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[HELP]School said I'd get A* prediction but they forgot

I'm applying for Civil Engineering (general Engineering @ cambridge) and the standard offers are as follows:

Cambridge: A*AA-A*A*AA
Imperial: A*A*A
UCL: A*AA-AAA
Bristol - A*AA-AAA (contextual offer)
Birmingham - AAB

In AS I got:
Maths A - 92 - average
Further Maths - A - 88 average
Physics - A - 88 average
Economics - B - 70 average

I dropped Economics and my teachers told me my predictions would be A*A*A* as I either averaged 90 or close to 90, however, I realised that my Further Maths and Physics predicted grades are AA so my predictions are: A*AA. I saw this as my form tutor logged into UCAS and showed me my predicted grades, what do I do? I told my school and they said they'll try to call UCAS to change it but I called UCAS and they said it cannot be changed after submission! help!

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Reply 1
Original post by Imcomingforyou
I'm applying for Civil Engineering (general Engineering @ cambridge) and the standard offers are as follows:

Cambridge: A*AA-A*A*AA
Imperial: A*A*A
UCL: A*AA-AAA
Bristol - A*AA-AAA (contextual offer)
Birmingham - AAB

In AS I got:
Maths A - 92 - average
Further Maths - A - 88 average
Physics - A - 88 average
Economics - B - 70 average

I dropped Economics and my teachers told me my predictions would be A*A*A* as I either averaged 90 or close to 90, however, I realised that my Further Maths and Physics predicted grades are AA so my predictions are: A*AA. I saw this as my form tutor logged into UCAS and showed me my predicted grades, what do I do? I told my school and they said they'll try to call UCAS to change it but I called UCAS and they said it cannot be changed after submission! help!


tbh A*AA sounds like a fairer prediction
Reply 2
Original post by IceKidd
tbh A*AA sounds like a fairer prediction


Lol ur just mad.

OT: Your school really ****ed up there, A*A*A* sounds just about right for your grades as most schools would predict what you would achieve on a good day. Maybe get your school to call up each uni and tell them? its your schools fault and they should make amends.
Reply 3
Original post by `God
Lol ur just mad.

OT: Your school really ****ed up there, A*A*A* sounds just about right for your grades as most schools would predict what you would achieve on a good day. Maybe get your school to call up each uni and tell them? its your schools fault and they should make amends.


Where did mad come from?

School may be able to sort it out. Just tell the head and they will resolve it.


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Original post by Jkizer
Where did mad come from?

School may be able to sort it out. Just tell the head and they will resolve it.


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I hope so, it just angers me at the incompetence of my teachers which will have a (negative) affect on my application.
Reply 5
Original post by lisa96
I'm worried that my school may have done something similar as I wasn't allowed to look at my references.

In one subject I got 91% but my teacher left my prediction as an A as he predicted everyone the same grade as their AS result. However he didn't even bother mentioning my UMS score in my reference or why I hadn't been predicted an A* :/

In Religious Studies I got 95% so I'm expecting an A* prediction, and I hope they've mentioned my UMS in my reference. Although I've sent my UCAS off, the teachers this year have changed their policy and refuse to show students their references.. so annoying.


yeah my school doesn't show reference as well, its so stupid because if they had shown students references then mistakes like this would not have happened.
Reply 6
Original post by lisa96
Do you know whether UCAS allow you to change your application once its been sent off? I'm really worried about my teacher's predictions


I called them and they said no, they said the school has to phone up each uni and tell them personally.
Reply 7
It doesn't matter anyway. No university pays so much attention to your predictions at the A*/A barrier that you're going to get rejected over it. Most people have over-inflated predicted grades and there were statistics (I think published by UCAS - not sure) which said the majority of predictions are incorrect.
Reply 8
Original post by Imcomingforyou
I hope so, it just angers me at the incompetence of my teachers which will have a (negative) affect on my application.


