University 2020 :5: Results day approaching and beyond

[MillicentMartha]

Old thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3855474-University-2020-4-The-wait-for-grades-and-better-days-ahead?pg=40

Less than 3 months to go until we have a better idea what the future has in store for our DC. Let’s hope that even if most lectures are online that accommodation is open and they can move up, across or down to their university towns and start their student life.

We should have been in the middle of exams, instead we have this strange limbo of lockdown. It could have been worse, though.

DD has a list of around 20 from Exeter. I’ve told her to prioritise and so she (we) has bought her top 10. As she’s been on a gap year DD’s enjoying getting back into studying.
Not that’s she’s doing a lot!
The lure of socially distanced meet ups with friends is swaying her far more.

Oops my post looks weird as it’s come up on the next page!

Ah, DS isn’t just going for the learning, though, Lips. Living away from home and making new friends is a big part of it for him.

Nothing for maths here either Millicent

That’s good Chicken, though I wish he’d do a bit more work on his maths than he has. It will have been 6 months by the time he starts at Uni. It was a shame STEP 1 was cancelled, it would have given him some well needed motivation.

DS looked at the course webpage and there are some recommended preparation materials for each module. For physics they recommend doing Isaac Physics but he is doing that already. For maths there's a list of relevant nrich activities and a prep test. He plans to teach himself Further Mechanics 2 first.

Lips I’m not surprised and I suggested it would happen and the uni professionals all got v cross. Many students live at home so why wouldn’t they study at home and save money on tried and tested courses. Or buy one from Germany etc. Not every student is an 18 year old wanting to move away (though mine is!)

Don't think dd has had any reading lists (though she might not share the info with me )

aibutohavethisusername yes DD4 was sent a reading list several weeks ago and was told they wouldn't usually send a list that early but for cancelled exams. Not sure how many books were on it but DD4 ordered around ten from Blackwells (free postage). She's been getting regular emails from the uni too, all very positive - looking forward to seeing you in October etc.

My niece started on OU degree after her A levels. She was reluctant to leave home for a number of reasons and decided to follow in her mum's footsteps. She got an unskilled job unrelated to the degree she chose. After 12 months her enthusiasm started to wane, as colleagues and local friends didn't have to spend their spare time studying and friends who had gone away to uni were leading very different lives to hers. I think she found it hard learning how to study at home alone with her mum trying to nudge her in the right direction. She put it on hold around 2 1/2 years ago.

Meanwhile her Mum had a completely different experience. She was able to work full-time on her degree whilst her DC were in school. She didn't have to pay for each module, so didn't have to weigh up affordability every few months. She could also pick her modules for sheer enjoyment without having to consider what a future employer would make of them. She got the First she thoroughly deserved in 3 years.

I did a few OU modules around 10 years ago, completely unrelated to my own degree or profession. They were fun, but the experience was completely different to studying at university.

I wonder how many 18/19 year olds go on to complete their OU degrees or whether they would be better off looking at a degree apprenticeship with a supportive employer.

I used to work for the OU and think it is a fantastic organisation and provides excellent courses. However, I agree that it is a very different experience from university, which is partly about leaving home in a gentle, gradual way and stretching wings in a safe environment where you can meet lots of like-minded people. OU have tutorials and summer residentials, but no real extra curriculars etc.

It looks like university is going to be much more normal this year than we dared to hope when all this started.

It looks like university is going to be much more normal this year than we dared to hope when all this started.

Monkey speak for yourself! And that's with two DCs working at the sharp end in London hospitals on Covid wards. People wound themselves up very early on about this on MN when it was clear that only time would tell. I'm very glad that I didn't bother wasting energy and advised DD4 not to waste hers, which she didn't - we enjoyed the sunshine instead.

DD got a reading list a couple of weeks ago from Edinburgh - mixture of pre-course reading and recommended texts.

She did a 30 unit OU level 1 course this year (alternative to Advanced Higher) in her uni subject and loved it. Her tutor was excellent. She said if we lived in a city or a big town then she'd have considered the OU.

D1 has a big reading list (joint) and she's been cracking on with it. We already had quite a lot of the books and have got her a few more. She's got to choose options before A level results - seems crazy and I'm trying not to feel superstitious... She's on a couple of offer holder WhatsApp groups and they're doing a weekly bookclub too.

That's a great post @Hoghgyni
I think you are spot on.

Reading lists: It's noted next to one of the set texts that "Without further help, you are likely to find this text difficult, but at least try to read the first 4 chapters." Reassuringly honest.

DS has been given suggestions of things to do if he wants them - coding exercises, gain familiarity with the platform they use plus some maths modules for engineering/CS applicants to get everyone to the same level. It’s all optional but he may have a look at some point.

I too am so hopeful for more normality in sept. I think there was so much prep to take courses online that it panicked many students, hence the numbers are so down. I hope there will be a flurry at clearing and more places will be snapped up.

I was chatting to a friend in RL yesterday. Her DS has applied to Cardiff which is his firm choice but slightly aspirational. He’s savvy enough to realise this year might be his best chance of getting a place, even though he really wanted to defer before Covid-19 came along. If his grades are amazingly good he will still defer/take a gap year but if he squeaks in to Cardiff this year he will accept the place.

I’m sure there were lots of students who didn’t relish the thought of there being no freshers, no partying, no clubbing, no societies etc but some will be like my friend’s DS, making the most of a good opportunity. And hopefully their experience won’t be as limited as it looked back in April. A gap year without work will be tricky to afford for many and the job market looks decidedly shaky at the moment. Hopefully that will also improve.

We looked at the reading lists for compulsory modules this year. They won’t change much and it’s gets the right head space.
Dd2 is doing French and has joined a night school class to keep it up. And Arabic which she has some very basic skills so is keeping them up.

Absolutely Millicent and I think many will get their grades and jump at the opportunity. The numbers are very down so it’s all to the play for

No reading lists here how we it’s more of a vocational degree

I've seen a vote change poll thing on Facebook people voting against some rule that despite what teachers predict the exam boards are taking off 33%.
What is this ?
I don't believe it can be the case, but the voting has got to 70,000 odd.

www.change.org/p/boris-johnson-stop-the-33-downgrade-of-2020-a-level-and-gcse-results?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22950150_en-GB%3A2&recruiter=563809892&recruited_by_id=2b020370-3dc6-11e6-bf4d-a3cdc03836b3&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=5f2e2a0bb56243b0820818449f1287

That is a misinformed and alarmist petition!

The report actually said that 33% of GCSE CAGs were likely to be reduced as teachers may have predicted an increase of 0.5 on average across all grades (it was based on data supplied to a statistical service which was supporting schools in predictions and produced the target grades many state schools use, but ay not have been the data schools actually submitted). If the boards want to keep the same overall grade profile as previous years, around a third of GCSE grades will need to go down.