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

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 4 years ago)

Reply 180

yippy-yikes

17

Original post

by Hellllpppp

@yippy-yikes
@CurryCurry2468
You’re so lucky that you can get your results in person :colondollar:

all I’ve been told is they’re sending us an email in the morning so I’m really hoping the email comes through at 8:30 if not i guess i’ll log into track and hope it is updated.

Dang I'm really sorry, that sounds daunting. Trying to think more positive for you though, at least you're in the comfort of your own home! But yikes, I hope it comes in at 8:30 for you :redface:

Reply 181

yippy-yikes

17

Also, 6 days :redface:

Reply 182

CurryCurry2468

14

Original post

by Hellllpppp

@yippy-yikes
@CurryCurry2468
You’re so lucky that you can get your results in person :colondollar:

all I’ve been told is they’re sending us an email in the morning so I’m really hoping the email comes through at 8:30 if not i guess i’ll log into track and hope it is updated.

Oh damm, they will probs send the email around 09:00 AM, best of luck to you on your results

Reply 183

username1946

12

How likely do you think grade inflation is going to be this time?

Reply 184

SB1234567890

14

Original post

by username1946

How likely do you think grade inflation is going to be this time?

I think it is very likely but it won't be as high as it was last year

Reply 185

CurryCurry2468

14

Original post

by username1946

How likely do you think grade inflation is going to be this time?

Yeah there is defo gonna be grade inflation, question is how much.

It was entirely evidence based this year however lots of students had access to test material etc.

Reply 186

Akash1234567

15

UCAS track closes at 12:00 right?

Reply 187

Unknown1232003

14

Hi everyone! Ofqual made this survey for us to share our experience with the TAG process this year. This is the link if you guys want to fill it out.

https://ofqual.citizenspace.com/public/6b36e360/

Reply 188

gryffindor_02

14

Bit late to this thread as its 6 days away but I've only just found it🤷

I did A level Psychology, Biology & Chemistry.

Got a conditional offer (CCC) at Bournemouth University through UCAS Extra for Forensic Investigation starting Sept. '21.

I was predicted AAC but probably won't get that 😅 all I know is that I can't get below a B in psych.

Only found out how my college was doing results day a few days ago and the system we are meant to be getting our results through is currently not working so... I'm nervous about my actual results but also when and how I'll actually get them!

Good luck all!!

Reply 189

PQ

OP

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post

by Akash1234567

UCAS track closes at 12:00 right?

Track doesn't close - it is frozen and some of the functionality switched off.

Reply 190

mjhmichael18

19

Original post

by Unknown1232003

Hi everyone! Ofqual made this survey for us to share our experience with the TAG process this year. This is the link if you guys want to fill it out.

https://ofqual.citizenspace.com/public/6b36e360/

Thanks, I just did the survey myself.

Reply 191

SB1234567890

14

Original post

by mjhmichael18

Thanks, I just did the survey myself.

Same

Reply 192

mjhmichael18

19

Also, if any of you have changed your contact details since you first used UCAS track then please let UCAS track and your universities know of this. Luckily, this has not happened to me as I never have had to go through a change of phone number or email address but it may have happened to one of you. Also if you have moved house or changed your address recently you also need to let UCAS track and your universities know of that just in case they need to post things to you. Luckily, this has also not happened to me but it may have happened to one of you.

Reply 193

ineedhelpsohelp

13

Im so anxious about results day. I don't think I'll be getting into my dream uni purely because of how my college went about on assessing us. Do you think unis will be more lenient this year? What should I do if I don't get in?

Reply 194

PQ

OP

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post

by ineedhelpsohelp

Im so anxious about results day. I don't think I'll be getting into my dream uni purely because of how my college went about on assessing us. Do you think unis will be more lenient this year? What should I do if I don't get in?

Universities will always be lenient where they can.
Universities will only reject applicants on results day for one of 2 reasons. Either:
- they physically (or staffing wise) can't accommodate all the firm students on the course and so need to reject a certain number of applicants
or
- they know from experience that applicants with those grades are unlikely to succeed on the course

What would you like to do if you don't get in? Are there other universities or courses that have any appeal for you? Or would you prefer to take a gap year and resit and reapply?

Reply 195

ineedhelpsohelp

13

Original post

by PQ

Universities will always be lenient where they can.
Universities will only reject applicants on results day for one of 2 reasons. Either:
- they physically (or staffing wise) can't accommodate all the firm students on the course and so need to reject a certain number of applicants
or
- they know from experience that applicants with those grades are unlikely to succeed on the course

What would you like to do if you don't get in? Are there other universities or courses that have any appeal for you? Or would you prefer to take a gap year and resit and reapply?

I mean I think I have a fair shot of getting into my insurance but I love my firm uni so much and picked my insurance without really thinking properly. Would you suggest me calling up my firm uni on results day if I do get rejected? I don't think my course is oversubscribed to but there's always that uncertainty.

Reply 196

PQ

OP

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post

by Cote1

My daughter is in the situation where she won't get the grades for her firm university, for several reasons.
She doesn't want her insurance choice now. She thinks there is no point resitting the subject she will get the lower grade in as it was a mistake to choose it and she thinks she won't improve the grade.
She doesn't feel ready for university or want to go this year so will reapply next year. This is definitely not an option for everyone but she is going to do an Access to Higher Education course this year, funded due to her age, at her local FE college.
Hopefully, if you don't get in to your firm choice you will have other choices.

A lot of universities accept applicants with lower grades. Hopefully your daughter is one of these (she can always defer if that's the case and she decides she isn't ready to go to university yet :smile:

)

Reply 197

PQ

OP

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post

by ineedhelpsohelp

I mean I think I have a fair shot of getting into my insurance but I love my firm uni so much and picked my insurance without really thinking properly. Would you suggest me calling up my firm uni on results day if I do get rejected? I don't think my course is oversubscribed to but there's always that uncertainty.

There's very few situations where you should ring your firm on results day.
Look at the flowchart in the OP for when those are.
If you do need to ring then you aren't ringing to change their mind but to make sure they have all the information they need and ask when they expect to make a decision.

Reply 198

Cote1

20

Original post

by PQ

A lot of universities accept applicants with lower grades. Hopefully your daughter is one of these (she can always defer if that's the case and she decides she isn't ready to go to university yet :smile:

)

She hopes so🙂

She will defer if so.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 199

mnot

Universities Forum Helper

20

Original post

by Cote1

Hopefully, if you don't get in to your firm choice you will have other choices.

Everyone always has choices whatever happens results day.

leaving school is the start of a new story. People learn, develop & improve. Their are an infinite number of paths to achieving great things.

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

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