Can a teacher sabotage my ucas application?

Original post by rachel479

Serious question. One of my teachers has threatened to move my predicted grade down for his subject. I am worried that this could happen without me knowing. Im doing IB so predictions are really important.

How does the actual sending off of Ucas form happen if applying through school - is there a chance he could change it without me knowing?

I'm also worried about my reference (this teacher really hates me). Will I get to see my reference before it gets sent off?

Thanks

All of this depends on your school's policies

I would find it odd if you were not appraised of your predicted grades - however the viewing of references varies from school to school

Reply 3

Original post by rachel479

Serious question. One of my teachers has threatened to move my predicted grade down for his subject. I am worried that this could happen without me knowing. Im doing IB so predictions are really important.

How does the actual sending off of Ucas form happen if applying through school - is there a chance he could change it without me knowing?

I'm also worried about my reference (this teacher really hates me). Will I get to see my reference before it gets sent off?

Thanks

Your school isn't going to want to sabotage your application. It won't look good for them if some students fail to get a university place.

Policy on reading references before your application is sent off varies from school to school but you can access it from UCAS after your application has been sent. While schools can give you a "bad" reference, they can't lie and most won't express negative opinions about a student. What do you think this teacher could say about you? Is there any specific incidents or statistics he could use to back up his opinion of you?

Normally, you'll be informed of your predictions via the school, as obviously students need to know their predictions in order to find appropriate courses. Your referee is responsible for entering your predictions onto UCAS- and after s/he's done this, they can't be changed. I would speak to your referee and ask if you can be informed if Mr X makes a change to your prediction, as if he moves it down, you might want to change your choices. It would be really unhelpful of a school to change your predictions without telling you, and I do think they shouldn't do this, although they technically could.

I know it's difficult having a personality clash with a teacher, but I'm guessing he's not going to be writing your reference. Who is writing your reference, and do you have a good relationship with them? Could you talk about your worries with them in a non-confrontational way?

Reply 4

Smarter_tutor

Original post by rachel479

Serious question. One of my teachers has threatened to move my predicted grade down for his subject. I am worried that this could happen without me knowing. Im doing IB so predictions are really important.

How does the actual sending off of Ucas form happen if applying through school - is there a chance he could change it without me knowing?

I'm also worried about my reference (this teacher really hates me). Will I get to see my reference before it gets sent off?

Thanks

Your teacher can and will and they probably do. The only counter is that the forms are meant to be checked before they are sent off... but a sly teacher could easily couch his/her words in such a way that it creates a negative feeling. The reference is confidential so you are not entitled to see it.

Reply 5

Comeback

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Original post by rachel479

Serious question. One of my teachers has threatened to move my predicted grade down for his subject. I am worried that this could happen without me knowing. Im doing IB so predictions are really important.

How does the actual sending off of Ucas form happen if applying through school - is there a chance he could change it without me knowing?

I'm also worried about my reference (this teacher really hates me). Will I get to see my reference before it gets sent off?

Thanks

Why? Until your reference is sent off, I recommend you make up for whatever you did (teachers don't say things like that for no reason, unless you're exaggerating) by being nice and working hard in your teacher's subject.

Teachers don't 'sabotage' references, maybe he/she thinks you're not working hard enough, and it's an effort to push you (otherwise they'll drop their predictions as they don't think you'll get the grades)

Reply 6

Original post by SlowlorisIncognito

Who is writing your reference, and do you have a good relationship with them? Could you talk about your worries with them in a non-confrontational way?

References are usually a group effort by all subject teachers, edited into one by the form teacher and given a final tweak if necessary by the head of year/head of sixth form.

Reply 7

Original post by Carnationlilyrose

References are usually a group effort by all subject teachers, edited into one by the form teacher and given a final tweak if necessary by the head of year/head of sixth form.

In the unlikely event of one teacher writing something very negative about a student without much justification, and the others being more positive, in your experience, would the form tutor or the head of sixth consider editing it out or asking them to re-write it, or would they just let it stand?

Reply 8

Original post by SlowlorisIncognito

In the unlikely event of one teacher writing something very negative about a student without much justification, and the others being more positive, in your experience, would the form tutor or the head of sixth consider editing it out or asking them to re-write it, or would they just let it stand?

