The Student Room Group

2021 A/AS Results Day Countdown: today is the day - well done everyone!

Poll

How are you getting your results?

Results day is looming and TSR tradition means we have to have a countdown thread for everyone to get to know each other, talk about their hopes/fears and generally relax (as well as sharing advice and information before the big day). We'll update this post with pointers to advice and support soon but for now introduce yourselves :biggrin:

Introduce yourself
1. AS or A level?
2. What subjects?

For Yr 13:
3. What university is your firm/insurance?
4. Which subject?
5. What grades are required?
6. Going to uni this year or taking a gap year?

For everyone:
7. What grades are you predicted?
8. How are you feeling about results day?
9. Anything else to add?

FAQs

RESULTS

When can I collect my results from school/college?

That depends on the arrangements your school/college make and is likely to be different this year - if you don't know the details then ring them up on Monday the 9th (there should be someone in that day) and ask.

How do I collect my results online?

Again, this depends on your exam boards and/or your school/college. If you don't know then ask them directly.

When do unis get our results?

UCAS get the results from the exam boards approximately a week before results day. They spend a day or two matching them to your applications and then send them on to universities either overnight Wednesday or Thursday.
Universities then spend Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday MANUALLY comparing every offer to the results to decide whether applicants have met their offers or not (and if not whether they can be accepted with lower grades).

I've change my mind about the course/university I want to go to - what do I do?

See this article https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/university/apply/changing-your-mind-about-your-firm-or-insurance-choice

Track on Results Day

When will Track update?

Track will go live AFTER 8:30am on results day. UCAS say 8:30am (and 8am for Advisers) - it used to go live a little earlier, but the embargo time that UCAS and universities work to has been pushed back from 6am to 8:30am this year so it WILL NOT be before 8.30am. The embargo agreement is between UCAS, Universities, SQA and A level Exam Boards - no one is going to risk getting in trouble by releasing information early.

It WON'T go live at midnight.

Once it "goes live" EVERYONE will be able to see any decisions that their universities have sent to UCAS. Just because it's live doesn't mean it will update for everyone. About 100,000 people every year don't get a clear answer from Track first thing on Results Day - they have to collect their results and then ring up their firm/insurance uni.

My Track didn't change - is it worth hitting refresh until it does?
NO - once Track goes live again it then gets re-frozen in that state (because UCAS need to handle everyone and their dog hitting refresh constantly). Track WILL NOT CHANGE between 8am and midday. Hitting refresh just slows things down for everyone else.

Give yourself some good karma - get off Track and go and have a look on UCAS course search, get together your contact numbers for your unis, top your phone up with credit (and charge it) and get your results from school/college.

what will Track show?

It depends how quick your universities are. There's a lot of scenarios. The post below gives an idea of what might show,what that means and what you need to do about that. Use the flowchart at the end of this post as a quick reference:smile:
Track scenarios
Original post by PQ
Ok let's break it down Firm is X, insurance is Y
X -CF, Y-CI - neither has decided ring firm
X-CF, Y-UI - insurance has accepted but firm not decided. Ring firm
X-CF, Y-R - insurance has rejected, firm not decided. Ring firm.
X-UF, Y-CI, firm accepted, insurance not decided. Celebrate.
X-UF, Y-UI, both accepted. You're going to your firm. Celebrate.
X-UF, Y-R, firm accepted, insurance rejected. You're going to your firm. Celebrate.
X-R, Y-CF firm rejected, insurance not deciding. Ring insurance.
X-R, Y-UF firm rejected, insurance accepted. Celebrate
X-R, Y-R both rejected. You're in clearing.
This ignores changed course offers which either university can make. Both universities do their own thing. They don't have time to look what the other is doing.


My Track didn't change! That means I failed!

NO - Universities have to MANUALLY compare every set of results with the offer conditions - even if it's a simple YES or NO for every one of those that means a lot of data input to put in to their database to send through to UCAS.
If Track hasn't changed then that means that either:
a) You've met your offer and your uni knows that and hasn't got round to telling UCAS.
b) You've met your offer and your uni doesn't know that because your results got muddled up so they're waiting to talk to you to check before telling UCAS.
c) You've missed your offer but your uni wants you anyway but hasn't got round to telling UCAS.
d) You've missed your offer but your uni want to make you an offer for a similar but less full course and haven't got round to telling UCAS.
e) You've missed your offer and your uni haven't decided yet whether they can take you or not - they might need to see how many Insurance people they have to take before they know they've got room first.
f) You've missed your offer and your firm uni doesn't want you but hasn't got round to telling UCAS.
In other words - if Track hasn't changed that doesn't give ANY indication as to whether your results are good or bad. In fact in some ways it's good - of those applicants who got a definite answer on results day last year...?....150,000 of them were rejected by both their firm and insurance and placed in Clearing. Being in limbo for a couple of hours is a GOOD thing compared to that.

