choices then.

If a university has entry requirements AAA-AAB, then I guess the lower end is reserved for contextual offers? So it'd be a waste to apply for it if I am uncertain if I would be offered a contextual offer? Do you know if there is anyway to identify if you will be offered a contextual offer?

I live in a lower POLAR post code and my school is in some uni tables for the bottom 40% of schools for A level applicants and I am the first person in my family going to uni, so I guess those things would shortlist me for a contextual offer, but if there is no way to know, then I guess it's still a bit of a waste to apply for any more than 1 AAA uni even if they have AAB bottom end offer.