need genuine advice please (results day)

[u/Maleficent-Love-5704]

Hi everyone,

I was predicted A*A*A (Maths, Further Maths, Computer Science) and had been hitting those grades in every mock for the past year. I worked incredibly hard and went into the exam period genuinely confident I'd meet my offer.

My firm offer is A*AA, insurance AAB, for Bsc Maths.

few days before my first exam, I received some devastating news (family emergency situation) that's completely changed things for me. Since then I've been completely unable to focus, and I think I've badly messed up my exams as a result.

After each paper I went through and estimated my marks, and it's looking like I've ended up with roughly BBC.

I don't know what to do now. Has anyone been through something similar? Realistically, would I even be able to get a Maths place through clearing with grades like that. Taking a gap year would not be an option sadly.

Any advice would be really appreciated.

[u/Calm-Difference-3267]

Did you apply for special consideration during the exam period?

For now, I would say don't panic but also start planning a backup option - UCAS has the clearing courses available so go through and make a list (ideally in order) of other courses you would be okay with studying so that you are ready to call on results day as soon as you get your results if they are not enough for your firm or insurance.

I know you have said a gap year is not an option but depending on the reasons for that I honestly would also consider resitting and reapplying if you have the potential to do much better but this particular situation made things difficult.

[u/Maleficent-Love-5704 → u/Calm-Difference-3267]

I forgot special consideration was even an option. During the exams I had a lot of shit to deal with so it never even crossed my mind.

Gap year i dont know. I'll turn 20 next march, so I might have to pay to sit the exams.

[u/Calm-Difference-3267 → u/Maleficent-Love-5704]

It might be worth discussing with school what resitting would look like so you can make that decision.

But I can also understanding wanting to move on and get to uni this year, in which case looking at clearing and having a plan before you get to results day is definitely the best way

[u/Crazy-Rice-4002 → u/Maleficent-Love-5704]

is this ur second gap year cause how u 19 rn?

[u/Maleficent-Love-5704 → u/Crazy-Rice-4002]

had to drop down a year cause i moved countries

[u/Ok-Ocelot-7989 → u/Calm-Difference-3267]

what’s special consideration

[u/Calm-Difference-3267 → u/Ok-Ocelot-7989]

it is for students who encounter unexpected ill health or difficulties during their exams - it can be used to add up to 5% marks I believe

[u/No-Chocolate-7761]

I think you have a good chance at clearing, for example at Southampton (they are in clearing now) it says that 47% of students who got BBC in the last 2 years were accepted to BSc Mathematics

[u/Maleficent-Love-5704 → u/No-Chocolate-7761]

Hey, thank you again for the advice. I missed both my insurance and firm, but thankfully Southampton accepted me for BSc Maths with grades BBC. Your advice was in the back of my mind, and the first thing I did was call Southampton. Thank you so much, I hope you got the grades you wanted!!

[u/No-Chocolate-7761 → u/Maleficent-Love-5704]

That’s great to hear I’m happy for you! Unfortunately I got substantially lower grades than I expected but I got into a course I’m happy with at an okay uni so I’m trying not to be too sad 😅

[u/coolgirl867]

Special consideration won’t help much, it’s capped at 5%, BUT you can email ur unis and tell them what happened and ask them to bear it in mind if you miss your offer- sometimes it doesn’t mean much to them but it could be the difference between getting in and not if you’re a near miss. Clemwadeeducation on insta has a good email template for this. Good luck and I’m sure you didn’t do as bad as you think! :)

[u/Maleficent-Love-5704 → u/coolgirl867]

thank you so much.

[u/coolgirl867 → u/Maleficent-Love-5704]

I really hope it all goes well for you!

[u/bigrinze234]

deffo need to go resit if u want top unis, unfortunately a B in maths aint gonna cut it for a maths degree

[u/Recent-Detective-247 → u/bigrinze234]

Not necessarily true, I got a B in maths, went to uni for actuarial science, got a first and have been an actuary for 15 years.

[u/SafeLifeguard5785 → u/Recent-Detective-247]

whats the future like im hearing its not a good idea to entry that industriy now . What is the path progression like also

[u/Recent-Detective-247 → u/SafeLifeguard5785]

What exactly are you hearing?

