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.

MillicentMartha it’s Chiquitos 😢

Oh no! It would have been great to have been able to transfer. At least she’ll have waitressing experience, though.

Has everyone seen that Ofqual have a consultation (ends on 8th June!) about the Autumn exam series: Autumn Exam Series

If your child is taking GCSEs / A levels in Music, Drama, DT or Dance this year you might especially want to respond to this consultation.

We now know that students will not be allowed to appeal their summer grades, and have been told they should take the autumn series exam to try to improve a grade. HOWEVER, hidden away in the detail is the fact that for the above subjects where the Non-Exam Assessment normally makes up 50-60% of the exam, this will NOT be included, and the grade will be awarded on the basis of a single theory exam instead!
So, an A level in music or drama awarded without any performance element, or Design Technology without any design work? 🤔
(Also applies to other exams with smaller % NEA components).

This is still at consultation stage, so if you disagree, please make your feelings known. But beware the rogue wording of Question 7 regarding the NEA element - the question title is at odds with the written question. Anyone would think they were deliberately trying to skew the results. . .

Yes, I read this, it also applies to English and History on certain boards. They are also not obliging exam boards to offer the retakes and given them the right to withdraw an exam if there is not enough entrants due to how much it costs the exam boards.
Basically the subjects with large % NEA will be by exam only, so for example DT already has 2 exam papers and 50% NEA will now be the total marks spread over the 2 exam papers. I think it says elsewhere that they don't wish to authorise the exam boards to only offer one paper for each subject and the exams should have the same format as the usual exams.

Thank Lightup - I think it varies a lot between boards as DS's DT is 50% NEA but only one paper.
It's not finalised yet - if enough people object they may have to reconsider some form of assessment.

I don't see why, if teachers can predict exam grades, they can't predict a NEA grade too, especially as they will have seen SOME coursework over the last 18 months.

I just think it's a huge slap in the face for students, basically telling them that all those long hours spent were a waste of time, and their coursework is worthless - completely the wrong message to send out.

DS completed NEA's for English and History and did as much as was plausible for DT, his DT teacher basically told them to include any changes they had to think about and what they would have done, which comes under responding to the brief, he's using their NEA to inform the final grade, so you would hope that the exam boards could work out a percentage for the NEA work

I still can’t get my head around how autumn exams can take place . Some if not most schools have done no teaching since March , some hadn’t finished the syllabus . Schools are not going to be resourced to teach resits alongside the current year 12 and 10 . So basically you would have to teach yourself.

So angry , I think exams should on balance have gone ahead . Exam years only could have stayed in school, plenty of social distancing and the usual or enhanced mitigation . This is a complete shambles .

I think it would have been very stressful if exams had gone ahead and schools would have struggled to cover the right subjects in distanced classes. I know a few people who are in delicate mental health who have really benefitted from the cancellation, so think it was probably the right decision.

Teacher assessment has the potential to be the fairest possible way of assessing students, eliminating so much of the luck element of exams. Obviously one of the main problems is that nobody was expecting the change so people who rely on a burst of work just before the exams will lose out.

I will respond to the consultation and agree that removing the NAE element and not accepting teacher assessments for arts subjects is ridiculous.

DS2 is (not) doing GCSEs and there is a trend coming out that the only DCs who are seriously considering the November exams are those who do not get a pass for English and Maths and the high achievers who miss getting an 8/9. It will be very difficult to standardise the results of those exams. I expect the A level autumn exam cohort will be a more even spread of abilities.

I think a real concern is that the removal of NEA marks from Creative Arts subjects in the autumn exams could seriously impact those students who have SEN such as dyslexia/ADHD etc. By the very nature these subjects often attract students who are exceptional creatively, but perhaps not academically. DS has dyslexia and would likely get full marks/A* for the assessed part of his DT, but only a B for the written exam, making him a solid A overall. If somehow he gets a B in the summer exams then it’s unlikely he would be able to improve on that in a written paper alone in autumn.

DD has had an email from USW to say all
lectures will be online from September to December but she is to move into accommodation in September (flats set according to courses this creating bubbles) so she will be housed with other Policing students. Workshops and things in small groups will take place. She’s happy with that.

A bubble environment would probably not have a negative affect on Dd because two of her current friendship circle are doing very similar courses.

Warwick are late in opening accommodation so I wonder whether this is a consideration which they are investigating but not sure how they would effectively tell students they have to choose certain accommodation if they are on a given course.

Hi everyone, long time lurker joining in.

DC is keen to go in September but not keen on living in a course-based bubble as the subject has lots of contact time, so would mean spending a lot of time with a very small pool of people with no opportunity to find your own tribe.

Will be interesting to see how the living in your bubble idea plays out - are there no societies, clubs, sports events? No interaction with students in other years (who are not in a subject bubble) through clubs etc? Will students not go to the supermarket and buy beer/food and eat/drink with other people? Are they going to limit students' ability to travel home, go on public transport? I think staying in your course group limits the university experience. And then lectures are online (so stay in your room), with only small group teaching potentially face to face - if you do anything with a small number of contact hours, what's the point of going now? Seminars are once a fortnight per module in most places....

