2015 AS/A2 Results Day (Thursday 13th August) | Official Thread | 3 days to go

Ohh I see... Well I'm going to (attempt) to forget results day once these exams are over and worry more about it the night before

Yeah, countdowns such as this aren't great for confidence

Haha especially when I haven't even finished my exams!

Ahh I see... I've heard a lot of conflicting stories as to when UCAS actually updates. I assumed UCAS would update at around midnight, but the other day someone told me they update a couple of days before results day!!

Unis get results the weekend before. But track is frozen for that week (it is connected to a backup version).

Clearing vacancies are published 6pm the bight before results.

Track will go live before 8ap (but not much before - 7.30am is normal).

For 3/20 people every year track will not change when it goes live because their unis haven't updated ucas.

This is the FAQ from last year's thread - might be worth adding in to the first post

FAQs

Have mark schemes been released?
Markschemes are available to teachers. Officially, they are not meant to be released to students yet but if you search hard online, you may be able to find them.

When do grade boundaries get released?
There is no exact time for when grade boundaries are released. However, they are often released a day or so before results.

When can I collect my results from school/college?
That depends on the arrangements your school/college make - if you don't know the time then ring them up on Wednesday the 13th (there should be someone in that day) and ask.

How do I collect my results online?
Again this depends on your exam boards and/or your school/college. If you don't know then ask them directly.

When do unis get our results?
UCAS get the results from the exam boards on Friday 7th August. They spend a day or two matching them to your applications and then send them on to universities either overnight Friday or Saturday.

Universities then spend Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday MANUALLY comparing every offer to the results to decide whether applicants have met their offers or not (and if not whether they can be accepted with lower grades).

Track on Results Day

When will Track update?
Track will go live between 6 and 8am on results day. UCAS are saying 8am - it might go live earlier. It WON'T go live at midnight.

At that point EVERYONE will be able to see any decisions that their universities have sent to UCAS.

Just because it's live doesn't mean it will update for everyone. About 100,000 people last year didn't get a clear answer from Track first thing on Results Day - they had to collect their results and then ring up their firm/insurance unis.

My Track didn't change - is it worth hitting refresh until it does?
NO - once Track goes live again it then gets re-frozen in that state (because UCAS need to handle everyone and their dog hitting refresh constantly). Track WILL NOT CHANGE between 6am and midday. Hitting refresh just slows things down for everyone else.

Give yourself some good karma - get off Track and go and buy the Telegraph(just in case), get together your contact numbers for your unis, top your phone up with credit (and charge it) and get ready to collect your results from School.

My Track didn't change! That means I failed!!!
NO - lots of people last year (and the year before) met their offer but Track hadn't updated. Universities have to MANUALLY compare every set of results with the offer conditions - even if it's a simple YES or NO for every one of those that means a lot of data input to put in to their database to send through to UCAS.

If Track hasn't changed then that means that either:
a) You've met your offer and your uni knows that and hasn't got round to telling UCAS.
b) You've met your offer and your uni doesn't know that because your results got muddled up so they're waiting to talk to you to check before telling UCAS.
c) You've missed your offer but your uni wants you anyway but hasn't got round to telling UCAS.
d) You've imssed your offer but your uni want to make you an offer for a similar but less full course and haven't got round to telling UCAS.
e) You've missed your offer and your uni haven't decided yet whether they can take you or not - they might need to see how many Insurance people they have to take before they know they've got room first.
f) You've missed your offer and your firm uni doesn't want you but hasn't got round to telling UCAS.

In other words - if Track hasn't changed that doesn't give ANY indication as to whether your results are good or bad. In fact in some ways it's good - of those applicants who got a definite answer on results day last year...?....some of them got a definite rejection. Being in limbo for a couple of hours is a GOOD thing compared to that.

My Firm place has confirmed me! That means I passed my A levels!!!
NO - remember - these things are decided MANUALLY....someone somewhere sits down with a pile of UCAS forms and a list of results and ticks off results against offers. If your firm has confirmed you - well done! You're in! BUT don't go into School/College expecting to see a long line of A grades. Just as a lot of unis can be slow in sending decisions to UCAS, some unis are VERY quick and will not only confirm the people who met their offers but will have confirmed a whole BUNCH of people who missed their grades.

What grades are you hoping for? You're AS right?

Very odd mix of excited and nervous
On the bright side I'm going on holiday the day after so I'll be able to either drown my sorrows or celebrate with copious amounts of alcohol and ice cream.

Concerning that, do we get anything important in the post with regards to uni acceptance/rejection, ucas, etc. on/after results day, or can we deal with everything (outside of the results we collect from school) online/through phone calls?

This all depends on you uni so check with them (and check your firm AND insurance) to find out
A) if they will require a hard copy response to tge UCAS AS12 letter (and if so deadlines and if they will accept email instead).
And
B) how and when they allocate accommodation. It will probably be online but you might need to make sure you have your bank account details, accomm login/password etc with you while you are away.

