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

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

@RampantIvy goodness it sounds like your DD is having a rough time too. What on earth are these unis doing to our DC?
I hope your DD is ok for the rest of her exams.

Thank you @chocolatenutcase. I hope your DD can relax now. DD has exams until June.

Hi @BrumCahoots
Hope your DS is ok.
My DS is also at University of Nottingham. I seem to remember that your DS (if I have the right person!) was quite into his gym work and power lifting? Or maybe that was somebody else.

Hi @BrumCahoots welcome back.

As long as there are no further lockdowns being in a studio flat could work well for those in their final year.

Those open book exams sound hideous. DS has only had assignments to do as end-of-years this year. He said he would have preferred exams TBQH although not sure about the open book ones which sound the worst of both worlds to me.

I know someone who is doing Camp Canada and going - went to get her visa this week.

Yes @blametheparents .. that's him !!. He does still go to the gym but the massive powerlifting seems to be coming to an end !! .. Luckily he seems to be spending more time studying ! Hope you and your student are ok !

Ramp, one of my sons' law exams was their only "oral" exam. They could record a 10 minute answer. However you can record it as many times as you like by the deadline or within the window. So then the difficulty is how many tries do you do and how to decide which "take" is best. When they both finished they then discovered their friend from school (only other person on their course they have ever met due to covid) had not read from h is notes but instead spoke his bit then paused every few minutes to look down as the recording allowed a pause function. I have no idea which was the best method but it is not being told and not knowing how it all works compared to usual exams that can make it difficult. Also if you never speak to a lecturer you never get any input or chat about how to do things.

Wow, that sounds horrific Xenia.

It may be mine had not read the instructions as they get constant emails from the institution all of which seem to be headed welcome to [name of unviersity] all through the year of this one year course so it can be hard to sort the wood from the trees. Generally when you give a talk it is best to talk rather than read notes so I can see why their friend went for that option although may be his presentation stops and starts. Who knows... anyway they then found out everything they spoke into the system is then typed by the software down the left hand side.
If I were a marker I would listen to the first few minutes to see if the person was talking okay and then concentrate on that transcription of their words as that will be easier and clearer. It was only one bit of a module so hopefully it won't be a pass or fail issue (results out we think in June but one searched every email and they have not even been told results day).

Having a bit of a student finance nightmare. DS just went to do his application for next year and when it came to the section for tuitiion fees it said that the uni had told them that his course will cost £1850 (as opposed to the usual £9250), and it will not let him apply for the full amount! I am assuming that this is the reduced amount that would have been applicable if he was doing his placement year, but as he has chosen his modules for next year he assumed that uni knew that he was just carrying on to his final year.
Did anyone else have this problem?

He has emailed the uni but not easy to find the right place to send it.

simbobs ... I had no idea that fees were charged for the placement year, I will have to get my DS to check that.

I hope you get it sorted, so hard to speak to anyone direct about that sort of thing.

@Ragwort they do charge for any student enrolled, as they are still supposedly supporting them. If I hadn't been looking over the application as DS was doing it he would not have picked it up, just answered "yes" to everything. I had been nagging him to get his application done for ages, as DD must have done hers as soon as it was available, so I opened the sfe website on my own laptop.

If you go to the uni website and look up his course it should tell you what the fees are for the placement year. Mind you, I did that and it gave a lower fee cost than the amount he was supposedly being charged.

DS1 a few years back changed from the MSci (including a placement year) to the BSc version of his course but didn't mention having any problems with the finance aspect. I assumed that the university had updated his course details when he officially changed.

It was playing on my mind so after DS went out, knowing that there is a long weekend ahead, I found a uni helpline and called them. Apparently all we have to do is change the course code from "sandwich" to "full time" and the appropriate fees will show up. Whew!

They suggested holding off until he is 100% certain that he will not get a placement but I think that will make his finance application too late, so I would rather be in a position where he had to pay back if necessary.

@RampantIvy

I hope your DD is PK *@chocolatenutcase*.

I had a very upset DD on the phone the other day, mid exams. They had 24 hours to write 2 x 400 word answers and 2 x 300 word answers for her neuroscience exam. It took her three hours to answer the first one. She had slept badly the night before and was very tired and had a headache. Luckily the next three questions didn't take as long.

