Ask the Admissions Teams - Results Day 2020

It sounds like your son's case was very unique. But doubting a whole process is seemingly emotionally. If you as a parent don't believe in an institutions process, then perhaps he shouldn't go there. Whilst your child might be able to contend with the rigours of what studies at Cambridge might contend, it sounds like you might question every decision.

If you know better then perhaps your faith in the university is misplaced & there is better options out there.

Do you mean to say @Peterhouse Admissions that they made a fundamental mistake in making decision about my son in January? :-)

Anyway, it is done now. He is very happy to be where he is: not quite Oxbridge but very close, which will provide him the same life chances as Oxbridge, albeit without the label.

I think they made the fundamental mistake with the feedback going to the wrong student, not the original offer.

Although of course admissions mistakes can happen, rarely. And they do have an appeals process.
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying/decisions/admissions-complaints

@Doones, thank you. We decided back in February, when we got the feedback, to not pursue it. With his track record, we were fairly confident of a place in another equally good university, and thankfully that has come to pass.

I must also mention that you have been another legend of the Cambridge threads. A rock-solid presence, always providing sage advice and guidance to anxious candidates and parents. A heartfelt thank you.

So what does this actually mean from Prof Toope?

"The University and colleges are not able to accept all offer-holders for deferred entry..."

Does it mean not all now achieving their offer (because CAG is allowed) will either get a place this year or get a deferred place?

https://www.cam.ac.uk/coronavirus/news/statement-on-2020-a-level-results-and-cambridge-university-admissions

So what does this actually mean from Prof Toope?

"The University and colleges are not able to accept all offer-holders for deferred entry..."

Does it mean not all now achieving their offer (because CAG is allowed) will either get a place this year or get a deferred place?

https://www.cam.ac.uk/coronavirus/news/statement-on-2020-a-level-results-and-cambridge-university-admissions

I think hope what he means is this: "If you have a confirmed unconditional offer of a place, please don't expect to be allowed to defer your entry to 2021. If we let everyone do that, next year's applicants wouldn't have any room left. (Especially as we already have to make space in 2021 for those whose appeals get decided too late, or who pass the autumn 2020 exams.)"

I hope he doesn't mean: "If we already agreed you could defer to 2021, well perhaps now you can't; it's just tough on you because of the numbers involved!" It could be read like that, but I don't think he meant that.

will those taking summer 2021 exams be considered as retakes?
can we still apply - what would the chances of getting in be?

I think hope what he means is this: "If you have a confirmed unconditional offer of a place, please don't expect to be allowed to defer your entry to 2021. If we let everyone do that, next year's applicants wouldn't have any room left. (Especially as we already have to make space in 2021 for those whose appeals get decided too late, or who pass the autumn 2020 exams.)"

I hope he doesn't mean: "If we already agreed you could defer to 2021, well perhaps now you can't; it's just tough on you because of the numbers involved!" It could be read like that, but I don't think he meant that.

So what does this actually mean from Prof Toope?

"The University and colleges are not able to accept all offer-holders for deferred entry..."

Does it mean not all now achieving their offer (because CAG is allowed) will either get a place this year or get a deferred place?

https://www.cam.ac.uk/coronavirus/news/statement-on-2020-a-level-results-and-cambridge-university-admissions

I think hope what he means is this: "If you have a confirmed unconditional offer of a place, please don't expect to be allowed to defer your entry to 2021. If we let everyone do that, next year's applicants wouldn't have any room left. (Especially as we already have to make space in 2021 for those whose appeals get decided too late, or who pass the autumn 2020 exams.)"

I hope he doesn't mean: "If we already agreed you could defer to 2021, well perhaps now you can't; it's just tough on you because of the numbers involved!" It could be read like that, but I don't think he meant that.

I think it means they can't do as Worcester College Oxford did and accept everyone regardless of grades. So people who don't achieve their offers after appeal and any government changes won't all be given places for this year or deferred to next.

I think it's worse than that. I think he's saying if we haven't already confirmed your place and despite your CAGs now meeting the offer, sorry but we have no room this year, and no we won't give you a deferred place next year either.

