UEA (2019) dealing with the unexpected and on to 2nd Year

[juicy0]

New thread for the parents of 2019 freshers. Thank you all for sticking around!
At the start of the year we never would have guessed the topics that are currently being discussed in this page but I'm grateful we still have each other to help navigate our way through this with our DC.
With the emptying of 1st year rooms seemingly on hold for many until the end of lockdown our thoughts will soon turn to 2nd year accommodation and whether term is likely to start as normal in September.

It's such a minefield getting a good mix of A Levels to keep options open, isn't it?

This time last year......

@sluj don't you think it feels like longer ago than a year?

It does feel like longer such an eventful year. I am going to Dunelm Mill later with DS2 to get stuff for his 2nd year double bed. Bet the place will be heaving with first year's mums buying too much stuff

Just back from a dog walk and I've been listening to radio 5 discussion about results. My heart breaks for students who didn't get the grades they need for their next step, it seems like the most unfair situation. What with the appeals process to navigate and uncertainty about what uni will look and feel like they really do seem to have been dealt an unfair hand. UEA does seem to be working really hard to keep students Informed though so I'm sure, once they all get back in September, it will still be a great experience

It definitely feels like more than a year ago, my DS missed his first choice, UEA was his insurance so it was a bit of a stressful day in our house.
I couldn’t resist and had a look on this years uni/results thread and it’s a shit show, lots of very very disappointed people. The plus point seems to be that lots of Unis are accepting people with lower grades and several people saying offers were changed to unconditional at a late stage.
But it’s not a good day for many, very sad situation.

Yes I feel for those receiving results today. Ds2 still isn't bothered about his gcse results next week 🤷‍♀️

Same here @Itscoldouthere (re missed grades and UEA being DS's insurance).

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 despite all the issue DS has had this year, he really likes UEA and Norwich, I don’t think he regrets going to UEA and never mentions his first choice university.
I do feel for all those young people who today missed out on their first choice and feel disappointed, but we’ve never though of UEA as second best, DS really likes the mix of people and the general vibe of the whole place.

@Itscoldouthere I am in total agreement with you about UEA. DS has himself said he thinks it is a better uni for him than Durham would have been. DN will be joining DS there and a second cousin too!

Not sure if I've said this before (and excuse me if I have) but I read that UEA is one of a handful of very good but often overlooked universities.

No regrets at all.

When does your DH go back to Canada and when are you hoping to join him. How quickly will your DS2 hear his resit outcomes (hopefully in a matter of days).

I can't believe that you may be contemplating Christmas not as a family. Mind you, it could happen for many of us. I suspect that this year it may be easier for our young people to stay in their university friendship bubbles than to come home.

DS went back up today with a load of his kit but has at least one more journey to do.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 my DH goes to Canada next Tuesday, it’s going to be so weird for us all as we’ve been together every day since March. He’s going to have to do 14 days quarantine in an almost empty flat.
DS emailed UEA today to ask about date of results, I’m not going to leave till I know he’s OK and happy to be back at UEA.
DH isn’t going to like being in Canada on his own especially as they are mostly WFH but now it’s so much more complicated to go back and forth he’ll just have to accept it.
Not ideal but we all have to live a bit differently now don’t we!

You must be itching to get your flat sorted out in Canada. The past six months have been like some type of surreal nightmare, haven't they?

Fingers crossed for quick turn arounds with results for your DS2 and green and positive lights for you all to get on with your lives.

DS has been cycling around Norwich already. Pleased to have him back with his friends rather than bickering with DD (who is super hormonal currently so a bit volatile!).

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 I feel a little bit like I'm looking forward to Ds1 moving out again. He is eating us out of house and home, he is a moody person, always has been, plus the 3 of them are always bickering. So I do find myself looking forward to it. It will be very when ds3 is leaving home. I don't mean I prefer him, he's just as moody as Ds1 but it'll be an empty nest then.

Ds is now worrying. They had to choose modules a while back. One of them has recently been cancelled. He was told to choose something else. He said he could no longer see the list of compatible modules. He asked his tutor chap, who ds says is always useless (apparently one lecture he gave them he just went through his emails and told them all what was in them) the tutor said he doesn't need to choose yet, then ds had an email saying choose now. So he picked something not knowing if it was compatible. That soon followed by an email saying that he hadn't chosen on time and that they'd put him down for the bio chemistry module. He hates bio chemistry and failed the module last year. Ds says if he fails it again he will lose his place at university. I said he needs to sort it. But he doesn't know who to contact. He has emailed back to say he doesn't want to do that module but got told as he didn't choose on time he had to do what they'd given him. Does university really work like that?

@icanbewhatiwant my DS has had a bit of a problem with module choices as well, I think I mentioned that his choice of beginners Japanese was cancelled, anyway he choose something else (can’t remember what it was) but then got an email to say that choice didn’t fit with his other modules, so had to choose again, the only thing that he could choose was also bio/Chemistry, he doesn’t mind that much but no way was it his first choice. It seems like they are limiting the options..... not ideal.

