Suspension from course

[sansequilibrium]

I found out yesterday that my DS has been suspended from his Art Foundation course. The suspension came into effect on the 21st January due to his lack of attendance. It transpires that he did not return in January.

This has taken me by surprise - although not entirely, as I knew from October that he was not enjoying the course for a number of reasons. One being that the course did not live up to his expectations(the Uni he attends is a reputable one for Art). Another factor was that the group he was with were rather insular, and due to the way the course ran there was little scope for him to interact with those outside his pathway.

To cut a long story short, I believed my DS was still attending the course. I work from home, and saw him leave the house each day he was due in. It transpires that he was just wandering around central London.
He is stressed, and that doesn't surprise me given the lengths that he has gone to, in order to have me believe he is still attending the course. He also seems depressed.

Apologies for this being meandering, but I've not had much sleep. My DS doesn't want to continue the course. Seeing as he's not attended for two months, it might now be impossible for him to catch up on what he's missed. The other factor is that the University might not want to lift his suspension, and may now decide to withdraw him altogether.

My concern is that most Universities do prefer those applying for Art degrees to have completed a Foundation course. I don't want my son limiting his chances as to which Universities he can apply to, due to him not having completed a foundation course. The other thing is, that the course he was on ends in May - so he really didn't have long to go.

I have made an appointment for my DS to see the doctor, and will see how he feels about going along for some counselling sessions. I'm really concerned that he couldn't come to me with this, and the subterfuge involved in keeping this from me.

Thanks for reading this far, and again, I know it's probably quite disjointed. Any advice anyone can give me would be welcomed.

I have name changed for this.

Your poor DS - you sound lovely and supportive though, he's very lucky to have you.

Is there any chance he could restart his foundation year in September? If he is suffering from stress or depression (which certainly isn't rare amongst students) then the university is likely to be more lenient, and open to alternative options for him.

Do encourage him to go to student services - it's great for him to go to his GP to get the help he needs, but it's also important that he keeps his uni in the loop about what's happening so if he does decide to return, he will be supported.

Does he actually want to do art? After all the build up to a course it seems a fairly common theme that people just actually don't want to do it, and hadn't really thought about that before.

If you can help him sort his mental health out, that is the only important thing at the moment.

Thanks for your kind words and advice Jane Fonda. DS has said that he doesn't want to restart the foundation course.

Because he was under 19 at the start of the course, he didn't have to pay a fee; if he were to reapply, he would.

He definitely still wants to do a degree in Fine Art FromMeToYou - it was just a case that the foundation course at this particular uni just wasn't for him. Having looked around online, I've seen that other students who did the foundation at the same place as my DS have felt much the same.

You're right FromMeToYou, his mental wellbeing is important, and I'll see to it that he gets all the help he needs.

Thanks again to you both.