My Firm place has confirmed me! That means I passed my A levels!

NO - remember - these things are decided MANUALLY....someone somewhere sits down with a pile of UCAS forms and a list of results and ticks off results against offers.

If your firm has confirmed you - well done! You're in! BUT don't go expecting to see a long line of A grades. Just as a lot of unis can be slow in sending decisions to UCAS, some unis are VERY quick and will not only confirm the people who met their offers but will have confirmed a whole BUNCH of people who missed their grades.

Clearing ARRRRGH!

quick guide to Clearing

Spoiler


See the FAQ for more help.

I did really badly - what do I do now?
The lovely @SarcAndSpark will be putting together a thread with information and advice on remakes/remarks/appeals
There will be threads in the applications, clearing and ucas forum for people planning to take a gap year and reapply and help available in the gap years

Results day stats from previous years:

Spoiler




Results Day Flowchart pdf version
(edited 2 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Anyone already worried/thinking about it?
Reply 2
Yup. First thing I’m doing is logging into ucas, if I don’t see congratulations you got into your firm I’m collecting my results at the latest time possible
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by Akash1234567
Anyone already worried/thinking about it?

Yep - I've been having horrible nightmares about it. I really want to meet my offer conditions and will be devastated if I don't. I'm honestly terrified I won't meet my conditions of A*AA cause of the exams. Some ppl in my year had access to the questions beforehand for subjects like Chem and Bio so I'm worried that the grade boundaries will be unfair. I guess I can't be worried about that now since it's in the past and look ahead to the future but it is unnerving. My insurance choice gave me a contextual offer of AAB which is great honestly but I really want to go to my Firm. Oooof I'm so stressed!

I'm terribly sorry for blurting this all out and causing more people stressed! At least we can all put our worries here in a safe space and relate to one another?

Good luck everyone :smile: <3
Original post by Jamalam Joy
Yep - I've been having horrible nightmares about it. I really want to meet my offer conditions and will be devastated if I don't. I'm honestly terrified I won't meet my conditions of A*AA cause of the exams. Some ppl in my year had access to the questions beforehand for subjects like Chem and Bio so I'm worried that the grade boundaries will be unfair. I guess I can't be worried about that now since it's in the past and look ahead to the future but it is unnerving. My insurance choice gave me a contextual offer of AAB which is great honestly but I really want to go to my Firm. Oooof I'm so stressed!

I'm terribly sorry for blurting this all out and causing more people stressed! At least we can all put our worries here in a safe space and relate to one another?

Good luck everyone :smile: <3

I've also been having nightmares like I had a nightmare where I got a D in one of my mini assessments and an E overall in sociology. I feel like at least one of my assessments for each subject went really badly and I feel like it could reduce my grades
I wish I could be less worried- I overthink everything and I can be quite negative so I'm constantly thinking what results will I get? then if I imagine a positive result I straight away tell myself stop thinking like that or you'll set yourself up for disappointment
Original post by SB1234567890
I've also been having nightmares like I had a nightmare where I got a D in one of my mini assessments and an E overall in sociology. I feel like at least one of my assessments for each subject went really badly and I feel like it could reduce my grades
I wish I could be less worried- I overthink everything and I can be quite negative so I'm constantly thinking what results will I get? then if I imagine a positive result I straight away tell myself stop thinking like that or you'll set yourself up for disappointment

The last bit about imagining a positive result and immediately dismissing it is what I do too but it's so toxic and detrimental to our well being and self-confidence. It's so hard for me to tell it to myself and accept it but I hope it's easier for you to accept it - you did amazing in your exams and I'm 1000000% sure that no matter what happens you'll be fine I promise x if anything I doubt you'll get a D and overall E grade... the fact that you care so much about your exams and want to do incredibly well in them shows that you worked hard and it hopefully paid off.

