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

Original poster

Thread 19 - Corona Cohort, Enrolling on Year 13, hopefully NOT unlucky for some

999 replies

OrangeCinnamonCocktail · 02/09/2021 22:37

Place holder

OP posts:
EssentiallyDisorganised · 12/09/2021 21:40

Royal Holloway is on my DS's list for history too. We went on a campus tour recently and liked it.

BlueMarigold · 12/09/2021 23:21

@cariadambyth Hi Royal Holloway is on our list.

BlueMarigold · 12/09/2021 23:22

@Seeline which one did you like best out of Nottingham and Birmingham?

cariadambyth · 13/09/2021 06:51

We went to their open day and really liked it but haven’t been to any others yet. We are on the mailing list for Warwick and are planning on going to theirs in October. Dd is really only considering campus based universities as she feels they would suit her better and I am inclined to agree. I’m so pleased others here are looking and RH and haven’t been dismissive of it, it’s reassured me, thank you.

Seeline · 13/09/2021 07:49

@BlueMarigold Nottingham was clear favourite with DD out of the two. Definitely better for her course (liberal arts), but much preferred the campus too. Only downside as far as I am concerned us all on campus accommodation is catered, which I don't think would suit DD, but there is a large self catered development just outside campus. DD preferred the older catered accommodation which really surprised me.

She dies seem to prefer the large, green campuses - UEA, Exeter and Kent are also high on her list.

crazycrofter · 13/09/2021 09:03

Can I ask what sort of subject info is available at the open days you’ve been to?

Dd is fairly set on Southampton for OT, but she’s struggling with her PS and hasn’t been able to get work experience, just a chat with an OT who works in offender rehabilitation.

I was wondering if it would be worth going to one of the local uni open days, purely to visit the OT department and talk to students/lecturers etc. I thought it might give her some insight into what the course will be like. Do you think that’s likely to be worthwhile?

BlueMarigold · 13/09/2021 09:22

Thanks @Seeline my DD wants self catered too.

Seeline · 13/09/2021 09:30

Can I ask what sort of subject info is available at the open days you’ve been to?

No one is handing out anything. Both had displays with QR codes which gave info, but I think it was really just the same stuff as on the websites (if you can find it - why are they so hard to navigate!!)

Both had staff members and existing students to chat to, so we could find out more about the course, how it worked and what the students thought about things which was really useful.

Seeline · 13/09/2021 09:31

Both were just in marquees outside for DDs subject so haven't really seen where she would actually be studying etc

Delphigirl · 13/09/2021 09:55

@crazycrofter at Southampton they sent us subject talk videos which were good for nuts and bolts details about the course and admissions, but the open day was particularly useful for talking to students snd also to professors, I found. I would say definitely worth doing for someone in her position which isn’t 100% sure about what the course or the job entails.

BlueMarigold · 13/09/2021 10:00

The more I find about Nottingham the more I like it. DD has lost interest now.

KingscoteStaff · 13/09/2021 10:40

DD loves Nottingham, but her pretest results weren’t high enough to give her a realistic chance of a place.

She’s put it down as her 5th (non- medicine ) choice.

crazycrofter · 13/09/2021 10:52

Thanks, sounds like it's probably worth us popping along to either Worcester or Birmingham City then.

Piggywaspushed · 13/09/2021 11:30

I did my PGCE in Nottingham. It's a nice place to be a student , and considerably tarted up now than it was when I was there. The city centre is really vibrant. Excellent public transport.

Seeline · 13/09/2021 11:35

Excellent public transport.

We were astounded by the range of colours of all the different buses! We're in London - they're all red Grin

Wiifitmama · 13/09/2021 12:31

I have been following this with interest for my son currently applying. I wanted to add about open days… we went to one at Sheffield this last weekend. It was a full on open day with subject talks in lecture theatres by heads of departments, tours of the student Union and library, buses taking us for tours of the accommodation areas etc. It did not occur to me that other open days were not like this! We are going to the Newcastle one in October and it is a hugely long way for us (London) so I will be very disappointed if it is not the same.

Monkey2001 · 13/09/2021 12:39

@wiifitmama DS and DH going to the September Newcastle one (from Bristol), will report back on how full it was after the event. From the website it sounds like they are taking a similar approach to Sheffield.

Wiifitmama · 13/09/2021 12:41

Excellent thank you!

Monkey2001 · 13/09/2021 13:13

We have been told to get a PCR test for school. I am 99% sure it is just a cold. Luckily he only misses his easier lessons including maths (where his teacher is GF's mum), no on line access to lessons available. Hope he does not have to take more than couple of days off.

icanbewhatiwant · 13/09/2021 13:19

@Monkey2001 I think my youngest is going to miss a week off waiting for a pcr test to arrive and get back to us with results. He's year 8 so missing school doesn't matter quite so much, but as it's first full week back he wanted to meet new teachers and find new classrooms etc.

Original poster
OrangeCinnamonCocktail · 13/09/2021 13:35

@crazycrofter...good opportunity to find out about placements and how they work for your Dd. I have heard some horror stories I.e a friends son is commuting from Canterbury to his designated placement in London at great cost! He still needs to be around Kent for some reason which seems prohibitive. Changing the placement wasn't an option.

OP posts:
Monkey2001 · 13/09/2021 13:40

@icanbewhatiwant I am sure it does matter to him even if the work catch up is easier in Y8. We are lucky the drive in centre is so close, so should have results within 24 hours. I wonder how long it will be before covid has an impact more like flu.

icanbewhatiwant · 13/09/2021 13:47

@Monkey2001 I wish I'd insisted we had driven to a test place now. But Ds didn't want to. Post isn't here yet...but I'm sure the test won't come today as it was Sunday yesterday. He still has a headache today...was hot this morn. I think he will be better by tomorrow.

Monkey2001 · 13/09/2021 14:07

[quote icanbewhatiwant]@Monkey2001 I wish I'd insisted we had driven to a test place now. But Ds didn't want to. Post isn't here yet...but I'm sure the test won't come today as it was Sunday yesterday. He still has a headache today...was hot this morn. I think he will be better by tomorrow.
[/quote]
You could still book a drive through test, particularly as the test didn't come when they said it would. I could book for half an hour's time.

icanbewhatiwant · 13/09/2021 14:11

When I ordered the test yesterday it said it would arrive Tuesday. But the postman has just been...and it's here. Now I'm trying to persuade Ds to do the test. He's saying no 🙈 so hopefully we will know weds.