Thread 34 Covid Cohort - Heat 'Waving' DC to final exams and drinking more

[OrangeCinnamonCroissant]

...water

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. It's all relative!

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 continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will find a thread within the Further Ed board.

Possibly a move to Parent of Adult Children Board in future? Post Results?

Previous Thread

We are going to print out the spec for the alternative course in the morning and compare them properly. He really was keen on this uni over all the others that we saw so that plays a part, however it also looks (based on his BTEC results) as though he will exceed his predicted grades so maybe he should look in clearing too. He has taken it pretty well TBH. Particularly bearing in mind that he has autism and doesn't like sudden changes of plan. He has grown up a lot during this process.

@ExtremelyDedicated (Or ExtremelyDisappointed?), there have been a few posts on WIWIKAU about courses being pulled, but that does not make it any better for your poor DS. Lucky you spotted it and are able to support him through the decision-making process as you would not want to discover on results day! Under UCAS rules they have to be given 14 days to think about offers.

I remember the bag pack thread. I wouldn't start a thread for fear of that happening. Everyone on here seems great. I suppose being anonymous people feel they can say nasty things.

Ds1 was going to do a biology degree at Harper Adams (I've noticed that university has gone a long way up the league tables) we were invited to an open day, the day before we were leaving I noticed biology wasn't mentioned on any of the talks in the schedule. So I phoned up. They said the biology course had been cancelled as not enough interest. Nice of them to tell us. I'd have been furious if we'd driven all the way there. Thankfully it was cancelled before he put in his choices though. @ExtremelyDedicated how annoying.

ED, really sorry to hear about RAU. It does seem to be happening in lots of unis - often subjects like philosophy and archaeology. And schools cutting subjects too
On the subject of league tables, Birmingham's sociology position is awful this year and others have shot up (Durham) that were low, so I guess it just goes to show that you can't choose based entirely on them (DS not doing just sociology, thankfully). I do hope my offer holder day feelings of the course being a bit chaotic don't come to pass...

DS rejected Bath and it remains high in league tables Oh well. I'm sure they'll recover from shock of being turned down!

We did realise there was a possibility of this happening, but you have to assume everything’s going to be OK. I am starting to think maybe a gap year to reconsider might not be such a bad idea, but DS is worried about the new student loan repayment thing. I am pissed off about that too, couldn’t they have left it another year ot two so it didn’t affect those who have already missed out on so much and are probably as a year group (together with the last two) less prepared for uni than students have ever been.

@ExtremelyDedicated That is very disappointing for your Ds. I hope he finds an alternative he can be happy with.

This article is rather gloomy - and says that the shortage of places may be worse next year….

www.theguardian.com/education/2022/jun/19/thousands-of-good-a-level-students-wont-get-top-university-offer

@ExtremelyDedicated that's shocking. I can't believe how many I've read about who have not only cancelled courses, but informed the applicant in the middle of their a levels! I know these things don't want delaying, but surely there's a better way to do this?

That’s really bad @ExtremelyDedicated , and the lack of an apology makes it worse. I hope your ds gets some clarity about what to do.

Looking at the league tables, DD’s firm choice is lower for Psychology than all the places she turned down! She won’t be bothered though, she’s really happy with Nottingham and she keeps meeting people in the uni library who are going there!

@ExtremelyDedicated that would require joined up thinking! However, I think it might be worse to be in the 2023 A level cohort as they are not going to get generous grades (unless govt changes their policy), had even more inflated GCSEs (affecting university assessment) and will not be able to avoid new loans. They also missed a big chuck of GCSE years which must have impacted on the start of A levels.

I find it weirdly unfair how the different UK nations do student finance. How it is fair that Scottish students don't pay fees and Welsh students all get enough to live on, made up of loans and grants, whereas the English have to pay full fees and get no grants and limited loans, even though both Wales and Scotland are subsidised by England.

@Monkey2001 i agree. Dd was keen on Edinburgh but because of the fees she didn't apply there. She's have found it hard knowing that a lot of them didn't have the fees that she had.

The RAU have an open day on the 6th, maybe we'd better get up there again. I think I will phone the admissions dept tomorrow. I am not going to say too much more as due to the low numbers involved my posts are probably identifying.

Sorry to hear your news ED, that is really disappointing.