Dw guys no matter how pessimistic I will be about everything I'll keep us all in my prayers and pray that we get the grades we want and get into the unis/apprenticeships/whatever we want to do after exams x
Original post by Jamalam Joy
Yep - I've been having horrible nightmares about it. I really want to meet my offer conditions and will be devastated if I don't. I'm honestly terrified I won't meet my conditions of A*AA cause of the exams. Some ppl in my year had access to the questions beforehand for subjects like Chem and Bio so I'm worried that the grade boundaries will be unfair. I guess I can't be worried about that now since it's in the past and look ahead to the future but it is unnerving. My insurance choice gave me a contextual offer of AAB which is great honestly but I really want to go to my Firm. Oooof I'm so stressed!

I'm terribly sorry for blurting this all out and causing more people stressed! At least we can all put our worries here in a safe space and relate to one another?

Good luck everyone :smile: <3

Yes I am worried too and have been having nightmares too I cannot lie. It’s not a nice feeling. I have an A*AA offer too and am worried I may not make it. I also am a bit worried about what my school will do and whether it will be fair or not.
I’ve taken a whole year to get into my dream uni and need just one A to do so, already have an A* and an A. Will be so so depressed if I miss it like honestly devastating. But having experienced teachers snaking my grades last year (sat autumn exams to get the grades I currently have), Ive become a very doubtful person. Hopefully everything works out for everyone!!
Original post by Akash1234567
Yes I am worried too and have been having nightmares too I cannot lie. It’s not a nice feeling. I have an A*AA offer too and am worried I may not make it. I also am a bit worried about what my school will do and whether it will be fair or not.

May I ask what course and uni you firmed and insured? and what were their offer conditions?

Original post by SB1234567890
I've also been having nightmares like I had a nightmare where I got a D in one of my mini assessments and an E overall in sociology. I feel like at least one of my assessments for each subject went really badly and I feel like it could reduce my grades
I wish I could be less worried- I overthink everything and I can be quite negative so I'm constantly thinking what results will I get? then if I imagine a positive result I straight away tell myself stop thinking like that or you'll set yourself up for disappointment

Also the same questions for you if I may? sorry, i'm a curious cat :redface:

I honestly hope we're all overthinking it - I don't know how the year 13s last year dealt with this... so many flaws in this system :frown: ughhhhhhhh worrying about this more is no good

let's change the topic for a moment to ease the nerves... what music artisits do you all like? random question lol
Original post by Jamalam Joy
The last bit about imagining a positive result and immediately dismissing it is what I do too but it's so toxic and detrimental to our well being and self-confidence. It's so hard for me to tell it to myself and accept it but I hope it's easier for you to accept it - you did amazing in your exams and I'm 1000000% sure that no matter what happens you'll be fine I promise x if anything I doubt you'll get a D and overall E grade... the fact that you care so much about your exams and want to do incredibly well in them shows that you worked hard and it hopefully paid off.

Dw guys no matter how pessimistic I will be about everything I'll keep us all in my prayers and pray that we get the grades we want and get into the unis/apprenticeships/whatever we want to do after exams x

Thanks that means a lot
I definitely do have low self confidence, which is partly because I'm naturally a shy/introverted/not confident person but I think it got worse at GCSE when I was in a very academic friendship group where people constantly made comparisons and had very high expectations so that environment made me set high expectations for my GCSEs that I didn't meet so through the whole of A levels I've tried not to think about the sorts of grades I'd be happy with or what grades I have the potential and whenever I got a high mark, grade or predicted grade I just thought that the teacher was either marking too leniently, was deluded or it was just luck, even if I knew deep down it was due to my hard work
Original post by Jamalam Joy
May I ask what course and uni you firmed and insured? and what were their offer conditions?


