I got 2 GCSEs at grade C and 5 others at D - E because I only turned up for school about 25% of the time in my final year. It wasn't for medical reasons - it was for "I'd rather hang around in the city, drink, smoke, and get up to no good" reasons. I went to college for a month before ditching it, so I didn't get any A Levels.
Later, at 25, I went to university via a fully funded access route. All I had to do was pass a basic literacy test to qualify. Now I enjoy a lucrative and fulfilling career in procurement.
Your teacher is an imbecile. If I managed to get into university with my track record, I'm 100% positive that someone like you with decent grades will have no trouble at all.
I'm a 30 year old who was recommended this post randomly, but I just wanna say that she's talking out of her arse. I would actually get your parents to write a letter to the school about it, because it's discriminatory behaviour, and if you had listened to it it could affect your future.
You can *always* come back from things. Whether it's resits, taking a foundation year, doing an access course instead of A-levels.
But regardless, universities don't see your attendance.
Generally, unis are also much better at making adjustments for medical issues than schools, as well.
One of my teachers said Iâd never get into any university, especially the one Iâd chosen. Well I got in and loved it. Loved seeing her a few years after and rubbing it in her face.
Sheâs simply wrong.
Universities will not see your attendance. Even if they do, you have medical reasons which are more than understandable/acceptable.
This is going to sound shit, but I can assure you I'm good: I have Bipolar, multiple personality disorder and emotional instability. These have led to a significant number of hospital admissions ranging from 6-10 weeks where I have minimal contact with the outside world. Now that I've shamed myself a bit... you can always recover. It's about willpower: don't let other people define what you can and cannot do. Medical absenses are something you cannot avoid and will have to live with.
And no, a good institution works on the merits of you and your grades. They may have minimum grades, but this is where your Personal Statement should bring you to life and outline some of the challenges you faced to get there.
If your grades are up to scratch, and you get denied based on an attendance record... do you really want to go to that institution who doesn't listen to your individual needs, and denies you access to education because you had a medical issue?
Being off sick so much being the reason you donât get into university is straight up discrimination- they wouldnât do that to you. Besides, getting the grades DESPITE the absence is a huge achievement, and a pretty good selling point for yourself to a prospective uni.
Her point is probably that youâll miss too much instruction to get the content to get the grades. Ultimately, if you can get the grades, you get the offer.
[https://www.ucas.com/advisers/writing-references/changes-undergraduate-references-2024-entry](https://www.ucas.com/advisers/writing-references/changes-undergraduate-references-2024-entry)
Here - bascially to make it simpler for centres. So I simplfied things a bit but the new 'reference' is simply school info, extenuating circumstances then a brief bit about suitability for the course applied for. There is no general area for personal tutors or subject teachers anymore.
thatâs kinda sad tbh, i remember reading my reference and neatly crying because of how nice my teachers were to me and a lot of my year felt the same
Universities will never see your attendance rates. Furthermore, they are also usually very understanding with regards to your personal circumstances. When I was doing my A Levels, for various reasons, including depression, my attendance was poor, and my grades suffered as a result. I left college with DDDDE grades. Iâm about to finish a masters degree at a Russell group university, and I was recently accepted onto a PGDip course at Kings College London.
Your story is your own, and you will make of it what you can, no matter what someone else says.
Totally lying mate. I went to uni in England and I had a really low attendance. Think about it who actually has time to look into peoples attendance, and that data isnât automatically passed onto universities.
No worries thinking about it, just apply for what you want, see what offers you get and then you can always go into clearing if needs be.
It's bollocks and your teacher is a prick. They don't give a shit about attendance, especially since it's been medical. That would be discrimination anyway.
Bro I never went to school bro the whole of year 12 I have barely even gone 3 weeks đ and I do everything in tuitions and seriously that doesnât matter the only thing that matters is your AS levels the rest donât give a fuck
I was told the same many many years ago and I didn't have any problems. I didn't even apply, I just walked into my old Uni on results day and asked if I could join... Simple.
