Advice re deferring University on medical grounds

[HullaBalloo]

My ds has had to defer his place at University this year as he was seriously ill over the Summer and ended up having to have life saving surgery in July and needed several months to recuperate.

The University have agreed to a years deferral but ds is now going to have further elective surgeries next year and may need an additional year off and we are unsure as to how best to approach this with them. If we could get an idea of how this would be viewed by them, it would help with the planning of when ds has his operations next year - at present he is trying to rush his recovery and get on with it all asap so that he can make next year's entry date, but if they were agreeable to keeping his place open for an extra year he would have the option of being able to plan his surgeries for later on next year, rather than feeling under pressure to try and be fit for next September.

If he did defer again ds has concerns that as the marks required for offers have now increased, that he may have to do resits to try and achieve the current higher offers. I don't know if they would take into account that his marks were affected by the fact that he was ill during his final exams and actually took some of them whilst in hospital.
Does anyone have any experience or advice on how to approach this and what the likelihood is of them keeping his place open for an extra year if required ?

Re the grade requirements changing all I can tell you was that ds deferred in the summer and although he got his place, decided to have a re-mark on one of the papers. We were worried if the grade went down he would no longer have the grades of the offer. School rang uni to clarify what would happen and apparently once the offer is made it is a legal contract so can't be rescinded. As it was, the paper in question went up 4 grades! So in your case the fact that they are now making higher offers should make no difference at all.

I'd ring the uni itself - tell them exactly what the situation is and then you can plan from there

You can only defer a university place for one year, officially, even on medical grounds. It's likely the advice will be to re-apply in the new year. If he reapplied he would be treated as a new applicant, but would be subject to the higher entry requirements, though most applicants that already hold their results can still be made an offer, even if the requirements have increased.

I think the best thing to do is call the university and ask them what's best. I know that some uni's will look kindly on this and will hold his old application to the side to match up when the new one comes through and confirm the place based on the original offer.

All you can do is ring and ask, it may be better that he takes the deferred place and then takes the next year as interrupted study.

Yes call and talk to the Admissions Tutor, they will know the specific circumstances and what their institution will allow them to do (some Departments have more discretion than others) and will be able to give you advice. All the best for his recovery.

Thanks for all of your advice. I will get ds to give the admissions tutor a ring but it sounds as though it is unlikely that he will be able to defer for an extra year. Ds is adamant that he won't go to Uni until he has had further surgeries so unfortunately I don't think the interrupted study idea would be acceptable to him.
It is all such a stress as he worked so hard for his place and battled on with his exams to ensure he got to Uni, even after he became very ill and will probably try and get there next year, to the detriment of his health if he can't defer for another year. It is a Scottish University, in case it makes any difference to any advice you may have.

Even if he attends a little for the first semester it may be a better option than needing to reply again.

So if he starts in September then he, in effect, secures his place ?

In practical terms if he leaves after a few weeks he would probably not be back for much of the academic year. Would he then be allowed to redo that year ?
From my perspective of him not jeopardising his health by trying to rush things that sounds like a good option but not sure ds will like it. It will also be very disruptive to any friendships he makes in the first few weeks.

Definitely food for thought though, thanks Troll.

In my experience he would yes.

So he defers for a year, he then starts that following September and interrupts his studies so he can then re do that year.

It is possible to take leave of absence once started, but in my experience it is not an easy route to take. Unless students are going to be back in less than 4 weeks, at my uni they now have to return the the next academic year. So he could end up starting/settling in making friends then having to do the same over again the following year rejoin a in whole different year group. I would not advice anyone to do this.

This would also cost much more as you will have an extra year's accommodation and being charged more fees.

Unless there is a really good reason to deny the place, I can't see them not offering if he reapplied.

Thanks creamteas.

I hadn't considered the financial implications. It is going to be costly enough anyway as it is a 4 year course.

He definitely wouldn't be able to be back within 4 weeks, if the same rules apply at his uni and after all of his struggles I wouldn't want him to face any extra stress of having to settle in twice.

He will be very disappointed if he has to reapply and doesn't get in again. This place at uni has been the beacon of hope and his goal throughout all of his awful health traumas and it would be hard for him to have any risk of losing it. I was hoping that I would get replies that places are kept open for longer than a year for medical reasons which would be the best solution for him.

Does anyone know when would be the best time to speak to the admissions tutor - asap or wait until the UCAS applications are all in so they know more about what their numbers are likely to be ?

We have at least three people repeating y2 on my course currently, it has not caused any problems fitting is as far as I'm aware, they all seemed to slip into the group quite well.

I think financially there may be implications, call student finance and find out what the procedure is for fees.

I would contact the admissions tutor asap and talk it through with them. At least you'll know where you stand

Speak to someone at the Department asap, explain the situation and talk it through with them. If they can keep a place open (and there is some latitude normally I think) it is better for them to know about it sooner rather than later. If you can't get through to the admissions tutor for whatever reason, you could also call the undergraduate secretary / departmental co-ordinator / administrator for advice (different institutions call them different things, but the admin person responsible for undergrads in that department).

I would be a bit cautious about planning for him to start and then to intercalate (ie, stopping for medical reasons and completing the next year). At our place yes it is available, and some students have to intercalate every year, but only for unexpected circumstances - so you can't have a 'planned' intercalation if you see what I mean. But don't despair, I know that where students have had serious medical issues, a lot can be done to accommodate them on a case by case basis.

Thanks systemsaddict, I will get him to phone on Friday as I assume it would be bad form for a parent to ring.

Just hope that they can accommodate him but have to say they weren't that great over this first deferral so am not too optimistic.