Is it unfair if a uni doesn't give you an offer after a remark

I just got a remark and went from an ABB to AAB. My offer conditions were AAA, but they were accepting people with one grade below on results day (I was 2 grades at the time) I emailed them to notify them of my remark, but I was told they would only accept my offer conditions of AAA. Do you think it's fair?

In life there are three states, fair, unfair and not a matter of fairness. You didn't make your offer grades, so you have no right to a place (fair). The process was not capable of giving you your revised result before the university needed to confirm places (not a matter of fairness).

That's true, I'm just not sure if I want to go to my insurance choice after my firm rejected me

That's true, I'm just not sure if I want to go to my insurance choice after my firm rejected me

My offer conditions were AAA, but they were accepting people with one grade below on results day

On Results Day.
And by now they have finalised numbers and the courses are full. They were not going to keep a place open just for you on the off-chance that you were going to up one grade and still miss the required grades.

OK, well that's a completely different situation. You've probably missed getting anything worth doing in Clearing, so you choice is to think up something interesting and useful to do in a gap year, or decide to go to your Insurance. You've got 3-4 weeks to gather evidence/ideas and decide.

I know, it's the hard truth


I'm really torn between a gap year or going to my insurance choice because I can't justify why I shouldn't go to my insurance choice. My insurance choice is surrey, but my original firm was bath. The reason I'm hesitant on going to my insurance choice is that whenever I mention I'm going to surrey, people say it's an okay uni or it's not the top uni choice. Secondly I saw my course (computer science) still on clearing there today, so it made me question whether people wanted to go there.

Which “people” are you willing to trust their judgement of Surrey over your own judgement?

Surrey’s work placement scheme is going to make their CS degree a lot more employable than lots of more 100% theory focused courses at universities with higher entry requirements that are more popular with 17 year olds.

People I know that are doing CS at kings, bristol, oxbridge and etc. But they are also the same people that believe any uni below bristol is not good, so I don't think I should really trust their judgement.

That's one of the original factors why I applied to the uni. After finishing your degree (in the workplace) is experience such as work placement more valuable than having only a top uni such as oxbridge or imperial on your CV?

People I know that are doing CS at kings, bristol, oxbridge and etc. But they are also the same people that believe any uni below bristol is not good, so I don't think I should really trust their judgement.

That's one of the original factors why I applied to the uni. After finishing your degree (in the workplace) is experience such as work placement more valuable than having only a top uni such as oxbridge or imperial on your CV?

Ignore what other people say or think. If you think Surrey's good enough for you, then it is. It's silly to shun it only because of what other people think. At the end of the day, what matters is your degree classification, not where you studied. And yes, work experience is infinitely valuable when you finish your degree!

Computer science has the highest unemployment rate of any subject - because most courses don’t include a placement and graduates think they’ll just walk into a job with no experience or commercial awareness.

Go to Surrey. You’ll have a great time, get a good degree with a placement and be far more employable than someone who went to Bristol thinking that a degree from Bristol is all they need to get a good job.

Hey! First of all, congratulations. Those are great A level results, and you have every reason to be proud.

I speak here as the mum of a student in a similar position to you this year - different course, same Unis. Her first choice was Bath, her insurance was Surrey. She missed her offer and, after the inevitable initial disappointment, decided to take up her place at Surrey.

Bath is a wonderful place to study, ranked highly for her subject, and there will always be a tinge of regret that she couldn't go. But Surrey is also a highly respectable institution, with a focus on quality teaching and student support. Their facilities are of an exceptional standard, and of course there's that placement year that makes all the difference to graduate career prospects.

Only you can know whether you can take this perceived hit in prestige compared to your friends, and you'll need to weigh up whether the Surrey course structure is equally interesting/beneficial to you. But don't dismiss Surrey off-hand. If you haven't already, visit it, talk to your prospective lecturers, and get a feel for what it is like to study there for yourself rather than off of people who have never been there.

One thing to consider, however, is that Surrey is all out of campus accommodation for the year. Many clearing students weren't offered accommodation and are facing a struggle finding a room in the private sector so close to the beginning of the academic year. If you aren't local and able to commute, you may need to factor in this information in your final choice.

Best of luck - all will be well in the end

Thank you! I remember I had a talk with one of the lecturers on opening day last year and she was really nice, answered so many of my questions not just about Computer Science at surrey but it general. I applied to accomodation and got the one I wanted, thankfully!