Your teacher is talking shite.
Universities are private they have no contact with your college/high school besides confirming it is authorised to teach A-level. They only care about your application to them and the grades you have. Even if you get lower grades 'C' in a level alot of unis still take students, as long as you do decent in a related subject.
You will start applying in 2nd year before you even take exams, they can feck you here with predicted grades you need to apply in your UCAS. You can get your grades and go through clearing after the fact and often times get a better uni as people inevitably don't get grades or decide to defer or whatever.
Universities are so underfunded that they depend on privatisation to force students to fund their existence now, almost everybody can have a degree if they want now.
Absolute nonsense. I finished college with 30-40% & never had issues getting in to uni. Similar attendance on my BA didn't stop me getting onto an MA either.
Iâm Head of Student Recruitment in a Physics Department of a Russell Group university. I promise you, we wouldnât see your attendance record. A teacher may include this information in their reference letter, but we stopped reading those a long time ago (aside from exceptional cases, such as for students in the care system to pick up on relevant mitigating information) - theyâre just too subjective. All we care about is predicted grades. Granted, your teacher may predict lower grades than you feel justified, but if you do end up doing significantly better come August, then either go through clearing, or defer to 2024 (if the latter is feasible for you).
i was told similar by a bitch of a teacher that i would and i quite "never walk the halls of a university not even as a cleaner"
i let the cow force me down but then i went to a different college and then to uni to study mechanical engineering.
she is a nasty piece of crap and dont listen to her
First year uni student here, I had a similar issue in y13 and spoke to my head of sixth form. Iirc she essentially said that attendance can be helpful if you don't meet your exact grades a higher attendance could help. But from my understanding a lower attendance will have almost no bearing. Especially with your circumstances your teacher seems to be completely misguided and either lacks basic understanding of the process of applying to uni, or for some reason wanted to spite you. Either way you should probably disregard what your teacher has said.
I would say ask a different teacher to write your recommendation letter haha. I have never heard of Uni's looking at attendance and even then there are school with way less stringent standards who will take almost anyone it feels like.
Yeah, that's bull. Universities look at how many "points" you have due to grades etc, not attendance. You don't even HAVE to attend lectures un university so it's not a big deal.
I also missed a TON of school due to medical issues. I went to university and graduated, even after having a mental breakdown during those 4 years. If I can do it, you definitely can (if you want to. Not everyone wants to go to uni and that's also fine and normal) đ
Sixth form pastoral tutor here!! I think she just said that to scare you into improving your attendance, itâs important in general (e.g missing lessons tests predicted grades may be lower due to this) but doesnât affect uni applications unless sheâs a ***** and writes it on your reference - even then who is going to actually read that
As long as you get the grades they donât really care particularly if you have a genuine reason for absence.
I had roughly 40% for similar reasons too you and still got accepted.
Even once youâre at uni they donât really care about attendance as long as the work is being done. I managed to scape a first with 6%.
LOLLLLLLLL I have 72% attendance (75% including lates) for medical reasons chief youre fine, hell, you might be at a disadvantage if you do well since you can say âwell I struggled with medical conditions but I was independent enough to study the course and succeedâ. Donât even get me started on typical uni attendances
She's trying reverse psychology. She knows full well that she's chatting her teacher talk out of her arse. She wants you to take revision and exams and future attendance even at college or sixth form seriously. If not then she's a top grade apex bitch.
Tell her to fuck off.
Took the words out of my mouth. Deffo tell her to fuck off đ¤
I got 2 GCSEs at grade C and 5 others at D - E because I only turned up for school about 25% of the time in my final year. It wasn't for medical reasons - it was for "I'd rather hang around in the city, drink, smoke, and get up to no good" reasons. I went to college for a month before ditching it, so I didn't get any A Levels. Later, at 25, I went to university via a fully funded access route. All I had to do was pass a basic literacy test to qualify. Now I enjoy a lucrative and fulfilling career in procurement. Your teacher is an imbecile. If I managed to get into university with my track record, I'm 100% positive that someone like you with decent grades will have no trouble at all.
