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]

Previous thread

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

Indeed @Shimy. Great messaging: get married to get the most out of your student loan!

www.ucas.com/finance/student-finance-england/finance-independent-students

There you go - so she is off the hands of her wealthy, minimum loan qualifying, parents and now has her loan based on the (presumably rather lower) income of her spouse. Whom she can ditch as soon as she graduates, if that was his main or only purpose in her scheme of things. Or even as soon as she gets into her final year.

What a disgraceful thing to do. Do these people have no shame? I wouldn’t be bragging about any of that.

It's shocking!

@Shimy If I recall correctly, when ds’s friend did her placement year she did still receive a small maintenance loan even though the placement was paid.

Ds is still hoping to do one but I am not optimistic- I have lots of friends in the industry & they all say that too many people are still wfh for companies to want to take on a young person who needs mentoring & direction. He would have more luck with a contracting company but they all want people with driving licences & he has not bothered to do anything about that in spite of my offering to pay for his lessons.

Trying not to get too involved but having to bite my tongue a lot!

@Decorhate sorry to hear your DS is still searching, I know how tough it is and ds’s is nothing short of a miracle. I really hope he finds something because in my opinion, it’s makes such a difference to the whole experience of the degree especially if you haven’t worked before. Like your DS, DS here has also not bothered with driving lessons even though we are paying to the point his theory test which he passed at first attempt has now expired. I’m so annoyed with him about that.
I’m hoping when he starts his work placement, perhaps the penny will finally drop when his colleagues drive past every morning to work and he’s standing in the rain getting sloshed. A bit of a wake up call never hurt anyone.

@Decorhate my DS is in exactly the same position re driving and finding a work placement. As he has now signed a rental agreement for a shared house in his uni city it would really have to be there, or commutable from there, so I don't see him doing it. Also, his student experience has been so poor so far that he is desperate to actually have a proper student year rather than diving into the world of work, and for that reason alone we have stayed fully hands-off.

@Shimy well done to yours for finding something.

@simbobs I also feel it might be better to be at uni next year rather than on a placement, as they have had so much disruption. Another year away from campus might make it hard to settle back in 2022.

@Decorhate there is also the issue of losing contact with your cohort if you are doing a 4 yr degree, and they a three. This happened to me, though I actually made my best friends in that final year, thanks in no small part to living back in uni owned student flats.

@simbobs Actually I think Ds’ reason for wanting to do the placement year is because the people he is most friendly with are planning to do it. Originally he was not going to because it’s a 4 year course as it is...

Simbobs Thanks. As ds hasn't made any close friends in his cohort I'm glad that's not something he's worrying about. The placement will give him a much needed break from the treadmill of lectures and hopefully by next September when he returns, things would be back to normal.

DS wants to come home this weekend. We were going to sod off to Brighton!

So much for ‘we’ll stay a bit longer’ - once the others go home he won’t stick around. He thinks he’ll go back for a bit later, but personally I doubt it - thats the sort of plan that’ll fade out if others get summer jobs etc. So he needs to bring all his stuff back.

@MrKlaw, can’t he move it into next years rental? Or does it not start till September?

My DS is loving being back at uni - currently watching his mate play cricket

yeah doesn’t start until September. As far as I know its empty - they did a video tour for them. but unlikely he can stay there and I doubt he’d even contact them to see if he can stash some things there for a couple of months.

@MrKlaw go to Brighton. He needs to work around you and realise that you had plans. Surely he can wait.

DD's first exam is tomorrow so no relaxing yet. She was so excited today to get excellent marks for her last essay, and lovely feedback from the lecturer/tutor? It was in the subject she likes least and is dropping after this year.

Her landlord wants everyone in on the last day of the contract so no-one is going home before then. I hope that they can make up for the lack of partying and socialising after the exams have finished.

What about a storage facility for his kit @MrKlaw? And yes, agree with @Benjispruce3 that you should continue with your planned trip to Brighton.

On the subject of year three shares, DS and his posse of four haven't found one yet (not sure they've even looked!).

Shout out to the younger siblings of our young people who have done GCSE and A Level internal exams. How have they been going? Hope some of them have proms to look forward to?

Dd had several interviews for a year in industry but no one got back to her, not even to say no. Not even after polite email reminders. Really rude. So last minute scary hunt for accommodation. All sorted now - she’s done all the contract and financial stuff herself. All grown up!

are storage facilities a thing? I thought they might be big for students but I never hear them talked about. tbh all his stuff can fit into the car easily enough (little more worried when its DD’s turn..) And he didnt’ know we were thinking about Brighton - we’ve left him radio silence mostly during his exam season. Plus it’ll probably piss it down (might go anyway and pick up on the Monday)

Weather looking better this weekend @MrKlaw.

We’re meant to be in for some nice warm and sunny weather next few weeks. From forecast 18/19 degrees.

@Zandathepanda How rude indeed and annoying to get that close and then just nothing. I know it’s passed now but did she check her spam email just incase? When DS was called for interview at first it went in his spam, it wasn’t until the second reminder that he spotted it.

Yes she did - I did mention that too and it didn’t go down well. One job was for a famous person too. Two interviews then nothing. She emailed and left a message as well.

@MrKlaw, my DD used one at the end of her first year for a few weeks. Pretty easy to sort - she did it all herself.

So DS has finished his second year having barely set foot on the campus for a year apart from using the library on a different campus which is closer to his house.
He has a job in his uni town so I'm assuming he will stay there for a while. They are staying in the same house next year which was easier than viewing new ones.
Fingers crossed next year is better.

I have to say that our young people have been very short-changed. We can only hope that their third years are considerably better (but for many of them it will be time to knuckle down with finals looming...).

@MrKlaw I do believe you can rent different sized units too, in self-storage. If DS has a gap in his rental contracts (yet to secure a third year place), we'll definitely be encouraging him to leave most of his kit in Norwich.