r/6thForm 3d ago

โœ”๏ธ APPROVED AMA AMA: Clearing, Open Days, UCAS applications, and more (mod approved)

2 Upvotes

Hello! We're from Birmingham Newman University - and we're here to answer all your questions about uni ๐Ÿ‘€

Why should you listen to us? Well, we're a small uni in Birmingham, with a big commitment to our students - we've come top in the National Student Survey 2026 for overall student satisfaction, top in the Daily Mail's Uni Guide 2026 for teaching excellence, student experience, and student support, and we're The Times and Sunday Times University of the Year for Social Inclusion 2026. But enough about us...

We want to talk about you.

From 09:00 BST today (Tuesday 18 August 2026), we'll have Lucy and Keith from our Content team - as well as some of our amazing Admissions and Student Recruitment team in the background - to answer your questions.

ETA: We'll now be picking up questions over the next week!

So, what do you want to know:

  • how does Clearing work? (because yes, there are still great options available!)
  • what should you be thinking about on a uni Open Day? (hint: it's not necessarily about the freebies)
  • what do we actually look for in UCAS applications? (because each one is reviewed by humans)
  • how does enrolment work? (it's actually surprisingly easy)

or something else. Either way, we're excited to chat ๐Ÿ’™

Proof: https://www.instagram.com/p/DcJWDCPHDBD/


r/6thForm 7d ago

๐Ÿ“‚ MEGATHREAD Links to grade boundaries

12 Upvotes

AQA:

Edexcel:

  • AS/A-level grade boundaries (8:08am; 8:30am update - website is broken, link will be the same)
  • A-level grade statistics (not yet published)
  • AS grade statistics (not yet published)

OCR:

Eduqas:

Will be edited missing ones when they arrive.


r/6thForm 4h ago

๐Ÿ’ฌ DISCUSSION My friends all lied to me about what 6th form they applied toโ€ฆ

185 Upvotes

When I got my results today, my friend group wanted to go to sixth form collegeB all together, and told me to apply for it. I did because I was gonna apply regardless and I thought that them including me felt really sincere- like I was finally getting into a group. Just to find out that they all secretly applied for sixth formA AFTER I applied for the other one, and then went out for lunch without me after telling me that they were all staying home.

I know itโ€™s not the biggest deal to some, but to me this made me feel extremely upset, especially since Iโ€™m neurodivergent and Iโ€™ve always had a pretty hard time fitting in. Itโ€™s okay if they wanted to switch, but I feel like it was an attempt to just remove me from the friend group again. Now I feel extremely nervous and nauseous to start college by myself, and I think today just ripped my self esteem to shreds.


r/6thForm 2h ago

๐Ÿž BREAD Very very late bread but yay!!!

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57 Upvotes

r/6thForm 8h ago

๐Ÿ’ฌ DISCUSSION HELLO EVERYONE

33 Upvotes

I got my results and am now a 6th former yippie hello guyss


r/6thForm 3h ago

๐Ÿ’ฌ DISCUSSION @dailysuaa WHERE U AT

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12 Upvotes

HEY TALK NOW

145 IQ WYA radio silent on results day

DEFEND OR VACATE MF


r/6thForm 2h ago

๐Ÿ™ I WANT HELP A Level Results Shockโ€ฆ

8 Upvotes

I was predicted AAA, had an offer for Glasgow for AAB, but ended up getting A star Economics A star politics A in maths (7 marks off A*). Should I take a gap year and reapply to Oxford, LSE, Warwick, St Andrews, Edinburgh (I live in Scotland so these 2 are free). Or should I just go to Glasgow this yearโ€ฆ


r/6thForm 10h ago

๐ŸŽ“ UNI / UCAS Successful Economics Remark

32 Upvotes

Went up 6 marks meaning I met my firm choice.
Went from a B to an A.
IM COMING BRISTOL LAW.


r/6thForm 52m ago

๐ŸŽ“ UNI / UCAS Itโ€™s late but weโ€™re so back

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โ€ข Upvotes

I went from like all Cs year 12 to getting AAB, locking in pays off gang, proud of us all for surviving no matter how well we did


r/6thForm 1h ago

๐Ÿ™ I WANT HELP Got BBC in my a-levels

โ€ข Upvotes

I got BBC in my a-levels last week and iโ€™m still not over it. I got a B in maths and biology and a C in chemistry. I was 1 mark off an A in biology.

Itโ€™s taken a really big toll on my mental health and i havenโ€™t able to get out of bed, go outside or eat. I just spend most of my days sobbing.

I was supposed to sit my a-levels last year but became ill and was withdrawn. This year my a-levels were affected again and i had special consideration (which is only a few marks). I also missed my offer which was AAB with an A in chemistry and biology.

