Don't need A levels for Oxbridge... Class of 2020 can't find a job

Scary to think how an entire oxbridge cohort won't actually have sat A levels... But will be handed them.

While the class of 2020 doesn't even get a graduation or an economy to graduate into.

Sometimes life is all about timing 😂.

Scary to think how an entire oxbridge cohort won't actually have sat A levels... But will be handed them.

While the class of 2020 doesn't even get a graduation or an economy to graduate into.

Sometimes life is all about timing 😂.

Whilst I do agree that people graduating this year will have trouble entering the job market, and I do feel bad about the disruption to their careers that this situation will cause, I think it’s very unfair to say that Year 13 students are just going to be ‘handed’ grades and implying that they have it easy (apologies if I’ve misinterpreted you, but that’s what it comes across as?).

First of, they won’t be ‘handed’ them; they have still had to work incredibly hard for two years, teachers can’t just make up these grades - there’s got to be sufficient evidence, multiple teachers have got to approve the grades, and Ofqual will be standardising anyway. It’s also very likely there will be random checks requiring evidence and ensuring no malpractice has happened. So, believe it or not, a lot of top students are actually really disappointed and upset, as the chances of getting straight A*s are much slimmer; standardisation will likely pull grades down, and many more people will probably just be getting 1 or 2 A*s as opposed to the 3 or 4 they may have been able to get, had they sat their exams. I know that about 95% of people I’ve come across who were supposed to sit A Levels this year, are gutted and wish they could have taken them.

Secondly, you imply that it’s ‘scary’ that Year 13 Oxbridge students haven’t sat A Levels, and are implying we’ve had it easy and got like a ‘free pass’ or something? I’m not fully sure what you actually meant/mean, but I will say that Oxbridge offer holders have had their GCSEs scrutinised, have written personal statements, have had to sit difficult entrance tests, have had to get through multiple interviews, may have had to submit additional essays or portfolios, and have had to work hard at A Levels on the assumption that they were expecting to sit them and had high offers to meet. They were one of the first cohorts sitting harder reformed GCSEs, and are also one of the first cohorts sitting harder reformed A Levels. So, despite the fact they may not be sitting their final A Level exams, Year 13 students have still worked really hard, and lots of Oxbridge offer holders have been set work and pre-reading to do; they aren’t twiddling their thumbs and doing nothing for 6 months. As well as this, they are disadvantaged in some other ways too; as the entrance tests/interviews and earlier deadlines mean that lots of Oxbridge students actually prioritise their Uni application over any mock exams, (as the timings usually coincide) this means that compared to other Year 13 students, they have had less time to revise for their mocks, as they had entrance tests and interviews to prepare for right before. Combined with the fact that receiving an offer is what usually motivates people to kick revision up a notch and seriously throw themselves into revising, this likely means lots of offer holders would have not done their best in mocks and improved a lot between mocks vs the real thing, but now as they are partially being judged on their mocks, this makes their situation even more difficult. Furthermore, many Oxbridge offer holders are really concerned about missing their offers; the majority of them are A*AA or A*A*A, meaning they can barely afford to drop a grade, and yet they could be judged and have their grades pulled down based on their school’s prior performance, meaning they could miss their offer through no major fault of their own. So, contrary to what you imply, although I don’t disagree with the fact that the class of 2020 have it hard, it’s just really insensitive to think that Year 13s have it much easier. Yes, at worst, the class of 2020 may not be able to get a job for a few months, but equally, at worst Year 13 will get A Level grades that don’t reflect their ability and years of hard work, and could mean they don’t get into their first choice Uni through no major fault of their own, potentially changing their life plans and hugely impacting the next few years for them.

So, my point is essentially that both year groups have it difficult. Please don’t make assumptions when you have no idea how stressful the situation is for Year 13s; whilst it is fine to acknowledge and be upset about the class of 2020s predicament, please don’t belittle other people’s challenges and the struggles they face from this situation too.

The thing with Oxbridge is because they have a rigorous application process including entrance exams & interviews they probably are the least effected by grade fluctuations due to the Cov-19 changes to A-level grades.

Yes for students graduating this year there will be a market squeeze, but I suspect if anyone is well placed to perform well in the market it will be Oxbridge grads.

My mistake, my point was Oxbridge entry is super easier but so is all uni entry...

All graduates will have it tough in the job market...more so than oxbridge grads that is so true.

But that's why i think oxbridge entrants this year have gotten a super sweet deal... They get to go to Oxbridge and have all the benefits with alot less work.

All graduates will have it tough in the job market...more so than oxbridge grads that is so true.

Scary to think how an entire oxbridge cohort won't actually have sat A levels... But will be handed them.

While the class of 2020 doesn't even get a graduation or an economy to graduate into.

Sometimes life is all about timing 😂.

I don't think that will be true - companies will want people with experience ie those with a year in industry.

What a completely trolling and pointless thread, you've sunk to a new Sunday-boredom low. The entire university cohort "won't actually have sat A levels.... But will be handed them." The situation is the same ofr everyone.

Your journey is Nottingham to the Netherlands, what's your Oxbridge chip for?

I mean how do you get the most valuable degree in the world basically on a technicality......lol smh. But yeah i just made it late last night lol. And yeah i had to suffer through exams to get into lowly Nottingham .

I think i'm just whining because the graduate market is heavily damaged, and i'm so close...not to mention the fact that i'm a bit envious of those starting undergrad now as they have far longer to recover and chill in uni lol. I have to do applications in what October!

You are so obsessed with Oxbridge

Maybe you should have applied to do a Masters there instead of the Netherlands and got it out of your system

Yet another Oxbridge hating thread by op, why are any of us surprised? Imagine the uproar if any of us had created threads with wild, untrue assumptions about Nottingham...

Scary to think how an entire Nottingham cohort won't actually have sat A levels... But will be handed them.
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