Guide to A Level Results

What to do on results day - A Level Guide

The dates of other results days are as follows:

A-level results are released on Thursday 13 August 2015

Once the big day rolls around, there are a few things you need to do...

1) Check your status on Track - has your firm choice already confirmed your place? (NB this may not necessarily mean you achieved the exact terms of your offer but that they have accepted you anyway).

2) Have some breakfast. Whatever the situation is, you can't make important decisions and/or celebrate on an empty stomach.

3) If you need to go to school/college to get confirmation of your results you need to take a few things with you .....

• Mobile phone (charged and topped up)
• Pen/pencil
• Notepad/writing paper
• Calculator (in case something goes wrong and your modules aren't adding up)
• UCAS/uni letter with the exact wording of conditional offers for both your firm and insurance ('Was it ABB or AAB?')
• Contact details for your firm and insurance universities - telephone and email addresses for the main admissions office.
• Parents (optional).

Once you've opened your results, there are a few things that could happen. Try not to panic, no matter what happens to you

You've made your firm offer!

Congratulations! Get excited! Go and tell your friends. 

But do not phone your first choice University unless they've asked you to, in which case you will have been told this in advance. Leave the lines free for those who have not met their offers and are trying to find out if a university will still confirm their offer.

It does sometimes happen that your UCAS Track doesn't get updated in time for results day morning, so don't be too concerned if your Track is still showing 'conditional firm'. It should update later in the day, but if it still hasn't by Friday morning, phone the university to find out what the issue is.

When Track updates to show your place is confirmed, UCAS will put your AS12 letter in the post and will send you a copy by email. Read it carefully and follow the instructions. Some universities don't need you to do anything else to confirm your place, but others do. The letter explains exactly what you are required to do. Either way, keep the letter safe, as you'll need it as proof for bank accounts and things like that. Start a folder for all the information you receive from the university.

The Adjustment period

If you have met and exceeded the requirements for your firm offer, you can consider looking for a place at a different university asking for higher entry grades.

This is called 'Adjustment' and is optional. Exceeding your offer means that you must meet and exceed the conditions that are stated in your firm choice offer. So, if your firm offer is ABB and you get AAB then you are eligible for Adjustment, but you are not eligible if you get ABC or ABBB. 

Remember you do not have to give up your firm offer in order to explore what else might be available to you in Adjustment.

If you do want to consider the Adjustment route, you need to first register through Track. Anyone who meets their conditional firm offer will have the option to register for Adjustment through Track, but it is down to the universities you approach to decide whether or not you are eligible.

You will have up to five days from results day, or the date on which your conditional firm (CF) became unconditional firm (UF) (ie your conditional offer became unconditional), whichever is later, in which to negotiate an alternative offer. This time includes weekends, and in any case cannot be extended beyond 31 August. So, if your CF doesn't become UF until 29 August, you have only two days to look for another place and have this confirmed by the uni. While you are looking for a place through Adjustment, your original firm choice place will be held for you.

UCAS will not publish listings of courses available through Adjustment, so you will need to call individual universities and look at their own websites to see if they are offering Adjustment places.

When you speak to the uni, explain clearly that you are looking for places through Adjustment, not Clearing. If a university offers you a place through Adjustment and you accept it (this is usually done over the phone), they will update your status on Track with the new uni and course code, and your original firm offer will be automatically cancelled and cannot be retrieved. Therefore, make sure you've thought it through and decided this is what you want to do before accepting an Adjustment offer! UCAS will also send you another AS12 letter in the post to confirm the place.

If you don't receive any offers through Adjustment, or you registered for Adjustment accidentally, then after the five days have elapsed you will automatically be confirmed at your original firm choice.

If you have registered for Adjustment, your current firm uni will be aware of this and may contact you to enquire what your plans are. If you have registered by mistake (people do...) it is worth letting your firm uni know this.

You've missed your firm offer

• Don't give up completely as there's still a chance they might accept you. First of all check UCAS Track. If Track says your place is 'unconditional' then you're fine. Relax, celebrate and leave the phone lines clear - do NOT phone your university 'just to check'. However, if Track shows that you've been unsuccessful, that is it. Game over. Unis will not allow you to plead your case if they have already firmly rejected you so do not waste everyone's time by phoning the uni 'just in case'. It's utterly pointless.

