Class of '18 results day

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

[[https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/3313710-Class-of-18-nervously-waiting old thread]]

You know the drill though, that one needs to be used up first lowers glasses to give (behave Chocolate!)

Some of us already have btech results, some have unconditionals, but it's a nervous time for most. Lots of

I’m glad of the laundry reassurance, DS is thinking rugby too and definitely gym, so will need to wash his kit! I’m thinking someone could make a mint with a student laundry service!

I have idly checked to see if there is a local laundry that does a wash/dry service. Daft as it seems the one local to me is cheaper than the machines my niece has at her uni. It's supply and demand I suppose.

There isn't one so DS is on DIY. It will do him the world of good (to be fair he has ironed two loads of washing this morning)

dd managed to open a santander bank account. Woo hoo!

She turned up to her appointment to be told that the account she wanted to switch from wasn't like for like, so she couldn't switch and that normally it would have to be done online but as she was there they could set it up anyway. It all went through fine. The lady was so helpful and nice to her.

She also printed off photos and we bought some photo frames for the nicest ones. Got passport photos done too. I'm trying to support her to get as much as she can done while I'm mostly off work.

ds's hall has a contractual ban on drying clothes in the rooms.

I've left him self catering in Ireland, also will have to do his own laundry for a few days, wipe surface etc...wake himself up...bother to go and find relatives to talk to a mile away on foot..not quite sure how this will play out. I'm suspecting day will turn into night definitely..still at least he will see what it is like when the nagging stops! Grandma has started worrying about him already, I'm trying NOT to worry as this is good practice for ME to leave him to organise his own life. He is in the middle of nowhere so not really the same as uni though.

Gsces tomorrow. light relief. ha ha. A level choices, History Drama Biology, Geography, Pyschology, Politics, it is all coming out of my ears... My mum has recommended ds2 do a play call The Admirable Crichton (about a Butler on a desert island taking over) as a springboard for a devised drama, and it has just occurred to me that this is the original for Crichton in Red Dwarf (a series she is not acquainted with not suprisingly) Ds2 loves Red Dwarf of course. I've probably spelt Crichton wrong.

Dd is still complaining about her Sixth Form outfit that has not yet been selected.

Few more results filtering through from friends' dcs, all slightly lower than predicted, sensing a pattern here about new marking or indeed predictions!!!

Hi. Although it's a few years ago for us now, I do have a couple of ideas that might help some of you?
Firstly, we bought virtually everything for DC1 at various outlet shops - I seem to remember that the Asda outlet was particularly good - great quality items at really good prices.

this proved to be a lifesaver more than once. There were a couple of times at the start when student finance didn't arrive on time do DC1 found themselves short on funds. We were able to pop into Sainsbury top up the card here and DC1 could use it to buy food within minutes. I got in the habit of adding a bit extra to it now and again.
For occasional surprise treats, sweet treats were great. There are pre-designed pa ks on the website, but they will also put together a bespoke pack from the available products. Especially welcome at exam time or just when they feel a little bit homesick at the beginning.
DC1 learned to be quite savvy regarding money. Apart from the lump sum requited to pay for the rent in halls, they basically opened a savings account (possibly some sort of Isa?) And put all the loan, grant etc into it. Also, as their bank account offered an interest free overdraft, they took the overdraft amount out and put that onto savings as well. They then lived off their credit card, drew enough from the savings account each month to clear the bill and have some cash available. Not only did they not pay any interest, they actually made money. If your dcs can be that organised so they don't forget to make payments on cards, it might be worth consideration. DC1 also found they weren't so tempted to pay out on frivolous things, because they could only withdraw from the savings once a month.
Of dcs are self catering, they will probably have access to a freezer, so food containers are helpful - they can cook more than one portion and then freeze individual portions for later - another boon at exam time. They will also be able to take advantage if special offers (DC1 once bought 4kg of lean mince from the local butcher at closing time on a Saturday for about £2.50, got veg on the market also cheap, and cooked up about a years supply of bolognese.