It's very complacent.
At my school, the form tutor spends like 10/20 mins with you after you paid for your ucas, to check your details/qualifications/reference and entering your predicted grades

I had a not so extreme situation where my teacher didn't know I managed to talk my way to a higher prediction! So he nearly sent off the original predictions! (Apparently subject teacher didn't tell form teacher - communication breakdown - maybe same with yours)


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Reply 9
It shouldn't be 3 A* prediction tbh. 2 max.
My school would never predict anyone an A* at A level unless you got over 90% in as...even then I had to ask (nicely) for an A* prediction in a subject I got 100% in!
I don't think it should be 3A*s, (I actually don't agree with the whole predicted grades things), since people always getting predicted A*s, simply because they got an A, undervalues those that have shown the potential to get it at A2. I'm not questioning your intelligence by any means (those are great as!) I'm just pointing out that the A* grade is actually a lot more rare than many would make you believe. I wouldn't worry too much about it anyway! The predicted grades you've got are still brilliant and put you in great stead of being a competitive candidate for top universities!
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by can'tbeleftblank
My school would never predict anyone an A* at A level unless you got over 90% in as...even then I had to ask (nicely) for an A* prediction in a subject I got 100% in!
I don't think it should be 3A*s, (I actually don't agree with the whole predicted grades things), since people always getting predicted A*s, simply because they got an A, undervalues those that have shown the potential to get it at A2. I'm not questioning your intelligence by any means (those are great as!) I'm just pointing out that the A* grade is actually a lot more rare than many would make you believe.


Varies between teachers at my college... I had to practically beg for an A* prediction in chemistry (I got 87% UMS at AS, but that was with severe extenuating circumstances around the time of my exams and I still came top in the year out of over 150 chemistry students). On the other hand, I know someone who managed to blag an A* prediction in maths despite having exactly 80% UMS!
Reply 12
Original post by MrSupernova
Varies between teachers at my college... I had to practically beg for an A* prediction in chemistry (I got 87% UMS at AS, but that was with severe extenuating circumstances around the time of my exams and I still came top in the year out of over 150 chemistry students). On the other hand, I know someone who managed to blag an A* prediction in maths despite having exactly 80% UMS!


Even more irritating is a student at my college who got an E in AS Maths and managed to get the teacher to predict him an A. I got an A and was predicted an A, which I think is fair but for him to be predicted so high a grade is a joke.


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Reply 13
You got one A* prediction, which is all that really matters as that is what your offer will be. Also university such as Cambridge will know your UMS, therefore it shouldn't disadvangtage you too much.
Original post by Noble.
It doesn't matter anyway. No university pays so much attention to your predictions at the A*/A barrier that you're going to get rejected over it. Most people have over-inflated predicted grades and there were statistics (I think published by UCAS - not sure) which said the majority of predictions are incorrect.


https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32412/11-1043-investigating-accuracy-predicted-a-level-grades.pdf

Page six gives a good breakdown of this. Might be old though
Original post by JodieW
Even more irritating is a student at my college who got an E in AS Maths and managed to get the teacher to predict him an A. I got an A and was predicted an A, which I think is fair but for him to be predicted so high a grade is a joke.


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He might have had a death in the family or something else similarly traumatic that he hasn't told many people about? I'm not talking about the pathetic excuses for extenuating circumstances I see all the time on here btw - my personal favourite was "my dad remarried and I had to have therapy" :rolleyes: If not though, that is ridiculous! Surely unis wouldn't believe that prediction anyway unless there was an explanation for the poor AS grade in their reference?
Original post by MrSupernova
Varies between teachers at my college... I had to practically beg for an A* prediction in chemistry (I got 87% UMS at AS, but that was with severe extenuating circumstances around the time of my exams and I still came top in the year out of over 150 chemistry students). On the other hand, I know someone who managed to blag an A* prediction in maths despite having exactly 80% UMS!


I know...I just wish it was, I don't know, illegal? :s-smilie: For anyone to be predicted an A* at a2 unless they got 90<, unless there are extenuating circumstances explaining why they performed lower than expected, (including questionable exam results) just my sentiment.
congratulations on getting 87%, despite the severe trauma! That's a brilliant grade even without the extenuating circumstances. :smile:
Reply 17
This has happened at my school too, and I've actually been predicted lower than I got for AS for two of my subjects. Hope you can get it sorted, shouldn't be a problem though as you've been predicted the minimum entry requirements.
Original post by JodieW
Even more irritating is a student at my college who got an E in AS Maths and managed to get the teacher to predict him an A. I got an A and was predicted an A, which I think is fair but for him to be predicted so high a grade is a joke.


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Assuming that he is not winding you up, you can rest assured that no admissions tutor will take that seriously.
Reply 19
Original post by lisa96
Really? Even for competitive unis like LSE? I don't think my teachers mentioned my UMS in my reference, so the AT won't really know if I got a high A or a low A :/


Of course. Some people get predicted A*s when they have a B at AS-Level. Some colleges don't predict an A* unless you have 95%+ (like mine did) at AS. How on earth can you trust a prediction system when there's that much variation?

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