University Entry Requirements Confuse Me

So, basically, I get the whole AAA required at A2 for you to come to this university, for example. But, unis like exeter have an entry requirement with AAA-ABB for one of their courses.
Does this mean I can apply to this university with AAB grades at AS? Why do they do this? Thanks.

Reply 1

solC

Original post by IRoranth

My guess is that the uni will give different requirements depending on certain factors (dont know what those are though) or perhaps it means the uni will give an offer like AAA but if you end up with ABB they will still accept you. I guess it shows their leniency towards slightly missing the required grades.
Not 100% sure about this though :smile:

University of Exeter

Exeter

Reply 2

Ellismall

When it says something like AAA-ABB it usually means that ABB is the lowest offer they will give and it's usually reserved for students from a disadvantaged area or 'widening participation' school, or someone with extenuating circumstances. The standard offer will be AAA.
However if you have AAB at AS I would definitely apply as it's your predicted grades that matter for getting offers and as long as you have a good reference and personal statement the university will think it's perfectly possible for you to raise one grade in one subject for A2. Plus, depending on the course, some universities will SOMETIMES let you in on results day even if you don't get the grades so it's worth getting the offer and then seeing what happens. As long as you make sure you apply to other universities with lower grades and have a good insurance option, it's good to aim high.

Reply 3

solC

Best bet is to email the uni itself and ask what it means

Reply 4

Devify

This is why they say something like "typical offer". It means that they will usually consider you whether you get ABB, AAB, AAA or higher. For the lower grades they will usually judge by your personal statement, reference, number of people applying or some other aspect.

Reply 5

Marked Target

With AAB at AS you could apply somewhere which asks for A*AA and still get an offer. I got AABBC at AS (A*A*AA at A2) and I got offers which asked for A*AA. Whether or not they'd accept you if you got AAB at A2 is another story. Generally, I think you can drop a grade in one of the 'extra' A levels (IE, you apply for Chemistry and get A*AB in Chemistry/Maths/Biology they'll probably still have you.)

Reply 6

Devify

Also, A2 grade estimations are usually higher than AS so you could probably get an offer with BBB or BBC maybe even lower

Reply 7

IRoranth

Original post by Ellismall

Original post by Marked Target

My year leader told us not to apply to universities that have higher offers than your AS grades, as it will result in immediate rejection. Is this true?
Kings was a choice for me, offer is AAA, and when I told my year leader, he gave me such a patronising look and told me I genuinely could not apply?

And as we all know, because of the new system, my AS grades are basically my predicted grades, and he goes; 'here in this school our predicted grades are pretttttttty accurate, so don't bother applying.'

I'm hoping to push my grades up to at least one A*, and the others AA. Possibly two A*s and an A..... my only hope is the new 'adjustment' system, which my year leader also claims is very rare.

Help! D:

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 8

Devify

Original post by IRoranth

That's bs. Loads of people say so for whatever reason but you should actually apply to a range of choices. You have 5 spaces, you apply for 2 you like at your AS grade, apply for 2 at higher requirement level and apply for 1 that's below as a fall back. Most unis will give you a conditional offer even if your AS grades were a couple of marks too low. Say their entry requirements are AAA, they will give offers to students with ABB or even BBB at AS level. The only thing is their requirement will be for you to get AAA.

I've seen posts this year about people saying how they've been told by their teachers not to apply for anywhere that require higher grades than their AS but who did and actually got into where they wanted to.

Reply 9

Marked Target

I know a lot of people who did better at A2 than AS, myself included. I didn't try hard enough at AS because I didn't appreciate how hard it was. I coasted the entire year and was really disappointed with my results. I think this is the case for a decent number of people since A2 grades tend to be better than AS. You'll also develop better study habits and if you do any resists the old content will seem trivially easy.

I know someone who got BCCU at AS and changed it to AAB at A2 so you can improve greatly.

When it comes to applications stuff your year leader. Like i said, i got AABBC at AS and i applied to universities which asked for A*AA and got offers from all of them. If you have a decent personal statement that will help as well. Interviews sound daunting but they can be very advantageous if you interview well or think you underperformed in exams.

Besides any of this, you get 5 applications (4 if you do medicine). So, what is there to lose exactly? You can safely apply to 3 universities who ask for A*AA/AAA and then 2 with lower requirements (or even 1) and worst case scenario is that the easier university accepts you but if that's all you were going to apply to otherwise what have you lost?

I don't know if its true or just a misperception but it does seem to me that since tuition fees have been pushed up universities are much more lenient when it comes to barely missing your offer since if they have the place they have little reason to reject you.

Reply 10

IRoranth

Original post by Devify

Original post by Marked Target

Thanks for the help guys, I just got really worried after that interview with my year leader. He freaked me out, haha

Also, do you feel like I can actually push my grades up to A*s? How difficult is it and do you have any cool tips that helped you when you were doing A2?

Edit: What course did you guys choose?

Thank you again.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 11

Jack1066

Original post by IRoranth

Mine was Accounting and Finance, which entry requirements show AAA-AAB typical offer. My offer was for AAB. Also that AS grade thing your teacher was on about is absolute horsesh*t. I got BCCE at AS and got an offer with predicted grades of AAB.

Personally I think the range of offers is to do with your own/school circumstances. So worse schools or students with extenuating circumstances get lower offers. Or if they get less applications than anticipated they offer the lower grades for offers

Reply 12

Marked Target

Original post by IRoranth

I did Maths/Further/Chemisty/History and im doing a maths masters.

When it comes to revision it depends what subjects you're doing and what works for you. If you're doing maths then do every past paper twice and do a billion extra questions until it becomes automatic and you can fairly reliably get an A*. If you're doing other sciences I'd say the advice is fairly similar though questions are harder to find and there is more memorisation.

For history just read books beyond extracts you're given. All it takes is to properly read 1 or 2 books and memorise a few extra facts you're not expected to know and you'll really stand out though getting an A* over an A in history is largely luck imo.

I can't help when it comes to english, computing, social sciences or arts sorry. Neither can i speak for the language exams but as someone who is learning a language i can. To learn a language you need to integrate it into your everyday life. I know people who changed their computer and phone to be in their A level language. Watch french (or whatever) TV, listen to french (etc) music and try to make friends with a native speaker. it depends how far you want to take it.

Again though, it depends what works for you. Some people like flash cards. For languages I'd recommend them (Anki is good) but I never liked them for sciences. I would say though, for everything, learn the proper exam technique. One of my main failings at AS was improper exam technique rather than not knowing the content.

EDIT: Oh, and for a coursework subject ace your coursework because its a really easy way to get your grade up. You have basically unlimited time to perfect your coursework so even if you're a C student you can get an A/A* and push your grade up to an overall B.