I'm sure your dcs will prove just as resourceful. Hope they all have a wonderful, successful time.

ds's hall has a contractual ban on drying clothes in the rooms.
DS set the fire alarms off at 3am drying his wet suit in his room, his flatmates werent happy

DS halls also say no clothes drying in rooms. DS has appt for Santander account on Saturday.
Re washing, I have told him about service washes at launderettes so it's up to him if he goes looking for cheaper option further afield.

Nettles I'm getting a bit nervous about tomorrow now! Going to the opposite end of the scale so a B in maths will be an absolute disaster as opposed to the huge cause for celebration ds1's was a couple of years ago . Aaargh, the stress of having a hard working academic child, it was so much more laid back when every exam just passed was a brilliant moment.

Have bought DS1 a lovely little print and some of his favourite socks (he's funny about socks!) so far to hide in a package. Going to get some of the dark chocolate he loves too. Must print off some photo's of the dogs and his bike so he gets all his beloved things to look at.

banana how did your dc get a credit card? dd asked about one today and was told to apply again in about 6 months, but she would also need around 9k in income to be accepted. Given shes close to the minimum maintenance loan and we are paying for her accommodation as a result shes going to struggle to get to that level even if we pay her rent into her account for her to pay out.

DS was offered a credit card with HSBC. He was converting his existing current account to a student account if that makes a difference.

A ban on clothes dryers? I don’t mean the electric ones just the stand up ones, do you think that’s banned too?

dammit. should have gone with hsbc. Though she doesnt have a current account with them. It was the santander interest rates she went for.

@OhYouBadBadKitten

When DC1 converted to a student account, a credit card was part of the offer. Only about a £500 limit to begin with, but it was enough for them to use for whatever was needed and then cleared each month. They already had an account with the bank, as they took a gap year and needed somewhere for salary to be paid. On production of university confirmation letter, they could transfer to student t's&c's , with whatever benefits were on offer at the time.

Got the Santander rail card already (after some complicated steps!)

dds old bank offer really a really crap student account. Hence the switch. Now it seems impossible to get a credit card. I'd much rather she had one. Its the safest kind of card I think to use day to day as if it gets stolen or cloned then the credit card company have to sort it and their own money is safe.
Wish we'd thought this through more.

kitten we converted DS’s NatWest account to their student one which was fine, but it does say you have a 14 day cooling off period if you change your mind, banks have to offer this so it might help f you want to change!

I think we are going to plump for HSBC.

I have read about taking your free overdraft and putting it in an interest account. But I'm not sure DD can be that savvy.

DD’s HSBC card has arrived here today, she applied last week. I think they are giving her a credit card, will have to see.

I'll talk to dd about whether she would like to switch over. Good to know she has a cooling off period. Thanks!

Get Amazon Prime with HSBC and you can get a railcard with Tesco vouchers apparently.

DD has upgraded her existing HSBC account to a student account. Her credit card arrived today. She seems to think she'll be using her credit card mostly then paying it off at the end of each month. That seems sensible to me. I wish I'd been more sensible/frugal when I was a student, but i suppose it was more difficult for me because I already had dd1 and had child related expenses (I did have a dependents grant as well as my loan but it didn't cover everything she needed).

I definitely don't think that a credit card is the way to go with DS1, he'd never be organised enough to pay the correct amount off each month and it would all end up in chaos and probably another bike.

DD was definitely quite freaked about the idea of having one but as shevus relatively sensible (this will come back to bit me now!) and theee was an option to pay balance from account monthly, DH and I suggested she apply - only to use if buying something she might want the extra protection on. No idea if it will actually come through and I’m thinking of suggesting it stays with us.

Got Amazon Student Prime with Nat west too, it was that or a taste card or national express card. We set up the mobile app too and a saving account so that he can put the bulk of his money in there and transfer across what he needs.

DS has just gone with his existing building society for his student account. As it's only a small branch he has a student finance person he can email directly or call if needed. I'm adding him to my credit card as an additional holder which he can use in dire emergencies if needed.