Year 13 2024 - General support thread part 2

[Rollergirl11]

All welcome as our young people head in to their last full term before the summer exams. Between UCAS applications, receiving offers/rejections, learning to drive and taking driving tests, revising for mocks and sitting them the pace hasn’t let up for our DC.

This thread has been a lovely supportive and immensely helpful place to talk as we guide our DC’s through this challenging time!

Old thread here https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/further_education/4851165-year-13-20232024-general-support-thread?page=40&reply=132323436

Easter hols started, now (hopefully) revision starts in earnest.

Ds received his exam timetable yesterday. Two exams before half term, rest after and last exam on 21/6. Hoping to get a short break in week of 24/6 before his D of E expedition and leavers do.

4 offers in! Two for the same grades, which are a reach. One he hasn't seen...

Congrats to your DS! One offer a uni he hasn’t seen? We had same with DD - was a 30 Jan last minute addition. We went to offer holder day and all loved it- it’s her insurance choice now.

The only offer holder day was on Tuesday and he got the offer on Friday. Glasgow. Maddening !

That's frustrating @aramox1 but well done your dc on the offer!

Congrats to your DC on the offers @aramox1
It's not ideal to be unable to visit but things can still turn out ok. My elder DS didn't get to visit anywhere thanks to Covid so I was very worried as to whether he'd made the right chouce, but he's been fine. Most Universities have quite a lot of info online and many have virtual tours. It's not the same as going in person of course, but better than nothing. It can also be helpful to go and have a look on a normal day. Obviously you can't go in very many places but you can get a feel of the general vibe of a place. It might also be worth your DC contacting the department to explain their situation as they might be willing to have a chat online or in person - there's nothing to lose by asking anyway!

That's good thinking thank you! He'll want to think about the four years course,too. All a bit stressy on top of stressy revision. How are the other Easter (semi-) revisers?

Not much sign of revision going on here 😬

Lots of rejigging of the revision timetable though, that's been going on since January I think. Just waiting for the tipping point when not doing it becomes scarier than doing it, expecting a bit of a bumpy ride tbh.

oooooh Glasgow is fab!! I’d def do what @MrsAvocet suggests and go for a mooch about. It’s a fabulous place to be a student.

Revision - hmm. DD has one speed and is plodding along at the usual pace with no sense of urgency. Doing some very pretty looking mind maps. Still no practice papers. Trying to keep my beak out.

DD has been doing a lot today (was actually in the spare room aka study today rather than languishing in the living room)

@MirandaWest your namesake would barely do any revision I'm sure, taking the view of Miss Cromwell that public exams should be taken in one's stride! Happy days

Glasgow does have a self-guided tour online and easy to mooch around. I have a daughter there and she is loving it (in the infamous for being party central Murano St flats which have been fine, easy to get to know people and get home safely) - she's thrown herself into things.

I also have a dd in Edinburgh - 4 years is a blessing as 3 years flies by! She did a year abroad too which meant very low fees for that year so loan not as big for that year (just £1800 fees)

We are in England but I'm Scottish so am delighted they have made those choices. Off to offerholder day at St Andrews to see if we can manage a hat trick but her offer is a stretch for her I think. Would be the only one that let's her keep up her Highland dancing though as no teachers near the others she has applied for.

DD worked in her punting job all the bank holiday weekend so not much revision going on here. She did get £100 tip from 1 guy though and keeps her fit and happy.

She is between Bristol and Bath for insurance, I think Bath is the more sensible choice as their offer is more flexible and for the course she wants and they came back immediately and were lovely. But she thinks the parties will be better in Bristol. They are both only one grade lower than her firm so very unlikely to be used anyway. She now said she may go to Bath offer holders day which I think would be good. Currently she is saying if she gets Bath I will need to go in her place, would love too. 😂She is off to Oxford offer holders day now with DH whilst I stay with DS, cat and chickens.

DD is going okay on the revision front this week which she needs to as next week is pretty much written off with her 4 day Paris trip. It was her birthday on Tuesday and we had a big family lunch and then she legally headed to the pub in the evening. She’s going clubbing on Saturday and she can’t wait!

She finally submitted her firm and insurance on UCAS last night so she will be heading to Exeter in September unless something goes very very wrong with her A levels. Also applied for student finance. She is only applying for the minimum maintenance loan so it was all very straightforward. I’m a bit on the fence as to whether she should apply for DSA or not. She does have a diagnosis of Anorexia (although she has been discharged from CAMHS 2 years ago) and she still takes medication for anxiety now. So I think they both come under mental health but I’m not really sure what she would be entitled to or if she is even eligible.

