Since my previous thread, the boy has shortlisted some unis and is in the process of putting his application together.
He has 15 gcses, 10 at a star and 5 at a.
All the courses expect 7 a's or better with English, Maths and triple science as must haves. These must have been taken at the same sitting.
Because he took his English and Maths two years early these don't count and he therefore cannot apply for any of the courses that interest him.
He went to a failing school and they got their star pupils to sit the exams early to boost the school's results!
If we had known this would impact his choices later on we would not have let him take the tests early.
He is on target for AAA at a level in sciences and is feeling rather despondent at the moment.
The moral of the story is don't sit any exams before you have to!
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It may be worth your son talking directly with the admissions tutors of the specific courses before ruling out those universities / courses. The requirement is more likely to be there to weed out pupils who would go on to be marginal students rather than "star" pupils.
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You really need to be seeking independent professional advice, but have you thought about calling the university involved for a quick chat?
It's possible they're confusing an earlier sitting for the more modern "technique" of resitting individual modules to boost grades.
Edit: Beaten to it by NC. :-)
Last edited by: Alfa Floor on Sat 25 Jun 11 at 21:52
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I wish that was the case, we spoke to three of the shortlisted ones on Friday pm and got "sorry you don't meet the criteria"!
Will call again in the week and try to speak to someone senior.
Current tutor at the 6th form is astounded. Has given him an undeserved recommendation for the course he wants to go on.
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Has given him an undeserved recommendation
Hope you meant unreserved :-)
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I find the attitude of the unis appalling if this turns out to be the case. Sitting exams early means a pupil is bright. The unis are surely trying to avoid the situation when someone re-sits to get grades. The fact your child has 15 GCSE's should tell the unis something.
Maybe these aren't the unis to go to. I'd phone and ask a few top uni admission departments for an opinion. I am sure you'd get feedback. I'd hope so. Your son deserves better than this.
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>> Has given him an undeserved recommendation
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>> Hope you meant unreserved :-)
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Damn Ipad's auto correct!
:-)
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>>Will call again in the week...
Yes, the key is to talk to the tutor who will make the decision. Owing to the numbers of prospective students involved admissions tutors are usually well protected by layers of officious admin staff. You may need to do some homework to learn the name of the most appropriate academic to whom you should be putting your case.
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I suppose they might by default go for the easy option - bin applications on simple criteria.
Last year our graduate programme took on only a few dozen. I believe many many thousands applied! Most applications would have gone in the bin quickly.
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>>I suppose they might by default go for the easy option
For us, judging by attendance at open days, it looks like applicatioons are on the up - again!
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The on going saga of my son's uni appllication - Number_Cruncher
