End of Year 13: Results, Summer and plans for September and onwards

[Rollergirl11]

Noticed the current thread is almost full so thought I better start a new one for discussing results day and our DC’s plans for uni/gap years or anything else!

@Anotherbigwin The Times on Saturday reported that grades this year will be back to 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels. So a lot fewer A*s and As awarded than in intervening years.

Morning, all the best to @Penguinsa as you go in for your op today!

I have just booked DS a Meningitis B jab for next week, I think the 2nd dose has to be a while after the first one so not sure when that will be. It is starting to feel real that he will go to uni very soon.

Three more sleeps to go to results day! I found myself fretting about it a bit last week but then I remembered the boy from DS's maths class who died last year and it put things into perspective for me. I'm trying to keep busy this week but also hiding from the heat today. DS still seems very chill about it which is good.

Thinking of you today @Penguinsa .

Thanks Ithink and Louis** Today is just meet the surgeon "and get drawn on" and then back home then 7am tomorrow is the operation, 11 hours, or at least when I go in to hospital but will be under a general so oblivious. They said I'll be in 7 days (believe that if I see it but DH is brilliant as nurse if not, definitely got it the right way round here) so will miss results day but DD is very capable and so is her school which is good as DH is not very capable with these things, not being from the UK doesn't help. DD doesn't really have a plan B other than take a year out which would be fine as she has a good job here and I think year outs can be very beneficial (I was given one by Cambridge as professor was having one and did me good) but think she really wants to go this year. She seems quite chilled at the moment, has been pretty busy with holidays and punting work and days out which has helped. I think she will be OK but you never know until the day, Maths is a lot easier to know than the other subjects. I try not to think about it or if I do in a la-la-la way.

Good luck to everyone with results. Hope everyone gets what is needed. Hope your DD gets a Cambridge offer Rollergirl

Yes, all the very best for successful surgery and a smooth recovery @Penguinsa And good wishes for Thursday too of course.
On a less serious health note I'm pleased because I just managed to get DS's annual asthma review booked for the first week in September. It's a bit early but the receptionist was understanding and fitted him in. His asthma is quite brittle and I will feel better knowing he's been assessed recently and is going away with a good supply of medication so he isn't needing to be seen as soon as he gets there. There are a couple of receptionists at our GPs who are really lovely and will always try to help and a couple very much of the "computer says no" mould so I got lucky today!
All starting to feel a bit real now. My elder son has a hospital appointment in Newcastle at the end of August so I'm planning on combining it with a trip to IKEA for all the pots and pans etc. It felt like ages away and now results day is looming, it will just be another blink of an eye until they're off! Or at least I hope so. The newspapers seem to be full of stories about grades being down which panics me, then there's articles saying Universities will be accepting lots of students who missed their offers which reassures me a bit!

Hope all goes well for you tomorrow @Penguinsa

I am definitely having the lack of sleep at night and random dreams now.

Thinking of you @Penguinsa

Hope all goes well @Penguinsa

@IThinkIMadeItWorse DD was due to have her second dose today but the pharmacist has been on holiday and they had forgotten to order it 🙄 I think it's at least a fortnight between doses, it's been more like 2 months for her.

Best wishes @Penguinsa hope everything goes well.

@Rollergirl11 fingers crossed!

Interested in the meningitis jab (especially as DS's early diagnosis was meningitis although of course that was then ruled out). As he has another year until university, is there an optimal time to have it, or better to get it done early so out of the way before exams/summer?

Good luck for your OP @Penguinsa. Not sure DD will even want to apply for Cambridge again in the summer pool. We will see once she has her results.

I’m starting to get pretty antsy about Thursday. DD gets back from Ayia Napa late tomorrow night so at least we will only have one day to get through.

I’m more anxious about DS’s GCSE results the following week as that is a complete unknown!!! 😱

Getting antsy here too although not out loud. DD is hard enough to live with at the moment without me winding her up even more 😬

I swing from optimism (she's usually good at exams, she did well at AS and has worked harder this year) to pessimism (she started revising way too late, she finished very few papers, maths past papers were anything from Å to C and she needs an A).

But we will all be out of our misery soon! This too shall pass!