DS has applied for accommodation for his firm (Bristol) but in parallel is thinking about deferring/pulling out after results and reapplying next year with grades in hand. The financial issues some unis are going to face will shake up this sector ..... it hasn't started to play out yet, and won't until we know the level of UK deferrals (and assuming international student numbers that actually come are down significantly). Feel so bad that this cohort is caught up in this mess through no fault of their own.

Its tricky isn’t it as the decisions the unis make today will be out of date by the time term starts.

There is a lot of noise saying gap years will be dire/no jobs etc and that is true but also my DD has got a full time job as some staff are shielding. With many EU citizens not wanting to come back here (I guess) there might be work for young healthy cheap people.

I hope the bubbles are a short term thing and will be relaxed once no spikes happen.

I agree banana about the financial impact on unis. With OU cheaper, German unis etc open it does shake it up. My DDs course is probably still good value as a science degree, but I am sure some courses will suffer for numbers now.

I just don't understand how the social bubble would work wrt allocating accommodation. Surely once they've allocated the majority together in halls by course, there will be a few remainders left over from different courses? There wouldn't be enough accommodation to have some rooms empty would there?

I'm getting very impatient with Warwick I bet that is what they're doing. It does make sense to keep them together but it's very limiting socially.

My Dd has said she hopes it doesn't happen, like your Dd error she wants to mix with the boys too. Also if there's anyone she doesn't get on with on her course she can't get away from them when she gets home.

Ds is doing history and Spanish so not sure how that would work bubble wise. And they take a minor in first year too so that's three subjects! Big bubble needed!

It does make sense to keep them together but it's very limiting socially.

Agreed - but it raises the question, if the uni living away from home experience is so curtailed then why not just do an OU course and live at home, save the money? The OU are the experts at online education.

How do unis do social distancing practically? Ban all societies, sports clubs, travel to and from the uni to home etc? These opportunities are such a huge part of the experience. I think what they need to do is put in place some rules about what to do if someone starts showing symptoms.....how do people self isolate, what support are the uni going to give for those on campus, or in uni owned accommodation? It's almost like you need a 'medical wing' that those with symptoms can go to for a period of time and then everyone else can get on with their lives. I realise this is not going to happen !!

Maybe they put all history students on a few floors in one set of accommodation and leave rooms empty if they are not all filled, and then mech eng on the 2 floors below etc.....do you disable the doors in between so students can't go onto other floors? It all sounds hideous especially if there are no other opportunities for social interaction if the uni are being consistent (clubs, societies, student union etc). All library resources need to be online now aswell so students cannot bump into students from outside their bubble anywhere else!.

I think the bubbles only work for first years or large courses, can't really do it for older years, but most of them will have their household which is their student house. Nobody is saying it is an ideal solution, but if the law is still social distancing, it means that at least there will be a (small) group of people you can interact with in a relaxed way and it makes seminars/lectures much more practical if you are not trying to keep each person 2m away from everybody else and makes group work and subjects like drama possible. I guess it may feel a bit like boarding school, but seems to be a sensible solution given where we are.

I don’t think DS (or many others) would be happy to abandon all idea of living at university for 3-4 years to do an OU course, just because the first year will be a bit scrappy.

Agree Millicent, ds is desperate to go away whatever, he needs to be independent, in whatever form that will take! I think he'd be mortified at the idea of four years more at home.

Mine will be doing vet med (hopefully). But hard to do at home. Family dog might leave 😊

DDs uni (Edinburgh) doesn't appear to be organising accommodation around subject area bubbles - DD has an unconditional and has her accommodation allocated. She's found 3 of her flatmates and they are all doing very different subjects. Similar for friends in other flats. Can't see how bubbles could work at the ancient Scottish unis with breadth of subjects in addition to main degree subjects. Might not allow free choice in seminar and tutorial options and instead group students in same colleges/schools together but there will always be the science student doing a fine art module who will never fit any bubble.

DD did a 30-credit OU course last year (as school didn't offer an AH). She loved it and made friends. Thought the standard of course material and tutor support excellent. I think it would be a great option for someone who has a good social life options at home.

mumsneedwine
Family dog might leave made me laugh-poor pooch

On a serious note, my DS is DREADING leaving our pooch. He will really miss her. He is heartbroken already at the thought of it. I am going to have her photo transferred on to a cushion to take with him.

Putting subjects broadly together in housing groups could limit mixing a bit but its not as simple as some might think. DD2, now in second year, said she could have been put in a flat with people just doing her subject and not had a single module or seminar with any of them. So unless they cut courses down to core modules only with no joint honours and no liberal arts for example it just wont work.

There is so much cross over, for eg Medical Science students do modules in Biology and modules in the med school with students from both departments - they would have to restructure whole courses at huge cost.

As I said, they could reduce mixing a bit but I don't see how its possible to do 100%.