ds1 decided to go on a road trip across Europe and missing results day!

[eatyourveg]

4 of them have been planning it for months - as soon as the exams finished they were off in an old mini following the route of some Audrey Hepburn movie ending up in Switzerland. It now transpires they are leaving the sunday before results and will be gone for 3 weeks

So cross I can't even talk to him about it. I just threw the letter from school at him which has in bold "Students are strongly advised to be available in person to handle whatever situation may arise"

We are away on holiday until the Tuesday so I won't be here to stop him going - not that I can actually do anything although last night I had visions of going on holiday with his passport

His uni need conformation that he is accepting the place asap as it is only then that they start allocating the accommodation, its first come first serve and if he does nothing he'll end up with his 11th choice of accommodation which is a bunk room in a welsh medium hall and he can't speak welsh!

The other 3 on the trip aren't going to uni - they have jobs/apprentiships lined up so have no issue about being there to collect what ds says is "just a piece of paper". One is already working and can only take leave at a specified time which seems to be why they have picked to go then.

Don't feel able to make a decision should he miss a grade and be offered an alternative course. Why the hell is he being so irresponsible! So here is the dilemma

Option A -let him go he's 18 and if he forfeits his place at uni it is a lesson learned and he can apply again next year

Option B - let him go I collect his results and hope he gets the grades and make sure he gives me access to his emails so I can reply to any offer

Option C Don't let him go (consider again the idea of confiscating the passport) but get him a flight or a train ticket so he can catch them up on the Thursday eve or Friday

Can't he arrange to ring you/log in to UCAS remotely? This isn't the big deal it would have been a few years back - he can sort out a lot out without being in the UK. It's not as if he's going to the Amazon!

As for saying he can't go - he's 18, I don't think you could legally stop him.

It's up to him, really, it's his problem if he ends up somewhere crap.

You are over-involved. He's 18, it's his decision.

option a.

he is an adult.

Its up to him - he'll get a text from UCAS telling him if his place is confirmed, and then he can ring and confirm with uni. No prob

I'm sure they have internet cafes in Switzerland - he should be able to do it all himself.

Maybe he should be on standby to fly back if there's a major problem - I wouldn't be happy either.

Not unusual at all.
He just needs to have guaranteed phone/email access.

Tbh if he can't sort this out himself to make sure he gets the place he wants then he shouldn't be going to uni.

The same thing is going to happen to my ds in August 2013, he'll be on a two week training exercise with the Army in Cyprus. I'm sure he can figure out how to communicate with UCAS as necessary.

My ds is going off two days later but it's only the UK and he will just have to sort it and he has said that if things go pearshaped he will delay.

There was a poster last year who ended up having to deal with things for her ds last year as he was stuck on a bus or away somewhere.It all got sorted but she was pretty frazzled by the end

I would be cross too because it's all very well saying he is adult etc but in reality it will be you fielding calls from him etc and there are some decisions where he probably would struggle to do things alone eg deciding on a place through clearing,paying deposit for accommodation etc.My ds has been told that once accommodation has been offered he has 7 days to accept and pay or It's lost.

But in the end if he's going he's going .

I'm sure that with modern means of communication this can be sorted out quite easily. The A level results came out when I was on holiday in France. I waited until I got home to open them (This was 1977 when they used to post them to your house).

Bunbaker modern comms are a double edged sword,if you did that now (as I did in 1983) and you missed your grades you might be placeless ,and even if you got your grades you might not have accommodation etc

At one post offer day ds was told that if he missed grades any spare places would go to the people first on the phone and lines would open at7am on results day

School start Emailing apparently at 6am,starting with near misses who need to hit the lines

He doesn't have a laptop and never uses his mobile phone. Quite anti modern materialism, hand writes his essays which he says is good practice for exams and uses an old remington typewriter for other stuff. CMOTDibbler didn't know ucas sent texts, he didn't enter a mobile number on the application but that can be sorted. Thanks for the suggestion. exexpat they are taking their time to reach Switzerland (over a week) he thinks they may have got to Luxembourg by the Thursday but it depends on how the car is going - its an old mini from the 70s and they aren't using main roads - all part of the adventure I'm told so an internet café might not be so easy to find.

Only mentioned it briefly today as he has an exam tmrw and I didn't want an argument. I offered to pay for Eurostar on Thursday evening/Friday morning and he didn't reject the idea outright so I'm hoping he's at least going to consider it.

I just checked my nephews fb from last August, and it was actually the uni that texted him (dneice also got text from her uni) - at 6.30am on results day. So they knew they'd got in before they'd got their results.

I'd be cross too!

It's all very well saying 'he's an adult leave him to it' but it can be a LOT of hassle on the day, especially if results aren't as predicted (either up or down..) and in the few days following results there is quite a lot to sort especially with accommodations replies, sending the deposit to hold the room etc.. and usually a 3-5 day window on it.. it's easy to drop the ball when the person IS at home!