@Rollergirl11 belated Happy Birthday to your DD - I hope she enjoys clubbing.

I am no expert - but it sounds like your daughter would qualify as it has lasted over a year and she is still on medication. She may get access to a specialist mentor, software to help manage her anxiety (and a laptop for a £200 contribution), recording equipment for lectures etc. The needs assessor will go through the options with your daughter to determine what will help her. My son will be putting in his application next week.

Nothing much to report here. He put in a good day of revision yesterday but is working today. He forgot to email his availability to work for next week so will be free for lots of revision!

Ds has his Imperoal College offer holders day coming up and Warwick in a couple of weeks. He's decided that Bath is out of the running (sadly for me, I loved it there and was looking forward to nice weekend breaks ). He's being a lot more pragmatic.

Revision is a bit hit and miss. He seems to be working hard but feels like he isn't getting very far. He'll be starting past papers for maths properly this week. One further maths paper is 3 hrs plus (he also has extra time) so he'll need to practice staying alert for that amount of time.

Congrats to those turning 18 recently. DS has less than a week until his.

Revision is going well I think. About 5-6 hours a day with one day off a week. Does that sound about right? I think all his subjects are finished so all remaining school time will be revision.

DS is loving having his own car (early 18th birthday present!) and has taken himself off to his sports club tonight.

The recent posts on this thread have reminded me that I need to get DS to do his finance application and also check when he wants to put in his firm and insurance so thank you for that!

Good to have the decision made @Rollergirl11! Glad she went with her gut and chose Exeter.
Still waiting on Bath and LSE. If they don't respond soon she'll miss the offer holder days, which clash. I think she should go to Bath's but she's leaning towards LSE. Her brief experience sharing a flat with 14 others has put her off the whole 'uni experience' everyone bangs on about and seems quite prepared to commute from home.
She did like Glasgow but not enough to overcome the extra year and distance. Fabulous city though - the restaurant we went to was buzzing on a chilly Monday evening! I'm still gunning for Bath - everyone seems to love it, while Durham has less stellar reviews, but she did like it. LSE is a totally different kettle of fish! Just need those offers now!

We've had a truly shocking Easter, with DS being rushed to hospital with suspected meningitis. He was admitted for 6 days & is now recovering at home. A lumbar puncture confirmed it wasn't meningitis, the very low kidney function has returned to normal, but most worrying now is that he had two seizures on the day he was admitted & has been told that there's a 40% chance of further seizures in the next 2 years. He has had to surrender his driving license, been told to avoid alcohol or only drink moderately & to stop contact sports - devastating news for a sociable & sporty young man.

He has missed two key revision weeks but, on trying to revise a bit this last few days, has realised that he's suffered some memory loss as a result of the seizures & doesn't recognise content that he's trying to revise. The neurologist has said this is not unusual. This has massively shaken his confidence.

It looks as if he either goes into the exams poorly prepared & anxious, potentially not achieving his predicted grades, or we talk to school about him retaking year 13. With the latter, I don't know if the universities would require him to withdraw from this year's process & reapply, or would allow him to defer. We will need to get advice from school & then talk to the universities that he's firmed & insured direct. I'm hoping he'll be well enough to go back to school tomorrow.

This is such a giant curveball, & it's been so upsetting - he spent his 18th birthday in hospital, which was just heartbreaking.

Oh my gosh @legosnowqueen what a very worrying time for you all. And what shitty timing, I’m so sorry. Having to spend a special birthday in hospital is just rubbish. I’m sure you must all be very worried and stressed.

Sending all best thoughts. x

Oh wow @legosnowqueen that sounds immensely stressful, sending massive hugs to all of you. Hope the school can advise the best way forward.

So sorry Lego for you and your lovely boy. I hope the school and the universities will help find a solution and he continues to recover. I know the unis normally have a special circumstances form each which school should help with.

So sorry to hear that your DS has had such a rough time and spent his 18th in hospital @legosnowqueen. How worrying for you all and such awful timing. I hope school can give good guidance on best way to move forward. Might he be eligible for mitigating circumstances? Hope he continues to recover and moves from strength to strength.

If there's any adjustments that would help Lego then I think its the senco that deals with those normally, doesn't need to be a SN child. DD had a smaller room rather than the exam hall for gsces, was still shared with others but like 5 others rather than 200 odd.