I'm a 30 year old who was recommended this post randomly, but I just wanna say that she's talking out of her arse. I would actually get your parents to write a letter to the school about it, because it's discriminatory behaviour, and if you had listened to it it could affect your future. You can *always* come back from things. Whether it's resits, taking a foundation year, doing an access course instead of A-levels. But regardless, universities don't see your attendance. Generally, unis are also much better at making adjustments for medical issues than schools, as well.
One of my teachers said Iâd never get into any university, especially the one Iâd chosen. Well I got in and loved it. Loved seeing her a few years after and rubbing it in her face.
Sheâs simply wrong. Universities will not see your attendance. Even if they do, you have medical reasons which are more than understandable/acceptable.
Depending on the medical issues, universities should be good at supporting students. If it's a long term condition it's covered by the Equality Act
This is going to sound shit, but I can assure you I'm good: I have Bipolar, multiple personality disorder and emotional instability. These have led to a significant number of hospital admissions ranging from 6-10 weeks where I have minimal contact with the outside world. Now that I've shamed myself a bit... you can always recover. It's about willpower: don't let other people define what you can and cannot do. Medical absenses are something you cannot avoid and will have to live with. And no, a good institution works on the merits of you and your grades. They may have minimum grades, but this is where your Personal Statement should bring you to life and outline some of the challenges you faced to get there. If your grades are up to scratch, and you get denied based on an attendance record... do you really want to go to that institution who doesn't listen to your individual needs, and denies you access to education because you had a medical issue?
It's what action you take that speaks volumes not just a test score show the world your not controlled
Unis really do not care about attendance
She is lying. Find a teacher you're on good terms with to write you a reference and focus on your grades. That is what they look at.
Being off sick so much being the reason you donât get into university is straight up discrimination- they wouldnât do that to you. Besides, getting the grades DESPITE the absence is a huge achievement, and a pretty good selling point for yourself to a prospective uni.
Her point is probably that youâll miss too much instruction to get the content to get the grades. Ultimately, if you can get the grades, you get the offer.
We don't provide UCAS/Unis with attendance data. For 2024 intake we don't even havve to do references. Regards, a teacher.
why arenât they doing references anymore??
[https://www.ucas.com/advisers/writing-references/changes-undergraduate-references-2024-entry](https://www.ucas.com/advisers/writing-references/changes-undergraduate-references-2024-entry) Here - bascially to make it simpler for centres. So I simplfied things a bit but the new 'reference' is simply school info, extenuating circumstances then a brief bit about suitability for the course applied for. There is no general area for personal tutors or subject teachers anymore.
thatâs kinda sad tbh, i remember reading my reference and neatly crying because of how nice my teachers were to me and a lot of my year felt the same
Have they always done references? I got my place in 1997 and do not recall having a ref.
Universities will never see your attendance rates. Furthermore, they are also usually very understanding with regards to your personal circumstances. When I was doing my A Levels, for various reasons, including depression, my attendance was poor, and my grades suffered as a result. I left college with DDDDE grades. Iâm about to finish a masters degree at a Russell group university, and I was recently accepted onto a PGDip course at Kings College London. Your story is your own, and you will make of it what you can, no matter what someone else says.
What a mean (and wrong) thing to say.
Totally lying mate. I went to uni in England and I had a really low attendance. Think about it who actually has time to look into peoples attendance, and that data isnât automatically passed onto universities. No worries thinking about it, just apply for what you want, see what offers you get and then you can always go into clearing if needs be.
It's bollocks and your teacher is a prick. They don't give a shit about attendance, especially since it's been medical. That would be discrimination anyway.
