Oxford and Cambridge current students

[sandybayley]

Nearly filled up the old one...

I would hate to work in the Number 10 comms office. It is bad enough in ours. I have written briefs only for them to come out of a ministers mouth totally garbled. It is as if they have some one in front of them saying "take a brief, any brief...look at it remember it and pop it back in the deck. Now look into my eyes and forget anything you have just read"

DD is targeting the 20th of April - her tutor has helpfully supported that decision. Our house is about to be overwhelmed with art materials and works so it is as well.

@Unescorted - sounds very familiar! That's why I'm looking for corroboration from another source, preferably written down. Until then September makes no sense, it could even have been 'May be September'.

Either way I sure there is a comms person wondering if anyone noticed the gaff and being relieved it wasn't picked up by the media. Oh damn, those parents on Mumsnet are talking about it 😬

This thread is rather confusing me . My DD got an email about 2 weeks ago telling everybody in her college what date they would be returning for Trinity. Is every other college just leaving students in the lurch?

Sandybayley, that's all very interesting! Thanks for sharing.

Cinammonbuns, yes, DS1 (C) and DS2 (O)'s colleges are waiting to hear advice from the government before saying whether or not anyone can return - although some students have already been allowed to return for a variety of reasons. Meanwhile, most students - without a special reason not to be working from home - are all waiting and waiting and waiting....for weeks and weeks now. The earliest possible time they might - or might not - hear anything one way or another is after Easter - at some undefined point.

It's becoming pretty tough for my DCs to not know one way or another and I can see that they're suffering, especially DS2. I also worry that if they're not allowed back for the summer - when lots can happen out of doors and in general, viruses of all kinds are less prevalent, then by October, Covid numbers will inevitably rise again and students will still be 'working from home'.

It's the not knowing that's hardest of all as we can't make any plans or have any kind of 'map' of the future for the rest of this university year.

Yup Cinnamon. Zero info from dds college for those who haven't returned already.

Zero info from DS’s C college. DD is still working towards April 12 for O, subject to Boris’ “post Easter “ announcement.
Am inclined to agree that the May/September comment was a sloppy slip but nonetheless took the opportunity to email my thoughts on the matter via the link helpfully provided by goodbye.

@ofteninaspin DD has just texted having met her tutor at her/your DS's C college this morning. Plans are being made for a return according to DD so hang on in there.

DD is allowed to come home & also return as our internet is still terrible and the same rules apply now as they did in January.

DS finished Lent term lectures today; just a couple of supervisions left to do. There's not much to distinguish between term and not-term (can't really call it vacation as he vacated in early December), but hopefully he'll get some lie-ins.

The good news is that he didn't get stressed in week 5 like he did last term; possibly because he knew what to expect this time.

It does feel as though he is in limbo regarding next term, but there's not much he can do other than wait.

DS1 knows that he is allowed back to his O college for Trinity because his subject is on the permitted / practical list (Chemistry).

His college has not shared an update on plans for students reading subjects not on the 'permitted to return' list. Needless to say there is a lot of frustration amongst the group who remain in the dark.

Knowing what I know about his college the non-communication is probably due to ineptness rather than anything more thought through.

DS's O college have apparently sent out negative sounding messages about returning next term. Maybe they just don't want to commit before the government says it's ok. They did have a lot of covid cases in the first term which might be influencing their decision making. Really hope that I am worrying over nothing!

Have emailed. STEM students have been told they can expect to return to DD’s C college.

Have emailed. STEM students have been told they can expect to return to DD’s C college.

Thank you for sharing this. That sounds encouraging for DS.

Students on non-practical courses
Please remember that if you are on a non-practical or practice-based course, the Government will not issue guidance on your return for in-person teaching until 5 April at the earliest.
We realise it will be disappointing for you not to get more clarity at this stage. However, we are committed to reviewing these arrangements as soon as possible after we get more guidance from the Government, and we remain hopeful that a wider student return will be possible in Trinity term.

Update on the Oxford site today

Another update on the Oxford site today about student life in Trinity term. Assuming this doesn't change, there is good and depressing but inevitable news

Depressing news: "student life in Trinity term will not be the same as it has been in other years"; the household bubble system will continue.

Good news: Gyms will be reopening, Iffley Road Sport club will be reopening, it looks like (some) organised sport will be allowed, (although non-organised sport is not allowed and when not playing sports people will need to obey the rule of six).

That is good news. It sounds as if Oxford expect to welcome students back.

Does anyone have a view about whether or not rowing will allowed? Does the rule of six count for it?

In the scheme of things I count that as good news! I'm guessing they mean no balls, limited JCR etc but anything that gets them back is good in my book!

I'm puzzling over filling in the census. (Paper edition) If I put D1's usual termtime address it looks like her bit will be sent to her there, and of course she's not there atm. Following the link on faq doesn't make it any clearer. Anyone else done this yet?

Is her termtime address a private residence or a college building? Is there anyone there who is responsible for completing the census form?

Both DC have been sent census info by their colleges ie post codes and addresses. I used it for the term time bits on the census form and filled in home info for the vacations.

It's in college, so I'm assuming it will just be sent to her personally and put in her pidge (300 miles away) Do college really fill it in for them? It's all the nationality/ religion/ethnicity/sexuality/qualifications stuff

If you're using the paper edition, can't you just fill it all in then note her term-time address?

Is there a reason you're not using the on-line one?

After H had set up all our names online we each in turn used the code to fill in our personal bits (this is correct: when you click that you want to do This Person it asks if This Person is you or if you're doing it on their behalf). S1 answered questions as normal then when he clicked he was a student with a term-time address it didn't ask the other ones.

His house-share has a couple of people still there so he texted them for the code, and found that when he filled in that one he was asked the employment etc questions.

The FAQ says you can either share the code among your household or request a separate one (depending on how well you know and trust your housemates, presumably!) There was something there about halls of residence too: I can't remember what it said but it was quite specific.

That's not what the instructions say Merryhouse. After Q9 if you answer that you have a different term time address, you go straight to 51. All the other Qs which is the last Q. The other Qs are sent to the other address.

Sorry, random sentence in the middle there. She hasn't had anything from college.

Ah, found this student guide which is a lot more use than the general census guide. census.gov.uk/students for anyone else struggling 😁. If they can't get the code which has been sent to the college, they can request another access code which is sent via text. That's a lot more useful than 'can someone go and pick it up for you?'