Thread 38 Covid Cohort, After Results Day

[CinnamonOrangeCremeBrulee]

ALL our children are heroes of their own stories, they have thrived through a once in a century catastrophe and they will succeed

This is a support thread for our young adults post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting, and their results (life updates for those who went into work or have had results earlier). 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 Sept?

Previous thread

www.mumsnet.com/talk/further_education/4613457-thread-37-covid-cohort-2020-results-thread-heroes-of-their-own-stories

Thanks for the new thread @CinnamonOrangeCremeBrulee

Thanks to those with list ideas! That is our plan for today. An admin list & shopping list….

Very late to this having not spotted the threads before. The introductory post has made me cry!

DD got her results yesterday, they’re an astonishing improvement on mocks, and more than she needed (we were hoping she’d make the grades for the foundation degree, she’s actually going to go straight in).

I’m so pleased with her but so furious with the school. With a few exceptions they’ve let her down over and over again, and are now trumpeting their As and A stars, Oxbridge and Russell Group entries. Not a single nod to improvers, or young people going on to apprenticeships or anything a bit less flashy.

Anyway. Onwards, upwards, and to IKEA 😂

Feeling the weight of organisation as we’ve done relatively little advance prep in a superstitious way! Having a lists and organisation day today…!

And so happy to read your update @Benjispruce4 !! Sending thoughts and sympathy to cheninblanc - so sad on your behalf.

@CinnamonOrangeCremeBrulee I can relate! I'm also a planner (and great to go on holiday with, in fact planning holidays is one of my very favourite things) and struggling to get my head around the change from firm to insurance. We've visited Lancaster a couple of times but I haven't been inside any of the buildings so that isn't helping. I think I'll find it easier when she has been allocated her accommodation as it'll be something definite to concentrate on.

This morning I'm going to make a list of everything she needs, on paper, and cross off the things we've already got - in the hope it will bring me a sense of calm. Then when dd gets up, it's unusual for her to still be in bed at this time but she was really tired after work last night, plan when/where we're getting the rest. I also want us to have a look at the term dates and have a chat about when I should book annual leave for next year - this is probably a bit futile I know because she'll have no idea what she wants to do next Spring/Summer for a while yet, but I have to submit my requests soon.

Really I should be doing research for my own life, I have an interview for the MSc I applied for next week and if they actually want me to know stuff I'm currently woefully unprepared. But I can't focus on that at the minute.

Hi, finally found you all again! Well done to all, whatever their outcomes....times have been tough for our cohort.
Was away until early hours of Thurs morning without any wifi or mobile signal!!!!
DS got AstarBB and into his insurance Liverpool for Economics (deferred -gap year) even though they'd specified a higher mark in maths than his firm Newcastle? He seems happy enough as no pressure and can take sometime over next year to actually visit the city and uni, check out course etc and if need be try to change to someplace else.
@singingstones could you add me to the list again, thanks.

Seems like a few of us are having planning/list writing days!

I will also try and get dd to change her uni on SFE and apply for a student account either before or after work today.

Thread 38 Covid Cohort, After Results Day
It's been a long wait, but finally results day is here! For those of you who are still waiting on your results, hang in there - they'll be released soon.
For those of you who have already gotten your results, congratulations! Whether you got the grades you were hoping for or not, this is a huge accomplishment and you should be proud of yourselves.

Yes to first aid kit - but make sure they are aware of dosing levels, what can be taken together eg not lemsip and paracetamol at the same time!

My DS found an extension lead and/or adapter with extra usb sockets very useful.

Remember a lot of them won't be back again until Christmas (😱🥹) so pack a range of clothes including hats and gloves etc. I had to post my DS his Christmas jumper in his first year 😆.

@DontCallMeBaby - thats great re your DD grades. You must be thrilled!