Student finance changes can be done online (if you end up at your insurance) now as far as I know so that should be fine.

If you end up in Clearing then being away is likely to be a major issue - if there is a chance that could happen I'd suggest being mentally ready to take a gap year - it is possible to sort clearing out v quickly but it isn't something to pin your hopes on. If things go horribly it is better to have a good backup plan that you are happy with so you can enjoy your holiday.

The key is just to be sure you will have internet access and have all your login details for everythng and to check your email (and junk) daily.

Very odd mix of excited and nervous
On the bright side I'm going on holiday the day after so I'll be able to either drown my sorrows or celebrate with copious amounts of alcohol and ice cream.

Concerning that, do we get anything important in the post with regards to uni acceptance/rejection, ucas, etc. on/after results day, or can we deal with everything (outside of the results we collect from school) online/through phone calls?

A fellow Whovian! Nice avatar

Oh nice to meet you! Thank you very much! I love Clara so much, I'm so excited for it to start up again Last year it started the Saturday nearest to Results Day i think? So at least we have that to look forward to!

I'm so ****ing excited.

SAME! Are you AS OR A2?

How are you feeling about results day?
Which subjects do you study?
What grades are you hoping to get?
Are you in year 12 or 13?
To which uni are you hoping to go?
To study which subject?

So many questions....

Only 60 days to go. Good luck.

Below are the FAQs from last year's thread (all credit to PQ).

FAQs

Results
Have mark schemes been released?
Markschemes are available to teachers. Officially, they are not meant to be released to students yet but if you search hard online, you may be able to find them.

When do grade boundaries get released?
There is no exact time for when grade boundaries are released. However, they are often released a day or so before results.

When can I collect my results from school/college?
That depends on the arrangements your school/college make - if you don't know the time then ring them up on Wednesday the 12th (there should be someone in that day) and ask.How do I collect my results online?Again this depends on your exam boards and/or your school/college. If you don't know then ask them directly.

When do unis get our results?
UCAS get the results from the exam boards on Friday 7th August. They spend a day or two matching them to your applications and then send them on to universities either overnight Friday or Saturday.Universities then spend Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday MANUALLY comparing every offer to the results to decide whether applicants have met their offers or not (and if not whether they can be accepted with lower grades).

Track on Results Day

When will Track update?
Track will go live between 6 and 8am on results day. UCAS are saying 8am - it might go live earlier. It WON'T go live at midnight. At that point EVERYONE will be able to see any decisions that their universities have sent to UCAS.Just because it's live doesn't mean it will update for everyone. About 100,000 people last year didn't get a clear answer from Track first thing on Results Day - they had to collect their results and then ring up their firm/insurance unis.

My Track didn't change - is it worth hitting refresh until it does?
NO - once Track goes live again it then gets re-frozen in that state (because UCAS need to handle everyone and their dog hitting refresh constantly). Track WILL NOT CHANGE between 6am and midday. Hitting refresh just slows things down for everyone else. Give yourself some good karma - get off Track and go and buy the Telegraph(just in case), get together your contact numbers for your unis, top your phone up with credit (and charge it) and get ready to collect your results from School.

My Track didn't change! That means I failed!!!
NO - lots of people last year (and the year before) met their offer but Track hadn't updated. Universities have to MANUALLY compare every set of results with the offer conditions - even if it's a simple YES or NO for every one of those that means a lot of data input to put in to their database to send through to UCAS.If Track hasn't changed then that means that either:
a) You've met your offer and your uni knows that and hasn't got round to telling UCAS.
b) You've met your offer and your uni doesn't know that because your results got muddled up so they're waiting to talk to you to check before telling UCAS.
c) You've missed your offer but your uni wants you anyway but hasn't got round to telling UCAS.
d) You've imssed your offer but your uni want to make you an offer for a similar but less full course and haven't got round to telling UCAS.
e) You've missed your offer and your uni haven't decided yet whether they can take you or not - they might need to see how many Insurance people they have to take before they know they've got room first.
f) You've missed your offer and your firm uni doesn't want you but hasn't got round to telling UCAS.In other words - if Track hasn't changed that doesn't give ANY indication as to whether your results are good or bad. In fact in some ways it's good - of those applicants who got a definite answer on results day last year...?....some of them got a definite rejection. Being in limbo for a couple of hours is a GOOD thing compared to that.

My Firm place has confirmed me! That means I passed my A levels!!!
NO - remember - these things are decided MANUALLY....someone somewhere sits down with a pile of UCAS forms and a list of results and ticks off results against offers. If your firm has confirmed you - well done! You're in! BUT don't go into School/College expecting to see a long line of A grades. Just as a lot of unis can be slow in sending decisions to UCAS, some unis are VERY quick and will not only confirm the people who met their offers but will have confirmed a whole BUNCH of people who missed their grades.

Results Day Flow Chart

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=306375&d=1406738033

AS, you?

are igcse markschemes also available?