What is your plan B if you don't meet your offers ?

I've just realised that if i don't meet my offers then I'm not too sure what I'm going to do. I could go somewhere through clearing but I don't like the idea of picking somewhere on a whim and ending up regretting it...
Is anyone else in this position ?

I've just realised that if i don't meet my offers then I'm not too sure what I'm going to do. I could go somewhere through clearing but I don't like the idea of picking somewhere on a whim and ending up regretting it...
Is anyone else in this position ?

While I'm not in the same situation now, I was last year. I dropped out for health reasons in my A2 year and at the time was averaging CCD in Computing, Maths and Chemistry, respectively. I had motivation to revise, but was too unwell to even get out of bed most days.

Whilst it's a bit late to be saying this now (and I don't know if it's relevant to you), one of the things that has been pivotal in maintaining my mental health this year is realising that not getting into your firm is okay. Not getting into your insurance is okay. I know it's frustrating to hear when you're so invested, but it's not the end of the world. Not to say it's not important (it sure as hell is to me!), but all I mean is there are alternative pathways. It depends how badly you do in relation to your offers for your possible options. There's the small chance that, if you miss them by perhaps one grade, then they may still accept you. HOWEVER, this relies on how many places they have left (if any) and I'd only ever hold onto this chance if you maybe have extenuating circumstances, etc. They have no obligation to accept you if you don't meet the grades.

Now I know that sounds daunting, but, like I said, there are a number of alternative pathways. You could do what I did and re-do A2 or just resit some modules, but being able to do this depends on whether your subjects still have June 2017 exams for your specification (as subjects are switching to exams after 2 years). Another option is to look in clearing. In order to enter clearing, you must have been released from any universities that have accepted you. You can then look at the UCAS clearing list, look at clearing lists in a number of newspapers or look for the clearing pages of specific universities (if you know what your 'backups' are). I'm not the best to ask about clearing as I didn't go that route, so I'd advise googling the subject if you're really worrying. One thing I think is useful to know about clearing, though, is that you can apply to a university that has rejected you, but you won't be able to apply for the same subject if it is available. You could try, but if you missed the grades and that department/subject has already rejected you, then it sort of defeats the object.

If you're really desperate to go to a certain university, you could try ringing up, especially perhaps if you were one or two UMS off a grade. TSR seems split on whether ringing up for a place is useful, but I suppose you could if you're desperate. If your subject offers a foundation degree and it's in clearing, you could inquire about it, but they could still say no. You've said you don't like picking places on a whim, so perhaps, if you're really worried, having a little list of 'backup' universities/alternative lower grade (relevant) subjects could be useful. At least then, if you found yourself in clearing on results day, you could quickly check your list and you'd already have a little idea of your options preemptively. The only problem with this plan, however, is that you could be unlucky and none of your 'backups' could be in clearing.

If you did get accepted somewhere, but on a slightly different degree (for example, if you wanted to do Music and got accepted for Music Technology), then I believe there is the option to switch to your desired degree once you're at university. Again, I'm not the best to ask about this, but I have read about people changing as soon as they arrive in first year, or, sometimes, switching over and re-doing their first year in the other subject.

There are probably a billion more options, but I'm just giving you my two cents and hopefully more people can. At this point you need to believe in yourself, which I know is hard, but you can only do your best and if you don't get the grades then it's not the end of the road, by a long shot.

Hope this helped! Good luck and I hope to see you posting after results day with your amazing results!

wow, thank you so much for that really long response that really has calmed me down. I'm sorry to hear about you being ill during a2 thats pretty bad timing. I think the main reason I'm panicking is i know I'm going to narrowing miss the offer as its only one subject which i don't think I'm gonna get the grade in.
What you said about contextual factors got me thinking and i went on manchesters website and turns out my school has a contextual flag next to it for alevels meaning its consistently under average so i hope that might count in my favour but they want A*AB and thats pretty hard ;/.

I think I'm gonna try and visit some unis in the summer, and hopefully ill like one enough that asked for lower grades so i have a backup plan.

I looked on the exam board website and turns out you can retake all old spec level exams so I'm tempted to do that if i was a bit off, but i doubt the unis i wanna go to ( notts and manchester ) will accept retake people. thank you for the advice dude - what are you hoping to study / go ? xx