Year 13 -2025/26 - Support, discussion and looking after each other - thread 2 - exam time

[SilverBlue4]

Here we go

Also, does anyone have a good packing list yet? I’ve muted WIWIKAY on Facebook at the moment as it was becoming a bit much but probably do need to start thinking about my baby moving out in a month!

I know what you mean, it’s becoming a bit fraught isn’t it! A lot of panicked questions and so many questions like ‘can someone tell me what clearing is? Never heard of it!’ 😮 however they do have a good packing list on there if you go to guides at the top. Or google for it.

I know clearing grades can fluctuate a great deal but had been reassured to see that Bristol and Warwick were both in clearing with lower grades. Just had another look after coming back from holiday and Bristol is now not in clearing at all until Thursday, and Warwick's grades are the same as the original required grades. My anxiety has just risen again!!

@ComingInByAnsible hope you had a lovely holiday! For those going through this again with another DC, I would definitely recommend going away the week before results day a it's lovely to be able to switch off and take your mind off it all. Which Unis have you seen with good accommodation options? DC is keen on Warwick which guarantees accommodation for clearing students but there is no guarantee it will be on campus which isn't so good.

@Fabfabfab, we had a lovely holiday, thank you. Not least because there was air con! Came back to a very crisp garden, and too hot and bothered again already, but at least there was some reprieve (and distraction, as you say). Hope you had a great time away too.

Re accommodation, not sure if the options are ‘good’ but at least it seems to be common practice to guarantee accommodation for clearing applicants somewhere. DS is looking at RG and similar (e.g. Bath), not in London. Unlike Exeter, which doesn’t guarantee anything at all, even for insurance students. I remember you were looking at private halls in Exeter, did you end up booking? We haven’t, so I am worried about the last-minute panic if DS ends up there.

I was worried about off campus halls at Warwick too, but having checked them out they look rather good. Pricey but en-suite and great facilities (e.g. gym, cinema, pool rooms), and walking distance or short bus ride to campus. DS much rather be on campus though.

@ComingInByAnsiblemy daughter has firmed Exeter but we’re still worried about accommodation- she’ll be guaranteed but not on campus and she wants to be on campus. She’s had her heart set on Exeter for years - the location is perfect for her but she’s studying history and the redundancies + lack of accommodation are sending me red flags galore

We already have accommodation booked and paid for, is this not usual?

Sheffield, Cardiff and Queens, Belfast have guaranteed clearing accommodation.

Don’t dismiss QUB. It’s a great student city, low cost of living, GB scholarship worth £3000, Russell group and often have lots of courses in clearing with reduced grades especially for GB students. DS is having such a good time there.

Not really. If you have an unconditional offer then maybe. Most people will have applied for accommodation for their firm and some will have an allocated room already as part of that but I don’t think much paying happens until the place is confirmed after results day.

Don't find out your accommodation at Bath until the 26th August and that's if you're a firm offer holder (unless you already have grades, eg gap year or taking the IB- they get allocated first). It seems to be very variable between universities as to the process, whether it's first come first served, random allocation etc.

Is that right @SilverBlue4 ? That's so annoying, DS has applied for a range of accommodation there and I'd like to get on with buying what he needs for his room while there's lots of sales on!

@ComingInByAnsible We didn't book anything in Exeter in the end despite doing quite a bit of research into private halls and now it appears they have less than 15 rooms left so unlikely probably (although some people may have booked in case they didn't get their firm and may cancel on results day). Booking it appeared to be quite a complex process and you had to put a deposit down and DC wasn't that keen on Exeter in the end despite putting ot as insurance. DC is now hoping that Warwick will be in clearing if he doesn't get his firm but we haven't done any research into private halls there...I just had a quick look and it says clearing students are guaranteed university based accommodation but that it could be in private halls. That doesn't make any sense as it's then not university based. Have you looked into it all and if so, do you have anything to recommend? It says: "Please be aware that you will not be asked to select any partnership accommodation options during your application. If you are allocated to our partnership accommodation off campus, details of the options available and the process to follow will be provided when you receive your accommodation offer".

