Page 4 | Work experience sh*t show

Dwellernf · 2025-04-21T08:52:06+00:00

DD17 is starting her 2 week college industry placement today. Level 3 extended diploma in equine studies. Students had to find an industry related placement and give all relevant info...placement address, contact details etc to the college by January. No problem. DD knew the yard she was going to, all arranged. Due to the easter holidays, students were given the option of doing it during the holidays, or the 2 weeks following. A few have already done their placement, or a few days of it. Good Friday we went to the yard to finalise days, hours etc. We had arranged it with the yard manager that DD would be doing these 2 weeks, as it allowed a member of staff to go on leave and DD would be the replacement. Yard manager was off over the Easter weekend and would see DD Tuesday. Good Friday pm... email from the college to say that due to the college not completing the necessary checks DD would not be able to do her placement at her chosen yard, and would instead have to chose from a short list of places that the college had managed to vet. The closest venue to us being 25 miles away! According to DD's group chat this was affecting 9 out of the 17 students, and 3 of them had already completed/started their days. These were now not valid, and they will have to re do them, at a different place!! We were told we had the Easter weekend to sort out the new placements!!! I managed to get hold of the course leader, and was told it wasn't HER fault, and the placement team had failed to get the relevant insurance docs. I explained that the yard DD was going to have full insurance and I can get them to send the docs on Tuesday when yard manager returns to work. No. It had to be in place before DD starts. The yard is a registered charity, in which one of DD's course lecturers is a trustee, as well as the charity's head instructor. She could verify all is in order. No. Still wont be done in time. The yard also run major show jumping and dressage competitions at the college equestrian centre. They would have the insurance copy? No! The events team is a different dept and we cant possibly 'cross departments'!!! I then told her that as course leader it was her fault as she should have made sure all this was in place for her students before the easter break, knowing they would all be going straight into it. She said it wasn't her job. I told her DD would be starting at her chosen yard on Monday, as I wasn't going to let them down or be prepared to change my work schedule etc over the next 2 weeks to take DD to a placement miles away (no public transport... we are very rural) To which she said she will fail that part of her course as it's not a valid placement! AIBU to think the college have mucked up big time here, and it is the course leaders responsibility to make sure all students had their placements sorted and verified? And AIBU to still send DD to her chosen placement? And AIBU to want to make a complaint to the college about this, and make sure DD does not fail this part of her course. The college had since January to do all the checks...

Original poster

Dwellernf · 21/04/2025 12:34

Frenchbluesea · 21/04/2025 12:21

As the college haven’t done their checks your dd can’t attend as part of their course. They have accepted their mistake and apologised. Annoying as it is you just have to accept the situation

No I don't! Nor will I! The situation can not be accepted. An apology won't compensate for a failed course, and there are no other viable alternative options other than the college making allowances... late paper work and checks. And a bollocking for whoever failed the checks.

OP posts:

Dinosaurshoebox · 21/04/2025 12:37

Frenchbluesea · 21/04/2025 12:21

As the college haven’t done their checks your dd can’t attend as part of their course. They have accepted their mistake and apologised. Annoying as it is you just have to accept the situation

No she doesn't.

pikkumyy77 · 21/04/2025 12:39

I love the idea that the college have “accepted their (own) mistake” so the matter is settled. Is that how it works? “Whoopsie! I drove over your foot! My bad! I accept my mistake, though, so get over it.”

Zilla1 · 21/04/2025 12:39

HNRTT but it is a little more complicated than 'the yard has insurance'. Equestrian business insurance has many variables and the College would presumably need to verify the inurance may need to be sure the students' status which may possibly be different to volunteer, director, employee or customer is covered.

The College would presumably be entirely dependent on the riding establishment whome they can't compel completing and submitting all the documents and forms which in the one case of work experience for an equestrian riding establishment I have seen have been onerous and not 'wortth the effort', given the overall contribution of the placed students.

It might have been easy for the College to set a hard deadline of, say a week or a month before the placement, but what would you have said if they'd precluded the opportunity of a local placement because the College hadn't received the paperwork by that 'arbitrary' deadline but the College had said they were going to before the start?

