University Confusion

[tess1pink]

My son failed his first year after resits. To stay at uni he was offered another degree. Told he must make up 60 credits lost in any module and then in semester 2 this year could then start taking his original sports coaching modules and finish his degree one semester later. After much deliberation choosing modules that fitted in with the timetable decided and sorted. Still very anxious as had to choose a subject completely new to him.He has just registered so student finance etc all sorted. However on recently emailing his personal tutor just to confirm which sports modules he would be taking next semester 2, the tutor replied that my son would not be able to take any sports coaching modules this academic year as the modules available ran over semester 1 and 2 so in short he has now been told he will have to find some more modules to take in semester 2 and then take any sports coaching modules at the beginning of semester 1 September 15. If he had known this to be the case in July when he went to see his student advisor he would not have returned to uni this year. He would have taken a year out and then reapplied at a later stage. It was the student advisor that has given him the wrong information. We have had such a stressful time this summer sorting things and getting over his exam failure now this. This will send him over the top now. He has emailed the student advisors and he is waiting to hear why they have told him the incorrect information. He realised this semester would be hard but he so wanted to stay at uni and wanted to put in the hard work to get back onto his sports coaching modules again. He is feeling that he should give it up now as there has been so many obstacles to get this far however if he drops out he will owe accommodation fees for the year, tuition fees and pay back the loan from student finance. Also in future he would only be entitled to 2 years funding so going back to uni later is not now an option. I feel so gutted for him. I am worried about his mental health now. Desperately need to know what he should do for the best.

Is it impossible for him to do as they suggest and find more modules over semester 2? He surely should have more people explaining what to choose than the student advisor.

Or is the issue that he really isn't finding anything that's closely enough related to his original degree topic?

It seems odd to me he should be told to do an 'entirely' new subject. And (not to have a go at him as it does sound tough), I don't see why he thought he was sorted after only discussing the timetable with student advisors and not with his actual tutor?

Hi. Thanks for your reply. He has been transferred to a Life Sciences degree so he is allowed to take any modules that fall under this department. He had the choice of zoology, animal behaviour, language session, criminology and psychology. Sports coaching comes under life science faculty but as he has completed all the sports modules although failed 2 modules he is not allowed to try at any other these modules again. So his choice is very limited. He deliberated long and hard before deciding psychology and a language would be the best to do as he really wants/wanted to stay at uni. The alternative was to leave and take a year out (which now possible should have been the way to go considering the potential financial loss if he leaves now) So yes I guess the issue is a little he will again have to do something not what he originally wanted to do for another semester but cannot understand why this was not explained to him or why the wrong information was given. He was going to stick it out for one semester but to have to do it again. He did contact his personal tutor in August but he never replied so he thought as well as I did that the student advisor dept would be knowledgeable to have the correct information. This new information that has come to light was given by the head of the sports department who has directed my son to the student advisors to sort out a timetable for semester 2 as they are, in his words, the best people to talk to.

Also he could and may do as they suggest but it feels like it is just another obstacle being put in his way. He knows it was his own fault why he failed he has learnt his lesson. If he had passed his first year he would not be in this position. He has spent weeks trying to perfect his timetable for this semester, being told no you cant do that, this clashes etc. Told to do german beginners, when deciding to do it, only to be told it is a clash of timetable so back to the drawing board! Their reply sorry this sometimes happens, choose another module.

Cant be a real help without knowing the uni rules but one thing from when I was at uni.

If you are doing 3/4 of a timetable you can be classed as ft or part time. Check out the rules at his uni, he may be able to drop down to part time which means he will get another semester of funding.

Another thing to look in to is APEL, if there is something he can do at an FE college or in the community that will give him some skills that can be used to APEL a unit / module he wanted to do this semester.

Psychology seems to me it would go well with sports coaching.

Some unis have a work placement module or a community service module that can be done by working/volunteering - it won't count towards 'core' modules but could add another module to his electives.

I'm thinking something like volunteering to coach a school team or working with the scouts. At one of my unis this was very open and lots of EU students went to be language assistants in local schools.

Things can sometimes be flexible with other units/modules, I did some second year units in my first year in my second subject.

He needs to start looking at where he wants to be next year and then work backwards from that.

Can he take units out of a different school/faculty?

It is not the end of the world, his degree may contain units/modules that are not standard, but might make him more employable in the long run.

Sashh thank you for this information. I will let him know. Who should he ask about this Student Adviser or the sports coaching tutor direct? I'm very wary now of the information they give actually being correct. He has been told he cannot take modules from a different faculty it has to be life sciences at Anglia Ruskin. It seems no information is freely given you have to ask and if you are not sure about things you do not get to know of alternative routes. Thank you again for the advice.

He has spent weeks trying to perfect his timetable for this semester, being told no you cant do that, this clashes

I'm sorry but timetable clashes are a real thing. Organising between 15,000 and 20,000 students and staff is quite a difficult job, and if students are doing a non-standard course, they are responsible for making sure what they want to do fits with the timetable.

And he should have been talking to tutors in his department, and departmental admins. They're the people at the coalface.

tess this will sound harsh, but you have two DCs both of whom have ambivalent relationships to their participation in HE. You may all want to think about that ...

