Letter: Let down by Ucas system

Sir: You are quite right to recommend a system of university entrance in which students apply after receiving their A-level results ("Lessons of the scramble for university places", 19 August).

I am one of many 18-year-olds who received their A-level results last week and I am embittered by the Ucas system, which I feel has let me down badly. I was predicted mainly C grades and on the basis of this felt unable to apply for the highly competitive degree course, which demanded A and B grades, that I had originally hoped to do. However, after receiving my results (two A grades and a B), I find that it is too late to secure a place on that course at any university in Britain for 1996. I will now have to reapply for 1997.

I firmly believe that a system in which students apply after receiving their results would be fairer to everyone. Any system which relies so heavily upon teachers' predictions on what students are going to achieve, one year before the exams, is bound to be grossly unfair and woefully inaccurate.

ASMA AHMED

London N22