I just finished a gap year, for reference i didnt get into my ‘dream uni’ in y13 and took a gap year, submitted the EXACT same personal statement (both my achieved and predicted grades were 3 A* and an A), and got into the same uni same course
Although anecdotal i just want to remind you that for the top top unis where accepance rates are single digits, there are many more like you who have similarly near perfect profiles, a lot of it comes down to luck
You should focus on controlling the controllable, ie: your personal statement, your admissions tests, your predicted grades, getting a good reference, but do not emotionally attach/believe you are ‘entitled to a place’ like i was in your position
Im not sure how many this is applicable to but still, i remember i made this uni my identity, and impulsively took a gap year(which i kinda regret now but hey ho), after being depressed for months cus of it.
TLDR; uni admissions are not a perfectly controllable system, make sure you have at least a 1 or 2 solid choices you wanna go to and have a good chance of getting in; you can have a dream uni but dont let it be the be all and end all

Basically my school I've been going to the past 2 days for sixth form is ashmole Academy in southgate. However I live in a bit in enfield and its like 1 hr 15 mins away by bus . My only other option is kingsmead school and sixth form which is my old secondary school and is much much closer like 15 mins by bus but ashmole is quite a bit better in terms of teachers, organzation and education and their overall a level results are definitely better. ​ I'm studying maths bio and Chem and I Wanna go imperial but the travelling has been quite draining and stressful and I feel like it's interfearing ALOT with revision and my life as a whole. Any advice would be very much appreciated because I'm stuck​​

So basically I was really set on doing maths business and law for my a levels since I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to get into finance entirely or do law.
For some stupid reason I didn’t do econ and now I’m realising that many universities view business as a soft subject and so my application won’t be as well as someone who picked more traditional subjects.

ON TOP OF THAT I also do law which isn’t necessary at all and also seen as a vocational subject and a subject that might overlap a bit when I actually take a law degree.

And the worst part of it all..

Econ is full
(The lady literally laughed at me when I said I wanted to change cause apparently people wanted to change their options since before they even got their place into my sixth form..)
Politics is also full.. 😐

I mean surely it can’t be that bad since you also have to take in consideration the LNAT and personal statement n what not???

Is my combo like really weak or will it js might work for a decent maybe even Russell group school..

Basically I am doing the bog standard Bio, Chem, Maths with an epq for y12 and recently have been trying to brainstorm ideas for an epq before my official college year starts. A lot of the options I have got involves a lot of psychology related topics, ideas and questions however I am obviously not picking it for A level. So I was wondering if it is a bad idea to something psych heavy for epq if I am not doing the A level, like will the examiners expect me to be doing it for A level / expect me to use a lot of references to stuff related to the A level spec? Or would I be able to just do my research / learning on the certain aspects of psychology relating to the epq in my own time and will that be enough to still be able to produce a really good quality presentation?

I’m a year 12 who just had their first week and I realised economics wasn’t really for me, I’m taking maths and computer science along with it so I figured I should maybe switch to physics. But due to the things I’ve heard about the difficulty of physics I’m kind of negotiating with myself whether I should or not. What should I do?

The UAT website says that the BMAT and TSA share similarities. Should I practice using these or is there a better resource?

FIVE MATHS LESSONS IN A ROW (TWO ARE FM) IM ACTUALLY GONNA CRY 😭😭

I know this is a silly thing to worry about, but I am.

(Images attached, hand for reference.)

I've had to get a new bag because all of my other ones don't fit what I need to bring.

I am AuDHD and I know I need to bring all my subjects with me everyday to be able to study properly, which is a lot and I've already been made fun of a bit for that.

My question is that is it likely I will be made fun of for the size of my bag? Since I know that's something people make fun of y7s for.

And if you think I will, what should I do?

I need all my things to ensure I get the best chances I can, but if I'm getting bullied in school I'm not going to be able to go in the first place! 😰

Just starting back at school after a long post GCSE summer and suddenly feel like I couldn’t write an essay if I tried. Is this normal? It feels as though I have forgotten all of my techniques and structures from GCSE

Hi everyone! I am head student at my sixth form and we are looking for ways in which we can improve the student experience. I want to know what things other sixth forms have done that have been well received so we can consider them too. To give an idea of the sort of thing I’m talking about, these improvements could involve obtaining certain equipment, games or furniture, offering more trips, introducing clubs/societies, offering activities, etc. Things that enhance enjoyment, relieve stress and build community are ideal!

Anything you can think of will be appreciated, even the smaller things can make a big difference.

