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

Original poster

Thread 29 - Covid Cohort - Whirlwinds and Waiting

999 replies

OrangeCinnamonCroissant · 23/02/2022 22:29

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 28

OP posts:
crazycrofter · 07/03/2022 20:32

Sorry to hear your ds is low @22Newnames. When you’re young, 3 months seems like forever. Definitely try to get him to book in a few fun things to look forward to in the meantime. Dd has a couple of 18th parties next week and she’s going to see Bastille and another band, can’t remember their name, in the next few weeks too. Thinks like that punctuate the never ending revision/hard work. She tends to have a sleepover on Fridays or Saturdays most weeks with her best friend when they’ve not got mocks on too, and they’re slowly working their way through the Marvel films.

It seems like a lot of our kids are predicted all As/A stars, but the reality is that lots of them will end up with some Bs (or lower!) and it will be fine. We talk quite a lot about various people we know/in the family who underachieved at A Level/didn’t go to uni etc just so the kids know there’s loads of different routes through life.

One of DD’s friends went to uni in Sept, about 3 hours from home. Her parents are moving to the same area at Easter! I’ve no idea whether that’s just a coincidence or if they’re actually following her!

crazycrofter · 07/03/2022 20:36

Dd doesn’t seem at all stressed about her mocks. Three done last week - same report for all of them : ‘hadn’t done enough revision, but probably did enough for a B’ Grin Two to go, and not too much revision done (apparently I distracted her today by sending her my sporcle country quiz result! She just had to beat me…)

icanbewhatiwant · 07/03/2022 20:36

@Piggywaspushed we used auto book too.

I can't get Ds to do student finance. He just says he's too busy. He excitedly found his student accommodation email, he was going to fill it out in school, I told him there was no rush and to wait until he is home and look at accommodation properly. So that was it, he says no rush. He won't do that either. He does enjoy winding me up. I don't mind about accommodation, he can do that when he wants, it'll be his fault if he forgets. But the student finance I want done.

icanbewhatiwant · 07/03/2022 20:47

Ds doesn't seem worried about exams either. He's always been fairly chilled. Ds1 is getting majorly stressed about uni work and his dissertation, he says he has far too much to do. But Ds2 never seems to worry, or if he does he never says anything.

Original poster
OrangeCinnamonCroissant · 07/03/2022 20:51

Hope it all went well? @Oblomov22. Great news on the offer @Cantonet.

Sorry to hear about DS @22Newnames. Lots has been going on...we've just come out (?) Of Covid and now Ukraine. The short term dies feel a bit bleak. Is he looking forward to the Uni experience ? Perhaps that can be used as leverage. Dd really looking forward to not being bossed around by me anymore apparently (Rude).

I really feel for our young people at the moment, I can absolutely see why some of them think our generation are making a hash of their future (too put it politely).

OP posts:
22Newnames · 07/03/2022 21:03

@crazycrofter yes DH mucked up A levels and re-sat them. He did ok! I did great at A levels but sort of mucked up my degree (not disastrously). His older brother is doing an apprenticeship rather than uni but they are very different people.

@OrangeCinnamonCroissant I have asked him if he actually wants to go to university as there is little enthusiasm for anything at the moment. He says yes he is sure he does.

Well done on firming orange, must be a relief Smile

Thanks all for the moral support and practical tips Smile

Delphigirl · 07/03/2022 21:08

So DS has got his offers deferred, and is thinking about firming Plymouth and insuring Cardiff. But he isn’t 100% sure so will sit on it a while. No rush since he won’t be applying for accom until next year. He is certain he doesn’t want to go for Southampton and will also defer Dalhousie. Puts off that decision until next year.
He is also very low about hard work and further mocks after Easter, then full on until exams. I think they have just been through such a mentally exhausting and depressing few years, and Ukraine is just more shit doled out for them to deal with. He has never done well in any of his mocks and although his offers are low he worries he still may crash and burn.
I’m finding it difficult to find my motivation for anything as well. Ukraine and everything Russian has really depressed me. I can’t bear what they are going through all because of a 2 bit gangster narcissist hiding in a palace in the urals.
Sorry that is all a bit of a moan!

22Newnames · 07/03/2022 21:15

@Delphigirl glad he got his offers deferred!

Yes it’s been a mentally exhausting and depressing few years all in. I and DS are both usually very robust but these last couple of years have definitely affected us all.

GoldenRuby · 07/03/2022 21:15

DD has just booked onto the Durham offer holder day, but because she has dithered about whether or not to go (4 hour train trip each way, an overnight stay, and she did a tour in the summer) the Anthropology talk was fully booked. She has managed to book on to sociology though (it is a joint degree), which is good. She wants me to go with her for moral support because of her anxiety, even though I expect offer holders will go off and do their tasters without parents in tow. It will be an expensive 24 hours!

KingscoteStaff · 07/03/2022 21:42

I’m going to Newcastle and Bristol with DD, but only as a driver and lunch buyer! She’s doing Birmingham on her own, as we have a previous commitment for a friend’s birthday lunch.

