Oxford with one missed grade?
Does anyone know Oxford's stance on letting offer holders in if they miss one grade / anyone with personal experience of this? I know some universities are quite lenient but I doubt Oxford would be. For example, if I was offered A*AA then got A*AB, or A*A*B.
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Original post by labgirl
Does anyone know Oxford's stance on letting offer holders in if they miss one grade / anyone with personal experience of this? I know some universities are quite lenient but I doubt Oxford would be. For example, if I was offered A*AA then got A*AB, or A*A*B.
It would likely depend on which subject you missed the grade in, how far you missed by (eg were you only 1 mark short) and to an extend how did other people do, if they had a lot of missed then they will need to take people but if everyone made their grades they may not have space for as many near misses.
If you are yr 13, just focus on getting through the rest of your exams as well as you can and enjoy the holidays.
If you are thinking of applying don’t let it stress you out too much. You have an insurance option as well if grades don’t go to plan.
I’ve heard of it happening.
Your college could have space and still take you in. Or they could release you and another college might take you. The latter happened to someone in my school
Your college could have space and still take you in. Or they could release you and another college might take you. The latter happened to someone in my school
Original post by SuperHuman98
I’ve heard of it happening.
Your college could have space and still take you in. Or they could release you and another college might take you. The latter happened to someone in my school
Your college could have space and still take you in. Or they could release you and another college might take you. The latter happened to someone in my school
Well that's reassuring, I didn't know they did that!Do you know what course they were on?
Original post by Snoozinghamster
It would likely depend on which subject you missed the grade in, how far you missed by (eg were you only 1 mark short) and to an extend how did other people do, if they had a lot of missed then they will need to take people but if everyone made their grades they may not have space for as many near misses.
If you are yr 13, just focus on getting through the rest of your exams as well as you can and enjoy the holidays.
If you are thinking of applying don’t let it stress you out too much. You have an insurance option as well if grades don’t go to plan.
If you are yr 13, just focus on getting through the rest of your exams as well as you can and enjoy the holidays.
If you are thinking of applying don’t let it stress you out too much. You have an insurance option as well if grades don’t go to plan.
Thanks for the advice! I am in year 13, the reason I was stressing was because of a particularly difficult chemistry exam (I'm planning to study biomedical sciences so it's quite important).
I'm going to try not to dwell on the last exam too much... to be honest looking at all these unofficial markscheme threads on TSR probably isn't helping my stress levels
Original post by labgirl
Thanks for the advice! I am in year 13, the reason I was stressing was because of a particularly difficult chemistry exam (I'm planning to study biomedical sciences so it's quite important).
I'm going to try not to dwell on the last exam too much... to be honest looking at all these unofficial markscheme threads on TSR probably isn't helping my stress levels
I'm going to try not to dwell on the last exam too much... to be honest looking at all these unofficial markscheme threads on TSR probably isn't helping my stress levels
Yeh they definitely aren’t good for the stress levels! If it helps to hear this time last year I was sure I wasn’t going to make my insurance let alone my firm and spent ages planning for clearing. Ended up making it with 3A*s and an A, so try not to stress. You probably did better than you think!
And even if it turns out grades aren’t as good as you’d like, you have an insurance choice (I guess) which I’m sure is another good uni. Oxbridge isn’t the be all and end all of options!
Original post by Snoozinghamster
Yeh they definitely aren’t good for the stress levels! If it helps to hear this time last year I was sure I wasn’t going to make my insurance let alone my firm and spent ages planning for clearing. Ended up making it with 3A*s and an A, so try not to stress. You probably did better than you think!
And even if it turns out grades aren’t as good as you’d like, you have an insurance choice (I guess) which I’m sure is another good uni. Oxbridge isn’t the be all and end all of options!
And even if it turns out grades aren’t as good as you’d like, you have an insurance choice (I guess) which I’m sure is another good uni. Oxbridge isn’t the be all and end all of options!
I definitely needed to hear that... I'm guilty of seeing Oxford as the be all and end all, just because I've wanted to go there for so long! But I know I would be happy at my insurance choice if Oxford doesn't work out. That's good to hear about your a-levels, it helps to hear from someone who's been through it already. let's hope mine go the same way
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by labgirl
I definitely needed to hear that... I'm guilty of seeing Oxford as the be all and end all, just because I've wanted to go there for so long! But I know I would be happy at my insurance choice if Oxford doesn't work out. That's good to hear about your a-levels, it helps to hear from someone who's been through it already. let's hope mine go the same way
Yeh I was in the exact same situation (but Cambridge)
Just please once exams are finished enjoy your summer, relax, do the random things you enjoy! Cause once you suddenly get given a bunch of work to do it gets harder to do that stuff. (Thinks longingly of all my unpainted minis that I never painted over summer...)