It all sounds unfortunate but perhaps a little more unfortunate than simply a mistake by the College who are reliant on the support of the riding school whom they cannot compel? I hope it gets sorted out, OP.

FairKoala · 21/04/2025 12:40

Frenchbluesea · 21/04/2025 12:21

As the college haven’t done their checks your dd can’t attend as part of their course. They have accepted their mistake and apologised. Annoying as it is you just have to accept the situation

So what is she supposed to do?

Throw in the towel and fail because someone couldn’t do their job.

Retake the whole course again next uear

Teleport her way to the placement 25 miles away?

She has committed to be cover for someone who is away so can’t let the yard down so she will be working there. Whether college chooses to recognise this as WE is up to the college but if a fail is issued. They need to be prepared to back up the person who couldn’t do their job in court

Maybe college really need to look at their own systems and get someone who knows how to do the job they are paid to do.

B1indEye · 21/04/2025 12:40

Frenchbluesea · 21/04/2025 12:21

As the college haven’t done their checks your dd can’t attend as part of their course. They have accepted their mistake and apologised. Annoying as it is you just have to accept the situation

Why would she do that? If course she can kick up a fuss and of course the daughter can do the work experience, the college can't stop her

ilovesushi · 21/04/2025 12:40

I would tell DD to go ahead with her existing arrangement. It would be so unprofessional to let the yard down so last minute. I would also put in a formal complaint to the college. Ask them for their complaints procedure so you do it properly and don't get fobbed off. Other parents should do the same.

Squidgemoon · 21/04/2025 12:41

This is exactly the sort of thing that puts employers off offering work experience. I am a school governor and have considered offering a placement in what is a very desirable industry for many but all their hoop jumping would massively inconvenience my colleagues and I’m not doing that do them. We once had a different colleague’s daughter’s friend in and her school insisted on our office manager completing a risk assessment for the building’s lift … madness.

FairKoala · 21/04/2025 12:42

Zilla1 · 21/04/2025 12:39

HNRTT but it is a little more complicated than 'the yard has insurance'. Equestrian business insurance has many variables and the College would presumably need to verify the inurance may need to be sure the students' status which may possibly be different to volunteer, director, employee or customer is covered.

The College would presumably be entirely dependent on the riding establishment whome they can't compel completing and submitting all the documents and forms which in the one case of work experience for an equestrian riding establishment I have seen have been onerous and not 'wortth the effort', given the overall contribution of the placed students.

It might have been easy for the College to set a hard deadline of, say a week or a month before the placement, but what would you have said if they'd precluded the opportunity of a local placement because the College hadn't received the paperwork by that 'arbitrary' deadline but the College had said they were going to before the start?

It all sounds unfortunate but perhaps a little more unfortunate than simply a mistake by the College who are reliant on the support of the riding school whom they cannot compel? I hope it gets sorted out, OP.

But they have already placed someone at this yard so why can’t the checks for that person stand for another person

Original poster

Dwellernf · 21/04/2025 12:46

Zilla1 · 21/04/2025 12:39

HNRTT but it is a little more complicated than 'the yard has insurance'. Equestrian business insurance has many variables and the College would presumably need to verify the inurance may need to be sure the students' status which may possibly be different to volunteer, director, employee or customer is covered.

The College would presumably be entirely dependent on the riding establishment whome they can't compel completing and submitting all the documents and forms which in the one case of work experience for an equestrian riding establishment I have seen have been onerous and not 'wortth the effort', given the overall contribution of the placed students.

It might have been easy for the College to set a hard deadline of, say a week or a month before the placement, but what would you have said if they'd precluded the opportunity of a local placement because the College hadn't received the paperwork by that 'arbitrary' deadline but the College had said they were going to before the start?

It all sounds unfortunate but perhaps a little more unfortunate than simply a mistake by the College who are reliant on the support of the riding school whom they cannot compel? I hope it gets sorted out, OP.

The yard in question takes on many students, and from the same college as my DD. This is nothing short of the college's incompetence to ask for the paperwork in time. Infact at all. This is not the yard not bothering to submit it. They simply have not been asked for it yet.