I don’t think DS has to take much to college. The accommodation details says basically bedding and your own mug as most is provided. He says he is happy to go and buy what he needs when he is there as is in the city centre anyway. He should get accommodation link soon and I think they pick a price band and then get allocated, he isn’t bothered about an en suite and I think would rather have cheap to save money!

@EquallyDivided - good that your DD is still swimming. It is such a shame for clubs to struggle like this. The local private school where DS swims is only £20 a month for unlimited swimming so he is just going there on his own and we can freeze membership for unlimited periods so a real bargain.

Thanks for the new thread! I’m also getting my head around the fact that Ds is going to his insurance which we are not at all familiar with - his firm was where Dd went so know it well.

However, on the brief visit we did 4 years ago (open day with Ds1!) we all liked it.

Haven’t been able to apply for accommodation yet (and am fretting slightly about that as ds2 is off to Reading next week). So don’t know what is needed in terms of bedding. Ds won’t be doing any elaborate cooking so won’t have to buy a huge amount of stuff. Will have to work out where supermarkets etc are.

For anyone going to Chichester, I’d recommend signing up to Prologue at the Festival Theatre - 16 to 30 yr olds get tickets for most productions for £5. They are specific seats at each performance but usually pretty good ones. Bargain if you like theatre.

UCAS hasn’t updated to show DD’s acceptance. She did it late yesterday (5.:30pm) . She clicked on accept offer, rang NTU and they said they had her on records but she can’t apply for accommodation without their link.

I swing she would be more fun 😂

Oh bloody hell Benji!
You deserve a medal after all the crap you have been through over the last couple of days. Glad NTU is sorted though, that's a really good find and welcome to the Nottingham Massive as Oblomov calls it 😂

My typing is shoddy in the morning.

Is a small double the same as a 3/4 bed?

have seen those mentioned and on the Leicester website it says they fit double sized bedding.

thanks for the new thread @CinnamonOrangeCremeBrulee and thanks for the new list @singingstones i don’t know how you keep up with everyone but the list looks great!

we haven’t bought anything yet as DS didn’t want to jinx anything so will also start on our lists today.
Please post on here if anyone finds any absolute bargains!

Yes 3/4 bed, handy for my lofty DS as he can sleep diagonally . Dunelm sell the bottom sheets and mattress toppers in that size but I've never seen duvets/duvet covers. Double work well though

Yes is the same AFAIK.

The only thing I'm thinking is that a deep fitted sheet might be required with the mattress topper..I seem to recall that fact from our old sofa bed..adding a mattress topper made it so much more comfortable..until the sheet started pinging off.

Re duvets, DS1 took a fairly thin double duvet for his single bed both years - when it was cold, he could wrap it round him, when GF went to visit it was big enough to cover them both.

Yes that's our plan, we visited the accommodation yesterday at clearing open day and it was really warm in the bedrooms! Probably send a fleece blanket too so he can layer up if he needs to

@Fiddlersgreen small double is indeed a 4ft bed, ikea and Amazon do fitted sheets in the correct size. Both DC have ikea 4ft beds with their sheets on

DS had one of the pop-together duvets, so he could use either part, or all of it if necessary. Seemed to work well. The heater in his room only worked if he was in there to keep overriding the timer so if he was out for a while the temperature did drop quite quickly.

Good morning and thanks for the new thread!
I am itching to write lists (I'm another 'organiser') but must resist for now as we are visiting grandparents today. Hopefully we will get a chance to shop for the essentials in the next week or so. IKEA is miles and miles away so we will be limited to Dunelm/Argos/supermarkets/B&M.

Good to hear your DD is still swimming to a level that suits her life ED. I know many sports took big hits during pandemic, but swimming was particularly discriminated against, and land training didn’t translate as well as other sports. It’s been an anticlimactic end for DD here, and I too spent many former years in voluntary roles to support the club.

Good luck to those venturing out to the likes of IKEA. And definitely write down what you’ve got/need…I am such a sieve head these days with my post menopausal memory!