@Shimy I remember the bag thread and thought people were really mean to you! I was following as DS was die to start uni the next year and I wanted advice on everything. I remember taking him pre-uni shopping (don't worry - he chose everything ) and he picked up a plain black back pack in Primark for £8 and said it would do. I remembered the thread and thought how disappointed some of the Mums would have been with his choice 🤣

@ExtremelyDedicated That would really tick me off, them trying to dress it up as if they've done the students a lovely favour rather than having shafted them at the last minute. I'm hoping for all reasons given about Student loads that your ds is happy with the new course or perhaps, if he gets great grades can get something even better in Clearing.

Re: League tables, there are some surprisingly significant changes in their this year. I remember the year ds1 went off to uni (2019), UEA was ranked 14! I think by and large, it's still the same unis that move up and down within the top 30 or perhaps top 40, infact I'd say all the universities move up and down within the same 10-20 groupings, if that makes sense.

@Seeline I remember taking him pre-uni shopping (don't worry - he chose everything Wink)

'taking him' - Controlling!
'Primark' - You decided on the shop?

People are taking their DCs shopping? <faints>. Surely they are fully independent by now.

My DS who is going to California has told me (i) he has no summer clothes (true) (ii) he doesn’t want me to buy anything (ok) (iii) he will get everything second hand because there is too much waste in the world (admirable if a bit icky) and (iv) he is saving every penny for travelling in the US when he gets there.
I have a shopping basket of v basic chino shorts, a couple of board shorts, a pair of track pants a sort and 5 plain t shirts. All in the sale. Do I (a) buy them and stick them in his wardrobe knowing nothing will be said but he will find them useful (b) ask him knowing he will say don’t worry mum I’ll sort myself out or (c) empty the basket sadly?

would your answer vary if you knew that he was currently on a holiday in Central Europe photos from which disclose he is wearing shorts belonging to a mate of his on the same trip, because it is 35C and he went with a single pair of jeans? 🤣🤣🤣

Yes @ExtremelyDedicated infact everyone on this thread is absolutely controlling. YOU shouldn't have been snooping on the course details, and calling up xuni <faints again>to ask why it wasn't included in the talks! you should've left DS to discover this upon his arrival at uni and figure out what he's supposed to do next. Only then, will become a fully functioning independent man. Idiots!

I'm off to church now to repent of my sins!

@Delphigirl it is probably easy enough to pick up T shirts in charity shop, but as shorts need to fit, it seems like a good idea to get some on line. Can you/DH wear them once and wash them so that they are second hand! 😉

On a more serious note, my DS2 is trying to live out his values too, and I think we should support them in making altruistic choices.

Ha ha no he is thin as a rake. But I could wash them and pretend I got them in a charity shop…!!

you are right. I will keep them in my basket until I can ask him about them I think. He’s back from hols later today and we overlap for about 4 hours before I go off for work purposes for the rest of the week.

I hate all this league table nonsense. They are meaningless when the metrics are compared at general level, more useful with filters applied such as by subject.

And yet here we have our UK Govt (the lovely PP) preparing to welcome the cleverest minds from overseas overturning usual visa requirements, if they come from one of the top 50 universities from 2 league list collators at general level, perpetuating the frenzy and league tables even more. As if students home and global haven't had enough crap to deal with over the last few years, they now have the additional competitiveness to get into potentially highly artificially rated unis/colleges, driving the myth of good/poor unis further, and isolating any student that is a solid, good (and more often, very good) student vs a perceived elite, based on institution studied at alone.

Rank over.

@Delphigirl . I would edit it to 2 pairs of shorts and 3 T-shirts, and give him those. Also which shop?
I have just been told that none of the 4 prom suitable dresses we have fit any longer . She hates shopping, so I had a look online. There are budget constraints. When I showed her the short list she said we should look together, and I happily agreed, but I’m fairly sure it will be 1 on the list. I love charity shops for this stuff and would happily buy there, but she should be revising. I may just tell her that I will give her £50.00 but we have 4 days and she is revising. 😒
@crazycrofter what shops does your Dd favour?

Sorry to hear about the degree course withdrawal @ExtremelyDedicated , that's really rough.

ED, I hope your DS is ok when he gets this news, all credit to you for holding it together and giving news post exam finish.