• With places now so competitive, it's really only worth asking a uni to reconsider if you have new information to provide - eg you just missed out on your grades by a few UMS marks or intend to appeal any grades. If you do phone the uni because of either of these two reasons, remember to keep calm, and however stressed you feel, don't be rude or aggressive - the person who answers the phone isn't responsible for your low grades, and is more likely to want to help you if you are polite. Remember, the more competitive the uni is, the less likely it is that they will be interested in being 'lenient'.

• Extenuating circumstances: if anything serious prevented you performing at your best in your exams (such as the death of a close relative), your school should have told the exam boards about this at the time. There is therefore very little point in pleading this once the results are announced. However 'unfair' it may seem, if you have still missed your grades by a wide mark, most universities will not be interested in hearing any further 'excuses'. If you do decide to try talking to a university to plead your case, then you will need to have your teachers on hand to verify your circumstances for you; and it will have to be a serious life-changing issue involved, not just 'I had an argument with my girlfriend'.

• UMS marks and remarks: Universities only receive module and overall grades, not UMS marks. So if you are only a couple of marks away from fulfilling your offer, then it may be worth letting the university know to see if they will reconsider. However, remember that they don't have to.

• If your school is submitting some of your exams for a priority re-mark, it is essential to get in touch with your universities to let them know. See the note about re-marks below for more information.

• If by mid-morning on results day, Track still shows your offer as conditional then you'll need to phone the university because it suggests they are yet to make a final decision on your application. The hotline phone number may be listed on the uni's website, or might have been sent to you in advance; if you haven't got a special number then just phone the uni's normal number, and make it clear you are an existing offer holder, not a Clearing applicant.

• Sometimes unis can take a long time to make a final decision - sometimes over a week after results day. If it reaches this point and you are still waiting then phone and ask when they expect to decide. Keep calm, remain polite - the person answering the phone may have no control over this process. [The universities are not supposed to keep people in limbo for too long, so if you think they are being unreasonable and causing you to miss out on places elsewhere via Clearing then contact UCAS for advice.]

If your firm offer still accepts you with your missed grades

If Track shows your place as unconditional despite missed grades, you have a place.

Congratulations! That's it. You'll just need to go home and await your AS12 email and letter in a few days. Do NOT phone the uni just to check they really meant it. If its on Track as confirmed, you have a place.

You missed your firm offer, and they won't accept you with lower grades

You now have several options and your school/college will be able to talk you through what these are (eg relevant to your circumstances etc), and these include accepting your insurance place, retaking A-levels etc and reapplying for next year. See the entries about insurance offers below.

You didn't get your firm offer, but you meet your insurance offer

Nice work! You can still go to uni! If this shows as unconditional, you don't need to do anything further now. Again, this may take a while to update on Track. If this is still showing as conditional by lunchtime on results day, you should phone that university to find out what the hold up is. Remember, stay calm and be polite.

If you are now going to your insurance choice, you will need to change your student loan details using the Change of Circumstances (CO1) form which can be done online, but this can wait a few days so just go home and wait for your confirmation letter. You will also need to sort out accommodation at your new university.

If you miss your insurance offer

Check UCAS Track to see if you've been accepted with lower grades. If your insurance still says your offer is conditional then they haven't decided yet - phone them up like you did your firm choice. They may still accept you with the lower grades. If they accept you, then that's great! If they don't, then you'll enter Clearing.

Realising that neither your firm or insurance University will now accept you can be very hard, especially if it seems that everyone else around you is jumping up and down and shrieking 'I'm going to uni!' - and you now possibly won't be. Your school has seen students in exactly this position before, you aren't alone and it doesn't mean that 'my entire life is over'. Go and talk to your teachers at school/college, they know your circumstances best and are there to help you with advice about what to do next.

You missed your firm or insurance offer but the uni has accepted you for a different course

This will show up on Track as UCC - i.e. 'unconditional changed course' - with the new course code.

You have five days to decide whether to accept this alternative. You don't have to. Read the course description carefully and be certain that it is still a course that you want to do. You will receive a letter from UCAS (the AS12C) which sets out your options, though you can accept or decline this offer on Track even if you haven't yet received the AS12C. If you decline the changed course offer, you will either go to your Insurance (if applicable and they have accepted you) or into Clearing.

If you are happy with the changed course offer, you do have to accept it on Track and must do so within five days. Whatever you do, don't just ignore it!

If both your firm and insurance choices make you a UCC offer, you can then choose between them, or decline both and go into Clearing.