Incidentally my DD's University did NOT text her so I don't think it's universal!

I'd suggest that as back up, he gives you all the codes etc for UCAS, and to his email so that IF communication breaks down, he loses his phone , is blind drunk somewhere after results.... you can get the ball rolling!

Eurostar a few days late would be even better tho:):)

I don't consider myself a micro managing parent generally, but for both of my daughters (one in her 2nd year one due to go this september) I have had full access to everything.. DD2 even had me registering her for UCAS, sorting accommodation etc as she is very nervous of messing it up.
Tho as I keep indexed files of al their vital stuff, from exams to passport photos, I may be a tad obsessive...:D

I have never heard of Universities texting individual students but all students can log onto their UCAS account and see if their offer has been changed from conditional to unconditional. I believe they can do this from 0630 on the morning the results are out.

Optionn D

You collect his results - you will need a letter from him giving permission

He has to go to an internet caffe and sort out acccomodation etc. He is an adult (I know he is also your baby) leave him to sort it out.

Last year the UCAS site crashed and was down from 6.30am to 2pm in the afternoon causing general stress all round. No text from the uni here either.

sassh your option D is the OP's option B the problem is she has already said that he will have no Internet access.

OP is he realistically likely to have a problem,you may be worrying unnecessarily ,he clearly isn't worried so that may be your answer!

I think there may be some confusion as to how UCAS works here.

I'm assuming that he currently has conditional offers(s), but has yet to choose his firm and insurance (hence you saying that the university needs confirmation he's going). He should do this asap.

On results day, if he gets the results that his firm uni has asked for, then he is in - no need to ring them etc. If he doesn't get the results that his firm uni has asked for, but does get the grades for his insurance, then he is in to his insurance - no need to ring them etc. As other posters have said, texts are not universal, but he can check on UCAS on results day to see if he is into uni.

It is only if he gets grades lower than his insurance choice asks for that he needs to do something. If it is still showing as 'conditional' on UCAS, then he needs to ring the uni and beg (an unusual situation - universities get the results several days before students, so they have had time to make a decision. Otherwise, he will have the opportunity to go into clearing. However, clearing is usually mostly made up of courses that are either obscure or at less-than-fantastic universities who just want bums on seats. If that is the case this year, then your son's best option may be to take a gap year, reapply to UCAS, and retake a few A Level modules.

With regards to accommodation, it varies by university, and you'll need to check the university's website. Most will allow students to apply for accommodation before results day. However, most will only allocate accommodation after results day, because before that point they have minimal idea who's actually coming. After they have sent out the accommodation offers, the students have a set period of time to accept it and pay the deposit (often a week). He can either give you his email password and let you check, or he can borrow a laptop (I'm sure one of his friends has one), take it with him, and just use it in places where there is free wifi. Internet cafes are dying out a bit IME, but backpackers hostels invariably still have them.

Excellent post Boomting.

outtolunchagain realistically he should be ok (just about - it all hangs on this afternoon's exam and whether one particular topic comes up which he was dreading) my main concern is him having to ring the uni to confirm he is accepting the offer which then triggers the accommodation. Apparently the uni send an email giving instructions on how to accept the place. Looking at the student room last year people ringing nearer lunchtime didn't have a hope of getting any of their top choices. He's guaranteed a room if he accepts within 5 days but its a mad dash to avoid a twin or bunkroom. Not sure he'd be quick enough off the mark.

sashh results aren't available at school until 11am so even if I did collect them it might be too late, he was relying on Track to find out if he'd got the grades. Wondering if that nominated access thing on the ucas form means I get a copy of the emails ucas/uni send him which would mean I could get the instructions and the uni would take a phone call from me rather than him. Anyone know?? I think I need to get him to ring the uni accommodation people and find out precisely how the whole thing works

boomting no he has sorted CF and CI and applied for accommodation. The uni allocates on a first come first serve on the basis of how quickly you confirm that you are accepting what effectively becomes an unconditional offer if you have got the grades. This from the uni website

"When you meet the terms of your offer with us it is vitally important that you respond to your AS12b ..... If you do not confirm your acceptance we will not be able to guarantee your accommodation"

Looks like they will accept email though so if I have his email password it should all be ok

This happened last year to someone on this website, whose DS then missed his grades and all was hairy.
Suggest he a) comes back for results or b) gives you his UCAS password and UCAS login details and written authorisation to pick up his results from school so that you know whether he has met his offer in case the website crashes and keeps his mobile charged and topped up and is in an internet cafe on results day and lets you know what to do if he misses his grades.
I thought you didnt need to confirm the offer if you met the grades as it just automatically changes to unconditional on the website then various bits of paper work arrive in the post/ by email.

This is what I mean about comma not always being an advantage.That accommodation system sounds the pits ,I hope ds1 isn't like that .I am pretty certain they allocate based on previous preferences.