Is there a higher level of unhappy students at the moment?

[user73]

DS is hopefully going off to university next September but getting a bit worried about hearing so many stories of this year's cohort being unhappy. Lots of stories coming back from kids in the year above of large numbers of unsociable flat mates who just stay in their rooms looking a screens, extremely high levels of drugs amongst those who do go out, problems with accommodation (cleaning in particular), kids sticking with people they know from school, pressure to organise a second year house in the first few weeks of term, lack of teaching going on etc.

Is this normal and I'm just noticing it more because of the age of my DC or is there more than usual? Reports are from Exeter, Lancaster, Warwick, Leeds in particular.

Could it be that there problems adjusting due to the covid years or are our kids finding it harder to be independent because we do more for them? I remember being delighted to be independent and mixing with new people.

Most of the "catered" we saw during uni visits weren't "dining room" style at all. Students got a card which entitled them to "free" meals at the various eateries on campus, which were open to all, so they basically got the choice of whatever everyone had the choice of and could choose when and where to eat. So fussiness never came into it. It is actually a good thing because the "catered" students can choose to have meals with non-catered students if they wish, rather than always having to eat in their own dining room with the same students all the time.

My dd went to uni this year.
I was worried about her finding her difficult because my social media was feeding me content made by students who were struggling.

In reality, she's been having a blast. Has lots of stories about interesting things she'd done and experienced.

When she applied for accommodation, she could specify quiet or noisy. She was really worried about which to pick because she's in between - sociable but irritated if woken up late at night. She ended up picking quiet- some people are messy but it's not the carnage that you see on some SM videos that are clearly made to be shocking.

@Kazzyhoward That's how it works at DD's uni too. I imagined a canteen with school dinners but it's the card with credit to be spent on campus.

DS was adamant that he wanted self-catered "to be independent" and got his first choice accommodation. He eats A LOT and the novelty of shopping/ cooking/ managing the shelf life of fresh stuff etc soon began to wear off, alongside juggling work and social life.
Thankfully he found himself a lovely girlfriend who was in a catered hall and he ended up buying a meal card for her hall (about £4 a meal!) and ate there most of the time!
(In fact he was there so often that they assumed he was a resident and didn't bother checking his card, so he got a lot of his meals for free! 😉)

@Stockpot
That is a real shame. Of course rooms come up if anyone drops out. I was talking in general terms about what might be better for some students. I don’t know how much universities engage with parents. Much more than they did I expect.

Students got a card which entitled them to "free" meals at the various eateries on campus, which were open to all

I should think that a shy and very unselfconfident student would find walking into a cafe type scenario on their own far more daunting thatn using the kitchen in their own flat.

I don’t know how much universities engage with parents. Much more than they did I expect.

Not at all IME. I think they can if a student gives express permission, but generally it is hands off for parents. It isn't school. And I think that this is the problem most of the time. Students (and parents, judging from some of the posts on WIWIKAU) think that university is a higher extension of school, and this is where they become unstuck.

No-one chases them for outstanding work for a start. Students don't get to have the same relationship with lecturers like they do with teachers at school - this was certainly the case for DD who had a different lecturer for every module (biomedical sciences). The nearest she got to talking to any of the teaching staff on a regular basis was her weekly online meetings with her dissertation tutor.

I think the mental health of those who went through covid is poor in many cases which is one factor. I also think that the last 3 years have seen over inflated grades (less so this year) and students who have therefore found themselves in many cases (not all) on courses that are too demanding for them. In addition the 2021 cohort in particular (less so but still applies to the 2022 and 2020) did not have the pressure of revision in the same way as prior to 2020 - they did not sit A levels in the same way other did - the teacher assessed grades were based on a wider amount of evidence. In many ways it was an easier sixth form in terms of work load and now at university they are being asked to work hard but indendendantly which is understandably a shock. I do not blame the students - I blame the mess that has existed over the last few years.

I think there is a worrying lack of face-to-face, accessible support in UK universities. My DC's experiences of two different Russell Group unis is that they are all hiding behind the provision of online 'wellness' programmes and flawed case management systems which log inquiries but never follow up with students. DS asked his personal tutor for help with a query over his course in the first week of term and didn't hear back for over a month by which time a key deadline had passed.

Yes. I think you are right @twelly. Students who haven't had the pressure of public exams, and having so much of their lives disrupted at such a key time in their development must account for a lot.

My dd was in the GCSE 2021 and that’s caused us no end of problems with the teacher assessed grades as she came out with most 9s

Yes she’s intelligent and being able to do short tests on not even the whole curriculum just what they managed to get through meant she excelled

Roll onto y13 and yes she’s a bright girl she’s also lazy has terrible time management and is a bit of a Funtime Frankie and enjoys having a life there’s no way she’s going to do brilliantly in her A levels the truth be told she shouldn’t have done so well in her “GCSES” either I kind of wish she hadn’t and we’d have had more realistic expectations for sixth form

@Myjobisanightmare
You can be realistic about university though. You do not have to choose a higher pressure one.

Students can give permission to universities to contact parents. This should be agreed with parents before they go and a plan made. It’s definitely possible to have parents involved far more than 10 years ago. If students don’t want parents involved, I don’t see that as the university’s fault.

I also agree parents need better info about how university works and for them, together with Dc, to question snd evaluate if Dc should be at university at 18. Or would work or a fap
year be better? Who really wants to go to uni and sit in their room all the time? Or not enjoy any of it. I notice parents want to look at teaching contact hours. There doesn’t seem much understanding that DC need to research and be self starters. There seems to be an assumption the university is a school. It’s not and schools should make this very clear.

If Dc don’t get answers, knock on the door of the university staff member. Have plan B. Or C. Keep emailing. Don’t keep waiting. Learn to advocate for yourself. That might be part of the evaluation of whether university is for your DC right now. Are they too passive? Part of becoming an adult is to navigate set back and find out for yourself.

The problem is the over inflated grades have created the perception that the student will want to believe - understandably. Had the GCSE's and A levels gone ahead or the grades been more realistic then students would have a more realistic overview.

@twelly
That can be an issue but some universities offer extra help if Dc find the transition to university work challenging. Some universities are more like school with more “handholding”. Choose one of them if Dc thinks university teaching might be a challenge and you do have info to choose a university with a teaching award.