OP posts:

PsychoHotSauce · 21/04/2025 12:47

pikkumyy77 · 21/04/2025 12:39

I love the idea that the college have “accepted their (own) mistake” so the matter is settled. Is that how it works? “Whoopsie! I drove over your foot! My bad! I accept my mistake, though, so get over it.”

Exactly The key issue is that the college not only expect, but insist, that OP and her DD suffer the consequences of their mistake. They can absolutely vet and verify the yard (and it sounds like it would be a cursory check anyway because they've been used in the past), but it's soo much easier to fob OP off and try and make it her problem. Good for OP I say.

Zilla1 · 21/04/2025 12:47

FairKoala · 21/04/2025 12:42

But they have already placed someone at this yard so why can’t the checks for that person stand for another person

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HNRTT but perhaps the annual? insurance policy for that placement ran out and the College doesn't have a copy of the new policy or the broken went to a different underwriter who uses different policy terms or the terms have changed so a policy that might explicitly cover customers and employees might not explicitly cover work experience participants and the College needs the certainty given the liabilities and risks of harm? HNRTT nor seen the comms so speculation from me, drawing on years of discussions with brokers, policy changes and work experience...

Pixie2015 · 21/04/2025 12:48

i am not surprised you are fuming the college has let the children and families down - this is the type of scenario that journalist should pick up and name/shame.

hope it works out for your daughter

samarrange · 21/04/2025 12:51

The issue is not the insurance status of the yard. You won't win on that (even though I'm sure you are totally in the right).

The problem is that the college, by their own admission, messed up, but now instead of making adjustments, they're going "oops, sorry, but it's up to you to fix it".

This is for the college's leadership to fix. As PP have suggested, get together with the other affected parents, get in touch with the senior people, and make sure they fix it. Drop the word "Ofsted" in a couple of times. 😉

PsychoHotSauce · 21/04/2025 12:51

Zilla1 · 21/04/2025 12:47

HNRTT but perhaps the annual? insurance policy for that placement ran out and the College doesn't have a copy of the new policy or the broken went to a different underwriter who uses different policy terms or the terms have changed so a policy that might explicitly cover customers and employees might not explicitly cover work experience participants and the College needs the certainty given the liabilities and risks of harm? HNRTT nor seen the comms so speculation from me, drawing on years of discussions with brokers, policy changes and work experience...

Show quote history

Goodness me. Ever heard of Occam's Razor? The college didn't bother doing the checks in time and admitted themselves it was an 'oversight'. I highly, highly doubt that this has come about because of the tangled web of convoluted obstacles you have just invented.

They forgot, or someone was lazy and didn't do their job. They've admitted as much.

Cognacsoft · 21/04/2025 12:52

Zilla1 · 21/04/2025 12:39

HNRTT but it is a little more complicated than 'the yard has insurance'. Equestrian business insurance has many variables and the College would presumably need to verify the inurance may need to be sure the students' status which may possibly be different to volunteer, director, employee or customer is covered.

The College would presumably be entirely dependent on the riding establishment whome they can't compel completing and submitting all the documents and forms which in the one case of work experience for an equestrian riding establishment I have seen have been onerous and not 'wortth the effort', given the overall contribution of the placed students.

It might have been easy for the College to set a hard deadline of, say a week or a month before the placement, but what would you have said if they'd precluded the opportunity of a local placement because the College hadn't received the paperwork by that 'arbitrary' deadline but the College had said they were going to before the start?

It all sounds unfortunate but perhaps a little more unfortunate than simply a mistake by the College who are reliant on the support of the riding school whom they cannot compel? I hope it gets sorted out, OP.

Did you even read the OP?
All those words, none of which are relevant in this case.

FairKoala · 21/04/2025 12:53

FiercelyFree · 21/04/2025 11:20

Please don't blame the course lead! I lead on 6 courses over 4 days, the management of the work experience is nothing to do with us. This is managed by another department entirely who have full control. The manager of this department is the person to complain to. Trust me we have enough to do which is why another department takes control of this element. People are employed solely to manage this, it's their only area of responsibility. They took this away from teaching staff as we are already overloaded. I have over 80 students a week across 6 courses to manage in four days.