Original post by Snoozinghamster
Yeh I was in the exact same situation (but Cambridge)
Just please once exams are finished enjoy your summer, relax, do the random things you enjoy! Cause once you suddenly get given a bunch of work to do it gets harder to do that stuff. (Thinks longingly of all my unpainted minis that I never painted over summer...)
Just please once exams are finished enjoy your summer, relax, do the random things you enjoy! Cause once you suddenly get given a bunch of work to do it gets harder to do that stuff. (Thinks longingly of all my unpainted minis that I never painted over summer...)
Yeah I can't wait until summer so I can relax a bit. It'll be nice to catch up on reading... it's been so long since I read something that wasn't a textbook. And I have a minor addiction to Love Island so I have some tv to catch up on
Yes it does happen son woke up with AABB on results day.Offer A*AA{Biology} very close on marks.Oxford had phoned school before we got there and wanted break down of scores.Longest day of my life!Got decision about 4.30pm that he was in!
Remarks resulted in grades A*AAB.Oxford had said from the start that if remarks came back meeting offer his place would still be there for him.
Plus don't fib no one has a minor addiction to love island!
Remarks resulted in grades A*AAB.Oxford had said from the start that if remarks came back meeting offer his place would still be there for him.
Plus don't fib no one has a minor addiction to love island!
Original post by labgirl
Yeah I can't wait until summer so I can relax a bit. It'll be nice to catch up on reading... it's been so long since I read something that wasn't a textbook. And I have a minor addiction to Love Island so I have some tv to catch up on
Original post by labgirl
Does anyone know Oxford's stance on letting offer holders in if they miss one grade / anyone with personal experience of this? I know some universities are quite lenient but I doubt Oxford would be. For example, if I was offered A*AA then got A*AB, or A*A*B.
Original post by Scotney
Yes it does happen son woke up with AABB on results day.Offer A*AA{Biology} very close on marks.Oxford had phoned school before we got there and wanted break down of scores.Longest day of my life!Got decision about 4.30pm that he was in!
Remarks resulted in grades A*AAB.Oxford had said from the start that if remarks came back meeting offer his place would still be there for him.
Remarks resulted in grades A*AAB.Oxford had said from the start that if remarks came back meeting offer his place would still be there for him.
congrats to your son! It's good to hear from people in the same boat. I'll definitely look into remarks if the same thing happens to me.
Original post by Scotney
Plus don't fib no one has a minor addiction to love island!
ssh I've got to maintain appearances
A guy I know got in with AAB when the entry requirements were AAA. He does do languages though which I think are quite undersubscribed at Oxford so that may have helped.
Don't worry about missing the grades, OP. I'm sure your exams have gone a lot better than you think they have
Don't worry about missing the grades, OP. I'm sure your exams have gone a lot better than you think they have
I'm super worried about this too! Have an AAA offer for PPE but only do 3 A levels, so it would only take one B (basically one bad exam) to screw me over :/
Even worse is the fact my insurance is also an AAA offer (was hoping for AAB, all the other offers I got were higher than Oxford) - so basically I don't have an insurance.
I've had mixed messages from people I've asked about this. I talked to a current PPE student who got in despite getting AAB, but I have no idea whether extenuating circumstances also came into play. Someone whose relative works in admissions for LMH said that it was pretty unlikely that they'd allow for dropped grades, but I don't know if that's college-specific.
I'm really hoping that if I do miss my offer, I've shown well enough in the entrance exam & interview that I'm the right candidate for the course.
Good luck with the exams and hope neither of us have to find out the answer to this question!
Even worse is the fact my insurance is also an AAA offer (was hoping for AAB, all the other offers I got were higher than Oxford) - so basically I don't have an insurance.
I've had mixed messages from people I've asked about this. I talked to a current PPE student who got in despite getting AAB, but I have no idea whether extenuating circumstances also came into play. Someone whose relative works in admissions for LMH said that it was pretty unlikely that they'd allow for dropped grades, but I don't know if that's college-specific.
I'm really hoping that if I do miss my offer, I've shown well enough in the entrance exam & interview that I'm the right candidate for the course.
Good luck with the exams and hope neither of us have to find out the answer to this question!