@BlackBean2023 it's really worrying and sad about the redundancies to the Humanities department. Have there been any news on upcoming strikes recently? I think it would be tough going straight into strikes in the first year but lots of people are suggesting it could happen at other universities too.

Yep, afraid so. They have four days after the offer to accept or they remove the offer, so be careful about checking emails.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn remind me what course your DS has firmed? I know you've probably already told me but the information has left my brain 🙂

@Fabfabfab, I think Warwick promise ‘university-allocated accommodation’, which might include off-campus private partner accommodation. This year’s partner halls are on their website together with their campus halls (it’s the last two halls on the undergraduate accommodation halls list in case the link doesn’t work): https://warwick.ac.uk/services/accommodation/students/partnership/

Although at the Warwick OHD we were told that at least once before they were so overwhelmed with students that they had to put some into the Coventry Uni accommodation. That was the post-COVID teacher assessed grades time, I think, so hopefully unlikely this year.

Exeter worries me a lot more as there a possibility to have no university-allocated accommodation at all. The private hall process sounds a pain, @Fabfabfab. Also agree with you and @BlackBean2023 about the redundancies. When your job, or your colleague’s job is threatened, it’s hard to keep the focus on student experience, even if you survive the process. Not to mention the potential impact of strikes, marking boycotts and reductions of module options.

Hello everyone, checking back in after visits and visitors and then a holiday last week - @Fabfabfab totally agree it turned out to be a very good week to go away, took us away from all the overthinking at just the right time.
So lovely to be back here among all you supportive people.

Oh I bet it was the best week to go away! My dd has been mostly away for the past month, comes back tomorrow lunch time just in time for a day of stress. Meanwhile she’s left me at home to do all the stressing and overthinking for her. Really should have planned that better!

@Onthesofawithmydog it was good, but must confess I'm struggling to keep the angst down now! I seem to be stressing more than DD (while trying to pretend to her I'm totally cool about it all 😬)

@Katymaus yep that’s me too… “it’s all fine, we will sort it” while secretly stressing 🥴

@ComingInByAnsible that makes a bit more sense then. The first two appear to be very close to campus and look nice but the others are in Coventry which really wouldn't be great. Oh well - not long now until we find out. I'm getting used to tolerating the uncertainty but looking forward to spending my time thinking about something else (probably the packing list which I've not given any though whatsoever yet!).

@Katymaus @Onthesofawithmydog and everyone - hope you are doing ok. Can't believe it's nearly results day after such a long process. I've 'only' had the one anxiety based dream about it but not sure what the next few days will bring. The heat is helping to contain my anxiety to some extent!

I don’t know if this is in any way helpful or reassuring…. but I went to the offer holder day, and because DS was in subject talks for 5 hours (!!) I became the designated fact collector. I went to a talk by the head of admissions which I found very reassuring. I asked her afterwards if there would likely be a problem with accommodation for those with an insurance offer or going through clearing - and she said they’d never ever had a situation where they’d had a 1st year student with nowhere to live. She didn’t go into greater detail re uni halls vs private halls because a lot of students were milling around with questions, but I felt more reassured than I had before asking her, if that makes sense.

Best of luck to everyone x

Oh that’s super reassuring, @CatkinToadflax, thanks so much for sharing! (But 5 hours of subject talks, wow, that’s pretty intense!)

Welcome back, @Katymaus, glad you had a good time! @Onthesofawithmydog, hope your DD enjoys her time away! My DS has barely been at home either, he’s currently camping with mates until Wednesday. My current anti-anxiety strategy is replacing it with work stress by trawling through the post-holiday work inbox… Oh the horrors that lurk within!

He's hoping to do Chemistry for drug discovery.