Heading towards year 3 exams (uni 2017)

[Xenia]

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.

Xenia and others, one thing to look out for is that a very standard lease clause is that tenants should tell the landlord if the property will be vacant for more than a month. Its sensible and normally results from mortgage or insurance small print.

DDs landlord is a complete amateur so probably does not realise that, in the same way that he does not realise he should be licensed, that there should be an inventory and that there should be working smoke alarms. DD wrote to him saying she was not returning other than to collect things. I think two of the other three are at home as well. The last, who was the "friend of a friend" who DD always found quite demanding, seems to have moved in a boyfriend and a friend of his, so there is extra reason for the landlord to know that she is not present and therefore not party to any problems that might occur. The remaining resident was already extremely germophobic before Covid19, so we need to be very careful. I have bought masks and hand sanitiser so when we go we can very clearly make every effort not to bring germs into the flat and be on firm ground re Government guidelines.

I was reading somewhere that medical schools and STEM departments are worried about students missing the start of next term so they may be prioritised.

They are missing so much. I hope when things restart they will enjoy things that much more.

Thanks for the tip about informing the landlord, Needmore . It had crossed my mind that ds's contents insurance would be invalid with his precious music kit left behind but I hadn't worried about the house because a housemate is still there. I'm not sure what we do about collecting his stuff...

It must be incredibly difficult for unis to know what to do about new students this year. With all the news about full fees being owed but courses possibly being online in September, I certainly wouldn't want to be a fresher this year and would defer my course if I possibly could. Most students want the full uni experience for their money, unwise behaviour away from home included, not just online lectures. The unis stand to lose billions if students can't go back in person, and if they do let students back I can't imagine they'll be able to enforce social distancing in halls and lectures. It must be a real dilemma for unis and students expecting to start.

Yes, good point. One twin has his flat mate in the property throughout with girl friend so that is fine. The other house today has 3 in it but if all leave tomorrow I agree that is an issue even if they go back in 3 weeks' time - apparently their current plan. It is possible one will stay.

DD has finished her online 'exams'. She's not entirely sure how she's done as being 'open book' they were rather different from usual but I think she's happy enough. They're getting an introductory lecture for the start of their third year project later in the week - will be interesting to see what they can do sans labs!

Also discussing when and if she and her BF can come here - we've made the 'box room' habitable so he can have his own space assuming they can come.

DD has submitted her dissertation, she's glad to see the back of it. Now for the exams. In other news, she has got a job for her year in employment.
Hope everybody else is OK.

Well done to all the DC who have submitted. DD still working on hers....then has two big essays.

@bettybattenburg, well done to your DD on job - will she live at home?

I still have DS at home from his placement , which is due to finish in June.

Employer is gradually allowing small numbers back on site , we think he might get back for a week or 2 in June, though he’s going to ask if he can stay another month to complete a project.

He’s doing ok at home , got some documents to write and getting on with research for next years dissertation.

Good to hear that most people are doing ok. Hope things are improving for you and your children, SMaCM and Bettybattenburg.

Qatar Airlines have announced they are hoping to restart a limited number of flights out of Adelaide in June so that might be good timing for DS2's return in July. You'll probably think I'm being daft but I don't want him on planes that haven't flown for ages. I want to know they are in good mechanical order before he's flying. That doesn't mean I'm happy for other people to be guinea pigs either before you think I only care about my son! I haven't said anything to my DH or my other son because I know they would do a major eyeroll in my direction and laugh.

Everyone seems fine. My twins are good too and have a routine at home - one is working on his dissertation preparation every day. The other has a 2 week extension of time on an essay. On their Bristol house/flat each property has one of the housemates in it (one has his girl friend in there too) so they are not empty and at least someone's child is getting something out of the all rent we parents have paid for this last term.

If the twin going post grad law will be only online for the 2 terms of the course from Sept (we don't know that yet) then I don 't see why we should pay £2000 more for the London course than their out of London centres. If it is going to be in person in September than that's fine and what we expected...although I just checked and the on-line version of the course has always been as expensive as the London one. So I wonder if they will put up the fees by £2k to the on line price then for all the centres out of London if they are going on line only.

Latedecembet, glad your son may get a flight in July from Australia. I am not sure what will happen with the proposed UK quarantines on arrival which I never thought was a good plan and we have already back tracked with France so goodness knows where that will stand, if it is ever enacted, by July.

We'd already assumed that he will need to quarantine for 14 days with us after his return. His Grandma will be 82 and his Oma almost 88 so we need to be sure he is ok before he sees them, although my MiL will find that hard as she has missed him very much.
We're hoping he will be able to get a flight back to Manchester to make it easier to pick him up.

Posted too soon... meant to say glad your lads are doing ok too.

@bigtillymint - no, it's not advisable really
I think it's best she doesn't in a way as she's going to be a key worker and I am already so living together increases the risk for us both and my other DCs.

latedecember I would feel the same about those planes too,though I know from being involved with planes of a sort that they will have been throughly checked and checked to within a mm let alone an inch.

Errol well done to your DD re the exams. Mine is doing one of her exams today - a 1000 word essay. That's a tight word count depending on what they have to do, she's going to get me to proof read it later. We tried face timing earlier but it was too slow; my youngest has live lessons online until just after lunch so is using the bandwidth for that - not unreasonably.

