1st Year, 3rd term, no content?

[UniProblem]

DC at Uni - 1st year and 3rd term. No work, no lectures etc have been scheduled for term 3 so DC has nothing to do. DC is autistic and struggled with this lack of structure in term 3 so has now come home. (Uni know DC is autistic as adjustments needed to be made and support put in place - not always successful or effective, but that's another story!)

My issue is though is that DC and us as parents have nothing to show for the fees paid for this term.

Is this other people's experiences, that term 3 is effectively 'no work'?

What course at Bristol is that @StateCapitals ?

Economics

A rather patronising post! The OP has said the DS is in his first year and has no exams.

OP, for what it's worth, my DS has just finished his final year, with his last exam taking place last Thursday. Don't think he had actual teaching in summer term, but did have to turn up for assessed speaking presentations (including those of other students on the course). DD is in second year at Oxford. No exams for her course in second year, so teaching continues in summer term. Officially Oxford terms are 8 weeks long, but that's slightly misleading because for the second and third term they have to be back on the Thursday before the official first week of term ( and there was one time DD was required to be there in the ninth week - for an exam I think).

DD at Leicester had no seminars or teaching in term 3 - in yr 1 she should have had exams but it was 2020; in yr 2 and 3 she had assessments which had to be submitted; would have had exams if she had picked different modules (arts subjct).

DS2 is at Lboro and is still there - has exams next week and the week after; had some lectures after Easter as well. It is a bit of a late uni tho - first term started in October IIRC for example. Science subject.

Some courses have teaching in 3rd term , some exams, some submission deadlines, some very little. There are also usually sport fixtures and social events. If your dc needs structure maybe their tutor can guide them with preparation for next year's courses and relevant reading although you are probably near end of term now anyway.

DS2 is at Lboro and is still there - has exams next week and the week after; had some lectures after Easter as well

That sounds more like what I would be expecting for a 3rd term. Does your DS2 like Loughborough @clary ?

Trying to persuade my DS - who has Bristol down for insurance without visiting it - that Lboro may be a better option (in terms of accommodation, sport and general student life) through Clearing if the worst happens and he doesn't get into Exeter.

Lboro usually have clearing places for his course

Assessment was submitted just before Easter break.

I know they aren't school, and I can appreciate there may be other things happening for the other years.

I'm at a loss though why in the last month I've just paid accommodation fees for term 3 when DC has nothing on actually at university.

@ArcticSkewer It is halls yes. We paid £2200 at start of May for them to stay in halls for term 3.

@lastdayatschool I think it is pretty unusual to have so much after Easter - all his mates from other unis have been home for a while.

Yes he likes it - he had to switch sports when he got there as he didn't make the footy team so he has gone with another sport he loved and they have been massively successful esp this year 😀

Sport is great there but it's also competitive - if a student wants to play sport then they will easily be able to but they may not be chosen for the team (see DS's footy) or get to play for BUCS. But plenty of chances to be active. DS has a greta group of mates across all years through his sport. Intra-mural sport is also big - ie between halls - DS played footy and ultimate frisbee for his hall.

The halls are a range but there are some that are cheap (cheaper than a lot of places anyway) as well as £££ ones that are catered. Campus is great. Town is very small tho so not much in the way of nightlife. I think it's key at Lboro to have a passion that will be catered for by the uni - sport obvs or acting or music or campus politics - as there is little in the way gigs, cinema, shopping or theatre in the town.

Not always a guarantee on clearing tho - there was none at all in DS's A level year (tho that was an extraordinary year tbf).

At many places there are 2 semesters. Not 3 terms of teaching. The second semester can and does go beyond Easter hols. What uni ceases to offer halls after Easter? Maybe a course with no exams and no revision time is unusual?

Thanks @clary - DS plays rugby and cricket.

Wouldn't be BUCS super league standard but I think the fact that Lboro compete at so many levels, especially intramural, is great for those who play sport.

Meant to say that ppl often say "dont go to lboro if you are sporty as you won't get in the team". It's true that the footy team is very competitive (but most uni teams are) and if you want to run the 100m at BUCS for Lboro you need to be running sub 11 sec - but then so will the best men's sprinters from lots of unis - but there is lots of other sport to do. DS2's team was proud that everyone on the massive squad got some game time in the BUCS trophy final (which they won resoundingly); and there are many levels of sport and differnt sports to take part in.

