Thread 21 Corona Cohort - Nervous waiting, so frustrating

[Monkey2001]

Continuation of OrangeCinnamonCocktail's threads

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting. It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, please don't within this thread. Please also be sensitive when responding to threads about grades.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue.

Our DS/DD may go down various paths (such as employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will most likely find us within the Further Ed board.

Previous thread - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/a4354626-Corona-Cohort-Statements-Scripted-Grades-Predicted?msgid=111487286#111487286

Yes, I can’t believe some of the prices charged. Leicester seem quite reasonable out of all the places I’ve looked at. If dd does end up doing mental health nursing she’ll get an extra £1k bursary per year on top of the £5k, so with the minimum loan too she ought to be able to manage without our help I think. But we’ve said we'll help with a car for placements.

As she will have a set amount to play with (rather than us paying for accommodation) it will be interesting to see whether she wants to save money by having a shared bathroom or not!

We also made it clear to DS2 that his accommodation choice will affect the money he has for other stuff and he concluded that £1,500 pa extra for an en suite was £40/week and he would far rather have a steak every day than an en suite, he worked out the cost of each shower and wee and concluded it was definitely not worth it! I was horrified by accommodation costs when DS1 went after paying £145/term in my first year for a shared room with a shared bathroom. It was trickier with DS1 as at St Andrews there is a shortage of the best value accommodation - most shared bathroom fully catered is £7k, made up of £4.5k for room and £2.5k for food. Self catered en suite is £7k without food. We thought that if he was allocated the more expensive accom after applying for the cheaper options it would have felt mean to penalise him for it, but was ok as he got what he wanted and last year, in Covid times, there was very little need to spend extra money on top of his catered halls.

There are a variety of shared bathrooms too. I've seen some where it is one between 2 which is fine. One of the options we looked at at UEA on Saturday was two showrooms with loo, plus separate loo for 14 people! As DD said, she wouldn't want to be there if there was a dose of food poisoning or a stomach bug going round the flat!

Yes, 2 between 14 is tight, although we had 1 between 5 when I was a student, which was fine as we also had a separate toilet. It used to be fairly normal for a family of 6 to have 1 bathroom without a separate toilet, but we are all a bit spoiled these days. The accom DS wants in Newcastle is 2 shower rooms between 6, which should be great as long as your flatmates are civilised!

We've definitely got different expectations now. I shared a room; I can't remember how many shared our bathroom, but I would guess at least 8. I shared a room with my younger sister at home anyway, so I thought nothing of it. Dd would be horrified at the thought and is very iffy about the idea of sharing a bathroom with strangers, but I'm going to spell out the cost of an en-suite and what else she could be spending that money on!

Yes DS is in a private rented house this year. It has two bathrooms with loos plus an extra loo between 6 of them and he says that works fine.

My student house had 2 bathrooms between 6, but no-one showered daily in those days!

@Seeline

There are a variety of shared bathrooms too. I've seen some where it is one between 2 which is fine. One of the options we looked at at UEA on Saturday was two showrooms with loo, plus separate loo for 14 people! As DD said, she wouldn't want to be there if there was a dose of food poisoning or a stomach bug going round the flat!

Was that Ziggurats??

My friend at uni contracted hepatitis...

Accommodation generally a lot more reasonable after the 1st year. Unless they stay in halls. Townhouse accommodation is some of the best - 2 bedrooms sharing a bathroom so 2 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms per floor with a ground floor open plan for 12 - 2 x corner sofas 3 fridge freezers and 2-3 cookers. Anywhere having 1 bathroom per 6-10 is asking for trouble.

Cheapest self catering accommodation seen of this style was Bradford £85 per week 42 week contract 2 per bathroom then up to £179 for self catering at York for 44 weeks and 4 per bathroom. I’m sure there are more expensive too. Maintenance loan is means tested so DS1 and DS2 had friends getting large loans up to 12k (due to low incomes or parents split up and living with mum) so everything is covered and more. The minimum loan is around £3.3-3.5k - the loan drops down to this for those with a family income of around £65k and above so won’t cover accommodation and then DD or DS will need money for food, going out, materials or books for course etc; Some kids work to pay for these others get this as a weekly or monthly allowance from parents. I’d guesstimate approx average £3K in 1st year towards accommodation plus £65-120 per week for food, phone, going out etc during term time (34-44weeks) if you choose to fund the lot. Approx £5500-£8000 per annum in total. Some kids will live on cheap noodles to party every night and others will eat well.

Yep Piggy ! I know they are iconic, but I really didn't like it! It felt like you were living on a submarine. The corridors were so dark and narrow, and the stairs were just like on a boat! The rooms were bright, but I got the feeling that they would be freezing and winter and very hot in the summer. The kitchens didn't even have an oven.... The bathroom set up was the final straw!

