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Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Parents of Year 12s - exam time again! (oh no!)

999 replies

OhYouBadBadKitten · 17/05/2017 20:21

Just noticed we were running out of thread!

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Shineyshoes10 · 26/06/2017 14:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

HesMyLobster · 26/06/2017 16:04

Sorry Shiney I can't help with the STEP or degree class questions.

Fantasy I suppose it depends what she wants to do eventually. If she wants to go into social work or similar then it's perfect.
If you look on the sociology subject page of a university it should tell you something about popular career paths after graduation.

We visited Warwick this weekend (for a Dance event that was held there, not an open day - but dd and I had a snoop around while we were there!)
DD loved the campus and facilities but wasn't keen on the distance into the nearest town/city (which is definitely Coventry, not Warwick)

She still seems happy with her 5 original choices. I'm determined to drag her to see a few more though, just in case!

HesMyLobster · 26/06/2017 16:06

Arsenic what did your dd hate about St Andrews? That's on DD's list purely because she loves the course there, but she's decided not to visit unless she gets an offer.

raspberryrippleicecream · 26/06/2017 16:24

Shiney DS1 is doing an MPhys. Not sure about the why's and wherefores, but funding wise it meant it's all covered with the undergraduate loan. Since he applied they have brought in some funding for post graduate degrees but I think it's not the same.

raspberryrippleicecream · 26/06/2017 16:27

The below is cut and pasted from the BBCs site

Are you already covered?
A halls communal licence won’t cover your room. But you may be covered by your parents’ licence. If you think you are, please check that all of the following are true before telling us you don’t need one:
Your out-of-term address (parents’ address) is covered by a TV Licence
AND you only use TV receiving equipment that is powered solely by its own internal batteries
AND you have not connected it to an aerial or plugged it into the mains.

TheDrsDocMartens · 26/06/2017 16:54

Dd1 won't entertain Bath because of the hill Blush

We've discovered UCL has a Paris campus which is tempting to dd1

OhYouBadBadKitten · 26/06/2017 17:28

That's why I turned down Bath umpteen years ago DocMarten Grin

Does UCL really? that sounds rather interesting...

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MsAwesomeDragon · 26/06/2017 17:40

shineyshoes, the 4 year MSc means you get the funding automatically as you apply for all 4 years together, the pg MSc you have to fill in more forms, apply for it and be accepted, then apply for funding etc as well. Both are regarded afterwards as being the same qualification. If the uni offers both MSc and BSc courses in the subject you can swap between them up til the end of 2nd year I believe, as long as you are getting good enough marks to qualify for the MSc course.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 26/06/2017 17:41

raspberry, does that mean that if they arent charging their laptop and we have a licence they don't need one?

So STEP, taken at the end of the A levels. Step 1 questions are something they can start to practice over the summer. Step 2 they need to have done more a level maths such as c3 and c4, m2, s2 etc. Step 3 is based on Further Maths.

Step 2 and 3 are really really really hard. They should use a website like this one and follow the program if college don't have a really good dedicated step program. Treat it like an extra a level.

Warwick isnt too bad for STEP as they specify usually a 1 in any STEP paper, so they can just do the STEP 1 paper really really well.

MrsAD will be able to tell us more I'm sure.

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OhYouBadBadKitten · 26/06/2017 17:43

Shiney, I asked the question about MMath etc in Higher Education. here

I'm not coming off terribly well in it and accidentally sounding like a plonker, but there is useful info in it.

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MsAwesomeDragon · 26/06/2017 17:58

I'm afraid I'm not going to be terribly useful about step papers. I know we have kids who sit them, but I've never helped prepare them. I do know they are hard, and are taken at the end of y13. We generally advise kids to do loads of practice following an online course, and ask Mr X for help if you need it. He's the expert, I'm not.

arsenicistheanswer · 26/06/2017 20:37

Hesmylobster there wasn't much she liked about St Andrews at all. She loves the town. We have family near by, and visit regularly. She likes the halls, having stayed there on summer residentials a number of times.

However all the emphasis on the day was on the traditions (like how to wear the robes depending on which year you were in), parties, doing as little studying as possible, and "getting away with it". They wouldn't let us into the library (pointed it out from the street), and only one (admissions) tutor turned up for the subject talk (medicine), and she wouldn't answer any questions, or talk about any aspect of the unusual way they structure the course there.

The only medical student we met said she'd gone there just because they didn't have to have as much to do with "real people" as other medical schools. All in all, it was a bit of a disaster from one perspective but good too, in that it helped her come to some decisions about what is important to her. i.e. she just wants to study, and be with like minded types.

I do know lots of people that have gone there and loved it. They have either gone for the whole hoorah lifestyle, or lived out of town, and had a separate life. For me, there are some subjects that they are just brilliant at, and really worth considering despite the downsides. For DD though, it was just wrong for her. We're going to look at Oxford this week, and she has really made a point of avoiding the colleges with lots of "traditions".

