Durham University

[KingscoteStaff]

The continuation thread for those with DC at Durham, or applying to Durham, or alumni, or staff!

January 2022 finds our DC packing their big coats, checking the forecast for snow and wondering when Michaelmas actally is...?

Assemble!
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Gosh .. that is a stunning pic .
Beautiful Durham!

Aagh , just as everything seemed to be settling down and going swimmingly ds has come down with glandular fever , he has been really quite ill for the last 10 days although turning the corner. Has anyone dealt with this, clearly he is panicking about exams etc , but we obviously need to contact his academic tutor (although he has never met them) and the college and he has a summative due soon as well. Thankfully up until now he has had a good record and its the first year so I'm hoping it won't be a major problem. He's very reluctant to ask for 'special treatment' etc etc but I think I have persuaded him that this is exactly what 'special treatment' is for

So pleased we kept his doctor registered here at home though , they have been absolutely great, they have known him all his life and it definitely helped to see someone who knew him and went straight to testing for GF .

Oh no @Peaseblossum22 ..your poor Ds. I hope he is starting to turn a corner with it. It’s a rotten illness.

I think this is *exactly the sort of adverse circumstances that the uni needs to know about to support your Ds to move forward in his studies. I hope he gets a swift and good response back from the uni to put his mind at ease.

Thank you , he had a swift but ultimately useless reply from his academic tutor . Sort of oh dear , that’s sad , no idea what you should do , why not try x . However after a bit of digging I have found another email for a dept admin so we’ll try that . No response so far from college . So hard to leave them to it , admin detail is not the strength of young men in my experience .

@Peaseblossum22 We had exactly the same last year - DD was in 2nd year, went down with lymphangitis/glandular fever at Easter - was unable to do anything for six whole weeks - was awful. Then had covid in May and was totally wiped out again. Was no problem with Durham- we got doctors' certificates etc. and had early communication with department and college which enabled her to sit late exams in August. Wasn't much fun because she lost her whole summer but she did well in the end. You do have to be careful because there are no re-sits for late exams and if you fail a module you fail the year and I believe have your mark moderated so it is only to be recommended if you are really ill and you need high marks.

Thank you @Baytreemum that’s really reassuring . Thankfully he’s first year so exams don’t count so much . I /we have found most of the forms online , had hoped for a more useful reply from the dept , frankly it was high in sentiment and low on actual advice but I’m sure we can sort it . Luckily his marks have been pretty good so far so we are really hopeful that it won’t be too much of a problem . We are waiting for a reply from college, I assume people do pick up emails in the holidays.

@Peaseblossum22 - glad our sad experience was able to provide some reassurance. Yes, college and depts. will be in slow lane over the vacation, but the systems are all in place so you can reassure your DS that all will be ok and he just needs to rest and wait until he feels better. First year marks can be important if your DS is applying for internships and jobs, so that's one thing to bear in mind. Hopefully he will have a mild case and will be back on his feet again soon. 🛌.

Hope your DS rests and recovers soon! Make sure you document everything and ask your GP to give a note and download his results evidencing then glandular fever

@Baytreemum gosh I am so sorry I did not mean to seem unsympathetic , it was just reassuring to hear that the University had been supportive as we feel rather alone at the moment, I was feeling rather frustrated yesterday .

It was of course a horrible time for you and your dd and I do hope your dd is recovered and not too stressed about the upcoming finals . Thank you so much for posting about your experience.

@Peaseblossum22 Sorry to hear about your boy. That’s great that his GP is supportive.

Obviously things may be in the slow lane during the vacation, but I’d also get him to contact Student Services as they will have advice on exactly who to contact re. exams.

@Peaseblossum22 totally supportive of you and your DS! Def nothing taken badly here! It is a very horrible bug but in a way it is good to get it done, like chickenpox in the old days! And in reality even tho it messes up their summer at least they didn't miss term time. My DD took quite a long time to get strong again, but everyone is different so hopefully your DS will get well soon. Thanks, she's pretty stressed with three summatives for the Easter "break" plus her dissertation to finalise and one module exam to prepare for - she only just came home after a three week slog in the library!

Sorry to hear this @Peaseblossum22.

DS (third year) and DD (first year) are both at Durham. Both had glandular fever in second term of first year.

DD was very lethargic and out of sorts over Christmas and it was only because I insisted she got a blood test to rule out glandular fever that she got her diagnosis. So rest assured, it is more common than you think and many young people just aren't aware they even have it.

Both mine fully recovered within 4 weeks and took practical steps such as early nights, healthy eating, no sport and zero alcohol.

DS didn't tell anyone at Durham about his glandular fever and obviously got no support.

Conversely, DD mentioned it to her tutor who arranged an online meeting with two representatives from the college and department. She was offered loads of support and the opportunity for extended deadlines.