I think I might want to defer for a year

If you don't already hold a deferred offer, once you have had your place confirmed you can contact the uni directly and ask if they can defer you. Have some reasons handy (e.g. what are you going to do in your gap year?) and it should be OK. It's best to do this as soon as you know you want to defer, but theoretically you can do it right up until the start date.

Your university may not agree to this, although most will. If the university won't agree, then you have the option of withdrawing from UCAS for this year and reapplying.

I don't want to go to university after all

You may now decide that you need some time to think about 'going to uni'. What seemed like a great idea last October is now feeling a bit less certain. Or you have no confirmed place and you've decided that Clearing is not an option. Or maybe, you are unhappy with what you have ended up with and you now want to have a gap year and do some resits/apply again next year.

I'm already holding an offer for this year

You'll need to contact the uni and tell them that you don't want to go. You should also update your application in Track so that UCAS knows that you aren't going to uni this year. Remember if you do this you won't be able to use Clearing and so will not end up at university anywhere this year.

I've got a deferred place for next year

Again, you must tell the university concerned if you no longer want this place. Either fill in the AS12 slip to say that you won't be taking up your place, or contact UCAS by phone. Remember, you cannot reapply through UCAS while holding a deferred place. If you want to apply for next year, you must drop this place and make a completely fresh application.

I don't currently hold an offer

If you missed your firm and insurance offers and they're not accepting you, then this will apply. You'll automatically be entered into Clearing, should you wish to do that. But if you don't want to go into Clearing, then you don't have to do anything. Just don't apply anywhere through Clearing and you won't be going.

Finally ...

• If you want to officially withdraw from the UCAS scheme, you can do so. Simply use the withdraw button on UCAS Track, but be certain it is what you really do want to do.
• Talk to your family and/or your teachers before making any big decisions - they have your best interests at heart, and sometimes just talking your thoughts and feelings through with someone can make things clearer.

Information courtesy of www.thestudentroom.co.uk

SQA Results Guide

For some of you, this may be your first SQA results day; for others, it may be your last. Every year at the beginning of August, hundreds of thousands of secondary school pupils receive the outcome of what has been a gruelling few months of hard work in preparation for their national qualification exams. But have no fear! TSR is here to guide you through this time.

What happens on results day?

On Tuesday 5 August, all of you will receive your Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC) after the postman has made that much awaited visit. The SQC is a record of your past achievements within the SQA to this point, and acts as proof of your attained results. With your certificate comes a cover letter from the SQA; a summary of your attainment; a detailed record of attainment; and a core skills profile. On the back of each card is text explaining this part of the certificate and what everything means. For additional information, you can also read our article on understanding your SQC. 

It is possible to receive your results by e-mail and/or text by 9am on the morning of Tuesday 5 August through the mySQA service. For this, you must sign up by Tuesday 8 July, and then activate your account by Wednesday 16 July. You can learn more about account activation on the mySQA website. E-mails and texts of results are sent in "waves" at set time periods to ensure that everyone gets their results by 9am – it's possible that you may be in that very first batch at 1am, or you may not be there until the last batch at 8:30am. You should keep in mind that there is no guarantee your results will be sent earlier than 9am. If you have signed up to receive your results by e-mail or text in previous years and have kept the same details, you will receive them by the same method this year without the need to sign up again.

Progression from S4 to S5

You've got your National 5 (and maybe Intermediate 1/2) results back. Great! Attainment in these exams most immediately pertains to your progression into the courses that you chose before the summer to study at a higher level. The following are some very common scenarios:

I did not do as well in N5 as I hoped, can I still do Higher?

The decision on whether to submit a student for a particular course is ultimately down to the submitting centre (your school or college). The SQA's guidance is that the recommended requirement for progression to Higher is a pass at National 5 (or Intermediate 2). You have the opportunity to convince your teacher that you're capable of passing Higher and that it won't be a waste of both of your times and the school's money, or ask them to let you begin sitting the Higher and see how you progress. Maybe you performed well in class assessment and prelim, but simply choked in the exam, maybe you were sick: this sort of evidence will (or at least, should) be taken into account in the decision-making process.

Recognising Positive Achievements

If you received ‘no award’ for a National 5 course, but still passed all the unit requirements (i.e. NABs), then the SQA may decide to give you a National 4 course award as part of their Recognising Positive Achievement arrangements. You should contact your school for further information on this process if required.