NCTDN · 07/03/2022 22:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DoggerelBank · 07/03/2022 22:54

@NCTDN, that does sound a bit rubbish. Fingers crossed they make a better impression on the day. I went there for a normal (non-offer-holder) open day a few years ago and it was very slick. But so crowded. I'm hoping this one will have slightly fewer people.

Heifer · 08/03/2022 00:07

@OrangeCinnamonCroissant - re date you're not sure of - that makes sense and I think it's meant to be DOB - as I completed for DD and I filled in passport end date - but DD had an email asking for copy birth certificate to be posted as her dob date on her application is different to her passport! - I've checked and it's definitely correct on the passport so I assumed I had entered her DOB with a typo but perhaps not - as I def did end of pp date too on the application....

crazycrofter · 08/03/2022 07:09

I’ve just realised my kids’ passports have expired. Do they need them for student finance? I’m putting off the finance application until we’ve finished the house project and got it on the market. Too much to deal with at once!

Decorhate · 08/03/2022 07:45

@EwwSprouts I know someone in real life whose mother did that. He was an only child & his father died when he was young.

I think the mother was not close to other family members & friends. Allegedly a difficult person.

She did similar a few times after he left uni & was working. He eventually moved abroad. Not saying it was to get away from her but...

Decorhate · 08/03/2022 07:59

@22Newnames I remember feeling very down at this stage at school as it just seemed the future held nothing but study & exams. Luckily university was very enjoyable for me from a social point of view. Not so successful academically but hey ho!

I agree the current cohort have had a tougher time. Could you make some plans for the Easter holidays to look forward to?

We are going to Leeds for ds’s graduation & it will give Ds a chance to have another look around. He would probably prefer to be there with friends rather than family though! His cousin is coming to visit later in the holidays & hopefully Ds will agree to do days out with him.

In terms of studying, would he consider studying with a group of friends from time to time to break the monotony?

icanbewhatiwant · 08/03/2022 08:02

Last year we submitted proof of income to SFE in April. Ds1 didn't get the loan he was owed until October as they hadn't gone through our proof until then. They took so long. Apparently delays caused by covid. So hopefully they'll get through things quicker this year. This is one reason why I want Ds2 to get the forms filled in.

crazycrofter · 08/03/2022 08:21

Ah, that’s worth knowing @icanbewhatiwant, perhaps I’d better bite the bullet - once her exams are over

Wheresthebeach · 08/03/2022 08:37

@NCTDN - Well that's irritating! Hope the real thing is smoother.

Good news on the deferrals @Delphigirl.

These kids have been through so much, Covid and now the Ukraine with all the worries with people talking about WWIII. We don't discuss escalation in front of DD, rather concentrate on the donations she's be helping with and other things that can be done to help. I think having a sense of making a difference at least helps to reduce the sense of overwhelming helplessness.

EwwSprouts · 08/03/2022 08:43

@decorhate That's sad. We're supposed to give them wings to fly. Sounds like she didn't have a life of her own.

JustHereWithMyPopcorn · 08/03/2022 08:49

Good morning all, I now have an extra adult in the house! Shock He's put off party ideas until after this next round of mocks so hopefully the weather will have improved enough for them to be in the garden.

I've filled out the forms for student finance as DS's school has told them all it needs doing now. I didn't bother submitting financial info as I know he won't get anything over the basic. Saves me loads of time that I would have spent trying to find paperwork for me and DH.

AnneOfCleavage · 08/03/2022 09:02

@Delphigirl

So DS has got his offers deferred, and is thinking about firming Plymouth and insuring Cardiff. But he isn’t 100% sure so will sit on it a while. No rush since he won’t be applying for accom until next year. He is certain he doesn’t want to go for Southampton and will also defer Dalhousie. Puts off that decision until next year. He is also very low about hard work and further mocks after Easter, then full on until exams. I think they have just been through such a mentally exhausting and depressing few years, and Ukraine is just more shit doled out for them to deal with. He has never done well in any of his mocks and although his offers are low he worries he still may crash and burn. I’m finding it difficult to find my motivation for anything as well. Ukraine and everything Russian has really depressed me. I can’t bear what they are going through all because of a 2 bit gangster narcissist hiding in a palace in the urals. Sorry that is all a bit of a moan!
How did you go about doing that? Do you email the unis first to ask to defer and then firm? Do you do the same with the insurance Uni? We are in the same position.
Decorhate · 08/03/2022 09:10

@EwwSprouts I think in this case it was not done with the best motives. I don’t think they lived together as such though.

However, where I come from it’s common for kids to live at home & go to their local uni. Many of my friends did. I don’t think they felt they missed out on too much! So in that context it dies not seem as strange.

ealingwestmum · 08/03/2022 09:48

Happy 18th to your boy JustHere!

mummyinbeds · 08/03/2022 09:57

Happy 18th birthday @JustHereWithMyPopcorn DS 🎂

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