So Durham can be extremely supportive if they're fully informed.

I hope you he gets better soon. It is a worry. I think we were a lot more chilled with DD as we'd seen DS go through it two years earlier.

Hope he's on the mend soon. x

Gosh thank you this is where mumsnet is great . I have to say his tutors response was somewhat bemusing , kind but completely disinterested. Anyway I have found the number and email for the administrator in the dept and we will try to contact them tomorrow and he has emailed the person responsible for student welfare in his college. I think he’s mostly worried because he has 19 exams and has done no revision for the last 2 weeks at all.

10 not 19 exams

@Peaseblossum22 - have a look at the re-sit dates in August - I just typed it into google and the exam dates come up - probs best to aim for those if he is proper poorly - it will take the pressure off him so he can fight the bugs. Not a great prospect I know, but it's what my DD had to do and it was all good in the end. She was totally flattened for six weeks and was only able to gradually get up to full speed studying after that. I hope he doesn't have it that badly, but in case he does then it can still all be fine! xx

@Peaseblossum22 , sorry your DS is unwell , I wish him a speedy recovery .

@Peaseblossum22 sorry, I can't see if this has been mentioned, but when DD was ill over exams last year (with the dreaded glandular fever) she was told to submit a SAC form (think it stands for Something Adverse Circumstances) explain the issue, timings etc and attach proof/Dr's certs etc. I think college welfare put her on to the idea. It certainly helped her.

@Peaseblossum22 btw I didn't mean he would need to re-sit, what I meant was that he could probably defer sitting his exams until the re-sit exam session. That's what my DD had to do.

@Peaseblossum22 sorry to hear your ds has been unwell. I asked my dd, and I’ve pm’d you with the link where he can ask for an extension.

Sorry if this is duplication but this is what he needs. It is administered via the college not the academic dept in the first instance.

www.dur.ac.uk/student.registry/assessment/covid19/sacs/online/

Thank you everyone, sorry i haven't been back earlier we had another minor family crisis which needed my attention. We have located the Sac form , and contacted his college , still no reply but hoping now that Easter is over we will get somewhere. He does seem to be doing ok , tired but the sore throat has receded, it has probably been good that he has had a month at home, hes mostly worried about exams but as a first year its hopefully not too important. I would prefer that he stayed home an extra week but he is determined to go back, we will justhave to rescue him if needed.

@Peaseblossum22 I hope your Ds is continuing to recover. Did he go back at the beginning of term or did he stay home ? I hope he managed to register mitigating circs.

I hope everyone’s Dc are all ok? Dd says Palace Green had lots of groups of students enjoying the sunshine yesterday afternoon . She sent pics of the cathedral and castle with spring blossom and blue skies. It looked beautiful.

I can’t believe that it’s only 2 months til the end of year for them! Dd was considering coming back a bit early to be sensible and earn money but has been persuaded by us to stay and live it up with her friends. She now has lots of plans for when exams end 🙂

Are anyones Dc in second year going back into halls for year 3? Dd says Durham have suddenly put up the cost of ‘catered living in’ quite considerably. Next years first years won’t have much change left in their pockets from their student loans! Dd has loved catered halls this year though ( says Castle food is great) so she still might consider it when the time comes.

Hope you are all having a good BH weekend

Has anyone heard anything further on exam marking strikes? Hard to get in the headset of of exam prep with this going on. Also some of the expectations for online exams seem really onerous . Has anyone else's student found the same? I've seen headlines about £8k accommodation fees. Hardly helps with levelling up the student population 😞.

Hi @libbytrois No -Haven’t heard anything else apart from that the Student union have said they won’t support any marking boycott.
dd has had one exam so far, since going back, but it was a face to face one for an elective. Her online ones start soon. I think she would agree about online exams .. . would prefer face to face and finds the online ones more stressful.

@Longtimenewsee thank you for asking , he went back last Sunday with lots of advice ringing in his ears about pacing himself etc . One of his friends from home who is a medic scared him with lots of stories . He had a meeting with his college tutor / vice principal on Wednesday and has all the evidence so hopefully things are getting sorted. I have been politely encouraged to let him deal with it , he’s 20 has had a year off and as it’s year one I am trying hard to be hands off . I have had a lot of other stuff to distract me this week , not least pulling something in my back and being completely frozen 🥶 so dh has been dealing.

on the marking strike Palatinate has an article this week saying the students have voted not to support a marking strike. What gets me is that the numbers in the UCU are so small ( although I think they are mostly in ds dept 😬who are pretty militant) . You can see the voting numbers on the UCU website . I am not unsympathetic to many of their grievances but I do feel that the students have suffered enough and that they have made no gains at all in four years so it’s not working .