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University of East Anglia

Norwich

Applying problems UEA predicted grades!?!

Hello, I have just got my predicted grades, and I am a little worried, I really want to study politics at UEA but the entry requirements are ABB and my predicted grades are only BBB. Does anyone know hoe lenient UEA are? How likely is an offer? Thankyou :smile:

Reply 1

oxymoronic

Original post by Jacob Lawrence

The majority of predicted grades end up being wrong and universities realise this so a lot of them will consider people who are predicted 1 grade (or sometimes 2 grades) below their standard offer. Then if they decide to make an offer, it will be at the standard offer grades and it's your call then to actually meet the offer if you want to go there.

Do you feel that your predicted grades are what you realistically will achieve when compared to your AS results and general feeling about your A levels? If you feel that you should be predicted an A in something then speak to your teachers and see if they can raise it.

University of East Anglia

Norwich

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Reply 2

Jacob Lawrence

Thank you, I had a difficult year, I got a B in Politics, a B in history (but i got an A in one and D) and in English I got a D (but my coursework was marked DOWN from a C to an E but I got a B in the test) So obviously I will retake the history D and my English coursework.

My English course work didn't even get sent off to be moderated, but because the few that did got marked down, all of them got marked down! Things are easier this year so I think if i work i can get the ABB.

Reply 3

jelly1000

Original post by Jacob Lawrence

UEA generally tend to be lenient, especially if your personal statement is good.

Reply 4

Jacob Lawrence

Thanks, I had a look around and it is so beautiful, Norwich is lovely and it is only a two and a half hour drive from home! :smile:

Reply 5

returnmigrant

Original post by oxymoronic

The majority of predicted grades end up being wrong

The 'wrong' is usually over-prediction not under-prediction.

And if a University is asking for A grades this implies they know they will get applications from enough people with adequate predictions to fill the course without being kind to people who are predicted below that. Remember, people applying to 'top' Unis often make places like UEA their Insurance.

The usual advice is that one 'risky' choice is worth a shot - but with the realisation that you might not get an offer at all, or if you do it will be ABB which might be unachievable.

If you make your other choices more realistic, ie. 3 at BBB and 1 below that as a potential Insurance, then it is worth giving UEA a shot, but be prepared for a straight rejection.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 6

oxymoronic

Original post by returnmigrant

And if a University is asking for A grades this implies they know they will get applications from enough people with adequate predictions to fill the course without being kind to people who are predicted below that. Remember, people applying to 'top' Unis often make places like UEA their Insurance.

It doesn't really - it means UEA are thinking about their quotas and would much rather make offers of ABB and have these people outside of their HEFCE cap if they can rather than risk making BBB offers and having everyone achieve BBB. Did you not notice that a lot of BBB courses bumped their offers to ABB for 2013 entry? And likewise, the same happened with AAB the year before. Applicants associate entry grades with prestige - the only way somewhere like UEA is going to have a shot at getting someone who applies to Oxbridge is if they present themselves as having high entry grades, even if realistically, a lot of the people that actually go to the uni have lower grades than advertised.

I know of universities in a very similar position to UEA who advertise certain requirements even though they know realistically, they'll end up with a very small number of people who actually go on to achieve those grades. Just because a university is asking for X it doesn't mean that they will get X - it's just what they want. Likewise, I know of universities in a very similar position to UEA who have it as standard practice to make offers to people who are predicted two grades lower than their typical offer. BBB is pretty close to ABB and UEA likely know that the student is probably applying to them as an aspirational choice - if they get an offer, they'll likely firm. If they get ABB then they're out of the HEFCE cap and it's wins all round. I'm not saying that the applicant will indeed get an offer as I don't know the exact ins and outs of UEAs admissions policy given I do not work at that institution (and from what I know about you, neither do you) however, from the policies I do know about, my advice stands.

Reply 7

returnmigrant

Original post by oxymoronic

I know of universities in a very similar position to UEA who advertise certain requirements even though they know realistically, they'll end up with a very small number of people who actually go on to achieve those grades.

Do you have any written evidence of this claim, or is this merely 'I've heard'?

Reply 8

Potally_Tissed

Original post by returnmigrant

Do you have any written evidence of this claim, or is this merely 'I've heard'?

I'm not sure what exactly you're expecting to see by way of proof. A university website saying "the typical offer is AAA... but we don't realistically expect to get enough applicants with that so if you've got ABB or better it's probably fine"? Or maybe some internal documents or emails that would confirm such a policy? Unsurprisingly I can't find any stats on how many people get accepted despite missing offers and I imagine unis wouldn't be especially keen to publicise it, but there's plenty of anecdotal evidence floating around on here from August of people who got in despite missing offers.

Reply 9

oxymoronic

Original post by returnmigrant

Do you have any written evidence of this claim, or is this merely 'I've heard'?

I'm an admissions officer at an unnamed university.

Reply 10

returnmigrant

Original post by oxymoronic

I'm an admissions officer at an unnamed university.

Ditto.

And I've also been told that other Unis 'have dropped their grades to attract more applicants' so actually in the great big scheme of things this sort of 'conspiracy theory' based on nebulous anecdotal chat is pretty meaningless in guiding school-leavers where they should apply.

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