Worried about missing your offer? This is for you!

At this time of year many people worry a lot about whether they are going to make their offers. Some just have lost confidence, others are panicking about that exam that they are sure went really badly and can’t imagine how they will get the grades they need. This thread is for you

Extenuating Circumstances
If you have been ill or there have been other things going on in your life (eg bereavement) which may have affected either your revision or the exam itself, you should make sure that your school/college informs both the Exam Board and your firm/insurance unis well before Results are published. There is no guarantee that this information will be taken into account, but on the other hand it can’t be if the Exam Board/unis don’t have it in the first place. Bear in mind, however, that you are very likely to be expected to provide some documentary evidence of the issue, whatever it was.

How long before should the exam boards know? Is June 1st OK? (that's the date my school opens again)

I had chickenpox during Easter, and it went on for a month, though I'm still feeling some of the effects . Therefore I missed a lot of revision and school. Could I get extenuating circumstances?

I would have thought 1st June would be fine; exams run on through into June and they'll know about half term, so don't worry.

Bad luck about the chicken pox - I got it just before an important exam myself and it ain't funny

Do family problems come under extenuating circumstances?

And when I mean family problems - I mean pretty serious ones. Serious enough to have them documented.

I don't want to 'use' my ill fate to my advantage. But I guess it MIGHT have affected me mentally. I don't know for sure, since I pretended to ignore what was going around...

I was just wondering since several others could be in the same situation.


Thank you.

i got an offer from ucl law 666 on hl subjects with 38 on the IB. I think i might miss BnM by one point. Do you think i sill have a chance of getting in????

My circumstances were unique, but not in the way you mentioned in your first post. Like, no one died in my family or anything, but this is what happened. I switched course from Chemistry standard level to Business standard level halfway though my first year of IB. About two weeks later, the business teacher left the school. For almost the rest of the year, we did not have classes or a teacher. Then our school got a new teacher almost at the end of the year, but she never taught business before, nor any other ib subject for that matter. In fact she never taught anything before, she was never a teacher. Then on top of this, I switched from standard level to higher level halfway though the second year of IB (in mid december). The hl syllabus is much harder and longer, and requires 90 extra hours of teaching, which i probably didnt get. To add to this, 2009 was a transitional year, so the syllabus and the exam was different from other years, and due to sickness I missed my school mock exam, so the first time i ever took the new exam was in the real ib. I only messed up on paper 1 (paper 2 and IA were at least 6's), but I messed up cus I was not used to the format of the new exam.
Wat do you think i should do? I tried calculating my score, and i think I will either barely get a 6 or get a very high 5, depending on the grade boundry. Please someone give me advice

I can definately get my school to confirm this information. I already finished my exams an they all went well. Do you think that my case is strong enough that ucl will lower my conditional offer?
Oh and also, i take economics hl which is considered much harder than business, and i am 99% sure i got a 7 on it, so that be of help too?

Thanks a lot Minerva. Sorry if i am being a bit nerotic

your probably right. On another note, do you happen to have any idea whether grade boundries go up/down when a particular ib course changes? (as with BnM and math this year)
It would make sense if they go down, but why would more people get lower overall grades??

Ok my insurance choice is BBB.

I am very worried as currently at AS I am on chemistry (B), physics (D) and maths (B).

If I got BBD at A2, do you think birmingham would consider taking me? Taking into account I suffer from fibromyalgia (which was all disclosed on my application) and my informal interview went very well.

I am only resitting one module in physics, because I resat the other two in january and it only brought my overall percentage up by 3% at AS... I'm just so rubbish at Physics, I really really struggle to understand any of it.

My real aim is to get ABC, Because I believe they would take me then....

Advice Please.