Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

One hour a fortnight F2F for £9k

123 replies

GaribaldiGirl · 13/09/2021 20:41

My daughter did the first year of her degree from home. Going into the second year all students were told they were ‘expected to be in Edinburgh’ from September. So we’ve paid a deposit on her flat and she went off this weekend, so excited to be finally going.
Today she discovered that as well as her lectures all being online, she has just one hour of face to face contact a fortnight. And all the Welcome Week stuff she was excited about has limited numbers and needs to be prebooked and, yes you’ve guessed it, it’s all full.
It’s so utterly rubbish I despair. Surely this isn’t right?!
Are other universities back to normal?

OP posts:
Lulu1919 · 13/09/2021 20:45

That sounds awful

2pinkginsplease · 13/09/2021 20:48

My 2 teens are both at Strathclyde.

Eldest is in 3rd year, email has said they are in class if under 50 people in class, over 50 people then class online however hasn’t actually started yet,

Youngest is in 1st year, they have been split into classes of 50 and are in class one day a fortnight and rest is online for the first few months.

Claraboochuffing · 13/09/2021 20:50

sounds like universities are taking the piss. that's bad

wooliewoo · 13/09/2021 21:19

Scottish universities seem to be going back with 1m social distancing. Apparently this is Scottish Gov guidelines.
This, coupled with the fact some universities have had to take loads more students this year due to the exam grade inflation, is having a big impact on classes being able to go ahead in person.

Labs and tutorials are supposed to be in person and everything else online, but it seems to vary so much by institution and faculty.

There are a lot of unhappy students in Scotland who are complaining to their universities, who just say they are following gov guidelines.

Original poster
GaribaldiGirl · 13/09/2021 21:26

I feel cheated. It would have been cheaper to stay at home and fly up once a fortnight for her tutorial!
And much better value to do an Open University course.

OP posts:
NewLifePending · 13/09/2021 21:32

My uni is as normal and I’ve got 3 days in one week and 4 the next. My class is about 37 and half the time it’s split in two. There are no masks either but everyone is tested twice a week

Kakser · 13/09/2021 21:35

That's shocking that they've encouraged students to rent in Edinburgh given how much debt students leave uni with and the high rents in the city. How can they justify that?

Delphigirl · 13/09/2021 21:37

That is really terrible. I’m so sorry for her. My DS has full face to face lectures and seminars (Birmingham politics 2nd year) so I don’t believe they couldn’t do better than that if they put their minds to it.

BurbageBrook · 13/09/2021 21:41

That is pretty bad, I think. I’m a lecturer and my uni has seminars all in-person, with lectures online. Students are fine with lectures taking place online because essentially there isn’t that interaction anyway and it’s just delivery of content, but to have only one seminar a fortnight face to face is very poor. Our students will average about 5-6 hours of face to face seminars a week, with face to face contact for tutorials as well.

BurbageBrook · 13/09/2021 21:42

I’m in England though, so yeah, maybe a Scotland thing.

sanityisamyth · 13/09/2021 21:42

That's more than I had last year. I was on campus 8 times in the whole year ...

Original poster
GaribaldiGirl · 13/09/2021 21:44

@NewLifePending are you in Scotland? Wondering if it’s a Scotland thing?!

OP posts:
NewLifePending · 13/09/2021 21:47

@GaribaldiGirl No, I’m in the Midlands

Original poster
GaribaldiGirl · 13/09/2021 21:49

@sanityisamyth I so hoped this year would be better. Neither of my daughters at university had a single face to face session all year.

OP posts:
CrackersDontMatter · 13/09/2021 21:51

I'm a mature nursing student. We are completely online other than placement.

imjustsoworried · 13/09/2021 21:54

I'm a mature student studying an undergrad in Scotland. You have the option to study online but classes are back one day a week, from 9am-3pm. The other day is online.

ChequerBoard · 13/09/2021 21:54

DD has just started her first year at University of Glasgow. She ha s been told lectures of over 50 will be online, but all tutorials will be f2f.

She there now participating in freshers week. Yes she had to book events before she went but there was plenty of information about it, she knew if she didn't book she wouldn't get in to planned events.

dementedpixie · 13/09/2021 21:55

Dd is going into 1st year at strathclyde but is staying at home. Doesn't look like she'll be in f2f until January.

sanityisamyth · 13/09/2021 21:55

[quote GaribaldiGirl]@sanityisamyth I so hoped this year would be better. Neither of my daughters at university had a single face to face session all year.[/quote]

It's so bad. I'm on a practical course too. We only went in to do practicals :(

Bratnews · 13/09/2021 22:13

It’s v poor for the students studying in Scotland, Glasgow is mobbed all the students are out socialising with no distancing. Many were in halls from the 4th and as a pp said freshers is now on. Yet they can’t get them in for f2f except on a limited basis - farcical.

ResilienceWanker · 13/09/2021 22:21

That is bad. DH teaches at Edinburgh, and their students are in f2f much more than that. As others have said, lectures of over 50 are online but everything else is in person (and they've had to schedule things so one doesn't immediately follow the other) and the timetable looks pretty normal. It may be that your DD is doing an arts subject, which for some reason seem very reluctant to resume "normal" in person teaching.

He did say timetabling had seemingly fucked up a bit, and allocated some students to online tutorials (which are only for students stuck in quarantine - not general use) rather than in person ones, but that's probably specific to his course. He also says no one should ever trust the timetable they get, but if they've got a decent personal tutor, they should have told them that Grin.

And he's also pissed off that the Scot Gov approach is tarring all Scottish universities with a veneer of shit. Again. As an example, Unis had to plan the courses and room allocations last May or so, when there was still a 1m distancing requirement. So where the available rooms weren't big enough for that, for the anticipated number of students, they had to move things online. Though, as it happens, where there were rooms available, they are now having to squish more students in, because more reached the required grades than expected and there are 20% more students than planned! So luckily there's not a 1m distancing requirement any more... It's all sounding like a bit of a mess.

I really hope she manages to salvage some enjoyment out of welcome week. Flowers

wooliewoo · 13/09/2021 22:26

Students in Scotland are complaining to their universities that they can go out to pubs and nightclubs and mix freely but their education is still being so restricted. Many are only discovering at 11th hour when they get their timetable how little f2f they are getting. One of DD friends already cancelled her university accommodation once she saw her timetable and is staying at home and travelling.

Scottish gov (which is very cautious in its approach) has put in guidance to keep everyone "safe" at university.
And despite this Scotland has highest COVID cases in uk at moment!

Original poster
GaribaldiGirl · 13/09/2021 22:41

If staff and students being vaccinated is not enough it’s hard to see anything changing. What are they waiting for? Zero Covid? That could be years….

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 13/09/2021 22:42

My dd isn't fully vaccinated yet. Her 1st vaccine was only 4 weeks ago (she is 17)

ClerkMaxwell · 13/09/2021 22:59

DD luckier with Edinburgh this year - 7 out of 9 contact hours per week are face to face. To be fair to Edinburgh they did publish intentions down to the module level early (June/July) although you had to dig a bit to find. Saying that DD would have been furious at one hour per fortnight. I think they should allow students with low contact hours not to be on campus. DD has a job in halls and was hoping for a quieter life when classes start but looks like there will still be lots of people in their rooms first term on Zoom.