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Higher education

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

Original poster

Durham University

998 replies

NotEnoughTime · 04/02/2020 14:18

Hello.

How many of us are waiting for their DC to hear back from Durham? My DS applied back in October last year and is getting very down now he knows that others who have received offers are being informed that they will be told soon re college allocations.

I am usually a 'no news is good news' type of person but even I am finding it hard to be upbeat as I too am fed up Confused

I wish they would just let him me know soon if he is going to get an offer or a rejection and then he can get on with his life and his A Level revision without this hanging over him.

OP posts:
Greyhair59 · 13/11/2020 15:27

Thanks everyone. Pleased to say after a meeting uni have agreed he can move to another flat (one above him so still same "household"). Very relieved.

janinlondon · 13/11/2020 16:52

Excellent news grey hair. DD has just been told she doesn’t need to move all her stuff out of her room when she vacated for Christmas. Hurrah!!! That’s two ten hour drive days we can avoid. You cannot imagine how much she has in that room ...

KingscoteStaff · 13/11/2020 17:03

That’s good news Greyhair59. Hope he doesn’t have too much heavy stuff to hump up the stairs!

janinlondon · 20/11/2020 10:07

How are the Durham students faring in lockdown? @Greyhair59 how is the new flat working out for your DS? Have the Christmas returners booked their transport?

KingscoteStaff · 20/11/2020 12:28

DS doesn’t have test date yet, so can’t book cheap early train ticket Grrrrr

janinlondon · 20/11/2020 12:36

Do they need to leave within a specific time period after their test, and are they having two tests? I haven't seen the details from the University - DD is in a college where testing is ongoing, so just went ahead and booked her train to leave in the government approved time period. Does your DS book through ticketysplit Kingscote? They do have some fabulous deals....

DominaShantotto · 20/11/2020 13:52

@janinlondon

Can anyone make head or tail of the plan to evacuate the Universities on particular days from 2-9 December? Does each university designate a particular day for their students to leave, as people seem to be interpreting it? I cannot imagine Durham station being able to cope with that....?? Please can someone explain it to me in very simple terms, as I seem to have lost my powers of logic....
I can tell you how MY uni are doing it (we have similar testing access to Durham so it might help). We're non collegiate so they're doing it by faculty. Each faculty has a couple of days window for heading home, and a date about a week in advance of that when all teaching is going online (like most of it wasn't already). Then you are encouraged to go on the dates given - and they're asking you book a rapid test the day before you travel and one a few days before that (but they're forever begging us to wander up to the testing site anyway). Basically compliance is being heavily ENCOURAGED but not enforced is the gist of it - but Covid never got to be too bad a situation in our uni (worst I think we had about 150 cases in a week at the peak).

We literally only got that info through a day or two ago though so it may well still be being decided. Considering the logistics of getting everyone out of the Bailey college sites in Durham that one is always going to be something requiring more thought than us being given a "ok you can sod off home - try not to lick anyone on the way to the station" on a given date approach we have in a large city with a big train station!

alterego2 · 20/11/2020 18:07

DD has been offered 2 tests one a week before travel and one a day before. However, we are not pushing her to have them as we know she has had it and the chances of re-infection are statistically vanishingly small. But if we got a false positive ( and LFTs do seem to to give quite a lot of those) we would have great difficulty getting her back for Xmas.

I get the impression that quite a lot of the students are not keen on being tested - they don't want to risk entire households being isolated because one student tests positive. On the other side of that are the minority who quite rightly want to be sure they are clear as they have vulnerable family members. So it's a bit of a mess.

Greyhair59 · 21/11/2020 23:21

Thankfully move gone well, but another 2 in original flat want to move so now authorities seem to want to investigate and ds doesn't want to get involved. His college have said they would prefer students to leave by 9th and get test before leaving but it is up to individuals.

KingscoteStaff · 22/11/2020 14:10

Good to hear your DS is happy in new flat greyhair. Have just posted DS’s Christmas jumper for his household party on the 5th.

nipersvest · 23/11/2020 13:07

DD is coming home on either the 9th or the 10th, her household are not keen to have the tests being offered, worried that, as they have all had Covid, some may still test positive, and if they do, would be put straight back into quarantine.

Quair · 23/11/2020 13:45

@nipersvest DS's household are exactly the same: some of them had covid just after fresher's week and they were all in self-isolation and none of them wants to do that to the others again.
FWIW, none of them are ill any more. Covid seems to have been and gone from their household.

janinlondon · 23/11/2020 18:26

DD lost her work as a Covid porter when the university closed the extra curric buildings, but her household is now working the lateral flow tests. Lots of job opps for them in durham it seems...?!

Suki2 · 23/11/2020 21:36

DS and the majority of his household have had Covid, and they are reluctant to be tested again because it seems unnecessary; the latest studies suggest immunity of at least six months.

I think just two people in DS"s bubble are taking the test; it would be a disaster if they were positive and the other students have to isolate even though they've already had it. It's very frustrating that there is no differing guidance from the Government for students who've had the virus very recently.

mum2eim · 24/11/2020 08:15

Advice from PHE for healthcare workers is not to get a test for 90 days after a positive test because of the risk of it picking up dead RNA. A poster on another thread said that Liverpool uni guidance was quite clear not to get a repeat test if a student had already had a positive test in the previous 90 days.

Witchend · 24/11/2020 10:13

DD had already planned on isolating for 2 weeks then had booked the train tickets to come home slightly early.
We discussed whether she needs to get a test, and I said I didn't think there will be any point as her (and housemates) are isolating for a fortnight before they go home so she shouldn't have it. They're only going out twice a week (tutorial and shopping) anyway.
I've told her if the uni says they're insisting they do a test, then do one, but otherwise it seems a waste of resources.

janinlondon · 24/11/2020 10:41

They are definitely not insisting. All voluntary. As is the "government recommended" travel window.

TerfTerfTerf · 25/11/2020 13:56

Whoop whoop! DS txt to say he's coming home on the 5th! Train is booked and I could not be more excited ❤️

KingscoteStaff · 25/11/2020 19:15

DS still can’t decide 8th or 9th so still no chance of super cheap ticket.

In other news, apparently there are going to be Freshers’ Team rugby fixtures next term!

janinlondon · 26/11/2020 07:48

Tickets to London running at about £25 one way currently for 8/9 December on TicketySplit. GREAT news re the rugby fixtures!

KingscoteStaff · 01/12/2020 17:10

Well, knock on the door at 5pm yesterday, and there he was!

He (and 3 of his housemates) decided that they couldn't face 2 more weeks in Tier 3 with no socialising/sport/facetoface. One of their dads happened to be passing through Durham with a large vehicle (usually used by dogs by the smell of him) and piled them and their kit in and drove them south.

He's done his online seminar and 2 lectures from home today, gone running with his sister and eaten the entire fridge.

So pleased to see him!

janinlondon · 01/12/2020 17:28

Hurrah! That’s one down.
DD still working all the hours god sends in the “bake off tent”- it’s apparently paying for our Christmas presents (I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate)....

janinlondon · 08/12/2020 10:31

Any others returned to their loving families? DD is coming home this afternoon.....having taken roughly 4983 tests to check that she's uninfected.....

Witchend · 08/12/2020 12:14

DD's tomorrow, having not tested, but isolated for the last 2 weeks.

KingscoteStaff · 08/12/2020 12:34

Has anyone heard about return dates?
My mum (known for her foot-in-mouth tendencies) greeted DS with
‘How lovely to see you, darling!! When are you going back?’

Luckily he saw the funny side...