Some of our young people are half way through their degrees (2019/20 intake): lockdowns on repeat, light at the end of the tunnel with vaccinations (?) and the legacy of COVID-19

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

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Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose is all I can say!

Glad that you're settled in your new home @juicy0.

I could imagine China would be a challenge to work in, what with all the covert 'surveillance' of overseas nationals.

What about Camp America/Canada? One of my close friends' DD (who finished her degree nearly two years ago) is signed up to do that this summer (although it may not happen now due to the pandemic restrictions). Another friend whose DD is a Cambridge graduate spent a year after she'd completed her first degree as an au pair/nanny in Germany (now going to do speech therapy post-grad course).

Is anyone's DC complaining that the online lectures are much longer than if they had been delivered in a lecture theatre?

When DD was attending lectures they were always 50 minutes long. Now they are anything from an hour and a half to two and ahalf hours long.

@RampantIvy - DS has commented that it takes him longer to watch an online lecture than one in-person, but that is not due to the length of the actual lecture being any longer - iyswim! He said that actually, in some ways, the recorded lecture is better beacuse he can pause it to take notes, rewind bits he didn't understand etc. So it takes longer than the hour, but he has probably got more from it.

This is what DD does as well @blametheparents, but the actual lectures are longer as well. DD has set herself a target of doing two pieces of work per day, and so far has only had Easter Sunday off.

Lol, my DD says she speeds hers up Or did for her undergrad degree at least.

@juicy0, my friends DD went to Beijing for a term to be a governess to two children after Alevels. It was an organised thing so she met others on regular socials. She enjoyed it, but didn’t want to extend even though they asked her to - just as well as Covid then struck! She has since done online tutoring of Chinese children which seems quite lucrative!

Friend’s Dd also had a dreadful experience in China - her parents forked out to get her home early. It was a combination of feeling unsafe, not being supported in any way in terms of the teaching & very poor accommodation & food.

@blametheparents my DD exactly the same - infinitely prefers inline lectures she can absorb at her own pace. She’s a “grinder” - gets good grades not because she’s necessarily naturally bright but because she works incredibly hard (and yes I know bright people work hard, but you’ll catch my drift!) and so the ability to watch, rewind, pause etc works best for her learning style

She’s a “grinder” - gets good grades not because she’s necessarily naturally bright but because she works incredibly hard

That describes DD as well. She panics, but the stress is constructive, and she somehow manages to pull it out of the bag.

I wonder if we share the same friend @Decorhate?

@RampantIvy Maybe or maybe these programmes are common! The students were recruited at their uni by a post grad who had spent a lot of time there.

My eldest dd is deputy head of English First English language school in China ( has lived there for 4 years) ...although currently working from home in U.K. as came home just as pandemic started and hasn't been able to return!
Younger dd did a month long educational visit to Shanghai university and had completed an online TEFL course before attending
I'd suggest looking at EF website for teaching jobs ( it's a very well thought of company)
www.englishfirst.com/
..eldest was very well supported when she first went out and provided with accommodation. She has made many friends with both local teachers and the many ex pats in her city ...she can't wait to get back and feels very safe in her city and loves the culture

I seem to have lost the thread, literally impressed to see that some DC have secured internships. My DS has made no effort to find one for next year so will just do his degree in 3 yrs rather than 4. His final piece of group work is happening tomorrow and after that his term starts, but he wants to stay here so that he can make some money from labouring for a landscape gardener. I don't mind in the short term as DD came home yesterday but is only staying a week, and it is nice to have them both home together. Neither seems to know anything about the likelihood of f2f next term.

Dropped DS back at bath today. He said he may stay on for a couple of weeks after exams to have some relaxation and time with friends as things open up more which I think makes sense

Just read this article following a government decision on Friday. So disappointing that our DC can't have a more normal final term given that pubs, restaurants, theme parks etc are opening. Many students I know have already returned to their uni houses in preparation for next term but f2f still looks off the agenda until mid May. Why is this not making the news headlines? Uni students have been overlooked every step of the way and it's so frustrating for them.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/f23a7839-92df-491a-9c36-d8dc1fb8a2e3

Thanks for the heads-up. Mid May?! My DS's term finishes then unless resitting. His third term is really only revision and exams, and although he needs to pay his rent today I don't think he will be back in his flat for much of the time.