Shineyshoes10 · 26/06/2017 21:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

arsenicistheanswer · 26/06/2017 22:13

shiney that was what DD said too - didn't instill faith in their selection. That said, it's a slightly odd set up that leaves so much of the open day contact to second year undergraduates. I could put much of what they said down to immature showing off tbh. Birmingham in contrast used PhD students for even moving between buildings. It really makes a difference I think.

Iamastonished · 26/06/2017 22:24

It looks like quite a few mumsnetters offspring have been to Warwick. DD really liked it. She liked that the life sciences was separate from the rest of the campus (she is looking at biomedical science).

She is finding all the UCAS stuff at school a bit too much and is worried about writing a personal statement.

FantasyAndHope · 27/06/2017 15:37

Dd enjoyed the ucas convention and was really drawn in by all London universities. She is hell bent on studying in London. She is in London tomorrow has to get a taxi from School to station at 6:30 ready for a 7:30 train

HesMyLobster · 27/06/2017 15:54

Arsenic Thankyou, that's a very interesting insight. I'll keep it in mind as we go through the process but won't say anything to dd yet as I don't want to influence her judgement on each university. It will be interesting to see if she gets the same impression when/if she ends up visiting.
It is definitely one of the courses she most liked the look of (on paper) but I am hoping it won't end up being her final choice as it's just too far away!

OhYouBadBadKitten · 27/06/2017 21:50

Is she looking at a uni tomorrow Fantasy? dd is looking at Imperial.

I was hoping things would be nice and chilled after the exams but they seem to be overloading dd with projects and UCAS stuff. She was on the verge of tears this evening trying to work out how she could manage all the deadlines over the next few days. Got her drivin

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OhYouBadBadKitten · 27/06/2017 21:52

got her some driving lessons booked for the hols too. She's not best keen though.

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Icouldbeknitting · 27/06/2017 22:15

Any more chilled here and I'd be checking for frostbite. DS has three days off in the next two weeks (he breaks up next week) and a lesson cancelled tomorrow gives him the afternoon off. He's tidied his room out today - the outside bin is full. He's vacuumed, came looking for furniture polish, found a pile of hankies for the wash and a single trainer. It's a total co-incidence that there is a young lady expected in the next couple of days. I have my fingers crossed that he's eliminated That Smell, it could have been the new location for the next Febreze advert.

OYBBK I am picking up some handy tips on parallel parking via DS's driving lessons. It wasn't on the test when I did mine and I can do it if I don't think about it. Once I've started to think about what I'm doing I'm doomed.

HesMyLobster · 27/06/2017 22:23

DD missed the UCAS day Confused
She came down with a virus thing after her DofE expedition on Sunday and has basically slept for 24 hours.
I knew it must be bad when I suggested she stay home this morning and she didn't laugh in my face, but agreed. She hasn't had a day off school since year 5!
I emailed the lovely 6th form admin lady and she promised she'd email dd her UCAS registration details, and that they would run a catch up session next week for anybody who missed today.
I just hope she's feeling better in the morning as she has her internal exams Tomorrow, Thursday, Friday and Monday.

Kitten I hope your DD feels better soon about everything. It's unfair to pile more stuff onto them at this point in the term when everyone is shattered and just crawling towards summer.
(My reception class are barely managing to stay awake the whole day this week!)

dd wasn't keen on the thought of driving lessons, but a month on she's loving them and can't wait to do her test!

UrsulaPandress · 27/06/2017 22:52

Dd has returned from DofE exhausted and pissed off with her group.

But no blisters. Yeah.

FantasyAndHope · 27/06/2017 23:02

OYBK
It's a taster lecture of history. She's excited but I am worried given the recent events in London however it's probably safer in London than her journey. She's mainly worried about pick pocketing she's taking her MacBook to work on the train but I'm worried god forbid and I hope it doesn't happen that she gets robbed and looses it. But she has essays to do. She's put chains on her bag so she can hear if someone tries to get in

OhYouBadBadKitten · 28/06/2017 07:01

She'll be ok Fantasy, it's normal for commuters to travel with all sorts of expensive kit. I expect mostly she'll find it annoying to be lugging it around of the day Grin

Oh crikey Lobster, I hope your dd is feeling better. That's a long not off sick record! Good luck with her exams.

Ursula, was that the practise?

Knitting, perhaps I should sit in on dds driving lessons Grin

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raspberryrippleicecream · 28/06/2017 08:10

We have the same issues here Kitten with coursework being piled on and deadlines given. DD also has books to read for Uniq, and with a week away for that is unlikely to get everything done.

She hadn't been allowed to drop Further Maths, which she is definitely dropping as she is 5 AS and is only keeping 3 A levels, and then has clashes with further MA being scheduled against Maths Coursework extra sessions!

Re TV licence post up thread. I'm not an expert, but it reads to me like one is not needed if laptop not plugged in.

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