I also hope I'm wrong.

Surely this is all clarified by this passage of the same announcement:

So why the big caveat?

Is it a caveat? Not all offer-holders will successfully appeal or sit autumn exams. It seems more like a "We can't have that as our policy" than a "Some people who meet the offer won't get in".

Yikes, I hope so, too!

@Peterhouse Admissions, would you explain to us what the V-C means in his statement, please?

To wit,
"The University and colleges are not able to accept all offer-holders for deferred entry, as has been suggested by some commentators, because we must also think about the next generation of applicants who have also seen their educational experience disrupted by the pandemic and its consequences. We cannot simply take away hundreds of spaces from students who intend to apply to Cambridge in the next year or two."

As I understand it, it means we cannot admit everyone regardless of grades.

There are two reasons for this. One is, as given by the VC, space. This means space in accommodation (as a university where 99% of our undergraduates live in College-owned accommodation, this affects us more than others, including Oxford), lectures theatres, labs, the architecture studio, you name it. We also need to ensure that we are able to adequately support students academically and pastorally. We also have to think of the impacts this larger cohort has down the line - even if they all came in 2020 or were deferred to 2021, the pressure on rooms will not just be with us for this academic year, but for three or four years to come.

The other reason is that we want everyone who studies with us to do well. Every year, we have applicants who miss their conditional offer and go on to other excellent universities. Taking everyone, regardless of CAGs would mean admitting people we would not normally admit, on account of them missing their grades. There is a very real worry that these students may struggle if they were to come to us. (That's not to say all of them would struggle, or that everyone who gets their offer coasts through, but we have conditional offers for a reason). In particular, if we were to admit everyone in Maths, we would be taking twice as many students as usual. All offer holders have sat STEP this year (albeit in an online format rather than in person) and we were able to make decisions from that, something conveniently forgotten about in the discussions surrounding this topic. Were we to admit those students, not only would it put a huge pressure on the Maths course, but many of those students would find the course incredibly challenging and would be at risk of failing their first year exams. That would not be fair on them and as such would not be the right course of action to take.

I would agree that it probably also has the added meaning that not everyone will be permitted to defer should they wish to do so, but that has been our policy for several months now and, if Peterhouse is anything to go by, we have not seen anywhere near the volume of requests that was predicted.

As I understand it, it means we cannot admit everyone regardless of grades.

There are two reasons for this. One is, as given by the VC, space. This means space in accommodation (as a university where 99% of our undergraduates live in College-owned accommodation, this affects us more than others, including Oxford), lectures theatres, labs, the architecture studio, you name it. We also need to ensure that we are able to adequately support students academically and pastorally. We also have to think of the impacts this larger cohort has down the line - even if they all came in 2020 or were deferred to 2021, the pressure on rooms will not just be with us for this academic year, but for three or four years to come.

The other reason is that we want everyone who studies with us to do well. Every year, we have applicants who miss their conditional offer and go on to other excellent universities. Taking everyone, regardless of CAGs would mean admitting people we would not normally admit, on account of them missing their grades. There is a very real worry that these students may struggle if they were to come to us. (That's not to say all of them would struggle, or that everyone who gets their offer coasts through, but we have conditional offers for a reason). In particular, if we were to admit everyone in Maths, we would be taking twice as many students as usual. All offer holders have sat STEP this year (albeit in an online format rather than in person) and we were able to make decisions from that, something conveniently forgotten about in the discussions surrounding this topic. Were we to admit those students, not only would it put a huge pressure on the Maths course, but many of those students would find the course incredibly challenging and would be at risk of failing their first year exams. That would not be fair on them and as such would not be the right course of action to take.

I would agree that it probably also has the added meaning that not everyone will be permitted to defer should they wish to do so, but that has been our policy for several months now and, if Peterhouse is anything to go by, we have not seen anywhere near the volume of requests that was predicted.

As a parent of a reapplicant - will Cambridge be publishing the approximate number of expected places on each course before the UCAS deadline for early applicants? We are worried that there will be a lot less places for 2021 applicants.