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Higher education

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

Original poster

Uni threat to terminate student's studies

239 replies

Allshallbewell2021 · 12/02/2023 18:07

My ds has just succeeded in his appeal against a termination of studies based on non attendance. He had no idea that lectures were mandatory. His attendance is lower than the bar they expect but the dept dealing with him have not been explicit about either of these figures.
His work is up to date.
He did not know lectures were mandatory -lecturers said they were 'important'.
He has had a large number of challenges which have effected his attendance.
I can't the brutality of the process. The stasi like language.
The lack of seeing young people (particularly the Covid uni cohort) as uniquely unlucky in uni terms.
The lack of support for someone struggling
The treatment of a student in a way which seems like they've committed real crimes not just misunderstood the rules.
When did the unis become such vicious places? I was so naive. I am horrified by their attitude. It seems like how you'd treat someone guilty of a serious crime.

OP posts:
lonelyinyournightmare · 12/02/2023 18:08

He thought lectures were optional?

BentleyRhythmAce · 12/02/2023 18:09

Well, now he does know.

HairyKitty · 12/02/2023 18:09

If I was paying £9000 a year I would expect lectures to be optional. However surely any minimum attendance would have been made clear to students?!

CalculatingSuccess · 12/02/2023 18:10

Lectures WERE optional when I was a student. Why would he have known any different @lonelyinyournightmare ? “Important” does not equate to mandatory.

Viviennemary · 12/02/2023 18:11

If he is succeeded in his appeal then his studies will continue. He needs to attend the lectures and do his work. Of course lectures arent optional. Maybe he should make an appointment with one of their counsellors. He seems a bit confused as to what is expected.

HairyKitty · 12/02/2023 18:12

Why would it be obvious that they aren’t optional if you are paying for the service?

BirdyBoop · 12/02/2023 18:12

What?

He thought you could just not go to lectures?

I'm sorry, but I don't believe that he thought lectures were optional.

Phos · 12/02/2023 18:12

Is lectures being optional a new thing? When I was at Uni in the early to mid noughties, most lecturers passed round an attendance list to sign and some courses a certain percentage of unauthorised absence would have an impact on your results.

SirSamVimesCityWatch · 12/02/2023 18:12

Lectures were optional when I was a student too; only seminars were mandatory.

At this point in proceedings though, surely they will have made it clear to him that lectures are not optional and there is a minimum attendance rate?

Original poster
Allshallbewell2021 · 12/02/2023 18:13

I think he went to the ones he found most useful.
His work is up to date.
Universities used to care most about the work being up to date.
Making them mandatory is not a problem if everyone knows it.
He has had a lot of issues.
If he had known they were mandatory he would have made sure that he missed as few as possible
His cohort had no in person lectures for over a year and very little concern for how much they lost in that respect.

OP posts:
VioletaDelValle · 12/02/2023 18:13

The attendance requirements will have been clearly set out in the course handbook. As will the sanctions for non attendance.

senua · 12/02/2023 18:13

There must have been a lot of intermediate steps before the University got to the 'terminate study' stage.

Johnnysgirl · 12/02/2023 18:14

The lack of seeing young people (particularly the Covid uni cohort) as uniquely unlucky in uni terms
He's no different to the rest of the Covid cohort, is he? The rest of them managed to understand how to get themselves to lectures...

Not really seeing what Covid has to do with it, tbh.

SirSamVimesCityWatch · 12/02/2023 18:14

Phos · 12/02/2023 18:12

Is lectures being optional a new thing? When I was at Uni in the early to mid noughties, most lecturers passed round an attendance list to sign and some courses a certain percentage of unauthorised absence would have an impact on your results.

I was at uni 2003-2006, lectures were most definitely optional and there was no monitoring of attendance. Seminars were different - I got in trouble for missing too many of the same seminar in my first semester (it was very boring and on a Monday morning!).

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 12/02/2023 18:14

Well, it might vary from one university to another, but when I worked in HE, there were generally a lot of steps to address non-engagement before it ever got to the point of terminating a student's studies. I would be extremely surprised if he genuinely didn't realise before it got to this point. Doesn't the student handbook make it clear that the lectures are compulsory?

If he has been engaging with his personal tutor, I find it hard to believe that it's got to the point of the university initiating a termination without him realising that there was a problem. Are you sure he is telling you the whole truth?

TheMarzipanDildo · 12/02/2023 18:15

Lectures were “mandatory” for me but they were definitely optional really (no one was checking).

lonelyinyournightmare · 12/02/2023 18:15

Yes he is paying for his studies, but why would he think lectures were optional, especially after being told that they were important. He decided that he knew better than his lecturers. If he felt he did not need to attend lectures I don't understand why he would go to the expense of attending uni. He clearly feels able to self teach.

I am certain that parents who pay private school fees would not consider lessons to be optional just because they are paying for them.

Greenshake · 12/02/2023 18:16

This has to be a joke.

BentleyRhythmAce · 12/02/2023 18:16

How does he know they're not useful if he doesn't go to them?

Original poster
Allshallbewell2021 · 12/02/2023 18:16

Young people make mistakes. They misunderstand things. You obviously know an unimpeachable group of clear thinking young people.
It was not clear to him.
He has been struggling.
I thought unis would try to support students who struggle.
But I guess not.

OP posts:
takethedevilledeggs · 12/02/2023 18:17

senua · 12/02/2023 18:13

There must have been a lot of intermediate steps before the University got to the 'terminate study' stage.

Yes this. In my experience, unis set out expectations for attendance etc in induction sessions and if not, in the course guide.

They would not have gone from not attending lectures to kicking him out without emails, invitations to a tutorial etc Either your son has massively struggled to understand expectations, has not communicated properly or he's fed you a bit of a bullshit tale of how he got to that point.

BentleyRhythmAce · 12/02/2023 18:17

They have supported him - they've allowed him to continue with the course. He does have to take responsibility for his situation.

Johnnysgirl · 12/02/2023 18:17

Allshallbewell2021 · 12/02/2023 18:16

Young people make mistakes. They misunderstand things. You obviously know an unimpeachable group of clear thinking young people.
It was not clear to him.
He has been struggling.
I thought unis would try to support students who struggle.
But I guess not.

What exactly has he been struggling with, apart from attending lectures?

Meandthemoggies · 12/02/2023 18:18

Lectures aren't optional and this will have been made very clear to your ds. (Yes this has changed in the 30 years or whatever it is since people on this thread were students).

Unis are also well aware of the mental health struggles facing students and there is tons, and I really do mean tons, of support available in all HE institutions.

They won't have sprung this on your ds out of the blue and I'm willing to bet that you're not getting the full story from him here.

Glad to hear he's able to continue his studies.

kshaw · 12/02/2023 18:18

I work at a university. There will have been plenty emails asking about attendance before he was terminated. Attendance is mandatory so can get student loan and any international students are meeting their visa requirements.