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Universities and absences for (inter)national sports repping

37 replies

thunderbee · 11/02/2018 16:37

Does anyone know anything about whether universities make allowances, either at application or during degree studies, for students/applicants who have to attend national training camps etc.? Are modifications allowed to elements of assessment of courses or requirement for attendance if students have to be away during term time?
DC1 is unsure whether they could aim high for Uni given the demands of their sport in terms of training camps, weekend fixtures, expectation of club as well as national team attendance. Does anyone know how Oxbridge and Russell Group deal with this? DC has done very well at GCSE; the level of demand on their time from the sport and compulsory S&C is ramping up constantly however, so not sure how well they will maintain achievement come AS and next year A level. Would this be taken into account at all at application stage?
Any admissions tutors or lecturers on here who could share their knowledge?

OP posts:
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slug · 14/02/2018 16:23

I work at a university where we have an international player as an undergraduate student. Before he arrived we put in place measures so he could keep up with the workload while away at training camps and on tour, mostly centered around e-learning provision. I'm not sure about exam provisions, but he graduates this year and is on track for a first.

We don't have an elite pathway (not that sort of university) I do know that Loughborough has really good process in place for elite athletes.

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TalkinPeace · 14/02/2018 16:07

scabbersley
My friend did not play for the University when we were there - he was too busy playing for England and the UK

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Needmoresleep · 14/02/2018 15:58

Scabbersley - I don't think that is always/often the case. For example Bath has a number of very good swimmers, who would expect to gear their training programmes towards major international competitions. More of a problem in the States where College sport is taken very seriously. But even then top elite sport is seen as bring kudos to the University.

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Scabbersley · 14/02/2018 15:07

So I think the OPs dd should bear in mind that if she goes to uni on an elite athlete pathway, she will be expected to represent the uni as well as her national etc commitments.

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pigshavecurlytails · 14/02/2018 11:36

I'm a medic, trained at a prestigious London med school and they did their best to accommodate this sort of thing as they liked the reputation boost of having good sportspeople. A friend of mine took a year out to go to the commonwealth games.

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Scabbersley · 13/02/2018 08:32
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TalkinPeace · 12/02/2018 22:00

thunder
My Uni was one that is now in the RG (it did not exist when I was a student)
and my course involved field trips
and my fellow student managed one Olympics and two World cups during his undergrad career
it can be done
(and this was long before all the specialist support stuff that exists now)

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sendsummer · 12/02/2018 21:55

It's not clear from the OP at what level her DC competes
Actually TheRagingGirl it is quite clear from the title of the thread and that OP's DD attends national training camps.
To treat elite sport as a hobby is rather disparaging of the work that it takes, more in many cases than some degree courses.
Certain universities as has been said by several PPs have a track record of supporting elite sports people and managing the best package for them including when they combine their studies with professional sport.
It obviously depends on the constraints of the course and as I and others have said, there are compromises to be made. Having said that even medicine is compatible with an international sports career.

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bananasandwicheseveryday · 12/02/2018 21:35

I agree with Talkin and Lila. One of my DC did their degree at Loughborough and they never felt isolated. Lots of social life on campus - student union, individual halls events. Off campus, I am told there were some decent pubs and restaurants in the town which is a short walk away. Within five miles there's a Michelin starred restaurant and it's not too far to Leicester or Nottingham. And, if you're that way inclined, I'm assured the sports facilities are second to none.

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LilaBlue · 12/02/2018 19:11

Lots of the Loughborough students go to Nottingham for nights out. Not far and excellent choice of nightlife.

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TalkinPeace · 12/02/2018 17:50

Loughborough is great but very isolated.
What do you mean when you say Loughborough is isolated Scabbers?
Indeed.
It felt nothing of the sort when we visited.

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Bananasandwicheseveryday · 12/02/2018 17:41

What do you mean when you say Loughborough is isolated Scabbers?

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LilaBlue · 12/02/2018 17:09

Bath, Exeter, Loughborough and Harpury are all renowned for sports and all have elite entrance (good financial scholarships too)

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Scabbersley · 12/02/2018 14:17

Loughborough is great but very isolated. Lancaster also worth a look. Plenty of dds friends are going to the states. Good luck.

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randomsabreuse · 12/02/2018 13:50

This is why the UK does not do well vs countries with similar populations. In France a High Level Athlete does have exactly what you're looking for. And a lot of employers give sporting leave separate to holiday...

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Effic · 12/02/2018 13:46

Jamie Roberts - wales & lions rugby union international is a doctor so anything is possible!
Ask the individual university’s and you’ll find most have an elite sports pathway

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thunderbee · 12/02/2018 13:40

Thanks so much for all these helpful responses. I can see absolutely the point about presence being essential for some courses, particularly in sciences (after all, who would want to be treated by a doctor who had missed half of the course and was compensated for poor performance in assessments because of their sports involvement, even if they were an Olympic athlete!). I don't want to mention DCs sport or subject or my own background as all of these would be quite identifying - but it's not a hard science or medical route that she's thinking of so lab time wouldn't be an issues but there would likely be fieldwork to undertake.

The point about choices is a very fair one too - at some point something has to give and the individual has to make a choice about what is possible both academically and competitively within the time constraints. We had a good chat last night and she has shifted her position a bit from only wanting to apply to Oxbridge and RGs (which have the best profile in the subject she's interested in and where school is encouraging her to apply) to thinking that e.g. Loughborough could well be for her. Loughborough in particular looks to fare much better on many of the key metrics around student satisfaction than many RG universities too, which is interesting.

Thanks again for all these comments, this input has been really informative and helpful.

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TalkinPeace · 12/02/2018 13:35

Interestingly my degree was nothing sporty
and although I knew what sport he played, was totally unaware of what level until the issue of the training camp came up.

He just got on with his degree and fitted the sport around it - right up till the Olympic call up.
And after the games he knuckled down like the rest of us to get his work done.
Looking at his Wikipedia page, he represented England and the UK over 200 times - while still being a pretty normal bloke.

I guess team sports are a tad different than athletics though.

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Scabbersley · 12/02/2018 13:19

Bath is pretty good. But it's a bit rich to expect your dd to get a place at an rg uni AND then miss work for her sport.

Choices!!

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CotswoldStrife · 12/02/2018 13:17

I thought of Loughborough straight away too - not sure they would make any allowances for absence, though which is what you are after I think. Not a sports degree but something different which would allow for the absences caused by the sport - I don't think that's going to be possible.

I have no idea if private Universities (such as Buckingham) would be able to accommodate this but you could check.

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Scabbersley · 12/02/2018 13:15

I wouldn't encourage a sport if you knew it would actively undermine their A levels. Training camps in the holidays are fine.

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Scabbersley · 12/02/2018 13:14

You need to be looking at unis that have elite athlete programs

Even then uni work comes first and the sport fits around it.

Definitely no mitigating circumstances for A. Level results!

My daughter chose PE instead of biology at a level so that she could apply knowledge and use her sport to help her (30% of a PE a level is practical).

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TalkinPeace · 12/02/2018 13:09

PS he got a 2:1 back in the day when they were rare Smile

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TalkinPeace · 12/02/2018 13:08

Lad I was at Uni with asked for two weeks off from lectures for a training camp.
His own tutor got really shitty at him.
HoD signed the leave of absence - but he got NO leeway on exam results.

In the October the lad came to a lecture wearing his Olympic medal Grin
His second medal was after he left Uni and his then employer gave him leave for it.

It has to be on a case by case basis

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TheDrsDocMartens · 12/02/2018 12:32

Some will depend on the sport too. Plus RG doesn’t mean best . That depends on the subject.

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