Friday 16 August 2013

Still Waiting On A Level Results

Yesterday was A level results day and I always knew it was going to be stressful. Daniel had applied to take a Physics with Astrophysics course, but as with most students, the university had accepted him on condition that he reached a certain grade in each of the subjects he'd taken.

He went to school yesterday morning to collect his results and found that he'd got a B in Physics and a C in ICT. He was actually really disappointed with the ICT result as he thought he'd done enough to gain at least a grade B if not an A, however, a selection of work from the class had been sent to the exam board for moderation who decided it had been marked too leniently and therefore, all the class had their grades lowered. As it turned out, Daniel was only one UMS mark, which equates to 0.7 of an actual mark, lower than a grade B. He wanted to send the work in for a remark, but the whole class would have to give written consent for their work to be remarked too, which would never happen as in this situation marks can be deducted as well as added which could alter their overall grade.

The major problem with his results was that his Maths grade was missing. He spoke to the exams office at school and although he knew his actual marks for each of the Maths exams he'd taken, it hadn't been graded. It was worked out that he'd achieved a B, but until the exam board confirmed that, he was in limbo. His first choice university, York, wouldn't make a decision on whether they'd accept him or not with those grades until his Maths grade was confirmed to them by the exam board.

The problem here is that if they weren't going to accept him, he would have to go through clearing, and he can't do that until a decision is made by York. A Catch 22 situation.

We spoke to a really helpful gentleman at York who confirmed that they would accept him, providing his Maths grade comes through at a B. We've had confirmation from the exam board that his Maths grade is a B, but getting them to upload this on to the system to allow York to dot the i's and cross the t's and make an unconditional offer is proving to be less than easy.

It's now 5pm the day after results day and this is what it's showing on UCAS Track. He still hasn't got an official unconditional offer and it now looks very likely that he's going to be left in limbo over the weekend.


I'm very thankful that it looks like Daniel's got the grades he needs to go to his first choice university and study the course he wants to study, but exam results day and today has proved to be so stressful for us all. Yesterday should have been about celebrating or commiserating with friends, but he's been so busy trying to get all this sorted out that he's hardly had any time to even find out how everyone else has done. From the bits I can gather, most of his friends haven't done as well as expected, but I think things have worked out for them university wise with some of them being offered alternative courses and other's taking up places at other universities.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed now that everything does work out the way we're expecting it to for Daniel.


UPDATE I've just finished this blog post and meanwhile, Daniel's checked on UCAS Track and he's had confirmation.


I can't believe it's taken thirty two hours to sorth this out, but there you go. All's well that ends well I suppose.

44 comments:

  1. Well done to Daniel. Having been through the UCAS system myself recently (2011), I am acutely aware of how stressful it can be. Thankfully I knew my results in advance (Access courses are awarded differently) but until it actually goes through and you have a confirmation it is a very hectic time indeed. Congratulations to you!

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    1. Thank you. I think it would have been stressful enough had he not had the problems he did, but thankfully, he got the place he wanted in the end.

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  2. Well done, Daniel. Work hard and enjoy your university course.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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    1. Thank you. I'm sure he'll have a great time at university.

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  3. What a stressful time for you all. I'm so glad that it has now been sorted out and that Daniel has the place that he worked so hard for. We were lucky as KL needed BBC and actually got ABC, but her best friend didn't get the grades she needed ( it was a medical degree - she needed all As, but got a B in Chemistry). We're so sad for her as she had got through the interview (no mean feat in itself) and had done so much work experience and voluntary work in order to make herself a more desirable candidate.

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    1. I still can't believe how stressful it all was. I was expecting stress but not to this level. I went to bed early last night and slept well after having hardly any sleep the previous two nights. Well done to KL, she's done so well, but I know what you mean about those who haven't got the grades they needed, there were lots of tissues being handed round at school on Thursday morning.

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  4. Well done, what a act to go through though with the marking and the delay in marks coming through.

    York University is an excellent university though. I have worked with several students from there over the years.

    Good luck to Daniel and I hope he enjoys his time there.

    Regards
    Steve (Philofaxy)

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    1. Thank you. It was a bit of a farce to say the least, but all's well that ends well. We all really liked York Uni when we looked round it and we also know several people who have studied there in the past. We're so pleased that Daniel's got a place there as it's the uni he really wanted to go to, I'm sure he'll enjoy his time there.

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  5. Brilliant news for Daniel Jo. It all sounds very complicated to me but I'm glad he has got the grades to do what he wanted to.

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    1. It was quite complicated and it took us a while to understand what had gone wrong and what needed to happed to get it rectified. It's all worked out in the end though and he's on the course he wanted at the uni he wanted.

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  6. Oh my goodness! What a dreadful time this last couple of days has been with the waiting and tension.
    I am so pleased that Daniel has now had everything confirmed. Having to wait over the weekend would have been just too awful.
    So well done Daniel, many congrats and good luck for York!
    Lisa x

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    1. Thank you. It's all been a bit of a nightmare really but it's all come good in the end. It would have been terrible to have to wait over the weekend so I'm really pleased that the confirmation eventually came through yesterday.

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  7. Oh Jo congratulations to your son & you, been there & done that last year with mine, admittedly in less stressfull circumstances. A breath of relief now I bet.

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    1. Thank you. I slept very well last night, I can't imagine what state I'd have been in by Monday if we'd had to wait over the weekend. Definitely a hugh breath of relief.

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  8. congratulations,A levels are stressfull.
    I hope i never hear that they are getting easier as that is just so untrue.

