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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Heading towards year 3 exams (uni 2017)

998 replies

Xenia · 05/12/2019 09:23

Continuation of www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3538808-heading-towards-year-2-exams-uni-2017 as we have reached page 40.

Hard to believe they are all in year 3 now and many will finish university in June 2020.

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ErrolTheDragon · 16/04/2020 16:13

Our broadband seems fine, touch wood, and I think where DD is staying is ok too. Their assessments are designed to be downloaded and then completed offline. I'd guess they won't be huge amounts of data, Bluetooth connection to 4G mobile data would hopefully be perfectly adequate. Surely no uni is unwise enough to be relying on a live connection for the duration of the exam?

ErrolTheDragon · 16/04/2020 16:14

Can you imagine the strain on the UK's broadband infrastructure of many hundreds of thousands of students attempting to upload their dissertations at the same time, just before (say) midday on the 30th April?

Text, each not actually enormous - a drop in the ocean tbh.

AutumnCrow · 16/04/2020 16:23

I hope so, Errol.

DS's university's "portal" capacity is another concern. It regularly crashes, times out, and is generally crap.

bettybattenburg · 16/04/2020 17:48

DS's university's "portal" capacity is another concern. It regularly crashes, times out, and is generally crap.

That sounds like mine, it's down more than it is up.

AutumnCrow · 16/04/2020 17:57

£9,250 a year for a piece of string and a paper cup ...

SMaCM · 16/04/2020 18:01

Studying at home is not going well here. It remains to be seen if DD will finish the year ☹️.

bettybattenburg · 16/04/2020 18:15

What? A piece of string and a paper cup? Why didn't I get a piece of string? Angry

bettybattenburg · 16/04/2020 18:16

@SMaCM I'm sorry to hear that. Has she been able to speak to anybody at the university?

SMaCM · 16/04/2020 18:18

Thanks Betty. Yes she has spoken to her course tutor. She isn't well (not Covid reared) and may just not be able to do it.

bettybattenburg · 16/04/2020 18:20

I'll keep my fingers crossed for her.

I hope her university are more supportive than the one I have been dealing with (not DD's, mine) who have less compassion than a vogon on a bad day.

Horsemad · 16/04/2020 20:01

Sorry to hear this @SMaCM ☹️ what has her uni said?

Xenia · 16/04/2020 20:10

I am sorry SmaCM. There is not long to go - I hope she can make it through this last term.

Bristol seem to be managing things pretty well. Son 1 had no trouble uploading his dissertation from home and his tutor acknowledge it the same day (and it is tiny even at 10,000 compared with the massive legal documents I send every day - one alone was 100 pages and 50,000 words today so I think we will be okay here.

One got some computer games out from under his bed from his days at school to load on his new computer and we were just saying it was a bit like being back at school again now they are home in a sense. They both now have at least one housemate in their student houses so at least someone is getting value for money from the rents. Although my suggestion if lock down is over on 5 May that might be a good day to go back is scuppered as we have 3 more weeks of it from today.

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AutumnCrow · 16/04/2020 20:16

DS's university has also gone full Vogon, including with the students who are supposed to have disability student support.

SMaCM · 16/04/2020 20:19

Thanks - still waiting to hear anything definite from the tutors. So far it has just been 'see how you are' and 'I'll let you know'. She is not a happy bunny. Medical appointments by phone are a bit odd too.

bettybattenburg · 16/04/2020 21:00

AutumnCrow It's not just those two that have gone full Vogon, I have heard of another who has told a student that they will have to pay their fees again for a course module that started 3 weeks ago if they defer to September. Apparently a death certificate isn't suitable evidence for mitigating circumstances Shock

Haffdonga · 16/04/2020 23:30

Flowers for SMacM's dd

ErrolTheDragon · 24/04/2020 23:58

How is everyone?

DD has done the first three out of ten online assessments to be completed over the next couple of weeks. Ok as far as I know, the downloads and uploads have worked but DH made sure she had some extra data so she could use 4G if by bad luck there was any internet problem.

Carriemac · 25/04/2020 11:08

DD is struggling - she will have nine 5 hour exams over 14 days starting 1st June, open book for law. she did a practice on Friday and it went really badly and she is downcast and talking about deferring to next year.
DS - her twin in contrast is finished for the year ( year abroad cut short) and has just heard his rental contract has been cancelled and he will get his full deposit back two months early
so ups and downs in this house

bettybattenburg · 25/04/2020 11:35

DD is doing OK but she is determined to go and stay with her boyfriend for a week. I have made my feelings known but she is adamant it's her decision and not mine - which it is of course. I've stopped short of saying it's my decision if she can come back here afterwards because there is no way I'm saying she's not allowed back home. We have agreed to disagree.

She's also job hunting as she needs to work for a year now before going back to university.

Re the Internet, we have told the DSs that there will be no xbox playing when DD is doing her exams online as we are not risking bandwith issues, our internet is tin can and a bit of string at the best of times since we have had a faulty phone line for 10 years and BT will not fix it Angry Angry Angry. We are not their customers so have little sway over them.

