University 2020 :8: Use the CAGs, don’t use the CAGs...

[MillicentMartha]

...if you can use the mocks, then use the mocks but not if they're higher than the CAGs.

And hopefully on to university!

Old thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3993327-University-2020-7-Results-tombola-roll-up-roll-up-pick-a-prize?pg=39

Choirs - might be ok in a small way - my dd did an outdoor choir with 15 this summer. Wearing visors. Not ideal but shows it can be possible.

[quote Aragog]Ofqual chief Sally Collier steps down after exams chaos www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53909487[/quote]
She and statistician, Michelle Meadows, should both have been sacked for gross incompetence. How anybody with half a brain could think their approach was appropriate is incomprehensible! Their arrogance and failure to step back and look at what their algorithm produced is unforgivable!

I would ask those schools for a copy of their protocol as to how they assessed CAGS. Unfortunately they did have to rank students against others in their cohort. Also please remember that UCAS predictions are aspirational predictions only for many students to allow them to out an aspirational uni on their application on the understanding they also apply to realistic propositions too. It is not a working at grade at all.

Monkey2001 - we considered it. DH was all for it. But DD just wants to move on. She is happy and settled with her insurance, she hates any form of confrontation (as she would see it) and just wants to forget about it all tbh.

SeasonFinale - Whilst I understand that about UCAS predicted grades, dd's most recent predicted grades (so not the ones for her UCAS forms) were done after mocks and after some of the NEA had been seen (not finished as wasn't due in) and only given to DD about 6 weeks before school closed.

Although I would also like to see a move away from aspirational UCAS predicted grades as well. The grades produced for UCAS ought to be realistic, with maybe a second set put as aspirational. This may help many many students feeling totally devastated on normal results day. Aspirational predictions are very often not met and can cause quite a lot of disappointment - more so than the actual results themselves.

Xenia where do you think you'd find both the large halls and the staff to invigilate? Invigilators are often retired people who might not be as keen to come and help.

A levels could have continued, although might have had to be run on a slightly longer timescale. It's usual to have several exams running in a hall at the same time and that would have been more challenging. GSCEs require more people in at once and wouldnt have been sensible.

DD's sixth form expected them to take 3 A levels, 3 A levels + EPQ or 4 A levels including FM. I have no idea how anyone would find the time to do an EPQ and a 4th A level alongside stressing over UCAS applications.

Ooops, totally wrong thread. Ignore previous post.

They could have used teachers to invigilate.

Teachers would still have been teaching if the schools hadn’t closed though.

I invigilate and we have up to 300 students at a time. Sports Hall, Two large rooms cleared out and 1:1 rooms. To get the space needed it would have been 6 in a classroom with an invigilator.
Nightmare to organise even with usual staff running it. Majority I work with wouldn’t have been in though.

@rainyinscotland

They could have used teachers to invigilate.

And would teachers have been happy to have been in an unventilated room with a large number of teenagers at the height of the pandemic? No and rightly so.

Also with the English exams in May/June and the Scottish ones in May that’s 2/3 months after lockdown when all the private schools/ kids with parents to help technology etc... would have been able to revise and kids in less ideal situations would not. Hugely unfair.

Private school kids don't necessarily have access to technology! DS has been on a bursary throughout school and 6th form, his laptop gave up and we couldn't afford to replace it, no assistance from school for equipment @Railingsohno

@Lightuptheroom fair enough. I hope this isn’t insensitive but that is very much the minority. My point could be amended to those who have access to Zoom lessons/technology/interested parents etc.. would have been at a huge advantage if the exams had still gone ahead 2/3 months after lockdown. On average, that would be kids from more affluent backgrounds.

Anyone having fun and games registering for IT/accepting offers/paying deposits for accommodation etc? DS was sent an email to activate his IT account from his uni last weekend, so did so, then received an email telling him it was sent in error. Then yesterday he was supposed to log on to this account, accept his place and upload a photo for his student card. Still no email account though. So not sure if it’s done correctly.

