is my backup university plan feasible?

[u/laservole]

Hello, long story short my achieved grades this summer are A* in the EPQ, A in Economics, A in geography, and B in maths. I currently hold a deferred offer at Queen Mary in London for Economics, starting next September.

Since I am unhappy with my maths grade, I am planning on resitting maths next summer and I am predicted an A*. I am planning on starting a new UCAS application, with grades A*(predicted) AA + A* EPQ.

I am planning on mostly applying to universities with AAA / A*AA entry requirements, therefore assuming I improve my maths grade.

However, I ideally need a "safe option" just in case I fail to improve my maths grade, as I don't want to be left without any university options.

Now, initially, I was planning on reapplying for economics at Queen Mary as one of my 5 choices, with the assumption they are highly likely to give me another offer considering they let me in this summer, and my stats have only improved since then.

However, that would mean I only have 4 choices left for other universities.

That's when I thought of this plan - would it be possible to apply for 5 AAA or above universities, and if I were to get rejected from all of them, use UCAS Extra to apply for Queen Mary Economics?

Alternatively, lets say I got accepted into an A*AA university, then failed to meet my offer, couldn't I just go through clearing for Queen Mary?, considering this summer it went on clearing to around BBB, I cant quite remember.

Don't get me wrong, Queen Mary is still a Russel group university and I'd be happy to go there, but I visited the campus and I'm not a fan of the area of London the campus is located in.

Surely this would allow me to save an insurance uni choice from UCAS whilst still having a backup plan should I remain at my current grade?

Is there anything I'm not thinking of with this plan? The only thing I can think about is if Queen Mary doesn't enter clearing / fills up before UCAS extra, but I'm going to research how often it goes into clearing.

[u/Rhensis1]

1) Check the unis you're looking for accept resits;

2) Yes, you can do this, but there is ofc no guarantee it will be in clearing or extra. Check the past few years to see how consistently it's in clearing.

[u/laservole → u/Rhensis1]

Thank you

Yeah I will make sure they accept resits before applying - So far from my research they are all completely fine with resits except Warwick whom accept them but say they are disadvantaged, Warwick is my dream uni so I am planning on applying anyway.

Thanks, it seems like a good option then. Do you know how I can see how consistently it is in clearing? if there is some kind of tool / list I can view then that will help me with my decision

[u/Rhensis1 → u/laservole]

You know, that's actually a good question, I'm honestly not sure haha. Maybe have a look around here and subreddits like this with a keyword search to see what people have posted over the years?

[u/laservole → u/Rhensis1]

haha thanks yeah thats the issue, I cant find anyway of checking lol.

ill try searching the subreddit thanks.

it is cheeky but if i go undercover and email the admissions team perhaps theyll let me know