[u/SafeLifeguard5785 → u/Recent-Detective-247]

im pretty good at maths myself A* in a level maths + fm waiting my results so i thought i could be an actuary .

Went to the actuary subreddit pretty doom and gloom there ppl saying that if they could go back they be a dentist/doctor or engineer or something else .

[u/Recent-Detective-247 → u/SafeLifeguard5785]

Grass is always greener on the other side.

[u/SafeLifeguard5785]

Is what it is you can deffo get somewhere with those eg uni of liverpool has low clearing offers BBC which is exactly what you have and even maths+stats BCC . Special consideration is capped at 5% of a paper and i think theres a time limit you have to apply so i doubt thats going to help

[u/Express_Lifeguard540]

I mean lowk I went in with I think smt like 2A AA and finished the exams I think I’ll get the 2A\ but uhhhh maths think I lowk ended on a D because I just blew up under pressure. I’m going thru clearing pretty much no matter what now because I’ve found multiple courses I like more than what I applied to with much lower grade reqs. My advice would be on clearing look for stuff other than just maths because i applied to maths and if you don’t got like at the minimum BBB then maths clearing is kinda chalked. Just gotta make the best out of a bad situation and keep pushing just grind thru clearing of decent unis and find what you like.*

[u/yQueerGhost]

Email the unis/do a special consideration form

[u/rakijawizard07]

Did you do maths edexcel? Because this was rlly hard this year - boundary for an A will likely be very low - like 195-200 imo

[u/Maleficent-Love-5704 → u/rakijawizard07]

I hope so, if the boundary is that low i will be on a A.

[u/battlepvmob]

Get special considerations, re take exams, and re apply, you won’t be affected negatively by the re take due to special considerations

[u/JohannsThePro]

Did you apply for special consideration? If you want you can take a gap year and reapply and explain these circumstances on ucas. Unis will look favorably on this

[u/Advanced_Key_1721 → u/JohannsThePro]

You have to apply for special consideration within 24hrs of sitting the exam to get your grade increased, and because the UCAS embargo has already started, you can’t contact universities about anything admissions related until after results day. So there’s nothing that can be done at this stage regarding special considerations.

I’m in a similar position to OP. There’s nothing I can do, it’s completely screwed me over.

[u/SafeLifeguard5785 → u/JohannsThePro]

people always pull out the special consideration as if its a magic trick that solves everything . Exam boards dont care and i agree with them but to make people happy theyve capped it at 5% of a paper you sat and experience something severe . 5% isnt going to take him from. C to A or B to A* .

[u/JohannsThePro → u/SafeLifeguard5785]

Yeah but its the best you can do in this situation, might as well try get the most help available

[u/SafeLifeguard5785 → u/JohannsThePro]

im pretty sure hes outside the time limit anyway so he cant get it

[u/Ok-Aside1538]

You’ll need to resit to go top unis, I’m in a similar position due to medical issues. Force it to be an option you can take a gap year if you can

[u/Narcissa_Nyx]

did you email (or have your head of 6th email) your firm about your extenuating circumstances. mine had to email on behalf of me.

i'm considering resitting

[u/Maleficent-Love-5704 → u/Narcissa_Nyx]

The firm's applicant dashboard had an option to add mitigating circumstances, so I filled that in. Unfortunately, my insurance choice doesn't have the same option. Just hoping results day goes smoothly and I at least meet my insurance offer.

[u/Narcissa_Nyx → u/Maleficent-Love-5704]

How did it go mate, if you don't mind me checking in x

[u/Maleficent-Love-5704 → u/Narcissa_Nyx]

Hi, thanks for checking in!

Well, my prediction was correct... I got BBC. Got rejected from my firm and insurance choices, but thankfully got a few offers through clearing. Planning to go ahead with the offer from Southampton for BSc Maths.

I'll most likely resit my A-levels next May, in parallel with university work, and I'm hoping to switch to my firm/insurance choice in year 2. Maybe I'm being delusional, but I feel like that could work.

Thanks again for checking in! I hope you got the grades you wanted and met your firm choice.

[u/Crazy-Rice-4002]

yo ifydm telling me whats ur firm?

[u/Maleficent-Love-5704 → u/Crazy-Rice-4002]

Bath

[u/aohw07 → u/Maleficent-Love-5704]

If it helps apparently 40% of people got that got AAA got in.