Sorry to hear about those who are struggling.

Xenia · 25/04/2020 11:45

Pretty easy here and my twins have always been very laid back. One watched part of a seminar which was on line for the first time by his Bristol lecturer on his course although he did not participate in it. He has set himself up with a lap top in the garden under a sunshade at the big table and been working on either his essay or dissertation. He's done 6000 words of notes for the dissertation and thinks it is going fine. His twin has already submitted his as that subject hsa an earlier deadline. I think they have about one exam each which just be an essay for which they will be given a week to do it in or something like that and had loads of assessment already anyway which feeds into the degrees so I think they are not too affected academically by it.

There are friends ( house mates) in each of their student houses so at least my £3000 of rent for this term is benefitting someone's child, if not mine.

Carriemac, sorry about the law practice exams. I remember how many exams I had to do for law. I was just amazed my twins have 1 (or 2 ) exams only this summer - totally different from law which is exam after exam after exam. So my twins not reading law and having an essay instead of a final exam is almost de minimis as most of their assessment was never going to be all on this final one or two exams . That is very different from other subjects.

I don't think your daughter should defer. I think she should have a go and see how she does. Also I think the markers will be reasonably generous given the situation.

My son's friend finished the year abroad a bit early and is now in my son's bed room in Bristol as her new house tenancy does not start until 1 July so that's worked out fine.

My twins are helped by having lots of calls to friends and the one with a girl friend obviously calls her every day. They also seem to have a good routine here of work when there is some academic work to do., They cook together each night or most nights and do a food shopping trip once a week, go cycling every day or for a walk in the woods opposite our house. it took a while to get new routine up and running but they seem to be fine. However it is extremely difficult for lots of people particularly those who are sick with covid 19 and those who have lost their jobs.

The one of my sons doing a gap year with his friends needs to discuss with them their plans in about a month once the situation may be clearer. The plan was to work to save money to end of this year and travel from Jan 2021. I certainly would have preferred him to stick with his decision of last year to go to law school in London with his twin for 2 years. Given travel abroad may be hard and jobs could be difficult to get, studying for something sensible like law might be a better plan.

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Haffdonga · 25/04/2020 11:50

It must be incredibly difficult for them to motivate themselves to study for open book exams and online assessments back in their childhood bedrooms without the normal student exam atmosphere around them. Good luck everyone.

Carriemac does your ds have to do online exams in his overseas uni or does he just pass his year automatically?

DS's job (cleaning ambulances) has not materialised and he's been laid off. The Nightingale hospital is empty with no nursing staff or patients despite it being announced open and running in the press. He was given all the kit including boots and uniform and nowhere now to give it back to - just a miniscule snapshot of the incredible amounts of money that must have been put into the whole plan. Anyway, thank goodness the hospital isn't needed. (He also scored a lot of Easter eggs donated by the supermarkets so all good Wink )

Carriemac · 25/04/2020 12:02

Yes I think not going to the library and sitting exams in her bedroom with 4 others in the house is tricky
We don't want her to defer

My DS is not doing any more assessments for his year abroad , luckily he did quite well in his first semester so that's his final mark
Also for all his travelling in before the lockdown so worked out quite well
Med student DS1 is currently doing some research with my DH from home on CV impact on non CV NHS services

I k ow it's nepotism as DH just created the project for him but it keeps him busy and is useful and publishable

Xenia · 25/04/2020 12:50

It sounds very interesting research. He should also look at if some people are healthier because they are not going needlessly to A&E and not having medicines they don't really need, if you see what I mean. One reason the NHS has been pretty effective over the years is unlike private medicine in the US it does not over medicate and in a sense that has benefited people's health eg not doing C sections when not needed In other words has not seeing a doctor with minor things done some people a lot of good. I expect that is hard to test however whereas how many more heart attack deaths at home have occurred is easier to check. My doctor father always said how dangerous hospitals can be - sepsis, all those diseases etc - that does not mean he or I are against going to hospital when you need it but it should not necessarily be everyone's first port of call for everything.

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Xenia · 25/04/2020 12:51

Related to that was the new guidance the NHS had to issue when it was found that breastscreening often did more harm than good and led to healthy women being operated on, a few years ago.

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bettybattenburg · 25/04/2020 17:07

My doctor father always said how dangerous hospitals can be - sepsis, all those diseases etc

I think it's worse now as there are so many more visitors (in normal times), more things being brought in from outside and so more germs. Don't get me started on the contracting out of cleaning services which seem to be less effective than when it was in house. The last time I went to see somebody in hospital (day case surgery) they had been told they couldn't go home until they had been to the toilet but were refusing because there was another patients blood on the floor in there - NHS ward in a private hospital Shock Shortly after coming home they found out they had MRSA which they didn't have when they went in as they were tested). Two months off work instead of a week because that's how long it took to get it under control Shock

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