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    1. Thank you. There used to be times when it was reported that GCSE's and A levels were getting easier, but according to reports this year, higher grades are getting much harder to come by. I know how hard Daniel, and many others, have worked to get the grades they've got and it's definitely not an easy task to pass these exams.

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  9. I can only imagine Daniel's, and your, stress. I'm sure you'll all sleep so much better tonight. Well done Daniel.

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    1. Thank you. How did you guess? I was asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow, such was the relief.

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  10. Good for Daniel. You must all be very relieved. I can see where it must have been very frustrating before he got that final confirmation! Good luck to him.

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    1. Thank you. It was so stressful but we're all hugely relieved now. He really wanted to go to York University so it would have been awful if he'd been turned down, especially after all the stress we'd encountered.

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  11. Oh my goodness, how stressful! The last thing you need is exam grades going awol. But at least it's sorted now and you can all relax. Congratulations to Daniel, that's an amazing achievement. x

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    1. Thank you. It would have been terrible if he hadn't got a place at York after the two days of stress but as you say, we can all relax a bit now.

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  12. What a long drawn out, stressful 2 days you've all had, Jo. I'm glad it all worked out in the end. Many congratulations to Daniel.

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    1. Thank you. I can't remember having days as stressful as these for a long time but as you say, it's all worked out in the end and that's all that matters.

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    1. Thank you. We're all thrilled to bits.

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  14. CONGRATULATIONS TO YOUR SON!!!!!
    YAY!!!!
    SO EXCITED FOR YOU!
    Ahh I know this feeling so much, It's not nice and I'm so glad he didn't have to wait over the weekend Jo, I bet there is a lot of celebration going on at your house this weekend!
    I didn't know that students in the UK went through UCAS as well, I honestly thought that was just for foreigners wanting to go to Uni in the UK... see how you learn something new every day?
    I really am thrilled, being in the teaching field, I always love to see the young people of our nations wanting to further themselves!
    Much love to you and well done on raising such great kids mum!
    Have a great weekend,
    Tammy

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    1. Thank you. It would have been awful to have to wait over the weekend, but at least he now knows and the celebrations can begin. He was straight on the phone to his friends as soon as he knew, though they'd been ringing him constantly over the two days and dropping in to ask if he knew anything yet. Neither Mick nor I went to university so we've gone in to this with Daniel a bit blind, not knowing procedures, but we've had to learn fast. We're so proud that Daniel has achieved what he wanted to achieve and secure a place at York.

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  15. What a stressful situation which is bad enough at the best of times!
    So pleased Daniel has been accepted at York on the course he wanted to
    study. Now he can get together with his friends and compare notes and you can relax.

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    1. It was so stressful, but he got the end result he wanted so that's what we have to focus on. I think he's making up for lost time celebrating with friends now.

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  16. What a relief to get to the end of your post and see the desired result! Well done Daniel :)

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    1. Thank you. It was a very long winded event, but we got there in the end.

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  17. Hi Jo! Glad to hear he got the results he needed, it is so stressful isn't it!! Just had a look through your previous posts that I have missed...your holiday looked great, what lovely places!!

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    1. Stressful isn't the word, I'm still recovering form it all. I could do with another holiday after all that. We had a lovely time and we visited some really beautiful places.

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  18. Well done Daniel. I sympathise with all those who go through this. Flighty xx

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    1. Thank you. I do too. It's stressful at the best of times, but add two days of total uncertainty and my finger nails are now nonexistent. Ahh well, we'll be waiting on GCSE results next year with Eleanor.

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  19. Just catching up Jo after being away for the weekend and I want to congratulate Daniel on getting into the Uni he wanted. That was certainly a lengthy and muddled wait and I can't imagine what he must have been going through, but well done and you must be proud parents.

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    1. Thank you. It was definitely a lengthy wait, but worth it for the end result. We're extremely proud parents.

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  20. Sorry I'm a bit late but many congratulations to Daniel. It's been fraught in our house too with the AS results not being what we'd hoped for and 2 papers being sent for remarking. No one I've spoken to seems to have done as well as they expected to.
    How exciting to know he's got into his first choice of uni, well done again!

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    1. Thank you. Most of Daniel's friends got lower grades than they'd expected, so he's done well to get in to his university of choice. I'm sorry to hear the results in your house weren't what you'd hoped for, but hope the papers meet expectations once they've been remarked. Good luck.

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  21. What a pallaver to put you through! I'm glad it got sorted in the end. Massive congratulations and I know you are very proud of him.

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    1. Thank you. We're extremely proud of him. All the hassle of results day doesn't seem to matter now that we know he's got his first choice of university, and he's also managed to get his accommodation of choice too, so he's happy with that.

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  22. What a relief for you all after having to wait! Well Done to Daniel, he must be so relieved to get his first choice, and you must be very proud.
    Bella got her uni place too, but her grades were a bit of a disappointment to her and we are having a paper remarked as she was 1 point away from a B on her English (where we had hoped for an A!), so hopefully she may go up a grade on that. Results don't seem to have been as high as people hoped for this year, that's for sure.
    Glad its all over Jo!
    Gill xx

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    1. It was certainly a bit of an ordeal, but we're over it now. I think it would have been a different matter if Daniel hadn't got his first choice though, we're so proud of him. It sounds as though Bella's English result was the same as Daniel's ICT result. He's still smarting over it, but he can't have his paper remarked unless all the class agree, in writing, to have their's remarked too, which is never going to happen. I hope Bella gets the result she wants in the end. I don't know anyone who got the results they were predicted this year. I've got it all to go through again next year with Eleanor's GCSE's.

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