Year 12 - 2024/25 - Support, Discussion and Looking After Each Other (Thread 2)

[BlackBean2023]

You’re a chatty lot… continue

I have just booked travel arrangements for Durham open day in September. Eek this is soon going to mount up!

@AuntyBulgaria it adds up doesn't it? We'll be doing the September Durham one too. DD is just too head scattered to do anymore & has a to-do list as long as your arm.
I can't believe this time next year it will nearly be all over (well school anyway)...people tell you it flys - it really does.

@GirlsInGreen glad you and your dd had a good week in London. There are so many great universities there but the cost of living is so high that it’s worrying us if that’s where DS ends up going

We’re all done on open days now. The costs soon add up and any autumn open days will interfere with TMUA and MAT preparations. If DS applies to anywhere that we’ve not visited (which is highly likely) he’ll need to use as much online information as possible and then perhaps attend an offer holders day.

@AuntyBulgaria it really does add up. We’ve been unfortunate in that due mainly to the hot weather virtually every single train we’ve been on has been delayed and so have recouped some money through delay repay!

@GirlsInGreen that sounds like a productive week in London.

Hope those who were in Cambridge had a good day.

I don’t think we will do anymore unless it’s offer holder days now either.

What travelcards are you all using for the Open Day trains? Just 16-17 or 16-25 for the DC? We have a family railcard but that seems to mean her younger brother has to tag along in order to make it usable.

Have many of the unis offered discount deals for rail travel?

We used DS 16-17 railcard, that made it cheaper than the university offer to the one that we went to on the train (Bath - didn’t want to drive as the traffic is usually awful plus there was a big concert on that night).

We drove to the rest as it was cheaper than his ticket plus either me or DH.

Thank you (belatedly), @ellieinfrance! I am thinking we may need to be on a 6am-ish train from London. DD is campaigning for the “Caledonian Sleeper” experience!

@JessyCarr DS has a 16-25 railcard, it’s been very useful for him.

ds also has a 16-25 railcard which has certainly more than paid for itself over the past weeks.

We used the Bristol offer to get a discount on tickets but that was the only one.

DS isn’t going to Durham open day. If he applies, and is lucky enough to get an offer, he will go to the offer holder day.

DD has a 16 -25 card and we have a Two Together for me and her.

DD has now been to six Open Days, three with me and three solo, plus there's the university across the road which she has known from babyhood - in fact she went to their campus nursery. She's talking about visiting one more on a self-guided tour, but I think that will be it. It has been useful, but it's now a case of diminishing returns.

She did work experience in an insurance company last week and is now wildly enthusiastic about a career in that area. Strange girl.

@bibliomania Smart girl! So many opportunities in insurance and reinsurance.

@bibliomania my cousins DD did a degree in Maths & then qualified as an actuary. Just bought a place in London with her fella. Great opportunities.

I agree, there are great prospects. She has a good head on her shoulders, rather different to 17-year-old me!

Any thoughts on Leeds?

DC went up for a weekend with a local friend and got an informal tour of the uni. She ended up liking it a great deal, and says it might be her second favorite at this point. I'm now planning to take her to the October open day, but I'd love to know about anyone's experiences there, as it wasn't on the list before.

Does anyone know what accommodation is like, and the private rental market beyond first year? She's hoping for catered accomodation at first.

Leeds was the first open day we attended and my DD was totally blown away and loved it. The sports centre was great, good swimming pool (important for DD) accommodation on campus and in Headingly. Guaranteed accommodation for first year snd apparently there's lots so not to worry about it. Free gym membership in 1st year too.
She liked the speaker on her potential course, and they do something called a 'discovery module' so you can pick a module from any other degree that you find interesting.

It's currently in the top 2 with Newcastle, but has higher grade requirements and apparently is harder to get an offer from.

She does want to go again in October just to see if she does really like it, or whether it was just that it was the first she'd seen and had nothing to compare it to! I might get her to go on her own though...

Any thoughts on Lancaster?

DS and DH went to the open day yesterday and found many positives.Should suit ds well as he is wanting Law at a campus uni, ideally collegiate. So ticks lots of boxes.

But there has been a lot of talk of financial struggles on here etc. Any feedback from posters with YP at Lancaster currently would be really appreciated.

My DC is all about the discovery module option as well! I think she's struggling a bit with the necessary narrowing of the curriculum as uni draws closer. She's always been a solid all-rounder.

Thanks for sharing your DR'S experience!

All of DS's friends want to go to Leeds, because of all the parties. (Someone's brother is there.) DS is not that keen. He prefers Warwick and Durham.

My dsil is on the senior team at Lancaster, they are having to make some cuts, but I don’t think it’s as awful as some unis, certainly she’s encouraging dd to consider it as an option and I’m sure she wouldn’t if there were significant issues with student experience. They are trying to encourage more home UG students to make up for fall in overseas PG, but I think everywhere is. She does think there may be more wiggle room in grade expectations this year, particularly for 1st choice places. Dd is predicted AAB and she’s encouraging her to look at some higher tariff options.

I like the look of Lancaster, it has a great reputation, but DS has ruled it out as too far away.

Have everyone's DC finished term now? DS breaks up Thursday but they don't seem to be doing much anyway. He has also created a work plan via Chat GPT for the summer. Whether he sticks to it is another matter of course.

I wish everyone and their DC a very relaxed but productive summer break. I can't believe year 12 is over now. To think that back in September I thought year 12 would be relaxed and reasonably uneventful - how wrong I was!

DS breaks up on Friday and for year 12 it’s a normal week. On timetable and homework still being set!

We have a beach day tomorrow and a half day on Friday other than that a normal week

Dd finished yesterday, the colleges seem to have fewer days in than school, I’m a school teacher and break up Friday. She tells me she has lots of summer work.

DD finishes on Friday, church service in the morning and tutor time then home at lunchtime. Last day of term is always this pattern as it's a faith school. She's had a good year - heard yesterday she got a high B in her Eng Lit mock and Lit is the subject she finds hardest- but she is ready for a holiday.

@Philandbill well done to your DD on the English lit grade!

@Waspie I hear you about our imagined 'stress free Y12 😂'. Maybe its a good preview to prepare us for Y13, DD keeps telling me everyone knows Y13 is the most awful year ever!

DD is currently on a school trip to Paris and seems to be having a great time. Back Friday, so Y12 is done here too. Our summer may be a stressy one but I also think it will go very quickly too. We go on our summer holiday later in August so looking forward to it even though DD will be doing mock UCAT exams the whole time.

Hope everyone has a lovely break.