Hi UptheChimney I do appreciate its a big task. My son emailed his tutor twice for a meeting to discuss things and he didn't respond. He has now been given a different personal tutor who responded immediately with this new information. He thought, wrongly now, that the student adviser would have correct knowledge about modules etc. He has learnt in future to double check with the tutors. Like you suggest perhaps after all he should think about leaving uni altogether.

surely psychology is an obvious choice if it works timetables wise? sports psychology is a massive (and lucrative) area.

Hi yes he is moderately happy with his choice this semester with psychology and although only a week in has enjoyed all his lectures. He talks more about this in a week than he did about his sports course throughout the year! But I guess its early days. I think he feels he is out on a limb. Just choosing any old modules to make up 60 credits lost in the first year and then now just learning he cant take any sports modules in semester 2, so he will have to go through the lottery again of choosing something for semester 2.

It looks like volunteering is done through the SU

www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/student_essentials/anglia_ruskin_students/students_union_volunteering_service.html

Actually the SU can be really useful, if they can't help they often can point you to someone who can

Thank you sashh for your help.

Unfortunately Anglia Ruskin has one of the highest dropout rates for students in the UK. (4 out of 10 leave before completing their degree). This may be because the students are not supported adequately or the students are not capable of doing the degrees they enrol on - so it is a selection problem. One would have thought, however, that the University were alive to this unhappy statistic and were putting more effort into solving such dilemmas. I don't have the answer to this particular problem, but I would not recommend anyone go to Anglia Ruskin if they can avoid it.

I know you won't want to hear this but I was thinking maybe your ds should consider jacking it in and starting again somewhere else - spend the rest of this year getting coaching (or similar) work experience. There are other sports courses out there which aren't weighted so heavily in favour of the science aspect. He would more than likely be out of pocket but at the end of the day wouldn't you rather he be at a place where he is happy, where the staff are supporting him and helping him to reach his goal and therefore putting him a position where he is more likely to be successful in getting his degree?

Hi eatyourveg, yes you are so right. He is coming home on Friday so I am hoping to have a good chat about things with him. The uni says that if he leaves by 17 Oct there won't be any uni fees payable so it would just be the accommodation loss ..just!! From semester 2 (feb 15) he can take any Level 5 modules but that would only include two sports coaching modules as the remainder are double semester modules so already being started now. Anyway looks like from feb 15 to when he finishes feb2017 he would only be able to do 4 sports coaching modules due to the way the modules are. The student adviser has now suggested that he defers next semester until Sept 15. He would then be able to do a whole year of sports coaching modules level 5 and then presumably level 6 from sept 16 finishing a semester later - end of semester 2 so again having a whole last year of sports modules. That's what I think. Just waiting to hear from her if this is correct. At least he wouldn't be picking this and that just to suit a timetable! But yes this course seems very scientific something which was not pointed out at the open days. He is just so anxious at the moment I worry that it will all just get on top of him.

It should have detailed information on the course web site though. Open Days are very general. I would see what other courses are out there and leave Anglia Ruskin. Why keep going to somewhere that is clearly not suitable?

I will be honest we didn't have a clue about university when he applied. He was told a school to look for a course within his ucas points and go for that. Ignorance no excuse I know but we are all so much wiser now! He called me yesterday after another session of a subject he didn't want to do. He was very level headed and said that he was now thinking of packing it in. If he withdraws before 17th October there will be no tuition fees. So we will talk this weekend not that I want him to rush into a decision, he has had to rush his decisions all this summer. He could get work experience as eatyourveg said and try for clearing next summer. He is really at a point where he will break down if he gets anymore set backs.

Surely he doesn't have to wait until clearing to apply to another place? The closing date for ucas isn't until January - plenty of coaching/sport and exercise science courses were in clearing in August however so he would have a good chance. pm if you want the lists, I always keep them.

Look at the league tables, the top 20 in sport aren't all RGs or particularly prestigious places but are renowned in the field so definitely worth considering.

I will be honest we didn't have a clue about university when he applied. He was told a school to look for a course within his ucas points and go for that. Ignorance no excuse I know but we are all so much wiser now!

Which is a whole cultural capital issue that needs to be sorted out.

Children from homes where the parents have degrees and might be working in higher education, who attend schools which send the vast majority of their cohort into selective universities, are planning higher education (or having higher education planned for them) with the precision and attention to detail of a military invasion of mainland Europe over contested Normandy beaches. They'll have good, accurate advice on courses, institutions and outcomes, and they'll have been guided towards the sort of qualifications that ensure they can get onto those courses from an early age (certain Y9 selection of GCSEs).

Meanwhile, people whose only crime is wanting to get an education and succeed in life are given bad advice by schools, which their parents for perfectly good reasons aren't in a position to doubt or correct, and end up doing (or, worryingly often, not doing) courses of dubious quality at universities whose admission requirements are so loosely drawn that they cannot possibly have a strong idea as to how well the students will cope.

It just isn't fair. Schools should be providing better advice to people whose parents aren't in a position to step.