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The OMG I'll miss my offer Uberthread

At this time of year many people worry a lot about whether they are going to make their offers. Some just have lost confidence, others are panicking about that exam that they are sure went really badly and can’t imagine how they will get the grades they need. This thread is for you :smile:

Extenuating Circumstances
If you have been ill or there have been other things going on in your life (eg bereavement) which may have affected either your revision or the exam itself, you should make sure that your school/college informs both the Exam Board and your firm/insurance unis well before Results are published. There is no guarantee that this information will be taken into account, but on the other hand it can’t be if the Exam Board/unis don’t have it in the first place. Bear in mind, however, that you are very likely to be expected to provide some documentary evidence of the issue, whatever it was.

If you have had a teaching disaster - wrong syllabus, absent/incompetent teachers - the school/college should be prepared to write to the unis concerned to inform them about it. Again, there's no guarantee the uni will take any notice, but it can be helpful.

If I do miss my offer, what are the chances that my firm/insurance uni will let me in anyway?
No-one can say what your chances are. The higher ranked the university, and the more competitive the course, the more likely it will be that they won’t take you if you don’t meet your offer. HOWEVER this is not definite, by any means, even this year when it is being reported that unis are overwhelmed with too many applications for too few places. How true this really is going to be in practice remains to be seen.

Historically, many unis have accepted people who’ve missed their offers, even for competitive courses, so do not assume that all is lost. The only time when you will know for sure either way is on Results Day, so there is little to be gained by worrying about it now.

PS: If you have exams still to do, take a look here.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

TheUKDoN

I already have BBD at A-Level (D in History) and have applied to study history at uni next year. I am in the process of retaking my History A-Level exams in order to get a B, which I need to make the grades required (BBB).

I really think I messed up my last exam however and wouldnt be surprised if I came out with a D again. What are your thoughts on my chances of getting in? Should I contact the uni and inform them that im worried and see if they'll talk with me about it? I have been studying alone for this so im hoping that gets me a bit of leeway.

Reply 2

Minerva

TheUKDoN

Even if the uni was prepared to listen to you, they wouldn't be able to make any promises about what would happen in August if you didn't meet your offer. Unless you have extenuating circumstances for which you can provide robust evidence, it is much better not contact the uni at this stage. If on Results Day you haven't met your offer, then is the time to ring them and plead your case.

Reply 3

barrry007

regarding chemical engineering i got a BBB offer from aston uni would i get in with A*BC or AAC and also does anyone know how competitive chemical engineering is

Reply 4

jkuhn1

I have accepted a firm offer to study maths and business management at uni starting 2010. The offer is for ABB including an A in maths. My other two subjects are physics and geography.

I am pretty confident i will get an A in maths and a B in geography, however i think i am more likely to get a C in physics. Having checked UCAS the course i am on is still taking applications, ie it has not been filled.

If i was to get ABC with an A in maths what do you think the chances are that they will accept me?

Thanks a lot!

Reply 5

Clearing and Applications Advisor

somewhere between 0% and 100%

NOONE KNOWS - even the admissions tutor who will make that decision doesn't know at the moment - it depends on far too many unknown factors.

Just try to forget about it and IF you drop a grade on results day have a look on Track to see what's happened and decide what you need to do.

If you know that you haven't done very well in some exams and may not get the required grades, will it be ok to call your uni now and ask them how lenient they are with required grades rather than on results day...or will you be looked down upon as an applicant by doing this?

Reply 8

Hartemop

I like the optimism of this thread

Reply 9

kathx1

How do you know whether the course has been filled or not?
Just curious to see whether the course I'm doing has been filled :smile:

Reply 10

jelly1000

Aliyah123

you could, but chances are they wont know themselves. the unis dont decide how leniant they are goign to be until all results are in

Reply 11

jkuhn1

If on ucas course search is has an 'x' by the course then it is not full.

Reply 12

The_Timepasser

jkuhn1

If on ucas course search is has an 'x' by the course then it is not full.

Thts great to hear. Now if only there was a way to know what typical offers are being give out for clearing.

Reply 13

Minerva

The_Timepasser

Thts great to hear. Now if only there was a way to know what typical offers are being give out for clearing.

You should assume that they will be the same as the standard offers. They might not be, but unis are usually looking for people who meet their entry requirements, not people who haven't.

Reply 14

Chetz92

How flexible are universities in terms of meeting requirements on equivalent points,
ie. Offer is AAB, and you get an A*BB or a A*BBB?

Reply 15

Minerva

Chetz92

How flexible are universities in terms of meeting requirements on equivalent points,
ie. Offer is AAB, and you get an A*BB or a A*BBB?

Varies hugely, depending on the course and/or uni, so impossible to say.

Reply 16

katebushfan

I swear to god, if I get the grades I need on results day I will be so happy I'll snog everyone in the exam hall.

Reply 17

The_Timepasser

Minerva

You should assume that they will be the same as the standard offers. They might not be, but unis are usually looking for people who meet their entry requirements, not people who haven't.

What if I already have an offer for a course thts now in clearing...and miss it? And I'm an international student...if tht makes a difference.

Reply 18

fox_and_duck

Does anyone know how popular/oversubscribed language degrees are? I think I might well miss my offer by one grade (I need BBC - likely to get BCC), so I'm wondering what my chances are? I know that it is completely up to the uni, but I also know that some courses are less competitive than others. I'm hoping to study at Portsmouth ..

Reply 19

oxymoronic

fox_and_duck

No one has any idea as its all on a sliding scale. Obviously in terms of number of applications languages are not as "popular" as something such as say, medicine, but it will all be relative to the number of places actually available and the number of offers that were given out. Therefore, even if languages are less popular than another subject it doesn't mean that it'll be "easier" to get in come results day because even if there were only 100 applications for French compared to 500 for medicine, for example, there might have only been 30 offers given out for French in comparison to 150 for medicine. This makes each course equally as competitive as each other - 30% of applicants were given an offer, it doesn't matter about the actual numbers of applications concerned. Similarly, the university has no control over the number of people who accept the offer and then meet it - if they only had 10 places for French available and 15 people accepted the offer, it means if anyone fails to get the grades they'll be out as they need to get the final number of new students as close to 10 as possible in order to comply with their student allocation numbers set by the government.

The simple answer is you'll have to wait and see - the best way of looking at it is to assume that if you fail to get your grades you've lost your place, as this is more than likely to be the reality for most people this year then anything more than this is a happy bonus.