Term finishes end of May so that’s useless. Two weeks of lectures at most. Many lecture theatres are so much easier to social distance in than classrooms. There’s not any difference between Year 13 and 1st Year student in terms of susceptibility so why the difference?

My guess is it’s mostly revision and exams which are online anyway so they’re seeing on the side of caution?

We have sacrificed the young for the old since March 2020. It was the wrong decision.

If almost every student now applies to go back on mental health grounds, poor wifi at home, domestic strife, shared bed room, noisy siblings surely 1st years in halls will be allowed back now? The issue is totally different for most in years 2 - 3 as they are paying private rent and can go back and forth reasonably freely. my son is going back soon as has last law exams this week and course work next and then we (or rather I) have paid his rent to mid July so he will go back with no more course or exams and just have a nice 2 months in Bristol with nothing to do in terms of work (unless he has resits) but he is year 4 (post grad) and has friends already. it is very unfair on freshers who were conned to start last year on the basis of lots of face to face which did not happen.

Even if there is nothing much to do at university if I were a student I would do whatever I could to go back even if I were just going for walks in the university city every day as at least you are independent of parents and living apart.

Yes, mid-May is a joke for most students as that will only leave 'exam season' (which they probably could do from home anyway!) which won't require being on campus for most?

I do think students have been totally thrown under the bus by this govt. Hope they will vote with their feet at the next election! It's a disgrace and deserves an inquiry of its own.

I totally agree, mid May will leave only a few weeks at most. I would go back if I were my DD if only to enjoy a few weeks living away from home before she has to return for the summer.
That whole age group have sacrificed so much at such a crucial time in their lives and yet they are last in line for vaccines. It's all wrong IMO.

the whole of my DS' house has been back since after Christmas pretty much. And like mentioned, at least some of them are planning to hang on after exams to try and get some normality (because as things open up they'll be revising for exams so can't fully enjoy it)

I think the government could have been better at least with communicating the ability for students to travel, even if they're off-campus mostly

All the non-freshers (and many freshers too) that I know have gone back to their uni cities. As society opens up, at least they can socialise with uni friends. It is unbelievable that they can go to pubs, do sports etc but that government has given no guidance on F2F etc - they’ve been completely ignored and I agree that some sort of inquiry is needed. Classrooms in schools full of 18 year olds are ok but larger lecture halls full of students not much older are not? I’m surprised we’re not hearing more from students themselves? Boris promised an announcement re return after Easter by end of the Easter hols - well, perhaps they should check term dates, my DD term restarts today 🙄

My DS restarts today, too, and he has been moving at will between uni city and home during this term, though has spent more time at home. In reality he has more close friends here and the prospect of some cash-in-hand work, so is in no hurry to go back. His situation is a little unusual in that he has stayed close to some school friends who also study in his uni city, so he lives with some of them now and will live with all of them next year. That leaves his gf as the main reason for being back at home. I would prefer it if he stayed there during term time, and if f2f resumes he will do so.

DD only has one regular friend at home now. Everyone else has moved on. She is going back in a couple of weeks. She has about 2 weeks to really let her hair down after the exams before coming home. Unfortunately there is a month between house lets so I will have to bring everything home at the end of June.

Dd goes back next Monday. She's been home doing Vet. EMS for 3 weeks and then we probably won't see her for a while. We only saw her for one and a half weeks at Xmas, as her flatmates and boyfriend were staying at Uni over the holidays. She still has several friends here and has been on lots of Walks - Nowt else to do ... plus socially distanced drinks in someone's summer house.

DS has just come downstairs to announce that our Internet is somewhere between go slow and defunct, and he has an end of module group presentation to do in less than an hour! Only he can present his section. No idea what happens if he can't do it.