The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

How do you think universities will view my situation and grades?

Hi,

I'm just looking to see how other people think universities would look at my application.

In short last year I did far worse than my A*, A*, B prediction for my A levels and ended up with A*, B, D. I am now taking a gap year and looking to re-take modules from my B (Spanish) and D (Physics). I am looking to study architecture at University and am spending the year working full time in an architect's office to gain relevant work experience, hoping that it will help my application a fair bit.

2 of the Universities I am applying to have AAA entry requirements and are very aspirational. I chose them over other AAA Russell Group unis based on what grades students actually got into the courses with in previous years. For example, I know people have got on the course with A*, B, D and A, B, C in recent years even though for both unis they are very highly regarded and competitive. A lot of this is to do with portfolio for architecture and mine is fairly strong apparently. The other universities have lower entry requirements.

I'll list my queries as separate questions to make them easier to answer.

1) I am (according to other people) a very intelligent person who just struggles with the pressure of exams. My GCSE results are 3 A*, 4 A, 3B. Do good universities judge people's intelligence almost totally on their A level grades (I am retaking with the aim of achieving A*, A, B overall) or do they factor in personal statement, reference, GCSEs etc. much?

2) My B in Spanish was 1 UMS from an A and I got an A* in January mocks. Will universities look at how close you are to an A like that or just see it as a B?

3) Due to small class sizes I had reduced teaching hours for Physics and Spanish. For Physics I had 3 hours a week and 2 hours for Spanish. My employer is writing my reference. Should he mention the circumstances or would it seem like I am just looking to make excuses and he doesn't know much about my school?

4) Do good universities sometimes accept that some people just are not good at exams? I say this as architecture degrees are, in some cases, almost entirely coursework based

5) How highly do Russell Group universities like Sheffield and Newcastle value relevant work experience?

Thanks :smile:
Reply 1
Avatar for Basilla
Basilla
1
Hallo! I'll answer what I can, which will by no means be much.
Original post by HarryW03
Hi,
1) I am (according to other people) a very intelligent person who just struggles with the pressure of exams. My GCSE results are 3 A*, 4 A, 3B. Do good universities judge people's intelligence almost totally on their A level grades (I am retaking with the aim of achieving A*, A, B overall) or do they factor in personal statement, reference, GCSEs etc. much?

Most universities tend to be somewhat considerate, but I imagine the likelihood is that if you reapply you'll still get an offer which is based upon achieving higher grades in Physics (at least) and Spanish (possibly) regardless - so therefore this point is null and void.
I wonder if you can get diagnosed with exam anxiety? I have a friend who has severe stress issues surrounding exams, to the point that they make her physically ill, and universities have been somewhat lenient with her.
Original post by HarryW03

2) My B in Spanish was 1 UMS from an A and I got an A* in January mocks. Will universities look at how close you are to an A like that or just see it as a B?


Apart from Cambridge, none of the universities ask for your UMS. For you to make them aware of it, you have to explicitly mention it - best option would likely be to have it mentioned in your teacher's reference.

Original post by HarryW03

3) Due to small class sizes I had reduced teaching hours for Physics and Spanish. For Physics I had 3 hours a week and 2 hours for Spanish. My employer is writing my reference. Should he mention the circumstances or would it seem like I am just looking to make excuses and he doesn't know much about my school?

Well, I imagine it would seem somewhat odd your employer including such things about your school. You could mention it in the personal statement, as a sort of 'I realize now that, due to the reduced teaching hours in these areas, I should have put a lot more effort into my Physics & Spanish A-Levels, and am now working hard to amend that.'But yeah, it does somewhat seem like excuse-mongering from here (but I am not exactly an admissions officer)
Original post by HarryW03

5) How highly do Russell Group universities like Sheffield and Newcastle value relevant work experience?

Not entirely sure. If it's relevant then it's definitely good, but just a note - you should be able to prove that you're keeping your maths skills intact. Architecture is quite maths-intensive I would have thought, and thus one of there main concerns with someone taking a gap year would tend to be 'maths skills get rusty'

Your best option is to just ring up one of the admissions officers and explain the situation. They're really kind and helpful, and it's not like the call will be logged to your UCAS file or passed on to tutors in the universities. They're a lot more qualified to help than most people on TSR...
I'm in a similar situation, my GCSE results were: 2A*, 9A, C but at AS I got An A in General Studies, a C in Maths, a C in Geography and a D in Physics, I was predicted much higher than that. The thing is that I don't get anxious over exams and I'm thinking of resitting some modules. So I have no idea what to do...
firstly don't put yourself down Your gcse results are excellent. aside from possibly Oxbridge, imperial, durham and lse I doubt any uni would hold 7 As as a failure. as far as your teaching goes it works both ways small classes actually are better as you get more personal attention than in a class of 20+. Failure to do will in exams should not be brought up unless there is a medical reason for the drop in performance. otherwise the uni will think that you are not likely to do well in their exans as well. the fact you were one mark off an a should be mentioned and supported by the evidence. why did you not request a remark it could have increased your grade. as you are resitting your grades might improve but as previously said you need to ensure you continue working on your maths possibly looking into step
Reply 4
Avatar for HarryW03
HarryW03
OP
7
Original post by swanseajack1
firstly don't put yourself down Your gcse results are excellent. aside from possibly Oxbridge, imperial, durham and lse I doubt any uni would hold 7 As as a failure. as far as your teaching goes it works both ways small classes actually are better as you get more personal attention than in a class of 20+. Failure to do will in exams should not be brought up unless there is a medical reason for the drop in performance. otherwise the uni will think that you are not likely to do well in their exans as well. the fact you were one mark off an a should be mentioned and supported by the evidence. why did you not request a remark it could have increased your grade. as you are resitting your grades might improve but as previously said you need to ensure you continue working on your maths possibly looking into step


I did get a re-mark but it stayed exactly the same :/

Thanks for the advice :smile:

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you