Applying for English: Advice from an admissions tutor

It isn't a matter of agreement or not. This is explicitly what was said at this university by this admissions tutor in answer to the express question from the floor about whether A*AB would be acceptable this year as an equivalent. It looks as if you haven't applied to university this year or for English, so your situation isn't quite the same. The course is massively oversubscribed and they are actively seeking ways to discriminate between many very deserving and very similar candidates and like most other Russell Group universities, they don't need to be flexible about this and they were very emphatic on the matter on the day. I completely understand that this is a very unpalatable truth and that in the past many people have got in in this way (I include myself in this, though the practice of more than 3 decades ago is scarcely relevant) but the message was very clear: this will not happen this year, on this course, in this and comparable institutions and I am passing that message on so that people who are applying this year know the score and can plan accordingly.

Obviously I'm not disputing what was said.

I applied last year, for Law, which is one of the most oversubscribed courses nationwide, and the institution in question received roughly 10 applications per place. And yet I was offered a place in the situation I described only last year.

My point is that your post gives the reader the impression that what the admissions tutor said to you more or less universally applies to any decent institution offering any half respectable course; clearly it doesn't.

what carnationlilyrose said. Last year, there were many people in exactly the situation she describes (offering A*AB against AAA) who did not get their places. Edinburgh in particular is known to insist that if the offer is BBB, these are minimum grades across all subjects, and A*A*C will not get you your place.

As I said to her:

Obviously I'm not disputing what was said.

I applied last year, for Law, which is one of the most oversubscribed courses nationwide, and the institution in question received roughly 10 applications per place. And yet I was offered a place in the situation I described only last year.

My point is that the OP gives the reader the impression that what the admissions tutor said to you more or less universally applies to any decent institution offering any half respectable course; clearly it doesn't.

K
It applies to a comparable Russell Group university offering English, this year. The university in question has 35 applications to places. They won't budge this year for English. Your experience turned out happily for you. It is not relevant to the experience these applicants will have at these institutions for this course this year, regardless of what happened to you last year on your course. I am making no statement whatsoever about Law. This is not the law forum. This is the English forum. Law experiences are not relevant here. Can't be plainer than that.

However the point does apply for other RG unis for English. If not enough people meet their offers (ie they get AAB/A*AB/etc) then the university will not have enough people on the course and some people with A*A*B/A*AB/etc will get in. Obviously it's unlikely for an AAA course so in the case of the university you are talking about then realistically won't be able to let people who don't get AAA in, but for some unis which have only made their typical offer for English AAA (up from AAB) in the last year or two they may be more flexible.

On the other hand, some RG unis' offers for English are now A*AA so they may have a situation where not enough people get A*AA to fill the course.

Similarly, some RG unis do seriously consider GCSEs when choosing who to give offers do (eg Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, etc) so the information in your first post does not apply to all RG unis, because the RG is so big that it now covers unis ranked 1st and unis ranked in the 30s so naturally some are more competitive than others. As nobody knows which uni you are referring to in your first post it's hard to work out what "comparable institutions" are since the RG is now quite diverse in terms of entry requirements.

I've given the full information as I was given it. Take it or leave it is all I can say. Up to the applicant. I cannot say which university it was as I promised not to, but it currently ranks at 17 for English.

K
It applies to a comparable Russell Group university offering English, this year. The university in question has 35 applications to places. They won't budge this year for English. Your experience turned out happily for you. It is not relevant to the experience these applicants will have at these institutions for this course this year, regardless of what happened to you last year on your course. I am making no statement whatsoever about Law. This is not the law forum. This is the English forum. Law experiences are not relevant here. Can't be plainer than that.

Talk about patronising.

Ha. though I think that particular league table is pure *******s and *that place* deserves to be a lot higher based on the quality of the people I know there, I didn't realise *that place* was so oversubscribed

However the point does apply for other RG unis for English. If not enough people meet their offers (ie they get AAB/A*AB/etc) then the university will not have enough people on the course and some people with A*A*B/A*AB/etc will get in. Obviously it's unlikely for an AAA course so in the case of the university you are talking about then realistically won't be able to let people who don't get AAA in, but for some unis which have only made their typical offer for English AAA (up from AAB) in the last year or two they may be more flexible.

On the other hand, some RG unis' offers for English are now A*AA so they may have a situation where not enough people get A*AA to fill the course.

Similarly, some RG unis do seriously consider GCSEs when choosing who to give offers do (eg Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, etc) so the information in your first post does not apply to all RG unis, because the RG is so big that it now covers unis ranked 1st and unis ranked in the 30s so naturally some are more competitive than others. As nobody knows which uni you are referring to in your first post it's hard to work out what "comparable institutions" are since the RG is now quite diverse in terms of entry requirements.

I don't really understand why people are going to such lengths to argue with the initial post.
Obviously there's going to be a few people who will be lucky enough to get accepted anyway, even after missing their offers. But that in no way contradicts the fact that a) being predicted less than the standard offer will normally mean an instant rejection and b) if your offer is for AAA and you achieve A*AB, you have officially missed your offer and will most likely lose your place. Just because it obviously doesn't happen in every single case, that doesn't make this irrelevant. It would be foolish to count on being the exception to the rule, no?

I don't think anyone would tell people they should count on being let in with lower grades, but for anyone in this situation on results day, there is nothing to be lost from ringing up the department and seeing if they have any places available (they may have some for a joint honours course including English, or be able to let in one or two students with A*A*B/etc).

Yesterday I attended a careers advisers' conference at what I'll refer to anonymously as a prestigious Russell Group university in the north of England, and I thought it might be worth posting here what the admissions tutor for English said in a workshop on applying successfully.

Being mischievous, I wondered whether what you had been told by the admissions tutors matched up with other sources of information about that university.

Are the offers actually being reported by applicants on the TSR offers page consistent with what you were told because there are not many universities making wholly consistent AAA offers with no variation for English? Manchester, for example, seems to be giving out some AAB offers for English.

Does the university website guidance coincide with what you told about the contents of personal statements because, for example, Durham's certainly implies that they value wielding a hockey stick or a bassoon?

Tbh, the heart's gone out of me for looking into such things. I posted this verbatim in a spirit of helpfulness, only to find I'm guilty of all manner of evil. It's one of the reasons I took a two month sabbaticals from TSR in truth.

I am sorry to hear that.

I think it is anxiety on the part of applicants coupled with a history of mixed messages from universities.

I was getting drunk with a former Cambridge law admissions tutor recently and a couple of the things he said didn't fit with the party line. I am not going to repeat them because they may have been just him, he is no longer involved, and that is one college out of about 30.

I found out which university it is in 30 seconds.