Missing out The young adults whose hopes for their first choice of university have been dashed

Maks – AAB to ADE

Maks Ovnik has achieved a string of As and Bs throughout his time in sixth form, including in his mock exams for Maths, Physics and Computing, and was predicted to get AAB. But the 18-year-old opened his results to find he achieved a D in Computing, an A in Maths and an E in Physics, meaning all hope of taking up his place at Southampton University was lost. Maks believes it is because his school, Christ the King College on the Isle of Wight, recently came out of special measures, and those in the cohort above him scored poorly on their exams last year.

He told The Telegraph: “The majority of my class were high performing in Physics this year and last year the cohort was low performing which has affected it.”

After a long stretch in lockdown unable to see his friends or go to school, he is now likely condemned to take a year out so he can resit his exams in the autumn. He explained: “I am also going to try to appeal because going down three grades in two subjects is a bit ridiculous.”

Hannah – AAA to BBB

Hannah Gofton was given lower grades than she had ever achieved in an exam because she was deemed to be from a deprived area.

The teenager missed out on her place at the University of Nottingham after receiving BBB, despite being predicted AAA and achieving AAB in her mocks. She told The

Telegraph: “I have been completely downgraded on my grades and cannot get into my first university.

“The University of Nottingham will not accept me considering they gave me a contextual offer and I can’t get in touch with anyone at the university to explain my situation. My future is now completely ruined.”

Thomas – A*AA to ABB

Thomas Kinsella was ready to go to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Durham University until he was given results lower than his mocks. A straight-a student, he was predicted A*AA. However, the teenager from Cheltenham College in Glos was given ABB. He told The Telegraph: “The school don’t think an appeal is viable in my position and I will have to re-sit. I have phoned Durham and they say there is no way for them to accept my re-sit grades and I will have to do a full reapplication.

“I have been caught out by a poorly made algorithm that relies too much on past data for something as complicated to predict as education.”

Delilah – AAB to ABD

Delilah Lees was hoping to change the world by studying robotics engineering in order to help disabled people and the environment. Predicted AAB in Maths, Physics and Computer Science, and having been studying every day, she was confident she would get the grades, as were her teachers. However, come results day, she was shocked to lose her place at Bath university and be given ABD by the algorithm. Her mother, Amanda, said she was “devastated”.

This is particularly upsetting for the family as Delilah had overcome many hurdles to achieve good grades at school. Struggling with anorexia after suffering bullying, she taught herself from her hospital bed during her GCSES and achieved straight As. This gave her the confidence to take on six placements in her summer holidays, and she has given speeches on AI.

Her school, Godolphin and Latymer in Hammersmith, is going to try to appeal against all the grades en masse after facing large numbers of downgrades.