UEA was DS’s clearing choice and he’s really happy - think he’s forgotten he applied elsewhere

@Itscoldouthere perhaps not many are doing that module then. Ds is very worried about it. He says he will fail it. I'm sure there must be someone he can speak to. I don't know what happens if they do fail a module.

I don't know what happens if they do fail a module.

Not a UEA parent (yet - DS2 hopes to.go in 2021), but tried googling UEA failing second year module and it took me to the UEA portal:

portal.uea.ac.uk/learning-and-teaching/students/results-regulations/compensation

BACHELORS AND INTEGRATED MASTERSBACHELORS AND INTEGRATED MASTERS

Not all courses require you to pass every module. Where compensation in a failed module is available, you can progress on your course or graduate even though you have not passed the module; the failing module is ‘compensated’ for by your other marks.

If you have achieved good marks in all your modules except for one or two, you may have achieved the requirements of your degree without undertaking reassessment. Compensation is only available in some courses; courses where all modules need to be passed (eg professional degrees) are not eligible.

Any non-core module, is eligible for compensation up to a total of 40 credits. Information on core modules, which are not eligible for compensation because they must be passed to meet the learning outcomes of the course, is available on your Course Profile.

Undergraduate and Integrated Masters’ students are eligible for compensation where:

You have failed (or have not completed the assessment for) up to 40 credits, andThe failed/not completed module is eligible for compensation (not core) andYou have an average mark for the year of at least the pass mark (40% for Bachelors degrees; 50% for integrated masters degrees at level 7). All modules including the failed module contribute to this calculation.

To note:

Compensation is not allowed in any module designated as core (those that must be passed to meet the learning outcomes of the course).

And the page specific to continuing students:
portal.uea.ac.uk/learning-and-teaching/students/results-regulations/compensation/continuing-students

@icanbewhatiwant well in first year they just have to retake, that’s what my DS is doing now to try and make it in to second year, although he having to do that because he didn’t actually do the work in the first place, rather than failing it.
I would imagine it’s worth your DS having a conversation with uni, as he shouldn’t have to do a unit he hates especially if he thinks he will find it really hard to do, surely there must be some other option?
I know DS only had the email earlier this week, don’t know what the deadline was.

I think it's shameful that so many seem to be having to reconsider module options due to cancellations of some (the geographers have been affected by this too). You may have specifically been blown away by the course because of the very modules which are no longer on offer.

Having to take bio-chemistry with no interest in it is not right @icanbewhatiwant. Not really what 2nd/3rd/4th year exploring your own interests is meant to be about.

Thanks all. I don't know what to suggest really. It's annoying that his tutor chap doesn't sound helpful at all. I said to ds there must be someone he can ask. Apparently he can't look at the module choices again because they were in the year 1 portal. So he can't see what is compatible with what. He seems to think he's been signed out the portal. So he's a bit stressed about it all. He said he failed the bio chemistry last year. But he said as it was year one they called it a practice. He's never been one for maths, I think there is a maths involved in chemistry isn't there? Perhaps that puts him off. We did get a maths tutor in for him when he was a year 10 but school refused to put him in for the higher maths papers at gcse. He just took the foundation level exam. He didn't find those papers hard, so we stopped the tutor. I didn't see the point in spending money on tutors when he was only going to do foundation paper. He did find the exam easy and got a 5 which was as high as he could get.

Also, ds says they've been told all lectures will be online again. I asked if he would be getting lab time and he didn't know. He's not had lab time this year. So they must be missing out on a lot.

@icanbewhatiwant I’ll ask DS if he has access to the module choices he obviously did last week, if he does I’ll send them to you.
It sounds like bio/chem is not a good fit for your DS, I remember when looking around UEA they seemed to have so many choices in 2nd year it seems madness that he would have to choose something he really doesn’t like.
My DS isn’t in love with bio/chem but did maths to AS and chem at A level so feels capable of doing it.

@icanbewhatiwant just a thought but I just looked on the UEA webpage for biology, they have a list of all the units available in 2nd year, can your DS look at that? (Although obviously all those units aren’t available).

Thanks @Itscoldouthere I think he knows what modules there are. Just not which ones he can do as they need to choose from each section I think. So he can't see the section he needs to choose from. I think the one he chose that was cancelled was something to do with soil analysis. As we are a farming family he was interested. (Thankfully not much interest in actual farming from any of my boys. It's probably not the thing I should say as they are from a farming family but I was hoping they'd do more with their lives. So when they didn't show interest I was pleased)

If your son can see them...why can't mine I wonder? It must be the same section as your sons cancelled module if he's been given bio chemistry too. Japanese sounds like an extra though, rather than part of biology degree.

@icanbewhatiwant I’ve sent you a PM which explains how my DS is managing to see all of the available modules. I hope my explanation makes sense and may be of help to your DS.