The Student Room Group

My sixth form won't predict me good grades

At AS level i took Business, History and Psychology in which i got BBC. All these were a grade higher than my target grades of CCD. However because of this my sixth form will only predict me BBC. This is annoying as the course i really want to go to is law with business at Chester which is BBB. How much will this effect my application if my predicted grades aren't BBB baring in mind my AS results?
Original post by fireway10
At AS level i took Business, History and Psychology in which i got BBC. All these were a grade higher than my target grades of CCD. However because of this my sixth form will only predict me BBC. This is annoying as the course i really want to go to is law with business at Chester which is BBB. How much will this effect my application if my predicted grades aren't BBB baring in mind my AS results?

Many universities will give offers to applicants who are predicted just one grade lower than your target grades. They understand that it's possible to exceed your target.
Reply 2
Original post by fireway10
At AS level i took Business, History and Psychology in which i got BBC. All these were a grade higher than my target grades of CCD. However because of this my sixth form will only predict me BBC. This is annoying as the course i really want to go to is law with business at Chester which is BBB. How much will this effect my application if my predicted grades aren't BBB baring in mind my AS results?


It will not affect you at all, you will more than likely get offers as long as your PS is decent :smile:
To actually get in, you still have to meet the terms of the offer, ie achieve BBB. If this isn't likely for you, all you're doing is setting yourself up for disappointment, failure and heartbreak on results day - and there really is nothing worse than that sinking feeling of finding that you've missed your grades, you're in Clearing and your life suddenly isn't going to be how you planned it.

Posted from TSR Mobile
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Origami Bullets
To actually get in, you still have to meet the terms of the offer, ie achieve BBB. If this isn't likely for you, all you're doing is setting yourself up for disappointment, failure and heartbreak on results day - and there really is nothing worse than that sinking feeling of finding that you've missed your grades, you're in Clearing and your life suddenly isn't going to be how you planned it.


Posted from TSR Mobile


They aren't asking for more than one grade higher though, just a C to a B although it obviously depends on how high the C they got is.
And since they have already exceeded their predictions by 3 grades total last year they should be able to bridge the C to a B

Although I do agree with all of the people above, you will probably get an offer since you're just one grade under providing you have a decent statement

Good luck :smile:
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 5
Thanks everyone I have really eased my worries. I wasn't suprised to be predicted a C in psychology but both my history and business were close to an A so I was hoping to get predicted highs in at least one of them 2.


Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 6
Nobody can say how likely you are to get an offer, and everyone who is saying you probably will is being deliberately misleading. It depends how popular the course is, and what the general policy is. Although some courses advertise certain requirements this doesn't say anything about the quality of the applicants - many people will apply with better grades. For example, York used to ask for ABB for Economics, but if you weren't predicted higher you were very unlikely to get an offer. Edinburgh doesn't like anything less than a B.

So no, there's no such thing as "many universities will give offers to applicants who are predicted just one grade lower than your target grades". If anything, it's the opposite.
I agree with the post above that pointed out the ways in which teachers already overpredict grades.
Original post by Origami Bullets
To actually get in, you still have to meet the terms of the offer, ie achieve BBB. If this isn't likely for you, all you're doing is setting yourself up for disappointment, failure and heartbreak on results day - and there really is nothing worse than that sinking feeling of finding that you've missed your grades, you're in Clearing and your life suddenly isn't going to be how you planned it.

Posted from TSR Mobile
I completed the IB Diploma earlier this year. For UCAS I was predicted 37 points - after begging teachers, putting in extra effort and sitting extra class exams - regardless of achieving 33 points (equivalent to around AAB) in our summer mock exams because I was extremely confident that I could achieve that or better. At the end of the course I ended up getting 38 points without resitting any exams (equivalent to AAAa) :smile: If the OP is determined and honestly believes they can achieve BBB I do not see why they should be underpredicted to the extent that it stops them from applying to the course they want to study at uni.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 9
Original post by goldenshades
I completed the IB Diploma earlier this year. For UCAS I was predicted 37 points - after begging teachers, putting in extra effort and sitting extra class exams - regardless of achieving 33 points (equivalent to around AAB) in our summer mock exams because I was extremely confident that I could achieve that or better. At the end of the course I ended up getting 38 points without resitting any exams (equivalent to AAAa) :smile: If the OP is determined and honestly believes they can achieve BBB I do not see why they should be underpredicted to the extent that it stops them from applying to the course they want to study at uni.

I am pleased for you. However, I've been on TSR for over 10 years and know that unfortunately your story is unlikely. I have seen far more posts from people who were too optimistic and didn't get the grades, and then need to go through Clearing in a panic. Or some that get high predictions, but unis see through that and reject anyway. Or others that then need to re-sit A Levels but still can't achieve what they want to.

The reason everyone who knows what they're talking about is pessimistic over this is because unfortunately that's how it usually works. I can think of two people in the past year who achieved high grades despite everyone else thinking they wouldn't - you're one, and I'm not entirely sure the other was telling the truth. I can't even count how many have failed in the last few months even if I take my shoes and socks off.
Original post by BekahMay
They aren't asking for more than one grade higher though, just a C to a B although it obviously depends on how high the C they got is.
And since they have already exceeded their predictions by 3 grades total last year they should be able to bridge the C to a B

Although I do agree with all of the people above, you will probably get an offer since you're just one grade under providing you have a decent statement

Good luck :smile:


It's impossible for you to predict with any accuracy whether or not this student will get an offer, unless you are employed in admissions at Chester. You are unlikely to know their policy, and you certainly don't know what their stats are looking like this year - they may be having a particularly good or bad year for applications so far for that subject.

Original post by goldenshades
I completed the IB Diploma earlier this year. For UCAS I was predicted 37 points - after begging teachers, putting in extra effort and sitting extra class exams - regardless of achieving 33 points (equivalent to around AAB) in our summer mock exams because I was extremely confident that I could achieve that or better. At the end of the course I ended up getting 38 points without resitting any exams (equivalent to AAAa) :smile: If the OP is determined and honestly believes they can achieve BBB I do not see why they should be underpredicted to the extent that it stops them from applying to the course they want to study at uni.


Congratulations, but as Juno says, you're very unusual. Most students are overpredicted, often to a very significant level, and for the reasons I explained above, this does no one (least of all the student) any favours.
(edited 8 years ago)
OP did your college actually set you a target grade of D? surely the minimum should be C?
Reply 12
No my prediction at AS was a D (because to do the course u need a B in maths english and a science subject and I got a C in English but managed to get on.) but I got a C at AS and he reasons why they won't predict me any higher is because of my original AS predictions


Posted from TSR Mobile
What was the C in terms of UMS? Was it a high C or a low C?

If you scrapped a C, it's not entirely unfair to not predict you a whole mark higher. Pretty harsh though if you were close to a B.
Original post by Juno
Nobody can say how likely you are to get an offer, and everyone who is saying you probably will is being deliberately misleading. It depends how popular the course is, and what the general policy is. Although some courses advertise certain requirements this doesn't say anything about the quality of the applicants - many people will apply with better grades. For example, York used to ask for ABB for Economics, but if you weren't predicted higher you were very unlikely to get an offer. Edinburgh doesn't like anything less than a B.

So no, there's no such thing as "many universities will give offers to applicants who are predicted just one grade lower than your target grades". If anything, it's the opposite.


I agree; you should set it straight, it's better they find out the reality sooner rather than later

Quick Reply

Latest