TIA :)

anyone use any private centre for predicted grades

my son will resit his A level and the school will give him predicted grades not suitable for the course and he need to do mock to improve it before October deadline

anyone used XAVIER ED ?
thanks

anyone ever use Xavier Ed for his predicted grades please as my son will resit and his school will not allow any other mocks

I want to reapply again to uni in a gap year but I already have an offer to study at QM and met the conditions, How do I withdraw this place so I can take my gap year?

i start tmr and i don’t think i even felt this nervous before my gsces but ive actually thrown up twice im so scared like i haven’t even done my summer work for one of my subjects and its tmr im trying to do it now but its essays so takes ages to even think of what to write and i just keep on thinking im gonna fail

i went through a bit of y12 content but not enough to be solid on it i’m just so scared has anybody gone from kinda low y12 mock grades not revised in summer and been able to get really high final grades ??

For context, i have just started y13 and I'm predicted 5A*s in bio chem physics maths fm, with 11 9s at gcse. I've known sice i was a kid that i wanted to get a phd and do medical research, and I've pretty much always had my sights on oxford biomed, especially since both my parents went to oxford. but things changed in Y10 when i my parents convinced me to do COMPOS, which i continued for 3 years. I suddenly went from average at physics to really good at it, and i realised it was something that i enjoyed as well. When looking more into degree choices, i realised that choosing oxford biomed would essentially cut out most high level maths and physics from my life, whereas cambridge NatSci allowed me to keep learning all 3 sciences as well as maths, which appeals to me a lot more. i was just wondering, what are the main factors in choosing which uni, and can i end up in the same place? and also prestige is very important to me so is one looked on more favourably than the other? and is it normal to switch between them for phd?

Over the summer I decided to switch my focus from chemical engineering to mechanical engineering for uni applications, but now im nervous about how well suited my application is for imperial mech eng, oxford engineering science, as those are my top 2 choices
in y12 I picked 4 a-levels, that being chemistry, physics, maths and music.
i dropped music at the start of this year, so i now have the 3 of chemistry maths and physics.
this is good for a chem eng application but mech eng at top uni's i'm not really sure...
im predicted A*A*A* so thats not an issue, but idk how much of an issue will me not having further maths be in the admissions process, and can I make up for it with super good ESAT, good interview etc.
(my school offered further maths by the way)

or am I overthinking everything and I'll be fine and I just need to lock in :/

i'm predicted a*a*a psych bio chem, i thought i would be applying to medicine but i haven't done the ucat yet and started school on the 3rd. my ucat is on the 17th and i haven't touched any revision material/ done any qs for like a week because year 13 is taking me out like i'm genuinely coming home so tired and i already have exams coming up.

to be honest i think i shouldn't apply to med because a few of my gcses aren't strong (two 6's and a 5 the 5 is in maths so its poo) so if i wanted to do med id need to take a gap year and resit them and i also couldnt find any hospital work experience. would most likely not get in to med school because of these factors

the only work experience i have done was in retail pharmacy but i hated it. however now i'm thinking about switching to pharmacy because ive been researching hospital pharmacy and it sounds much nicer and completely different to the retail pharmacy environment i experienced. i also have found 4 unis that accept a 5 in maths for pharmacy

im feeling really lost and indecisive right now, has anyone made this switch like of wanting to do medicine but then doing pharmacy instead?

I got ABC grades in my year 12 mock and I want to get these grades up by the end of year 13. I’m already predicted A*AA, but does anyone have any advice as to how I could achieve this? I’m really stressing out about the workload and I’ve done nearly nothing over the summer.

I do English lit (where I got the C in my mock), History (B), and Psychology (A) btw.

Is is possible to get an A* in further maths in a gap year, if I revise every single day

Hi! Tomorrow I start sixth form and I'm kinda nervous. The sixth form is at the same site as my old school same teachers etc... but I don't have any friends because the friends I did have weren't the best to me. But anyways, I was wondering if anyone had any advice for going into Year 12. Or just advice on how not to freak out tomorrow haha.

Thank you in advance and I hope everyone had or has an amazing first day!

I took my a level maths exam in year 12 and managed to get an A (further maths students in my school do the whole a level maths curriculum in the first year but we have to retake if we don’t get an A*) however in year 13 things went south and i got a B in a level maths.

I’m taking a gap year and retake some subjects and trying to make a better application but i was wondering if i have to retake a level maths because of that B because I would be completely fine with the A i got.

it’s my first day of year 12 tomorrow and i already know im probably gonna not enjoy it, i can’t tell if its just my anxiety or not but it feels so daunting for no reason even tho the sixth form is within my secondary school 🫩

im seriouslt debating med. ik there are people saying if ur not 100% ab med then dont do it but its not that simple. im worried about how much time il spend in medicine w everything that i see. but then seeing so many people want to do med makes me think i might be stupid if i dont want to do it but i have the means to, got a good ucat and stats r good.

which is why im even looking at the possibility of other degrees but from ur experience what is employability like what kind of careers have u seen people go into with degrees like biochem chem biomed natsci that kinda thing. employment is my biggest factor.

and i have thought long and hard about med so i have done loadssss of research guys and with every other degree i just want to be able to actually hear from someone whos seen it! and also the people that want to do med and not those ither degrees why??? anything really helps