Private rented much more reasonable than halls for my DS1 and DS2. Paid £500 per month bills included. DS1 last house with 5 beds 3 bathrooms, shared with friends and large kitchen and lounge with a dishwasher?!? And garden. Paid rent for 11mth contract so £5500 per annum. Cheapest houses were £4500 per annum.

@Piggywaspushed - I think I may be have mixed up info re York being more expensive - I've lost my spreadsheet with loads work out! maybe I wrote it down in a notepad (got lots).

I think it's probably because I looked at York straight afer looking at costs for Lancaster (which seems cheap).

I need to create another spreadsheet to compare unis and colleges in unis. Although I don't want DD to make a decision based on cost, I would like her to know if she goes to uni A it has to be SC shared, but Uni B could be catered (or unsuite) or have slightly more cash to spend.

DD won't want to be in the cheapester standard accomodation anyway but she always is aware we are unwilling (and unable really) to pay more than we need to.

Although I've said no ensuite - I do have reservations as it would be awful to have to share with too many...

I think it is often immaterial anyway - what accommodation you end up often seems to be the luck of the draw...

I think accommodation costs are so opaque. I have moaned on Oxbridge thread- and been told I am wrong- that Cambridge colleges make it virtually impossible to work out accommodation and food coast!

I also don't want DS2 to be rammed in unpleasant accommodation simply because he has chosen a uni which charges too much- or one with swanky expensive accommodation because that's all they offer!

I know one place that is definitely v good value for money : Hull.

@Seeline

Yep Piggy ! I know they are iconic, but I really didn't like it! It felt like you were living on a submarine. The corridors were so dark and narrow, and the stairs were just like on a boat! The rooms were bright, but I got the feeling that they would be freezing and winter and very hot in the summer. The kitchens didn't even have an oven.... The bathroom set up was the final straw!

I hated Ziggurats too.

It was our first open day with DS1 and it massively put him off the whole place.

@Fruitygal

Private rented much more reasonable than halls for my DS1 and DS2. Paid £500 per month bills included. DS1 last house with 5 beds 3 bathrooms, shared with friends and large kitchen and lounge with a dishwasher?!? And garden. Paid rent for 11mth contract so £5500 per annum. Cheapest houses were £4500 per annum.

Wow - that's cheap! Where is that? My DS is in Bristol (UWE so not even city centre) and is paying £5.5k, not including bills. Nice house for 6 with 2 bathrooms/3 toilets, kitchen with dishwasher/washing machine/tumble dryer, separate lounge/diner, garage (which they have converted into a mini gym) and parking. Halls for en-suite room was about the same, but included bills.

@Piggywaspushed DD definitely saw beyond Zuggarats, and loved the rest of the place. Eyeing up the most expensive accommodation as they do have ovens!!

@Heifer I think it is easy to get bogged down in the cost of first year halls, but they will be in private accommodation for longer. Anywhere northern apart from St Andrews and Edinburgh seems cheaper than almost anywhere southern. Wales is great, Bath and Bristol expensive. York may be more expensive as it is small. Slightly out of date article in the Tab thetab.com/uk/2017/07/11/revealed-expensive-student-cities-rent-uk-42702

@Seeline RG on south coast city location walkable to lectures 15-20mins - think it was a great deal after previous private had been £50 cheaper per month but distinctly student in decor and facilities 😂. It was a parent who’d bought and done up for kid but then kid had graduated. So always a better standard but this one particularly good. Also great as DS their with friends and mostly unable to go out due to covid so comfortable rental was so important. Think Bristol and Bath are pricy relative to rest of country (London too). Your DS property sounds fab though in terms of equipment.

I think DS1 is about £530 pcm in Lincoln. Last year he paid less but the house was awful.

Well DS has done it! Applied to 4 courses at three unis in the UK (Southampton Cardiff Plymouth) and one in Canada (Dalhousie) all for ocean related courses. Phew. Fingers crossed he gets some offers. One also needs an interview.

Fabulous Delphigirl

I too have been banging the mantra of not getting too hung up re what’s on offer for Year one, especially when there’s no guarantees. I think that’s why DD has been fine with a wherever approach and delegated that lovely task to me.

I love that there is a place in Canada called Dalhousie!

Well done delphi jr.

It is worth remembering that rental terms are longer in private accommodation o this does offset savings a bit...

*there !!

Cardiff seemed good value. Heart breaking when some of the rooms are not up to standard.

I think all three of DS’s unis are good value for accomm for southern unis, particularly Cardiff and Plymouth