It really depends - as you've already heard, it does sometimes happen. It happened to me too 
But one should never count on it happening for oneself, as it it's not the norm. There are no policies per se: everything is done on a case-by-case basis. For example, my tutor took me in without the right grades, but he refused to do that for someone in the year above, or 3-4 years after me! 
So it's all rather whimsical...
If you find on results day that you've missed your offer, call the admissions tutor for the college that has made you the offer. They'll have received your results a few days before and will have already contacted the tutors for your subject to ask what their decision is. So if the answer is a solid 'no' from your college, there's no point begging the admissions tutor - they're just the messenger!
Good luck to all of you and try not to worry about these things too much
But one should never count on it happening for oneself, as it it's not the norm. There are no policies per se: everything is done on a case-by-case basis. For example, my tutor took me in without the right grades, but he refused to do that for someone in the year above, or 3-4 years after me! So it's all rather whimsical...If you find on results day that you've missed your offer, call the admissions tutor for the college that has made you the offer. They'll have received your results a few days before and will have already contacted the tutors for your subject to ask what their decision is. So if the answer is a solid 'no' from your college, there's no point begging the admissions tutor - they're just the messenger!
Good luck to all of you and try not to worry about these things too much
Best of luck if it does happen, but definitely don't think that you can beg the tutors into taking you - one person meant to be in my college missed the grades by 1 UMS on a completely unrelated subject, but was rejected anyway.
Original post by labgirl
Does anyone know Oxford's stance on letting offer holders in if they miss one grade / anyone with personal experience of this? I know some universities are quite lenient but I doubt Oxford would be. For example, if I was offered A*AA then got A*AB, or A*A*B.
I’m in the same position and wondering the exact same thing!
Generally have felt like my exams have been meh, but after one that felt particularly bad I’m worried about not making the grades (AAA)
And I know it’s not the be all and end all, but it would be disappointing to fall at the last hurdle, yano? And I can’t bear the 2 month wait to find out!
Original post by ConicalFlask
Best of luck if it does happen, but definitely don't think that you can beg the tutors into taking you - one person meant to be in my college missed the grades by 1 UMS on a completely unrelated subject, but was rejected anyway.
Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd
It really depends - as you've already heard, it does sometimes happen. It happened to me too But one should never count on it happening for oneself, as it it's not the norm. There are no policies per se: everything is done on a case-by-case basis. For example, my tutor took me in without the right grades, but he refused to do that for someone in the year above, or 3-4 years after me! So it's all rather whimsical...
If you find on results day that you've missed your offer, call the admissions tutor for the college that has made you the offer. They'll have received your results a few days before and will have already contacted the tutors for your subject to ask what their decision is. So if the answer is a solid 'no' from your college, there's no point begging the admissions tutor - they're just the messenger!
Good luck to all of you and try not to worry about these things too much
But one should never count on it happening for oneself, as it it's not the norm. There are no policies per se: everything is done on a case-by-case basis. For example, my tutor took me in without the right grades, but he refused to do that for someone in the year above, or 3-4 years after me! So it's all rather whimsical...If you find on results day that you've missed your offer, call the admissions tutor for the college that has made you the offer. They'll have received your results a few days before and will have already contacted the tutors for your subject to ask what their decision is. So if the answer is a solid 'no' from your college, there's no point begging the admissions tutor - they're just the messenger!
Good luck to all of you and try not to worry about these things too much
Thanks for all the advice. Its good to know there's hope if things don't go to plan but I completely understand that if they make a decision there's nothing I can do about it. Definitely not going to beg for a place!
I'm just going to put it out of my mind until results day.
Original post by labgirl
Does anyone know Oxford's stance on letting offer holders in if they miss one grade / anyone with personal experience of this? I know some universities are quite lenient but I doubt Oxford would be. For example, if I was offered A*AA then got A*AB, or A*A*B.
my friend's course at oxford was AAA and he got A*AB and was allowed in - but he was already holding an offer.
Original post by student0864
I’m in the same position and wondering the exact same thing!
Generally have felt like my exams have been meh, but after one that felt particularly bad I’m worried about not making the grades (AAA)
And I know it’s not the be all and end all, but it would be disappointing to fall at the last hurdle, yano? And I can’t bear the 2 month wait to find out!
Generally have felt like my exams have been meh, but after one that felt particularly bad I’m worried about not making the grades (AAA)
And I know it’s not the be all and end all, but it would be disappointing to fall at the last hurdle, yano? And I can’t bear the 2 month wait to find out!
I know right, the wait is the worst part! What subject are you applying for?
Philosophy and Spanish, how about you?
Original post by labgirl
I know right, the wait is the worst part! What subject are you applying for?
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