University of Nottingham

Nottingham

Why was I declined an offer

So a few months back I applied to study maths at Nottingham and I'm taking maths, further maths, product design and a level 3 BTEC in ICT.

I achieved an A in maths and further maths at AS. I was predicted to achieve maths A*, further maths A, ICT distinction and product design C on my UCAS form.

I feel I will meet these grades in August, would it be worth me applying through clearing? Any idea why I got rejected?

Reply 1

smartalan73

Original post by Katiee224

Maybe they don't view BTECs as highly as A levels?

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Reply 2

FlyingBird

Maybe you lack a third good grade as BTECs are maybe less valued and a C isn't great compared to your As in both the maths

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Reply 3

returnmigrant

Email the Uni and ask for feedback. Do you actually meet the required grades - including GCSEs?Remember they will have looked at your PS not just your predicted grades.

PS. Its pointless applying for the same course through Clearing - the answer will be the same.

Reply 4

kkboyk

Original post by Katiee224

Non of us can tell you tbh. Maybe it's your third subject, maybe they didn't really like your PS. Who knows.

Don't think too much about it. I doubt this year they will show up for clearing for Maths (as they are popular for Maths).

Reply 5

physicsphysics91

Bad personal statement maybe, the requirements are A*AA so you dont have the other A.

Reply 6

Devify

May be bad personal statement or they don't accept BTEC. In the second case, you would not have the required number of A levels.
Check if they accept BTEC and contact them for feedback, you can do that and they will usually tell you why you were refused.

Reply 7

username1294428

Like others had suggested, either a bad personal statement or they don't accept BTEC. Also they seem to require A*AA/AAA/A*AB meaning that if youre predicted a C in one of your a level subjects then you're at least one grade off

Reply 8

Danny the Geezer

Original post by Katiee224

Maybe your application just wasn't strong enough.

Reply 9

Klix88

Original post by Katiee224

If you check the course requirements, as stated above, your predicted grades are below them so you were optimistic to apply in the first place. It's good to have one aspirational course on your UCAS form in case you ace your A Levels. However, being two predicted grades off the entry requirement for an over-subscribed course is always going to be a gamble. In this case, it seems that Nottingham had enough applicants with predicated grades which met or exceeded the entry requirements, so they didn't feel the need to give you any leeway.
*http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ugstudy/courses/mathematicalsciences/mathematics.aspx

Such courses are unlikely to go into clearing, so it would probably be more constructive at this point, to focus on the courses where you better fit their grade profile.*

Reply 10

Abstract_Prism

It can't be that they don't accept BTECs, because the BTEC is only a fourth subject.

I'm pretty sure they do accept them when combined with A-levels too.

Reply 11

fefssdf

I am an offer holder for maths at Nottingham and my predicted grades were A*AB so because you weren't predicted somewhere in the range of AAA-A*AA then that's likely why they rejected you I'm afraid

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 12

Devify

If you look on their website here
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ugstudy/applying/access-btec-entryrequirements.aspx

They do not accept BTEC qualifications for mathematics courses. Meaning that they only looked at your A level grades which is about A*AC and they need A*AA/AAA/A*AB

So unless your personal statement was exceptional for them to give you a chance with slightly lower grades, you didn't exactly meet their requirements.

Reply 13

Audrey18

Original post by physicsphysics91

Bad personal statement maybe, the requirements are A*AA so you dont have the other A.

I've covered this aspect in one of my previous posts. The personal statement and referee reference has no bearing on whether an applicant will get an offer or otherwise. Depending on the degree course and unis applied to, the GCSEs, A-level subject choices and AS level grades will be looked at collectively or separately to determine if an offer should be given to the applicant.

Cambridge released a report sometime back which said something to the effect that the UCAS statement and referee report is subjective and shouldn't be taken seriously.

Reply 14

Juno

Original post by Audrey18

You can post about it as much as you like, but it doesn't make you right. You've pretty much said that unis look at different aspects - some unis do look at the personal statement.

And what Cambridge think is irrelevant as this isn't a Cambridge application.

Reply 15

Devify

Original post by Audrey18

You're not applying for Cambridge though. Different uni's look at different things and a lot of them give you a number of points for your statement. As I've already said, even just based on your grades you DID NOT have high enough grades. If you check the previously given link, the university does not accept BTEC qualifications for mathematics courses. So they only look at your A levels and you only have A*AC