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Further education

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

Original poster

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

999 replies

OrangeCinnamonCroissant · 07/02/2022 19:35

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

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sazzy5 · 10/02/2022 10:16

@KingscoteStaff that is fantastic, at DS school a boy got put on the wait list then rejected. So your DD must be ace. I would be celebrating if I was you.

Fruitygal · 10/02/2022 10:19

@Heifer currently York 1st and Sheffield 2nd but let’s see what Saturday brings … they are the same grades so they might flip. Has discounted Lancaster as an option and Exeter still there but a rank outsider. If offered Durham then that will be firm with York or Sheffield as insurance.

Fruitygal · 10/02/2022 10:40

@Heifer what are your DDs top two Nottingham and ?

Heifer · 10/02/2022 10:46

York. Fingers crossed for your DD with Durham

JustHereWithMyPopcorn · 10/02/2022 11:00

I'm sorry if I'm being thick here but what's the point of putting an insurance offer that is the same grades as a firm choice? DS has applied to unis offering A*AA -AAA, his firm choice is going to be Notts but that is AAA so does he not bother with an insurance?

Wheresthebeach · 10/02/2022 11:20

Just yeah we've had that conversation with DD. No point putting Southampton and Liverpool down as offers the same. I guess if you think one is more likely to waiver on offer day if grades not met, then there's a point but otherwise it seems to me to be a waste of an insurance offer.

Oblomov22 · 10/02/2022 11:20

Well done on all offers.

We have a problem. 2 x universities (Reading and Queen Mary) have phoned ds to say the can't see/access his forms that he had to submit. PwC insist all is fine their end. Endless emails and phone calls but we are getting nowhere. The assessment centre starts Monday, so some urgency. No communication at all from Nottingham, to say they too haven't got said forms, which is even more worrying.

Hattifatteners · 10/02/2022 11:36

Congratulations for the offers @EwwSprouts and @KingscoteStaff. DS applied for Medicine two years ago and it is a though process. Vet Med doesn't seem much easier. DD is still waiting to hear from Bristol...

Alsoplayspiccolo · 10/02/2022 11:42

Congratulations on fab offers,Eww and Kingscote - worth the wait!

Hope your DD stays well, seeline.

Well done for good mock results,BlueMarigold. One grade feels very doable, doesn’t it?

mummyinbeds · 10/02/2022 11:47

@Heifer, according to the Nottingham website accommodation opens on the 4 April. I've read 1 March on here and elsewhere though so goodness knows which is right 🤔

JustHereWithMyPopcorn · 10/02/2022 11:52

@Wheresthebeach DS's only other offer is Birmingham which standardly offers AAA (why???) but gave him a reduced of AAA due to his EPQ But only if he firmed them. So presumably if he firms Notts then Birmingham will say back up to AAA so there's absolutely no point in insuring them. I was secretly hoping either Warwick or York might offer lower with the EPQ but they haven't offered at all yet so I'm now assuming they'll either reject him or offer the standard AAA. In which case we might as well just forget it and accept Notts now.

Delphigirl · 10/02/2022 11:54

Hi everyone,
My DD put down firm (Edinburgh) and insurance (Sheffield) with the same offers (ABB). She missed her grades and Edinburgh didn’t take her but Sheffield did. So I would say that it is worth it if you know or suspect that the insurance may be more lenient than the firm, AND if there is no lower offer that they would be happy to attend. In my Dds case she was doing an esoteric subject and only applied to three unis (and didn’t want to go to the third which gave her an unconditional) so it was worth it as she knew in case of disaster she could go to the third in clearing.

Delphigirl · 10/02/2022 11:56

[quote JustHereWithMyPopcorn]**@Wheresthebeach* DS's only other offer is Birmingham which standardly offers AAA (why???) but gave him a reduced of AAA due to his EPQ But only if he firmed them. So presumably if he firms Notts then Birmingham will say back up to A*AA so there's absolutely no point in insuring them. I was secretly hoping either Warwick or York might offer lower with the EPQ but they haven't offered at all yet so I'm now assuming they'll either reject him or offer the standard AAA. In which case we might as well just forget it and accept Notts now.[/quote]
I disagree - I think isn’t uni which offers a lower offer if firm may well take that student as insurance if he misses the higher offer but achieves lower one. So I would consider firming notts and insuring brum.

Delphigirl · 10/02/2022 11:56

Any uni, not isn’t uni!