He got his details through for his Santander student account but nothing re rail card yet. Also it all came with ‘Master’ as his title rather than ‘Mr!’ Took us a visit to the local branch to sort that one out!

Managed to send off his direct debit mandate for accommodation by snail mail and change his bank account details on SFE, but the website was down most of Sunday.

Still waiting for an arrival slot. Really want a weekend as I work in a school. All these months off, it would be hard to justify time off, and it will probably involve an overnight stop. Ah well.

@MillicentMartha We've just applied for the Santander bank account, now pending approval. So far everything else is going well and the course modules are available to view on Moodle as she's now registered.
I really hope you get a weekend moving in date. I'd have been scuppered if it was week only as DH would have taken her on his own and been possibly less helpful than I will be with getting straight. He reckons he went to uni with his clothes and a sheet. Hmm.

Ooo, course modules! Don’t think we’ve got quite that far through the process. He can register from 1st September, so maybe we’ll get a few more details then.

I hope those still in limbo don’t mind posts from those of us with a uni confirmed?

DS has had a Nationwide account for a few years. Does he need a "student account"?

You don't need a student account, but banks offer features for students that might be useful, including interest-free overdrafts and perks (eg Santander give you free railcard). See here: www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-bank-account/

DD's had nothing yet from Exeter.
As she didn't get an offer of accommodation on campus they've offered a private block in the city, so she's still waiting for her confirmation of a room offer, so no idea yet when she can move in etc
Nothing from uni itself about getting ID card, registering or lessons at all.
She met conditions of a scholarship with her grades but again not heard anything about when she'll receive this.
All in all, the silence is frustrating.
She has sorted student bank account today. She doesn't need railcard as I get her one with Clubcard vouchers so she's gone with Nationwide where she already has a savings account.

@Snozzlemaid I've seen that there's been a massive problem with Exeter IT today which has really affected accommodation etc. If you're in the fb group WIWIKAU it's on a post on there.

Yes, I've been watching all of that. But that's for those booking a time slot to arrive on campus accommodation.
DD's not even had a confirmation of a room offer yet.
Exeter were her firm so she's apparently guaranteed accommodation but now as campus is full they've got a contract with a private block.
Only now we have to pay £350 up front apparently to reserve her room, when she finally gets the offer. Lots in her situation are kicking up a storm as many will not have that money available and they won't yet have received their maintenance loan. It's unfair when they applied for campus where no deposit is necessary and through no fault of her own didn't get it.
Exeter were her firm, she met the grades on results day and had applied for accommodation well within the time allowed.

Oh that's all so unfair.

No emails account for Dd as yet. Frustrating as there are things we can't do without it.

She's staying off campus as accommodation is restricted (it's her insurance so wasn't guaranteed) and very slow. The better off campus rooms were found fast so we've signed her for one of those. Infact we can get the key this weekend though she won't move in for another few weeks.

She's not bothering with a student bank account and just sticking to her own she already has. She also already has a rail card which was only purchased in May so that's all good.

We've bought most of her course material books now. She has some pre starting university assignments to complete before the course actually begins so she's made a bit of a start of those, but not much.

She's doing primary ed and one thing they're advised to do is start a collection of children's story books, starting with upper KS2 but also below, so she's been round friends getting some of their old books and has enjoyed reading a few 😂

She's been away a lot since results day though. She was supposed to be abroad on holiday but it was cancelled so her and her boyfriend have been for a couple of mini breaks in England, and have another one coming up. So doing stuff in between tones when she's actually here!

Dd managed to find some of her flat mates last night, huge excitement! Most of them are moving same date as her (14), but one is coming from mainland Europe on 1st to quarantine there. As most of rest of building moves on 12/13 we're guessing that's why her flat mates are later, so he's completed quarantine. I thought I'd mention this to give a bit of context to why weekend drop offs may not always be suggested for some.

2 weeks on his own will be tough!