I missed my grades! What do I do!?

First, don't panic. You still have lots of options, but you have to think about a few things: Why do you think you failed? Try and work out where you went wrong and what can be improved for next year. Who can you talk to at school about your options from here? They know you best and will be able to give high quality advice. This could include a careers advisor or a mentor. Still concerned about your results? Your centre can request a clerical check and/or a marking review of the exam script, which may lead to a change in your grade.

Progression from S5 to S6

The consequences, in terms of progression, of this scenario are essentially identical to the ones provided above for S4 to S5, but with different levels of qualifications. The recommended "entry requirement" for an Advanced Higher qualification is an award at the Higher level. Again, this is only a recommendation and different schools have different policies about what an acceptable grade for progression is. The unique thing about moving into S6 is that the qualifications you now hold are what you apply to university with. The following are some common scenarios:

I don't meet the entry requirements for my course; can I still apply?

It can vary depending on your situation. If entry requirements are advertised in terms of "one sitting", then you would be required to take a new set of Highers in S6 if you were to try to meet the requirements of the course. If entry requirements are not advertised in terms of "one sitting", then your current set of Highers will be valid, although insufficient. For example, if your course requires AAAB, and you get AAB in 5th year, then all you’d need to do in 6th year is pick up another Higher to try to meet the entry requirements. It's extremely important you look at the entry requirements for your preferred course on the university's website and if you don't understand them to contact the university for clarification. It's worth noting that many universities also ask for certain subjects to be taken at Standard Grade/Intermediate 2/National 5 (such as a foreign language for humanities courses), if you don't have these subjects, there's no reason you can't study them in S5 or S6 instead. National 5s don't have to be achieved in 4th year to be valid.

I don't have the required subjects for my course; will they still consider my application?

Yes! However, you would be required to take this missing subject in S6. If something is advertised as a requirement, then there's no getting around it, bar exceptional circumstances. If you require to ‘crash’ a higher for a course make sure your head knows that it is a requirement, especially if your school is picky about them.

I've exceeded the entry requirements for my preferred course; should I still apply?

Congratulations! There's no reason you shouldn't apply to your course just because you exceed the entry requirements. The only thing that matters now is whether you would enjoy the courses that you're thinking about applying for, and that may be one that has higher entry requirements than you thought you'd achieve, or it may be the one you had your heart set on all along.

I've made my firm offer, but I no longer want to go there.

If you really don't want to attend your firm choice you should call the institution and ask them to release you. It's important to note that universities are under no obligation to release you from your offer. It is rare however for universities to deny this request. Note that upon getting news that you have met your firm offer, UCAS automatically declines your insurance offer for you. Thus, upon being released by your firm, you will be automatically entered into Clearing. If you still wish to attend your insurance choice, then you will have to call up your insurance to discuss with them that you'd still like to study their course, and whether they still have a place (and would be willing) to offer it to you. While here, you can discuss how you can go about accepting your insurance choice (e.g. through Clearing). It's advisable that you confirm they'll still accept you before you go about trying be released from your firm. 

I've missed my firm, what do I do?

If you've missed your firm offer, then UCAS will default to accepting your insurance offer. If you've narrowly missed your offer then you may find that you still receive an unconditional from your firm. If your Track still reads "conditional", it means the university have either not transmitted their decision, or are still considering your application. It is extremely important you contact your university as soon as possible in this case as they may be willing to offer you a place and are awaiting your call. In some cases, a university may make an applicant an offer for an alternative course, but this again, is not common. This will show on your UCAS as 'UCC' which stands for Unconditional Changed Course. You do not have to accept this offer, but you have five days to make your decision. It’s also possible for you to meet your offer via the SQA results service, and this is discussed more in our thread here. 

I've missed my firm and no longer want to go to my insurance.

The best thing you can do here is to call your insurance institution ASAP and ask to be released. After you've been released, UCAS will automatically place you into Clearing and you will be assigned a Clearing number. Read more about clearing here

I've missed both of my offers.

As above, it's possible that the institutions may still accept you even if you miss your offer, but this is completely at the discretion of the institution. If you miss both of your offers, then you will be automatically placed in Clearing and be assigned a Clearing number.

I've met and exceeded my offer; can I choose a better course?

If you have met AND exceeded your offer, this means that you're eligible to register for Adjustment via UCAS Track.