Also the same questions for you if I may? sorry, i'm a curious cat :redface:

I honestly hope we're all overthinking it - I don't know how the year 13s last year dealt with this... so many flaws in this system :frown: ughhhhhhhh worrying about this more is no good

let's change the topic for a moment to ease the nerves... what music artisits do you all like? random question lol

I'm hoping to study business and management with Exeter as my firm (needs AAA or they said they'd reduce it by 2 grades if I firmed them and got an A in my epq) and Southampton is my insurance (AAB or ABB of I get in my epq)
Original post by Ferrari08
I’ve taken a whole year to get into my dream uni and need just one A to do so, already have an A* and an A. Will be so so depressed if I miss it like honestly devastating. But having experienced teachers snaking my grades last year (sat autumn exams to get the grades I currently have), Ive become a very doubtful person. Hopefully everything works out for everyone!!

oh god i'm terribly sorry about your teachers and i hope that you get your A. Huge congrats on getting that A* and A!!!! Don't worry though, if you can live through all this mental and physical stress you can live through anything

not sure if this helped lol :colondollar:
Original post by Ferrari08
I’ve taken a whole year to get into my dream uni and need just one A to do so, already have an A* and an A. Will be so so depressed if I miss it like honestly devastating. But having experienced teachers snaking my grades last year (sat autumn exams to get the grades I currently have), Ive become a very doubtful person. Hopefully everything works out for everyone!!

Sorry to hear you didn't get to university first time- my sister who did her A levels in 2018 has been talking to me as if the last 2 years have had it easy compared to normal years but I don't think she realises how unfair and stressful the government's attempts at alternative arrangements have been
Original post by SB1234567890
Thanks that means a lot
I definitely do have low self confidence, which is partly because I'm naturally a shy/introverted/not confident person but I think it got worse at GCSE when I was in a very academic friendship group where people constantly made comparisons and had very high expectations so that environment made me set high expectations for my GCSEs that I didn't meet so through the whole of A levels I've tried not to think about the sorts of grades I'd be happy with or what grades I have the potential and whenever I got a high mark, grade or predicted grade I just thought that the teacher was either marking too leniently, was deluded or it was just luck, even if I knew deep down it was due to my hard work

it's honestly spooky how we're so similar

I get you - it's so exhausting trying to meet everyone's expectations...it's come to the point where i've set unrealistically high expectations :/

you have worked incredibly hard and your teachers know you have too - this might be imposter syndrome kicking in. just know that whatever grades you receive (i hope they're amazing and make you happy btw) are YOUR grades and can't be compared to anyone else. also, grades don't define you btw

It's completely and perfectly fine and okay to not be the smartest person in the room, but it's not okay to not be the most hardworking. If you're hardworking and try to improve your goals then no one can take that away from you. hard work is what matters and just by reading your posts i can tell that you've got this in the bag :smile:
Original post by Jamalam Joy
it's honestly spooky how we're so similar

I get you - it's so exhausting trying to meet everyone's expectations...it's come to the point where i've set unrealistically high expectations :/

you have worked incredibly hard and your teachers know you have too - this might be imposter syndrome kicking in. just know that whatever grades you receive (i hope they're amazing and make you happy btw) are YOUR grades and can't be compared to anyone else. also, grades don't define you btw

It's completely and perfectly fine and okay to not be the smartest person in the room, but it's not okay to not be the most hardworking. If you're hardworking and try to improve your goals then no one can take that away from you. hard work is what matters and just by reading your posts i can tell that you've got this in the bag :smile:

Thank you, I hope you get great results too along with everyone else on here
(edited 2 years ago)
We haven’t had it easy this year. Not at all. It’s not been nice at all. It’s been too unpredictable.
I've been making a conscious effort not to think about it lol. My friends and I had a discussion about whether we should look on UCAS first to see if we got into our firms or if we should open our results first and see what grades we got and honestly it made me really freaked out cuz it dawned on me that results day decides what we're gonna do in September ahhh
Original post by Akash1234567
We haven’t had it easy this year. Not at all. It’s not been nice at all. It’s been too unpredictable.

Yeah definitely, especially the period from the start of January to the end of March where we had no clue how our grades would be determined, whether we would still sit mocks and what we would be assessed on
Original post by kaorimiyazono
I've been making a conscious effort not to think about it lol. My friends and I had a discussion about whether we should look on UCAS first to see if we got into our firms or if we should open our results first and see what grades we got and honestly it made me really freaked out cuz it dawned on me that results day decides what we're gonna do in September ahhh

Yeah it's so scary- my worst nightmare is if UCAS track crashes on results day
YES lol I wish I was given provisional A level results so I would at least have an idea of what to expect on results day instead of fretting so much. I have no clue how I’ve done at all. My final chemistry and psychology exam went pretty decent, but I didn’t like biology and that’s what I need to do well in particularly (alongside chemistry). We’ll just see I guess

I had a dream that I got grades ABB which I’d honestly settle with at this point - I hope it comes true lol🥴

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