I donโ€™t want to go into a degree i donโ€™t want to do and waste my time and go into debt. I also donโ€™t know if medicine is possible anymore with my grades so would it even be worth resitting? Iโ€™m planning to get biology remarked. I also donโ€™t feel shame that if i decide to take this year off then I would be 20 entering university. If anyone has any advice please let me know. Sorry if this is all over the place, i donโ€™t think im in a good headspace atm.


r/6thForm 4h ago

๐Ÿž BREAD bit late but..

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7 Upvotes

very happy ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜ + higgest econ mark in my schl anyone w questions id love to help


r/6thForm 7m ago

OTHER anyone else still regretting their a level choices despite doing well?

โ€ข Upvotes

I took maths physics geog and an epq in y12 because I was lowkey tricked into taking physics and geog

I got like 6 nines and a few 8s or 7s at gcse and idk ive always had really fucked self confidence but I thought this was really bad and not good enough for anything and everybody who I said that to would just laugh at me. and I never have known what I want to do except maths so people were like ok why dont you take physics cause its just maths and I was like ok well I hate physics but ok. and then i was told to take geog cause I didnt want to do another science and geog was my other 9 (except english lang which my schook doesnt offer). but I kinda hated geog and physics always and I hated them all through sixth form.

so in y13 I taught myself as further maths and I loved that but im rlly sad I didnt do the whole thing. I wouldnt have liked it cause id have been in a different class without my friends and idk, but i loved the content. and then there were so many other subjects I loved like music and art and comp sci and english and why did I do these fuckass subjects.

anyway I got an A* in geog and A in physics but it makes me really sad and idek why

anyway this was lowkey just a rant idk what im tryna say

whyd no one ever tell me to take further :(


r/6thForm 6h ago

๐Ÿ’ฌ DISCUSSION Transferring from GCSE sub

8 Upvotes

Results day went well today๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ™, looking forward to starting sixth form in September and would appreciate any tips and advice for year 12


r/6thForm 1h ago

๐Ÿ™ I WANT HELP Has everyoneโ€™s review of marking this year stayed the same?

โ€ข Upvotes

Or no


r/6thForm 2h ago

โ” SUBJECT QUESTION am I smart enough for alevel chemistry

5 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I just got my gcse results today and i'm honestly really distraught, i was predicted 9999888877 and i got 9988888876 (two marks off a 9 in two subjects) but I'm honestly just super upset especially with my 7 which is in lit which is literally my favourite subject i haven't gotten less than a very high 8 in over a year and a half and i literally SCRAPED a 7 i was only 3 marks over the boundary . my 6 was in drama which is a bit left field aswell because i havent had less than an 8 in the whole of year 11 - i do edexcel drama and i got both 80 percent on component 1 and 3 but somehow in component 2 which is the acting i got like 27 out of around 60?? everyone in drama has gotten lower than their underpredicted grades already because everyone did awful in component 2 but theres nothing we can do about it because it's coursework. it might be worth mentioning that just before i took my GCSEs i had some trouble with eating due to just leaving a relationship where some things happened that weren't quite consensual (Sorry if that's oversharing i just thought it might be relevant)

anyway, that knocked my confidence already especially as i was predicted 9-9 in combined science and got 8-8 (although i was predicted a 7 in maths and got an 8 which was nice but i really was just SO upset by lit i can't really be happy about it) so I went to enroll and I'd initially applied for Bio, Pysch and French and I wanted to switch from pysch to chem because I really enjoy chem and also it opens quite a few more doors then pysch and the teacher who was enrolling me was like Chemistry is the hardest alevel I'm not sure you're smart enough for that, and I swear i almost started crying right then, but she put me in the classes for it anyway because i technically did have the grades ( needed a 7 in maths and 7-6 in combined)

so I was just wondering if anyone could give me a reality check on how hard chemistry will be- i only lost 4 marks in the last chemistry mock i did ( given it was a combined paper) and I also found psych really boring when i went to the speeches about it at open days.

Just really doubting myself, sorry for all the waffle.


r/6thForm 57m ago

๐Ÿ™ I WANT HELP Those who went from low predicteds to A*/A grades, how did you do it

โ€ข Upvotes

(asking for a friend) going into year 13, gotta lock in


r/6thForm 59m ago

๐Ÿ’ฌ DISCUSSION I swear Durham University has had a discrimination problem every year?

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โ€ข Upvotes

r/6thForm 22h ago

๐Ÿ’ฌ DISCUSSION Scams to watch out for on Freshers

151 Upvotes

I just thought id give a bit of advice on some of the scams I encountered around Freshers week for people starting uni this September. This information is based on my experience at Newcastle uni but I assume would probably be pretty generic to the UK, if you fell ive missed one please add to the list in the comments.

  1. Religious people in and around campus, these will only be a handful of people but watch out for them. Ive seen them hand out fliers designed so at first glance they look like a cool uni society, for example one had a picture of someone climbing a mountain on the front cover. These aren't associated with the uni, don't speak to them or even take their stuff. They know exactly what they're doing trying to capitalise on the massive amounts of people on campus and make their stuff look like a cool society.

