Thread 28 - Corona Cohort Awaiting Offers, Advance Notice, Gap Years and New Jobs

[OrangeCinnamonCroissant]

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 27 Here

Is anyone going to the Birmingham offer holder on day on 23rd Feb? DD has received an email to say “Thank you for registering” but when she clicks on the link for the “Personal RSVP page” the link doesn’t work. I am worried because even though she is registered, a number of following emails have suggested that she is still not booked on to the day. She’s emailed Birmingham about this so hopefully it will be sorted out.

Hi oblomov. DS does AQA so I can ask, what's the 'favourite topic?
Watch out for low tariff questions as anything could appear!

I can't speak for psychology but certainly the feeling is that almost every subject has fared better than sociology! It seems very unfair. Complaints made have come back wit a standard reply about following orders...the whole Eduqas community is fuming about sociology.

Double check the psychology doesn't have a disclaimer about the whole spec being checked via short answers.

Hope things are better for you soon orange .

DD said she’s going to revise all of Psychology because the short mark questions could have answers from anywhere in the syllabus. Not sure about Biology but think it’s the same.

@OrangeCinnamonCroissant I hope you have a better day today. We’ve all done or said things we regret at some stage. Don’t be too hard on yourself. I agree with @Monkey2001 about ignoring the state of bedrooms though. I look on it as part of the process of separating from their parents. Try to think of their rooms as separate from the rest of your home. I only get involved if I need their room for a guest.

@Oblomov22 I’m surprised at Nottingham being so late to respond. Do you know if that’s usual for that course?

Piggy, class gender and ethics is his favourite topic.
He has considered the fact that topics could come up in the short answers though.

Yes Decorhate it's not really Nottingham's fault. The PwC aspect for Accountancy doesn't even start their assessments till March, and they go on till possibly the end of March. So all very late!

Ds2's bedroom is awful. I don't think I've vacuumed in there for a year or so. There are clothes, books, loose papers etc all over the floor. I can't actually walk across. I do go in and collect tea mugs, water glasses and to change his bed. He isn't really allowed food in his room, though will take sweets or chocolate up, so lots of wrappers too. He always says he has too much school work to do. So this half term I'm going to get on to him. I've just bought a new phone...he wants my old one, so he's not having it until his room is done. He's got my old iPhone SE it's coming up for 6 years old, I had it 3 years. The battery is naff. So he really wants another phone.

Re messy rooms, we are flat hunting at the moment as MIL is downsizing and we need to convert the equity released into income. I came across one flat clearly occupied by students which made me smile. Here is the bedroom

AQA Psych hasn't officially removed anything. It definitely says that the full syllabus can be referred to in smaller questions and should be used in synoptic answers. However I know DDs teachers are already altering what they are teaching....

Gee wilikers monkey! You'd thin the agent would do a bit of a tidy before taking that photo!!

Sending hugs @OrangeCinnamonCroissant. These things can escalate so quickly. Hope today is better and try not to beat yourself up. We all lose our shit now and then.

DD's teachers have said nothing has been removed as it can all be referenced so they will continue to teach the entire course. DD gutted as she was hoping the last topic on Biology would be dropped as they haven't started it yet.

God knows what the grade boundaries are going to be like!

Just booked hotel for Durham Open Day. So very excited. Can't wait. Only a 4 hour drive up there then!

@Monkey2001 wow! You'd think a tidy up may have been done first for the photo.

DS has just got a really low offer for Bangor uni. It's the lowest offer available for his course. In contrast Aberystwyth was the highest tariff. I don't believe that ds's query was answered properly by the undergraduate info. person when I pointed out that Ds had forgotten to state he had dyslexia & ADHD. She just stated that that would be taken into consideration when the results came out. But surely Ds is very unlikely to make it one of his choices now?

@Seeline thank you for your positive feedback re. Aberystwyth. I just feel it in my bones that D's would be happy there.
He's doing the scholarship exam in March so we will see how he does then.