22Newnames · 10/02/2022 12:00

Well done on the offers @KingscoteStaff and @EwwSprouts

Happy birthday to mini @Isthisjustnormal!

Had DS's birthday yesterday, he had a lovely lunch out with us then went to Wetherspoons with friends. I picked up a very drunk and slurry DS at 11.30 from Wetherspoons, how on earth he made the bus to school today I have no idea Grin. Thankfully a half day so I am off to pick him up shortly. He had a great time though. He has two quite distinct groups of friends so one lot are coming round on Friday night and another lot next week. All are fairly decent kids so not too worried about the house being trashed hopefully!

Zebracat · 10/02/2022 12:00

Congrats on offers @Eewsprouts and @KingscoteStaff. Sorry about the positive test @Seeline. Min went back to school today, still coughing and short of breath, I am a bit worried because she has asthma and it can cause complications as they recover, asI understand it.
I am sorry that there has been a spat @Zandathepanda and @Oblomov22. I do see both sides on this, and II don’t think we should try to keep such opinions out of this thread. We have all got used to speaking quite freely about the issues facing our young ones as they launch and COVID has been the dominant feature of their landscape. It is ok to disagree! I hope you are both ok.

JustHereWithMyPopcorn · 10/02/2022 12:01

Thanks @Delphigirl that is interesting! My worry is that Brum's standard offer is A*AA so if DS didn't hit AAA that's a big ask for them to come down lower?

JustHereWithMyPopcorn · 10/02/2022 12:03

@22Newnames happy birthday to your DS!

Delphigirl · 10/02/2022 12:06

Oh I thought Notts was Astar AA too?
If Notts is AAA then I agree there is no point in insuring Brum at Astar AA. Ignore me!!!

JustHereWithMyPopcorn · 10/02/2022 12:13

No Notts standard is AAA, thank you for the advice though, I'm so unsure about the whole thing.

ExtremelyDelighted · 10/02/2022 12:35

@KingscoteStaff - congrats on the offer!

@Fiddlersgreen - my DS didn't want to do much for his birthday either, he had takeaway pizza with a friend (in boarding) on the day, takeaway curry with us at home on the Friday night, then to the pub after hockey on the Saturday where they all made a fuss of him and luckily he only had a couple of bottles of cider because he had a 90 min drive back in the back of someone else's car so too much alcohol could have been a disaster. He is trying to pin down a date with friends to go bowling/pizza at half term without much luck, tricky because I'll need to take a day off to drive them.

For those that remember the photobook saga, it was well worth it, it is absolutely lovely and he really likes it. However if you're going to do it allow plenty of time!

@Seeline sorry to hear about the positive test.

I have to spend this evening wading through DS's emails on my phone, all his unis have been writing and asking for all the details of his disabilities I have a pile of documents to send, some just want it by email, some require logging onto a portal. So I need to sort out a basic set of documents and a summary of my views then get it submitted to all the right people. I also have to do the same with DD for 6h form college. I have been at this game for virtually the whole of DS's life, not so much for DD as she doesn't have an EHCP or benefits ,so I know I can do it and I do have everything I need, but it is depressing.

Alsoplayspiccolo · 10/02/2022 12:40

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60328314

Anyone here thinking of taking time off from work to support their DCs through exams?
I have a friend whose DH has taken this school year off from work (he is self employed, she doesn't work) so that they can both be at home for their children's GCSE/A level year.

Oblomov22 · 10/02/2022 12:42

No. I'm not ok about it. At all.

singingstones · 10/02/2022 12:54

I have a friend whose DH has taken this school year off from work (he is self employed, she doesn't work) so that they can both be at home for their children's GCSE/A level year.

This sounds nice but I'm not sure our mortgage provider would be happy with DH taking a year off! (Same probably goes for the DC actually Smile)
I am freelance and really busy at the moment but quieter from mid April so will hopefully be around. I'm not sure how much they will want me though, both quite resistant in different ways. I guess even if I am just chief snack provider and cheerleader that might help a bit.

singingstones · 10/02/2022 13:06

Not sure if I am picking up fag ends but was the disagreement about ending all restrictions in England? I agree with Zebra that it's nice to be able to share all worries and opinions on the thread and be able to disagree with each other. But will MYOB as I'm in Wales and no sign of that here, there aren't many restrictions in place now but we are still wearing masks in public places and self-isolating for 5 days if positive.

My main covid opinion at the moment is that I would like exams to go ahead but I know some would prefer the opposite!