Corona Cohort Y12 into Y13, braving the storm of the third wave

@twitchypalm lots of sports departments have a gifted athlete programme. The monetary amount varies but the support package is good, physio , psych masterclasses, gym membership etc. There are a few Unis that research /support Women in Football worth looking around.

@EwwSprouts hope your son is feeling a bit better at least.

@Monkey2001 yes I have barely seen any performance over last year.

@heifer I think Cardiff change to ABB but not sure if that applies when you firm for conditional?

@EwwSprouts sorry to hear about DS - crap timing :-(

DD has ruled out Loughborough. She really really likes the idea of it but the Biology course just isn't right for her. She even watched the live talk about Sports Science instead of Biology in the hope she would change her mind about that course , but she realised it isn't for her. Despite predicted A in PE and A* in pyschology she knows she doesn't want to study either at Uni.

Re staying local, she said that if she lived elsewhere she would love the idea of going to uni in Livepool (we live on the Wirral) but it's just too close and I've always told her she should go away just to play for a different hockey team if nothing else.

I do like the idea of her being within 1 hr away so I can go and watch her play hockey at the weekend but there isn't anywhere - the closest I think she will go is 2.5 hrs away and it could easily be double that if she does go down South.

She has always said she didn't want Manchester or Sheffield as too many people go there from the Wirral and she would like to go somewhere where there are a few people she knows but not loads.

Does anyone have any experience of Swansea? It looks like it could be a decent back up as the course looks great but my memories of Swansea are not good (hockey tours). DH tells me it's improved since 1990s/2000s..

I love Cardiff but it's asking for the same grades as unis much higher up on the ratings so not a back up.

When choicing backups how much lower grade should you go? Top pick would be AAA/AAB, predictions probably will be A*AB what grades should the back up options be? it's hard to know but Im guessing you should consider BBC? or lower?

sorry for so many questions this morning. I hope those isolating are ok, and you all get to go on the trips planned etc.

Thanks for your replies re Clearing, it does make sense. Am I right in thinking that when DD makes her 5 picks, but lets say she doesn't get accepted to 1 (hopefully not more), if that course shows on clearing later and she gets the grades she can phone on results day and ask even though she got rejected earlier?

Can someone please explain this comment? Does that mean if you submitted and didn't make it 1st/2nd or does it mean if you applied and got rejected too? can someone tell me about Track please :-)

This course is available in Clearing. If you have submitted an application, you can add this course in Track. If you haven’t sent us an application yet, you can do this until 20th September 2021.

Just going to look at the ucas clearing thing, but I always thought clearing started after a level results day?

Gloucester is fairly well known for sports stuff but -completely anecdotally - a bit rugby rugby rugby. It's the nature of the town as much as anything!

Hi everyone only just found this thread. My daughter has just finished yr12. Time to start thinking about uni. She is a fully qualified football referee doing very well at it and on a pathway to make a career from it. She's studying btec sports and sports injuries at a football college. We've been told she can get a good bursary at Gloucester uni. Has anyone looked at going there or knows much about it.

DD1 (1st year uni) moved 2 and a half hours drive away (140 miles) to Lancaster from Nottingham. Living away from us parents has really made her mature and more responsible. She even cooks better than me now lol. There has still been the odd prompt from mum (ie to make a dentist appointment), but washing, cleaning cooking and doing studies, paying her bills and making new friends has been really helped her into the lady she is today :)

Hi not quite yr12 going into yr13, but DD2 is in yr11 going into year 12 and wants to go to Uni after A'levels. Maybe there's a thread for that year? I'm not sure. Hope all your DC are doing ok and hope they get the results they want in August.
Hopefully we get to see some open days in person again in September fingers crossed. DD2 is planning to do a couple of visits in year 12 if we can get (she wants to do zoology).

Part of me does wish I had taken the opportunity to live in a totally different part of the country though, I moved about 100 miles away for 10 years after graduating but would have liked to have tried further north or Scotland or Wales.

Haven't seen Six but we have got a couple of shows lined up in August for Kids week - have you seen they have extended the age limit to 17 this year?

Onto brighter things ...we are going to see SIX the Musical for her birthday on Saturday It looks really fun. Has anyone been ?

I went to my nearest uni too, got a case of nerves at the. last minute (it was a good choice of course too). It didn't really occur to me that I was depriving my parents of weekends away, but I don't remember that being much of a thing in those days. I never really went home in term time either even though it was only half an hour away.

Our local two unis are either very top of league tables or rock bottom! Further afield is a necessity...

Ds1 went to the nearest university. I think I've said on here before that he wanted to be close to home
incase he didn't like living there and so could commute. He did like it and now wishes he'd gone further away. He has still enjoyed it even though he is nearby. Well...apart from the covid side of it, no biology practicals since January 2020 ( strikes before covid) but that would have been the same wherever he was.

Yes ... I guess she has been hyperfocussed on the Music courses a bit earlier as she knew what she wanted to do and was a bit behind in gradings etc. She does have other courses on her list either nearer home or not too far from her favourite Aunt in the Midlands. I can only hope the decision she makes at the right time is the right one.

@Orangecinnamon21 - that should read your DD has 4 other spaces on the UCAS application to apply to where ever she wants to?

@Orangecinnamon21 as much as my DD wants to have a moving away experience for Uni - read to far flung parts of this island- Ive also advised her to not discount her ‘home’ Uni when submitting her 5 choices as it’s ranked highly for her subject
If Southampton feels right for your DD at this point in time in her journey through life then that’s fine- it’s one choice but she also has four others to choose from?

[quote Monkey2001]@Orangecinnamon21 you can encourage her to apply for others even though she knows (at the moment) that she wants Southampton. She has nearly a year before she has to choose - decision day was 10th June this year.[/quote]
Thanks Monkey. I think I'm struggling with the fact that her world has been narrowed by this fear surrounding her mental health. I know it is her decision at the end of the day and what she feels is best for her. She keeps on saying the course is slightly better at Southampton ( they allow Jazz and Rock vocals) and it is not just her mental health.

Sorry all just releasing those sad thoughts in B&W

I'm a bit sad. Dd is convinced Southampton NOT Cardiff is the right place for her. It is just so near... so no lovely weekends away for visits to castles and foodie places.. still time for her to change her mind but she is extremely lucky that such a well regarded course is nearby, it has everything she wants.
We have to be practical and consider her mental health too...however fab Cardiff is as a city. I think the boyfriend has something to do with it too.
Plenty of time left ...but because of all these conditions it seems like a done deal on her part.

Maybe most of them turned down their offers?