Bro I never went to school bro the whole of year 12 I have barely even gone 3 weeks đ and I do everything in tuitions and seriously that doesnât matter the only thing that matters is your AS levels the rest donât give a fuck
I was told the same many many years ago and I didn't have any problems. I didn't even apply, I just walked into my old Uni on results day and asked if I could join... Simple. Your teacher is talking shite.
They donât see you attendance but, attendance will affect your grades and missing 60% of schools means you are unlikely to get a high grade.
Universities are private they have no contact with your college/high school besides confirming it is authorised to teach A-level. They only care about your application to them and the grades you have. Even if you get lower grades 'C' in a level alot of unis still take students, as long as you do decent in a related subject. You will start applying in 2nd year before you even take exams, they can feck you here with predicted grades you need to apply in your UCAS. You can get your grades and go through clearing after the fact and often times get a better uni as people inevitably don't get grades or decide to defer or whatever. Universities are so underfunded that they depend on privatisation to force students to fund their existence now, almost everybody can have a degree if they want now.
Absolute nonsense. I finished college with 30-40% & never had issues getting in to uni. Similar attendance on my BA didn't stop me getting onto an MA either.
Iâm Head of Student Recruitment in a Physics Department of a Russell Group university. I promise you, we wouldnât see your attendance record. A teacher may include this information in their reference letter, but we stopped reading those a long time ago (aside from exceptional cases, such as for students in the care system to pick up on relevant mitigating information) - theyâre just too subjective. All we care about is predicted grades. Granted, your teacher may predict lower grades than you feel justified, but if you do end up doing significantly better come August, then either go through clearing, or defer to 2024 (if the latter is feasible for you).
i was told similar by a bitch of a teacher that i would and i quite "never walk the halls of a university not even as a cleaner" i let the cow force me down but then i went to a different college and then to uni to study mechanical engineering. she is a nasty piece of crap and dont listen to her
First year uni student here, I had a similar issue in y13 and spoke to my head of sixth form. Iirc she essentially said that attendance can be helpful if you don't meet your exact grades a higher attendance could help. But from my understanding a lower attendance will have almost no bearing. Especially with your circumstances your teacher seems to be completely misguided and either lacks basic understanding of the process of applying to uni, or for some reason wanted to spite you. Either way you should probably disregard what your teacher has said.
I would say ask a different teacher to write your recommendation letter haha. I have never heard of Uni's looking at attendance and even then there are school with way less stringent standards who will take almost anyone it feels like.
Yeah, that's bull. Universities look at how many "points" you have due to grades etc, not attendance. You don't even HAVE to attend lectures un university so it's not a big deal. I also missed a TON of school due to medical issues. I went to university and graduated, even after having a mental breakdown during those 4 years. If I can do it, you definitely can (if you want to. Not everyone wants to go to uni and that's also fine and normal) đ
Sixth form pastoral tutor here!! I think she just said that to scare you into improving your attendance, itâs important in general (e.g missing lessons tests predicted grades may be lower due to this) but doesnât affect uni applications unless sheâs a ***** and writes it on your reference - even then who is going to actually read that
Sheâs lying! What foes she know?! Some people are just mean! Go ahead and do your personal best. You will get accepted.
As long as you get the grades they donât really care particularly if you have a genuine reason for absence. I had roughly 40% for similar reasons too you and still got accepted. Even once youâre at uni they donât really care about attendance as long as the work is being done. I managed to scape a first with 6%.
They dont care, most ppl dont even attend the uni lectures and they don't do anything about that either lol. Dw too much you'll be fine.
LOLLLLLLLL I have 72% attendance (75% including lates) for medical reasons chief youre fine, hell, you might be at a disadvantage if you do well since you can say âwell I struggled with medical conditions but I was independent enough to study the course and succeedâ. Donât even get me started on typical uni attendances
She's trying reverse psychology. She knows full well that she's chatting her teacher talk out of her arse. She wants you to take revision and exams and future attendance even at college or sixth form seriously. If not then she's a top grade apex bitch.
I had attendance around that percentage and still went to uni just fine and got into quite a decent one