One of her friends took 11 hours to answer the first question, then pulled an all nighter to answer the rest, submitting his work just three minutes before the deadline!

In a way these open book 24 hour exams are more stressful then traditional exams. I think in an exam hall the adrenaline keeps you going.

DD had an exam on Monday where she started by 10am (opened at 9:30am) and she handed in at just after 9am on Tuesday having not stopped. Several of her friends were similar in doing 24 or nearly hours on the exam. She also had toothache which meant she hadn't slept the night before. Thankfully for her it was the last exam.

She was saying that some people have had to pull out of a second exam which was consecutive days when they've done 20-24 hours on the first exam and just got to about midnight on the second exam and realised they really can't continue.

The quickest time she's taken has been about 15 hours, and I'll admit she's a slow worker, but even those known to be quick are doing that sort of length of time.
And she at one point had 2 exams running concurrently (one started at 2pm, next started at 9:30am the next day, both 24 hours).

I don't think she's minded too much though. She doesn't do too badly not not a lot of sleep and she's far calmer than she was last year when she did exams.
However it is stressful on the parents . I slept really badly while she was doing them because I was thinking about what if the wifi goes down, or she falls asleep over the work and doesn't hand it in etc...

Also I had glandular fever in my 3rd year. I would never have managed to do those exams-I was sleeping about 18 hours at day round my finals.

My son's other law exam are a more sensible fixed slot - eg you can do it any two hours between 10am and 1pm or something like that which is better rather than giving 24 hours to do it in.

DD has chronic fatigue and is on medication for anxiety, and she just cannot function on not enough sleep. These exams are brutal.

She is on the phone every day at the moment. I can't wait until the exams finish.

@RampantIvy
I really feel for her. I believe the uni has said they're giving 24 hours, but they are doing that so people in other countries don't have to battle the time zone (which is sensible) but they still should only take 3 hours so they don't need to give extra time.
However they're taking even the best and quickest workers 15+ hours, so those who need extra time are going to be relatively disadvantaged, as are those who can't do the long lengths like your dd.

Yes Ds said he has 24 hours for each exam. He has 3 left. He's done 2.

Yes...there is a fee when they do a placement year. I remember listening to the talk on placements or a year abroad. He said it keeps the student on their books. But Ds decided not to go down the placement route. It's just as well with covid, he might not have got one.

I'll be glad when Ds is home for the summer. He has his summer job starting July. I really hope their third year is a bit more normal, but I'm thinking it won't be.

DS went to celebrate the end of assignment (no exams for his course this summer) season with his flatmates. They went to The Ivy! Students defo have more expensive lifestyles than we had.

The Ivy - wow
Not the same as DD and her friends having pre-drinks in a park before going out because they are skint

I know @RampantIvy. Mind you, DS lives a very frugal life generally (doesn't drink alcohol, smoke, etc.) so I guess they deserve it (if they've got the money!). He didn't have anything smart casual to wear though, so I'm surprised they got in!

My son has to take eye breaks from screens every hour due to an eye condition (although he says it is a bit better now since a friend suggested some new setting on his lap top a few months ago) so not being able to go into the physical library and read real books all year and having all courses on zoom and no face to face anything never mind the online exams is not ideal for him.

I suspect his exams for the net academic year will all be online too as it has apparently worked so well and these are professional exams and the regulator has said online is fine as long as it is proctored etc - you are watched as you do it for next academic year's exams and that kind of thing.

These are all huge changes for children who have practised doing in person hand written exams for years.

Need to get a new bed for DS. He got used to a double so the narrow single he has currently needs to go (80x190cm). There is a ‘small double’ which might work and is 120cm wide instead of the usual 135. Has anyone had one before? Wondering how much of a pain for bedding

MrKlaw all you need that is different is a small double fitted sheet (Amazon or John Lewis). Easy to get small double mattress protectors too. Protectabed ones are expensive but waterproof and non rustle.

For the rest normal double duvet and 2 pillow set works.

Many 1st year Uni accommodation is small double now.

Excuse grammar in last post - cooking at same time