Laura is currently applying to do a Social Work and Health Care B.Sc Hons degree at university with a view to ultimately becoming a counsellor. She has received a couple of offers from 2 universities, but one of them insisted on her having to do an exam type essay within a tight framework of only 1 week which she did before Xmas. Then she was asked to go for both individual and group interviews at the same university. We finally get a letter today offering her a place but saying that because her maths result at GCSE was not quite high enough they want her to sit the university's own maths exam!! Why do they offer places and then insist on them taking extra tests? :S Surely if everything else is OK then I don't see that she needs to do this If she was applying to Oxford & Cambridge then that's a different matter. Do you think that this maths test result means that their offer is conditional upon her passing it or not even though they say there are offering her place anyway? *is somewhat confused and worried for her* Laura hates maths and it isn't a strong subject for her, but in all her other subjects she's doing very well forums

The trouble is that she hasn't done maths for a couple of years and now it looks as though we're going to have to hire a private tutor to coach her to get her through this exam. It's getting increasingly difficult to get into these universities and the stress is getting too much. She already has more than enough work to do with revising for her A2 levels this spring and summer and then the schools also go and insist upon them taking an extra exam in General Studies to up their UCAS points!! That and the cost of it all!! forums

Janie xx