It might not technically be the job of the tutor but honestly they needed to check these things are in place. After all the person who has failed to do their job won’t have student failures against their name that will be the tutor

Sometimes you have to look at the outcome and get people to do their job and if these people are incapable of doing their job then getting them removed is something that needs to happen

FairKoala · 21/04/2025 13:10

Zilla1 · 21/04/2025 12:47

HNRTT but perhaps the annual? insurance policy for that placement ran out and the College doesn't have a copy of the new policy or the broken went to a different underwriter who uses different policy terms or the terms have changed so a policy that might explicitly cover customers and employees might not explicitly cover work experience participants and the College needs the certainty given the liabilities and risks of harm? HNRTT nor seen the comms so speculation from me, drawing on years of discussions with brokers, policy changes and work experience...

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But the college did have a copy of the insurance. It was just in another department which they said didn’t count and needed to be sent again which the yard have done

The college issuing an apology and saying they stuffed up doesn’t cut it.

It’s now time for them to cut through the crap and make sure everyone can do their WE at their chosen places

Saying we are sorry and expecting people to just fail or get to places 25 miles away with no public transport is not good enough

It sounds as though they are continuing to make mistakes, and are playing with people’s lives with no thought for the reality or consequences of their inaction

katepilar · 21/04/2025 13:15

It all sounds so ridiculous. Sorry you need to give it so much headspace, hope it gets sorted ok.

Espressosummer · 21/04/2025 13:19

Zilla1 · 21/04/2025 12:47

HNRTT but perhaps the annual? insurance policy for that placement ran out and the College doesn't have a copy of the new policy or the broken went to a different underwriter who uses different policy terms or the terms have changed so a policy that might explicitly cover customers and employees might not explicitly cover work experience participants and the College needs the certainty given the liabilities and risks of harm? HNRTT nor seen the comms so speculation from me, drawing on years of discussions with brokers, policy changes and work experience...

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You would have saved yourself a lot of time if you read even just the OPs posts. You then wouldn't have had to type out all the irrelevant posts you have done.

Frenchbluesea · 21/04/2025 13:19

Dwellernf · 21/04/2025 12:34

No I don't! Nor will I! The situation can not be accepted. An apology won't compensate for a failed course, and there are no other viable alternative options other than the college making allowances... late paper work and checks. And a bollocking for whoever failed the checks.

Show quote history

Ok so don’t accept their apology and send your dd to the placement despite being told it won’t count. I can’t see how that benefits your daughter but you carry on. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be annoyed, even angry, and I’m not saying you shouldn’t complain. But carrying on with the placement seems a waste of time

ThatNaiceMember · 21/04/2025 13:21

We've had a similar experience here. The college messed everything right up and because their checks weren't done so they didn't give final approval the place my daughter was due to do W/E couldn't take her. She was so disappointed as she really wanted to do it. The college have now decided she can complete a project instead. It's been a ridiculous mess.

Whynotaxthisyear · 21/04/2025 13:21

Infuriating. Like you OP, I think DD should turn up and do the placement rather than letting the yard down at zero notice, and keep repeating to the college that a member of the college staff is very familiar with the place, so in effect the check has been done. What's the worse that can happen? If they fail her for not doing a valid placement, there must be some kind of complaint you can make to a governing body or whatever.

Frenchbluesea · 21/04/2025 13:23

B1indEye · 21/04/2025 12:40

Why would she do that? If course she can kick up a fuss and of course the daughter can do the work experience, the college can't stop her

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Because it won’t count as part of their course?

Ilovetowander · 21/04/2025 13:27

ThatNaiceMember · 21/04/2025 13:21

We've had a similar experience here. The college messed everything right up and because their checks weren't done so they didn't give final approval the place my daughter was due to do W/E couldn't take her. She was so disappointed as she really wanted to do it. The college have now decided she can complete a project instead. It's been a ridiculous mess.

That is bizarre - an example as how the college is able to bypass what they claim they can't do. Having seen the way things work at a College I am not surprised about anything - too often administration, red tape and jobs worth take precedence over the students. Administrative staff forget why they are there - the students are the number one priority. Too often the admin staff forget this, teaching staff get sandwiched between admin staff and students. The admin staff enforcing will probably not think about the student as they don't know them.