@orangecinammon hopefully you are having a better day today. I think daughter's can be very hard on their mothers & expect them to mind-read their issues. Dd2 still hasn't forgiven me from accusing her of not working hard for her exams, when she was struggling with undiagnosed ADHD & anxiety.
We have reconnected since but it's taken time. Would your daughter benefit from someone to chat to? Does her school have any access to counselling? This helped DD cope better after 2-3 sessions only.

Two of DS uni’s have the same Saturday offer holder day which is very annoying.
It’s also actually a day that I have the theatre booked with friends so I might have to miss that or send him alone.
Their weekday one is on different days but DS (understandably) doesn’t want to take time off college to go to these. In his words “I have to actually be able to get my results first!”

Yeah, the next Birmingham one is the 23rd. I would love to take a day off and take him but unfortunately ain't going to happen in teaching (unless I fake illness!)

I don’t really understand why they offer only 1 weekend and 1 weekday option.
Most of them have mocks coming up too and so really shouldn’t be taking the day off to go

Oh @OrangeCinnamonCroissant, I feel for you. Have been there with older DS, supporting them through low mood/anxiety/depression is hard work. Obviously it’s hard for them but also hard for parents, particularly if sometimes we tend to have a ‘just get on with it’ attitude and they seem to wallow. I know I veer more towards the ‘get on with it and stop moaning’ attitude but I know I need to reign myself in. It’s a very tricky balance. Just take care of yourself too

How was Nottingham yesterday @ChristopherTracy? (Your DS clearly impressed with his application as standard BEng offer is AAB so he did well to get ABB ).

@Fferny1 - congrats on the Bangor offer.

@22Newnames you gave me a panic there - its next sat 19th thank goodness we are MEng if that normally offers lower.

I am actually surprised he has the offers he does - they must be ignoring the GCSE 'results' and going on his actual predictions.

Haha, sorry for the panic. I got confused

Nottingham standard offer for MEng is AAA (which is the same as the other ones DS has applied to as MEng which is why he put BEng at Nottingham to get a lower offer). I guess your son’s school may qualify for contextual because to get an ABB offer when the standard offer is AAA is remarkable. If all your DSs offers are for MEngs at that level he is doing brilliantly. (Just a tad jealous!)

@OrangeCinnamonCroissant I can't comment on your DD's well being. If it's any consolation it was a standing joke when I was a teen you couldn't see the bedroom carpet. I just wanted a den to read my books and there were never mugs/plates. In hindsight it was probably a bit of a push back as DM removes a cup before you've had the last swig. I'm a clean and tidy adult but there are books on surfaces in most rooms.

@Fruitygal @Piggywaspushed I saw no pom bears but think @fruitygal and I must have been in the same group, biology2? I spoke to a couple of parents but they had sons. Feeling sorry for Piggy as the beef wraps were layer upon layer of moist beef. DS thinks it's very likely to be his insurance. Turns out one of his hockey team from last year is a current student and spotted him so sent him a watsapp .
ps One of the academic staff was in shorts so not even close to Baltic

@Oblomov22 Durham Tuesday booked. We can do it in a day.

@Fferny1 Congratulations on the Bangor offer. They clearly want him!

We waited about half an hour for coffee, tea and pastries to arrive. To be fair the pastries were nice, and there were fruit kebabs. A woman (assuming not one of us!!) pushed in front of me and got the last big pastry . The dept is very small and seemed very friendly. DS had a bit of a wobble about lack of prospective male students but enjoyed the taster.

I thought it was very nice but feels oddly like it might as well be a campus uni. The accommodation felt like you were on a campus, which is really nice in many ways but, therefore, like many campus unis , they are all illogically far from any supermarkets.

Presumably the department is also doing the other open days? The m/f ratio might be different on those? I was amused when our academic guide said people go to Newcastle for the parties and Sheffield for the climbing.

The campus feel might be one of the reasons my DS is leaning towards it. All his other choices are campus.