My son has an offer from Worcester. They said that they would accept either scores sent directly by ACT/AP or a certified transcript from his high school to satisfy the conditions. Doing both.
ooh, Worcester is lovely, @HazeGrey! and really central. Has your son accepted the offer, or does he have other irons in the fire?
DS sent in his UCAS application on the 10th and his SAT scores a week prior. Durham and Manchester have followed up asking for his SAT scores to be sent to them. Any idea how long it takes the CB to process and send scores to universities in the UK?
How odd. D17 is unconditional at St. A and Durham with only self reporting scores. My understanding is that they only asked for score verification on admission.
Who did you send the scores to initially? UCAS?
@VickiSoCal he sent his scores directly to his chosen universities from the College Board website. It would be wonderful if they were reviewing his application with admission in mind 
@VickiSoCal has your D17 made a decision or still awaiting acceptances?
She’s accepted unconditional at St. A (chem) and Durham(biomed), conditional at Edinburgh(chem), waiting on Bath and York. Did not send college board scores to any UK schools and was not asked to.
Waiting on Bath, York and UC/CalPoly decisions.
Update on D which may be informative for other students looking to pursue sciences in the UK, particularity IB students.
St. Andrews (Chemical Sciences) Unconditional
Durham (Biomedical Sciences) Unconditional
Edinburgh (Chemistry) Conditional IB 34, 5 on HL Chem, 6 on SL math
York (Chemistry) Conditional IB 36, 6 on HL Chem, 6 on SL math
Bath (Chemistry with Management) still waiting
Of note is the fact that she took IB Math SL last year and got a 5, which neither York nor Edinburgh seems to have taken in to account.
@VickiSoCal That is a fantastic list for your D to choose from so far. For my S Durham and Manchester wanted scanned SAT and SAT II test results, which he sent off today. We look forward to that first positive response (knock wood). I guess, given that the department faculty are the ones making admissions decisions, there can be variability in how much weight they put on any given test result and how much verification they require. It is nice that your D has so many choices at this time. Best of luck.
She only has 2 choices as I see it. They want a 6 in IB sl math and she got a 5. Why not just reject her?
Maybe they think she has the opportunity to retake it?
Ib doesn’t work that way.
It may not be possible at your daughter’s school, but I believe it is theoretically possible to resit IB exams.
But she has a good option in Durham.
It is possible to resit IB tests, but I am not sure how it works when the SL was sat in the first year, resits here seem to be after the whole diploma (so in a gap year maybe?, or when the kid is at uni). Sitting the SL test after 1 yr is maybe just an Americanism. The reality is for chem etc the standard would be higher than SL for UK or euro kids, but many US kids would be taking BC cal as seniors after SL as a jr, or at the very least AB calc. I think KCL wouldn’t even entertain BC plus SL for application purposes for example (chem eng). It was HL or nothing.
She vacillates daily between Durham and St. A.
She is in HL Chem and teacher predicts 6.
She took A2/trig in 9th, pre-Calc in 10th and SL Math in 11th, no additional math. The IB coordinator at our school did not know of any resit options, noone has ever requested. IB here is just a feather in the cap for most kids, it doesn’t really matter what scores they get.
“She vacillates daily between Durham and St. A.”
What does she view as the pros and cons of each school? One of dd’s friends was in a similar position as she had offers from both of them while she was waiting on her Oxbridge offer. I think most kids in London would pick Durham as it is easier to get to, is only a 3 year programme and has the residential college system. However, dd’s friend preferred St A’s as she felt that Durham was too homogeneous upper-middle-class private school kids and she wanted a school with more diversity. In the end she got into her Oxbridge college anyway!
Tough choice. For a North American students St A’s has a number of distinct advantages.
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The module system allows much more flexibility in what you study in years 1 and 2
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The number of North Americans and duel nationals might make the settling in a little easier.
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St A’s is probably easier to get to than Durham, just a straight shot from Edi airport by shuttle bus.
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St A’s is much better known in the US than Durham.
The huge advantage for Durham is depending on your subject it is 3 years rather than 4, and if your sports minded Durham’s teams are usually in the top 5 Univ’s in every major sport.
^ I think the other issue is whether a kid truly wants to immerse themselves in a quintessential British University experience (in which case Oxbridge, Durham, and Bristol should be the top choices) or whether one would be hapy with a more internationally neutral experience in which case St A’s or a London Uni would be the better choice.
St. Andrews communication has been MUCH better. They lock tuition for 4 years, guarantee their wire transfer service has the best exchange rate.
The chemistry department has sent a packet with scholarship information, information on course selection, and degree options.
The university has sent a packet on accommodation, summer programs, how to apply for a visa, how to open a student bank account in the UK, and so on.
It is clear it will be easier on all fronts to go to St. A. as a US student.
But as @londondad points out, is that what she wants, easy? Or does she want the full collegiate experience at Durham?
We spent a full day at St. Andrews, touring the school as a family, then she interviewed with the adviser at the chem department and got a full tour of the department, labs, library, etc. We also spent a full day and a night in Durham with similar tours and interviews.
Ultimately it is her decision.
I am not quite sure what the quintessential British university experience is other than a cohort of young adults working hard and playing hard in a communal environment. I would say Oxbridge is quite the opposite, it certainly isn’t typical of the vast majority.