Is anyone’s DC doing their year abroad in September?

[MrsSchadenfreude]

DD1 is waiting to see if it goes ahead. She is very stressed about it - if she has to do her third year here she will struggle to find somewhere to live, and the Department will have twice the number of students. There doesn’t seem to be any contingency planning in place.

Have you checked what the host university covers insurance wise. Our daughter's one made it very clear that overseas students would be covered for medical treatment (apart from dental work) and if it's a European country you also have the benefit of the student EHIC card.

So despite all the drama the day before my daughter's flight when her home university said they couldn't support her placement - she is now enjoying discovering Sweden. It's a worrying time for us parents but I'm so glad she made it.

My daughter and class mates lobbied their uni with evidence that the other students are going from a whole range of different universities and they have finally been allowed to travel. Hoping now that her flight is still going in a weeks time…

Interesting that your daughters Uni changed tack @campocaro, that’s to Spain ? My daughters course have been told they can’t go (I think primarily due to FCO guidance and the fact the insurance they provide they now can’t provide...) Its very frustrating, flights booked etc.

Will also get dd to check what the host uni offers insurance wise, thanks @ILikeTrains

Also - glad your daughter got to go @ILikeTrains 😊 !

My DD said students got angry too and put pressure on uni to allow YA. They are offering choice and are providing insurance. But we had already got our own anyway.

In other words, uni were persuaded to offer YA to those who still want to go

Both unis for dd1 said no if FO says only essential travel 😬

I work in this field and can assure you that universities are just as frustrated as students and their parents about this issue, although of course on a personal level the students themselves are the worst affected. It's so difficult these days to draw the line between ensuring the best possible student experience and also fulfilling the duty of care owed to students. This is the case anyway, let alone during a global pandemic.

If anyone has any questions about the thinking behind certain decisions or processes I'm happy to answer from a general university perspective.

DD1 is off to France next week, but is having problems sorting out a bank account with Starling. She has no income, as she is a student, and that is where she is stuck. HSBC have also been unhelpful. Does anyone else have any other suggestions? Revolut?

I think my DD has an account with Starling. I assume she would have put in the figure she got from us and student loan combined but am not sure.

Still not sure what is happening with DD. Looking like might be possibility that boarders might open to students.

Re:Starling
My DD has no income but student grant is an income so she put down how much she receives a month from that. Was fairly low amount but they allowed it. Now has Starling

Funny, I was just thinking that we would need to put money in Starling. I know she can't pay rent from it though. That has to be done by UK bank transfer.

Which country is that foolsassassin?

An Asian one Sunndowne.

She’s finally sorted out her bank account, ticket booked and all set to go! They have said that classes will be in person, and social distancing will be in place. She’s travelling to Paris with a friend who is going to the Sorbonne for their year abroad, coffee with a friend, and then onto Strasbourg. She’s nervous but excited!

That is very exciting ! Think we have a fair bit more waiting our end. Classes will be online if she goes and a 14 day quarantine would have to be sorted.

MrsSchad that's great news - my DS is waiting for final confirmation of when he can go (Rouen). Did you go with Starling in the end? DS seems to think a guarantor needed (no prob doing this) for Starling, is that right? Also, is your DD having to quarantine on arrival? DS is through British Council as language assistant in a school starting 1 Oct so if we need to factor in quarantine he'd need to go soon!!

Apparently they have said no quarantine, just to self certify that she hasn’t got CV or been in contact with anyone who has it.

Excellent news!
Some of our students are going (China, Netherlands, Costa Rica) some have been cancelled (mainly USA).

Thanks MrsSchad he's just got email confirming his flat's available whenever he wants so just booked flight for 13th Sept to allow 2 weeks before job starts in case the quarantine rules change again!!

All cancelled now at dd1s uni except Germany.
Second half of year may go ahead 🤞🤞🤞

DDs uni has similarly said a firm no to going this term whilst FO advice is essential travel only, despite flights / accommodation etc being booked. Very frustrating especially if year abroad was planned for more than one place.

I appreciate this is difficult for the unis too @catpoooffender but for the students not to be able to go whilst friends at other unis can feels horribly unfair ! Do those making the decision take other universities into account ?

@pineapplecrazylady

DDs uni has similarly said a firm no to going this term whilst FO advice is essential travel only, despite flights / accommodation etc being booked. Very frustrating especially if year abroad was planned for more than one place.

I appreciate this is difficult for the unis too @catpoooffender but for the students not to be able to go whilst friends at other unis can feels horribly unfair ! Do those making the decision take other universities into account ?

That's a good question @pineapplecrazylady. Yes we do look at what other universities are doing, but you end up in a situation where every university is trying to work out what every other university is doing, and doesn't want to be the first to put their necks on the line either way. There is a lot of discussion between people in the same field, and surveys done on what others are doing, but more often than not, most will say 'we haven't made a decision yet', and eventually you reach a point where you have to find your own way forwards.

There's also the fact that different universities work with different insurers, who may have differing takes on what they will and won't cover.

Then of course there is the fact that senior management teams will have different risk tolerance levels.

Finally, it's important to remember that universities are not experts in travel risk management. They are doing the best they can with the information available to them.

In my personal experience, I've spoken to students who are desperate to go still, and not worried about the risks, and I've also spoken to students who withdrew from their year abroad months ago because they were so concerned about the risks. Those students parents may share the same views as their children, or they may have the opposite views. It's impossible to keep everyone happy, and all we can do is to try to find the balance between ensuring a positive student experience and not putting students at risk. After all, if we let a student go overseas, and they got stuck over there due to flight cancellations, and then got really sick and their parents couldn't reach them, or they ended up incurring additional accommodation fees because they had to stay longer than expected and ran out of money, we would want and expect to be able to help, but we can only do so much.

Thank you @catpoooffender for taking the time to explain this, I appreciate its a dilemma on so many levels ! I can understand how students would want to defer rather than than have a year abroad that may or may not happen. A problem is also the multiple destinations (eg European unis) and their online offer which I imagine will vary significantly... 😏

Indeed @pineapplecrazylady - many aren't offering online study options at all for exchange students. It's a nightmare. But I would hope that other UK universities are, like us, putting in place measures to ensure that students are able to complete their degrees without a year abroad where necessary.

DD1’s university basically said that it was up to them what they did - they could go, take a year off and go next year, or go straight into the fourth year with those who had just come back from their year abroad, but to be aware that they wouldn’t have room to accommodate everyone, particularly with social distancing and their French wouldn’t be as good as those who had done a year abroad. DD1 is in an Erasmus FB group for Strasbourg and she said that all the other EU students are going or are already there.

Dd1 is expecting to do her Belgian uni online but waiting for confirmation.
She’s hoping the second placement will go ahead as that starts at the end of March