DD is not entertaining the idea of clearing, she doesn't want to think about it and says she can't handle the pressure of making decisions that quickly. If she doesn't make her insurance she'll take a year out to regroup.

Good luck @Penguinsa will be thinking of you tomorrow 🍀

@Penguinsa - best of luck for tomorrow. I'll be thinking of you.

I'm starting to get very nervous. DS perfectly capable of getting 3x A but can also be very inconsistent. Historically I've found that if he's said it was hard and he's done badly then he's usually done pretty well but I'm just not confident enough to feel that with the real thing!

Time will tell I guess.

@Penguinsa - hope all goes well tomorrow.

Yes, there's a lot of press about less applicants and more courses in clearing this year so, whatever happens, hopefully they'll all have options. Ds seems to be having a bit of a wobble about his insurance - he is now thinking he should have put another London uni instead. I've told him not to stress as he can take a year out if necessary and reapply with grades in hand.

Good luck Penguinsa.

Best of luck @Penguinsa

i’m definitely the most nervous in my home by far and the heat isn’t helping. I would quite happily sleep until Thursday morning if I could.

I'm glad I'm not the only one silently worrying about Thursday. I'm keeping busy .. the dog has been on lots of extra walks!

Do you still have your DS’s UCAS log-in @Jaxx? I have DD’s log in automatically populated on my phone. The temptation to sign in on Thursday morning is going to immense! 😬👀

Oh @Rollergirl11, same! 😬

I admit I checked when DS was going through this, because things were all a bit tricky for him at the time and I wanted to be over my own feelings and ready to help him through whatever happened. But DD is not in the same position so I feel much easier about it this time, plus I would be worried she could somehow tell 😂

If she's not up and checking at 8am it will be difficult to resist tho!

She needs ÅAA / AAA and could get anything from ÅÅÅA to AABB. I think chances of firm are about 60% and insurance 90% as I'm pretty sure Birmingham would take her with a dropped grade. So should be all ok. She is not completely sold on her firm anyway so hopefully will be ok with Birmingham if that's the way it goes.

@Rollergirl11 I have it and better still have permission to check as long as I don’t tell him before he has found out for himself. This way I won’t pester him while he is picking them up or worse still offer to go with him!

I also strongly suspect the actual results will be available via the parent’s portal from 8am as well - they were with GCSE’s even though they didn’t publicise this and we were emailed them a few hours after.

I’m hoping that she will be up and checking herself for 8am @stoneysongs otherwise my impatience might get the better of me!!

@Jaxx ahhh that’s good. I think DD would be the same in all fairness, in that she won’t care as long as I keep it to myself.

Good luck everyone. I’m fairly relaxed as ds has no firm future plans, so to a certain extent he’ll be guided by his results. I’m more curious to see how he does really - his lack of work prior to Feb means we really have no idea! He somehow managed CCD in his AS Levels with no revision at all, but he attended lessons in year 12 and not really in year 13! He’d be gutted if he doesn’t go up at least a couple of grades from there but he did mention the word retake the other day for the first time 😬

From dd’s experience two years ago, I’d say don’t be afraid to push for a review of marking if a grade doesn’t feel right. Dd got a B in History and she’d always had As. It didn’t affect her uni place and she was 4 marks off so school weren’t keen, but we pushed and she got awarded 6 more marks and the A

Can somebody clarify about meningitis vacinations? I didn't know there were any recommended before going to uni. Where is this information posted. What should I get her to have?

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/students-told-to-get-up-to-date-with-vaccinations-ahead-of-freshers-week

But how do I know if she is not up to date? She has had all the vaccinations recommended as a baby and preschool, as well as the updates as a 13/14 year old, I thought, for example, there was no further need for her to have an MMR. And I am pretty sure she had two vaccinations for HPV at school. I am not sure though that at the time she was a baby they were giving all the meningitis vaccinations, but they did give some. What should I be asking the GP for? In the past the GP or school has told me what she was supposed to have when, but this feels like I am supposed to be proactive and work out what is missing.

Thank you everyone. Just back from pre surgery checks and drawn on. DD surprised me by saying as she has a few days off she could tidy her room and could I book a special collection for 9 black sacks so have done. Will believe it when I see it, think it's nervous energy.