Xenia glad that your twins seem to be doing OK. What is the one not doing the law post-grad planning to do work wise?

SMaCM hope that your DD is OK. How are things?

I have permanently withdrawn from my MSc, I can't afford to pay the extra fees in the Autumn.

betty, I wish I knew what he will do. He and his 2 housemates have a planned gap year which originally was work half the year to make the money July - Dec 2020 and Jan 2021 fly abroad for six months on the money they earned. I think they need to decide in June if that is still possible and if not make other plans. Last Autumn he said he would do law like his twin but then later he was less keen so decided not to apply. As jobs and travel are probably the two most scarce things likely this year I suspect doing some kind of course (i.e. the 2 years of post grad law) might be a good idea particularly as I will pay for it but it is his choice. His older brother was a postman for 3 years and then for 3 years has delivered groceries for a living so the bar has been set very low....... Mind you the grocery one possibly other than my doctor sibling as the most stable work of any of us so may be not such a bad choice....

I was surprised that my dd got a job in the current climate. It's only for a year and then she will be back at university but has to decide where to apply since Bristol doesn't do the right PD for her.
At least with your son taking the time to decide hopefully increases the chances of the right decision.

Aw, thank you, Bettybattenburg, that's reassuring.
A low paid, unsocial hours job might be really useful for your son, Xenia, to help him focus on what he wants. When DS1 left uni after 1 year he worked as a chef for about 3 years before he decided on accountancy. Although he loved the camaradarie of the kitchen he got fed up of the split shifts and hardly ever seeing his girlfriend.

latedecember1963 I know airlines are doing things differently, but my DH is an engineer with one. Where he is based, his company are running the aircraft engines everyday and doing certain checks - they haven’t just parked them up and switched them off. From his base, they are still flying to one destination daily and they are rotating the aircraft so all are still being flown ready for when travel starts up. I know some airlines have ‘parked up’ aircraft (don’t know the technical term) so that will be a bigger job for them all to be checked and flying again.

late, I ass although he worked in a hotel the summer before including cleaning the walls so I think he knows what those jobs are like now (and that may be they are not for him)

We always thought their older brother after 3 years as a postman might then revert to something a bit higher level but no chance - he is happy for life in these kinds of manual labour type jobs.

bettybatenburg well done on your DD getting a job!
Good to hear all our DCs are doing okay. DD has her last assignment due in this week, then 2 exams to go. It is hard to keep motivated.
On a positive note, the company she has a job with for September have said that the jobs are going ahead and that they are planning to restart production later this month. I have my fingers crossed.

Just plopping in to the thread with a new issue that has arisen - DD and her friends have finished their course, were due to graduate July 6. They've all just received a council tax bill for the final two months of their rental - apparently as their course has finished (dissertation end of April, final essay last Thursday) they are now no longer students and are liable for council tax.
It seems a bit harsh, especially as all their employment plans have gone down the swanny.
Has anyone else had this?

I think it is legitimate, though a bit mean.

I assume Councils are pretty cash strapped.

Wow FannyCann that sounds a bit harsh of your dd's council. What is her official course end date because that's the date the council should be using? Most courses seem to end in May at the earliest or more often June.

If her course finished earlier than expected as a result of the lockdown, I wonder how the council would have known this. It would seem only fair to count them as students until the normal course end date because they'll have paid fees and rent for the full length of time. Or alternatively they could all have moved back home and would no longer be liable for council tax there.

Hope they can find a way to sort it.

Thank you so much, Hellsbells99. I feel so much better for having mentioned it and been given reassurance.
This is such a lovely thread. 🤗💐

FannyCann, it looks as if someone qualifies as a student until the last day of the term they are registered as a student, not the day they graduate.

Then it gets a bit murky as you are supposed to have a set number of hours teaching, which those who have completed dissertations and finished teaching, won’t .

Google suggests Bristol were the first to try it on back in 2013.

I guess there is a choice. Either seek advice from the University/SU. They should already be aware of any aggressive policies used by the local authorities and how to appeal. Or pay. Either way it’s not worth incurring a bad debt at the start of your career. Councils are pretty hot on chasing.

DD seems happy. Her medical school have not overburdened her with work, but she has started to access informal Zoom seminars given by younger doctors on their specialties. The doctors come from all over, as does the audience. It’s obviously not as good as real clinical experience but is more interesting than a book.

Congratulations to all those who have finished dissertations, exams and other tasks.

Council tax is an issue here at home as now one of the twins is not doing law in September that will cost me at leaat £750 in extra council tax unless he works away (as otherwise I am a single person here)

Thanks Need and Haff
It just seems a bit harsh but as you say, she'll have to pay it.

I've told her to look into applying for unemployment benefit. Pre CV she had a part time job and expected to come home and work as a manager in a local bar she has worked at regularly in the holidays. Those jobs have obviously gone and along with all the other new graduates prospects aren't what any of them expected. I wouldn't previously have encouraged her to sign on but I think she may as well under the circumstances and that will at least pay her council tax and hopefully reduce the rate too.
Can your twin sign on Xenia?
I hear lots are...