In my experience of writing sixth form references at two schools, and my husband's at yet another, the rule is always to say nothing if nothing positive can be said. I can't recall it happening where I am at the moment (and my memory is too shot to hell to remember before that!) but I would certainly edit out anything negative as a form tutor, in the way that I edit any awkwardness to make it a cohesive whole. Students seem to really believe we want to sabotage their chances, on TSR at least, since I've never encountered that view in real life. I think it's pretty sad. I also know it's never been true in my experience of 30 years. What incentive would we have? We aren't spiteful children.

Reply 9

Original post by Carnationlilyrose

In my experience of writing sixth form references at two schools, and my husband's at yet another, the rule is always to say nothing if nothing positive can be said. I can't recall it happening where I am at the moment (and my memory is too shot to hell to remember before that!) but I would certainly edit out anything negative as a form tutor, in the way that I edit any awkwardness to make it a cohesive whole. Students seem to really believe we want to sabotage their chances, on TSR at least, since I've never encountered that view in real life. I think it's pretty sad. I also know it's never been true in my experience of 30 years. What incentive would we have? We aren't spiteful children.

That's fair enough. I didn't think it was something that was likely to happen.

I agree with the perception of students on TSR, but I think some of them are perhaps over invested in the idea of a specific uni or course, and perhaps perceive anyone standing in the way of that as being out to sabotage them? Also, teenagers can be pretty self absorbed, and perhaps ascribe the wrong motivations to people.

I don't know. I also don't think any teachers I've ever met would sabotage students or hold grudges in this way. I do think perhaps teaching sixth form requires a specific skill set, which not all teachers have.

Reply 10

Original post by SlowlorisIncognito

That's fair enough. I didn't think it was something that was likely to happen.

I agree with the perception of students on TSR, but I think some of them are perhaps over invested in the idea of a specific uni or course, and perhaps perceive anyone standing in the way of that as being out to sabotage them? Also, teenagers can be pretty self absorbed, and perhaps ascribe the wrong motivations to people.

I don't know. I also don't think any teachers I've ever met would sabotage students or hold grudges in this way. I do think perhaps teaching sixth form requires a specific skill set, which not all teachers have.

Well, I do agree about horses for courses when it comes to sixth form teaching. I also heartily concur with the self absorbed thing. There are times when the voices of reason and common sense don't get heard, for sure. It's much easier to blame a teacher instead of accepting one's own stubbornness in applying for places with no likelihood of success when the inevitable rejection comes than to acknowledge you weren't up to it.

Reply 11

ByronicHero

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They can describe your abilities in a way that you would describe as sabotage and they would describe as accurate, yes. The truth is that sometimes teachers won't really have much positive to say but, like CLR says, the policy tends to be to say little, if anything.

Reply 12

Original post by ByronicHero

.

Thanks for shaving off the beard!

Reply 13

ByronicHero

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Original post by Carnationlilyrose

Thanks for shaving off the beard!

Anything for you.

Reply 14

Original post by ByronicHero

Anything for you.

Oh, you.

Reply 15

Smarter_tutor

Original post by Carnationlilyrose

In my experience of writing sixth form references at two schools, and my husband's at yet another, the rule is always to say nothing if nothing positive can be said. I can't recall it happening where I am at the moment (and my memory is too shot to hell to remember before that!) but I would certainly edit out anything negative as a form tutor, in the way that I edit any awkwardness to make it a cohesive whole. Students seem to really believe we want to sabotage their chances, on TSR at least, since I've never encountered that view in real life. I think it's pretty sad. I also know it's never been true in my experience of 30 years. What incentive would we have? We aren't spiteful children.

It happens... I have experienced a student being threatened with a bad reference. Teachers are human and prone to all the other frailties of being human.

Saying it never happens is like saying no teacher has ever bullied their students.

To say "we are not spiteful children" is just patronising to students. Teachers can be spiteful

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 16

Clip

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At least you get to know your predictions. I went to a VI Form where you didn't get to know what they were. Applying to university is no fun when you have no idea how many points you have.

Reply 17

Original post by Smarter_tutor

It happens... I have experienced a student being threatened with a bad reference. Teachers are human and prone to all the other frailties of being human.

Saying it never happens is like saying no teacher has ever bullied their students.

To say "we are not spiteful children" is just patronising to students. Teachers can be spiteful

Your mileage clearly varies. Sorry to hear that.

Reply 18