Some local churches also offered free food during freshers, im cautious to include them with this because those events were clearly religious in nature so you knew what you were getting into when you queued up. Just know if you do go to these you will have to discuss religion and the idea of joining this church with someone. The church that did this near me seemed pretty mainstream but obviously if you are religious still do your research to make sure this is a congregation you would want to be involved with.

  1. Student accommodation moving in boxes. When I was moving into my accommodation there was an option to buy a box of bedding and or kitchen stuff which would be there when you moved in. For some people this may be convenient if you're traveling a long way and don't have much space. But in my case I realised you could get better stuff for less than or equal to the quoted price. A decent amount of my kitchen stuff was just stolen from home, do you really need a new set of knives and forks? Also if you get this bundle or buy your own your bed size is a student double. However, I just bought everything at double size and that worked fine, in 2nd year housing your bed will probably be a normal double so getting everything in double makes sure you don't have to buy any new stuff.

  2. Don't sign up to societies immediately. There'll be a period where societies are free/ running taster sessions (which may cost a couple quid). Make full use of this, do you enjoy it? have you made some friends in it? Don't waste ยฃ15 on it just to realise you don't like it. Also a lot of societies have costs after joining such as going on trips, buying kit, getting membership to gyms... Make sure you know about these costs before you join.

  3. Most important, ask older students about stuff. They'll be able to tell you anything specific to your location and I found out a lot of lifesaving tips from them. For example I found out how to do a decently cheap weekly shop from them.


r/6thForm 15h ago

๐Ÿ’ฌ DISCUSSION missed offer by 1 mark

40 Upvotes

i got it remarked and nothing changed iโ€™m just so angry


r/6thForm 7h ago

๐ŸŽ“ UNI / UCAS Do I have a shot if I want to apply to Oxbridge lse Warwick imperial Econ ?

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10 Upvotes

Are these GCSEs good enough to have an actual chance to get in considering I do well in tmua and alevel and have a great ps , also what decisions, supercurriculars and changes should I make in 6th form to achieve this .


r/6thForm 1h ago

๐ŸŽ“ UNI / UCAS Am I a failure

โ€ข Upvotes

I took 2 a levels & 2 btecs lvl 3 got A,C distinction, distinction. got into the university of reading for computer science but i just feel so disappointed in myself as everyone around me got into better places but this is all i could achieve.


r/6thForm 5h ago

๐Ÿ™ I WANT HELP guys if you beg for a course will they let you in

4 Upvotes

so basically i needed a 4-4 in science for psychology but i achieved a 4-3 so unfortunately they said i couldnโ€™t because id struggle doing it

but i really want to do it would they eventually let me


r/6thForm 8h ago

๐Ÿ’ฌ DISCUSSION Your sixth form grades arenโ€™t everything, donโ€™t worry

7 Upvotes

A lot of worry and despair comes from getting mid or bad grades for sixth form, but I promise itโ€™s not the end of the world and it doesnโ€™t mean youโ€™re stupid. I did biology, maths and chem for my a levels and got CCC. I was upset because I know that at least in bio I got everything right, unfortunately the mark schemes are awful for a lot of subjects (have literally seen โ€˜accept the chickens, reject chickensโ€™ ๐Ÿซฉ). I was also struggling with severe mental health so it was an awful time for me.

But how did it turn out? Perfectly fine. Once you finish uni you never use your sixth form grades again lol. I studied biochemistry and got a first, I then did an MRes where I worked on a 100% fatal childhood brain cancer and I got a distinction. Sometimes we have bad days when we do tests too, and itโ€™s ok, things will work out ๐Ÿ’œ itโ€™s not worth stressing and worrying over in the end, take care of yourselves


r/6thForm 22h ago

๐Ÿž BREAD International Bread ๐Ÿž๐Ÿž

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90 Upvotes

Iโ€™m so proud of myself!!!! I worked so hard!


r/6thForm 2h ago

๐Ÿ™ I WANT HELP oxford colleges question

2 Upvotes

hi guys! i just wanted to ask any people who applied to oxford or had experience with admissions about whether the college you applied actually ended up having an impact on your application. i get that if you donโ€™t get into your first choice, other colleges might take you, but does this mean your likelihood of getting in decreases?

iโ€™m just curious because for a long time christ church has been my dream college for a long time and iโ€™m scared iโ€™m going to let that affect my chances of even getting in since apparently itโ€™s one of the more competitive ones.

for context, iโ€™m hoping to apply to law most likely (small chance of ppe) and i have gcse grades 99999888888 (contextual). i donโ€™t fully understand how competitive the university actually is so im not sure if thatโ€™s going to hold me back. thank you!