University 2020 :4: The wait for grades and better days ahead

[MillicentMartha]

New thread for us. Interesting times.

Old thread here

@Hoghgyni.. Yes... Seems like a long time since the schools closed... Think Dd has spent most of that time looking at research papers on infectious diseases!

Cambridge can do anything and students will still ‘go’ - it might not be the same for all

Oneteen she's not alone. We went to Blackwells in Feb & DH stocked up on various books on epidemiology just in case he needed to know more for work. Now he wouldn't be able to find them for love or money.

Edinburgh have now said they’ll be a mix of online and face to face in September according to dd2

@TheDrsDocMartens where did she hear that? dd had an email saying no further news until end of May just a few days ago.

Don’t know, mentioned it this afternoon

Just a quick question, not sure if anyone knows the answer. I am hoping DD will have passed her driving test and be taking a car to uni (rural uni, not fantastic public transport, needs to be in Specials for course so odd working hours sometimes nights). I got an insurance quote for her car at home and it came out at £1100, then I changed the address to uni and it shot up to £2600! Do we have to tell insurance company when she moves to uni or can we keep car insurance at home address?

You need to state wherever she lives majority of time, especially if she will be using it to go to work. Most ft courses are a minimum of 30 weeks so will be uni address.

Wow expensive! Is an electric bike an option?!

@ClerkMaxwell how did you find out about the 40 day clause? dd has tried to contact Edinburgh accommodation office to try to find out what the situation is if it is not possible to do face to face learning from the start but accommodation contract starts on 13th September. However only a security officer is fielding the calls !

40-day clause was in accommodation contract. However yesterday they clarified in the website that if you can't make it onsite for the start of teaching in September you can pull out of the accommodation contact with no penalty. If they have sufficient rooms they will hold your accommodation for you until you can arrive but if not they will help you find something else later in the year. They are also planning to aid 14 day isolation if that is a requirement but details still to be finalized. So I understood it that the 40 day notice only applies if you matriculate and actually take up your accommodation. Let me see if I can find the link.

www.ed.ac.uk/news/covid-19/prospective-students

Scroll down to accommodation. I think general rentals in Scotland have break clauses and there was a plan to bring student rentals into line before Covid so perhaps the 40-day anticipates this.

thanks @ClerkMaxwell. Do you know if a room were held if you still pay for unoccupied time? We're in England but concerned there may still be travel limitations in September although NS seems to be hoping to get education back in August now. The principal seems to be anticipating a hybrid form of tuition.

StSaulofSnacks Bristol accommodation opens 1 June. Allocations are made after results day.

I imagine Edinburgh will have excess accommodation this September so would happily hold the room if you paid. Only issue I could see would be if that left flats with just one person. Principal was on radio yesterday saying hybrid tuition similar to Cambridge but starting in September as planned rather than delaying start as some of the other Scottish unis have announced. DD has been contacted to see if she'd be happy to be part of a subject specific study group within her halls so it looks like they are trying to make groups who study same subjects and live together. DD knows 3 people in her flat from a chat group and they are all studying different subjects so looks like the usual allocation i.e. mix-up of nationalities and subjects per flat. DD keen to have details on what will be online only as I think this will determine which outside subjects she takes e.g. she would do maths if there are face to face tutorials and office hours but not if completely online as she's not as quick as others at picking up (but when she gets it she retains it).

JufusMum She can't do that I am afraid. However you could shop around for a new policy closer to the time starting at the new address, then take out a new policy and cancel the current one for a refund. A different company may offer better rates. Has she also disclosed she needs it for business use.

Seasonfinale

It’s not for business use it’s commuting and it’s not actually work as the Specials is voluntary. One quote went from £1600 to £4500!!! How they justify that is beyond me!

@JufusMum - is that quote including the use of a black box/tracker device? DS's insurance went down a lot when he agreed to that.

Divoc2020 yes that was with black box and DH as a named driver

Jufus can she do the advanced driver training with the Police asap? My 19yo niece had a similar issue.

Lots more new documents on the A level and GCSE exams.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-cancellation-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2020

1. Results of the consultation, pretty much they are going to do what they suggested. They will allow schools to appeal results In case of error, and may let them appeal on the grounds that this year’s cohort is very different to historical cohorts even taking this cohort’s previous attainment into account.

They will allow small centres more flexibility than large ones.

2. New consultation out on autumn exams. Open until 8th June.

Plus a few more documents.

A lot of these documents updated.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/awarding-qualifications-in-summer-2020

No ability to appeal

I can't see anything about whether students will have any information about their nominal assessment grade for any NEA work completed before lockdown. They need this in order to decide whether it is worth taking an exam in Autumn to try to improve their grade!

I think they can go through school to appeal if it looks like there has been an error, though school have to agree, I guess.

dd had a reassuring email from Edinburgh today and has confirmed accommodation . The modules of her course will be 100% coursework assessed, presumably to allow for remote learning if needs be, so no exams in her first year.