Thread 26 - Covid Cohort Hoping for a Stable, Successful 2022

[OrangeCinnamonCocktail]

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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.

Thats interesting @JustHereWithMyPopcorn thanks!

DS applied for Warwick in December got an acknowledgment email back and nothing else so far.

DD is considering NOttingham as her insurance (even though it has a higher requirement than her favourite). I am not comfortable with it at the moment - partly due to the accommodation lottery if you don't have it as your firm. I think part of her attraction to it is the campus, so if she didn't get accommodation on campus (or any at all), that would be an issue...

I'm also put off Nottingham by the fact that most of their accommodation is catered - and is really expensive! Dd is a fussy eater and also not the greatest at routine, so I can just imagine her missing loads of meals and still having to self-cater anyway. Most universities have mainly self-catered accommodation, which brings the price down and seems to make more sense to me.

What do you think the reason is for Nottingham so low on student satisfaction reviews? Is it too much online?

@crazycrofter they do have some self catered but its a bit further out right? We wouldnt want catered either and I think Nottingham may well be first choice.

Yes - there is a large development just opposite the main campus of self-catered accommodation. DD loved the older buildings on campus but she too is very fussy (and also currently trialing gluten free) so I think self-catered would be a waste of money. Coupled with that there seemed very little scope to cook anything much for yourself - microwave only in very small kitchenettes.

Yes, is it Broadgate Park? I wonder if that tends to get booked up early or if it’s just the on-campus halls? I was just looking at York and their cheapest self-catered is cheaper than Nottingham and they also have some catered rooms that are cheaper than most of their self-catered. I wouldn’t mind dd paying £150 a week for catered but at Nottingham it’s £200 plus.

Yes, I'm not paying £200 a week for DS to be just making a constant stream of pesto pasta from the kettle!

@ChristopherTracy dd also lives on pasta and pesto!!

Some of the universities do catered options by giving you a card with pre-loaded credit which you can use at your convenience.

At St Andrews all the pretty old accommodation is catered and shared bathroom fully catered (3 meals a day apart from weekends when they do their own evening meal) costs the same as en suite non catered - both £7k pa. The real "ouch" is if you are allocated en suite catered which is £9.5k! DS very happy to share bathroom as they are cleaned every day. DS2 also planning to go for shared bathroom, but uncatered if he can as he "needs" lots of protein, and would rather spend his money on that than peeing in guaranteed comfort!

Tip for all us when when (if!) we get to the start of exams - make sure we all know (a) the consequences of being ill for an exam; (b) what proof is need of illness and (c) what the practicalities are of letting school / exam board / whoever know DC is sick.

DS was due to do a final IB speaking exam this morning but woke up ill - spent frantic and stressful hour trying to contact the school exam office and googling "being ill for IB exam". It has all worked out as there is a window in which the exam must be done so he can do it later this week when he is better. But on top of the worry of having an ill DC, the last thing any of us will want is the stress of not knowing what to do. Hopefully all schools will send out details of what to do if this happens but must remember to print and keep!

Hope he feels better soon @Horace123. And thank you - that's good advice.

Ds took his applied business exam today. He says it went well. Hopefully if he's done well then no more business exams. He does have coursework to complete though.

Thanks all for your comments on Nottingham. Re accommodation, there seems to be a lot of Self catered just outside of campus. It's 1 of the things I will get DH and DD to look at closely when they go to the open day next Month. Just how far away is it (I think very close). Just looked

Self Catered Off campus (Near University Park)
Albian House - 168 students 20 mins walk
Dafge Hse - 219 students 5 mins walk
Broadgate Park - 2027 (not a typo) 5 mins walk
Cloister Hse - 62 students close to queens medical centre
Varisty - 82 students 8 mins walk.

There are others near Jubilee

@Horace123 - Hopefully all schools will send out details of what to do if this happens but must remember to print and keep!

I very much doubt DDs school will so thanks for the heads up

Also hope your DS feels better soon, that must have been a frantic time for you sorting it out.

Re Nottingham accommodation - despite us all not liking the Lottery of it opening so early - I haven't seen any complaints about not getting any accommodation for this years students - has anyone else?

@Heifer we'll be doing the open day next month too. Might see you there, I won't know if its you, but I might see you anyway.

I seem to be the only one on here happy for DS to be in catered halls. I know he'll just eat sweets/takeaways/tinned cream of chicken soup if not because he doesn't think about food until he's ready to eat it. It seems the only way he'll survive. I agree the cost is a lot but I'm prepared to do it for a year.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn I would have liked either of my dc's to be catered. Ds1 is at UEA where there is no option of self catered. If Ds2 goes to Sussex there's no self catering there either.

@icanbewhatiwant I remember what I ate/didn't eat in my first year - it wasn't pretty! My boyfriend at the time was in catered halls, I was very jealous.

[quote JustHereWithMyPopcorn]@Heifer we'll be doing the open day next month too. Might see you there, I won't know if its you, but I might see you anyway.

I seem to be the only one on here happy for DS to be in catered halls. I know he'll just eat sweets/takeaways/tinned cream of chicken soup if not because he doesn't think about food until he's ready to eat it. It seems the only way he'll survive. I agree the cost is a lot but I'm prepared to do it for a year.[/quote]
I will look out for someone eating popcorn. We can have a secret signal :-)

I would like DD to be catered - she keeps changing her mind. I do worry what she would eat otherwise. She has fads and at the moment she would eat noodles and chicken every day if she could. I think it's a nice ease into being away from home. BUT I am not happy to pay for Catered and ensuite! I've told DD that she will have to pay the difference herself but then she said she would go self catered so I can't win.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn ds1 had to learn to cook once he got there, I taught him a few things like spaghetti bolognese/chilli/curry. He cooks himself lots of things now he's in a house. Not so much when he was in halls. Ds2 will cook pasta, cheese on toast, pizza etc. So he can cook himself junk. I will worry about ds3 when it's his turn as he only really likes pasta, chicken nuggets and pizza. He won't eat any fruit, veg or salad when/if he eventually goes to university. He hardly eats any now...but what he does eat isn't by choice. The older 2 ds's do at least like fruit and salad.

DD def self catered. Allergic to dairy and eggs so it just gets too difficult otherwise.
Southampton did do food for vegans, which should be okay, but she loves meat! Choices for allergy sufferers tend to be 'here is your dinner' and she likes choice.

@Heifer and @JustHereWithMyPopcorn is that the offer holder's day on the 12th February? We're going then too!