Not trying to evangelise for Lboro btw. I would say that Bristol is a very very different uni tho - big city v small town; sprawling uni and halls v big campus; southern v midlands; posh v ... well, still posh actually but perhaps less so haha

Sorry @UniProblem bit off topic there!

What uni is your DS at if you don't mind saying? You may find that in 2nd and 3rd years there is more in the way of summer term assessment - first year assessment is often not v important except to pass.

That's pretty poor then. They must know they don't need the rooms. When does the contract run til?
We had a choice of weeks, based on course type, and I was annoyed we ended up paying til end June when course finished mid May, but yours sounds worse.

It's really normal for them to finish by May but they don't usually charge for a full additional term of accommodation unless it's a separate private provider, or you chose it as an option.

@lastdayatschool rugby is massive at Lboro, no idea how hard to get into the team but it is a big big focus for the uni (DS is always moaning that his sport is overlooked - tho they did just win Team of the Year at the AU) so I imagine there are numerous levels of rugby team and there is lots of visiting rugby activity on campus. It also has a cricket pitch (this may be standard at many unis, I don't know).

I'm intrigued now by the longer accommodation contract. I can only find undergrad accommodation contracts for 38-42 weeks online. Which uni makes you take out a longer contract for undergraduate for their halls of residence? They should be named and shamed

I teach at a university with the traditional 3 terms - 2 twelve week terms, plus a couple of weeks at the start of the Summer term.

So exactly the same number of teaching weeks as at Oxford. Just arranged differently.

We are now in the thick of marking and processing those marks, ready for Exam Boards and then graduation (or results for 1st and 2nd years) in July. It actually wouldn’t be humanly possible - without a doubling of academic and administrative staff - to teach full time at the same time.

At my place, our students do other things: there is a university wide Summer term programme, which they need to pick up proactively or they do placements and internships. But these options have to be actively picked up by students. They need to be self- motivated to get involved in these.

@DollyParkin there is nothing, DC has told me. There is the summer ball and that's it, being autistic and sensory issues means the summer ball isn't for them - too loud, too many people, lack of structure for the event itself.

There may be things that DC isn't aware of but that's why I'd hope their mentor/pastoral support would make them aware and support to access if DC wanted to do them (DC's executive functioning is poor so they would not know how to do it themselves).

@UniProblem My DD was finished in early May but had to pay accommodation until mid-June. As PP have said, that is fairly usual. All of her teaching and assessment was put into two long terms. She is now home and working (on an internship as it happens). Other PP have said similar; it depends very much on the individual university.

So the answer to your question is, "Yes, it is." In some but not all places, Term 3 is only there for certain students (mainly international ones or those with January starts).

Thanks @SertralineAndTherapy but then I'd ask why pay for accommodation they don't need? We paid £2200 at start of May for term 3..

I wouldn't expect much like that from mentor/ pastoral support over the summer - probably isn't much on offer apart from a few bits aimed at international students or postgrads, or possibly a few mental health wellbeing events.

I'd focus most on why they insisted on a long contract for accommodation when it was clearly only suited for international or postgrads, or those on T2 + T3 courses. The rest of it is pretty par for the course - students come home for the long summer or get a job.

Were you/was he offered a choice of weeks when you/he signed at the start of the year? It's very poor practice to take money for the entire summer (obviously some students do need 50/52 week contracts but most only need 39-42). I'd actually complain to the student union about that as an issue to raise for future. Private providers do it but I wouldn't expect that from uni accommodation.

@UniProblem That is an excellent question! I presume it's because the uni can't rent it out to anyone else and wants to maximise income. Some of DD's friends have stayed in their accommodation to continue socialising and/or because summer work is easier to find there than their home-towns.

Also, the fact that the last "termly" rent is only taken in May is to tie in with the timings of student loan payments. Can I ask what arrangements your DS has for next year? In the private sector, 51-week contracts seem to be the norm.

I suppose that could be it.

Is his, for example, 42 week contract paid in 3 lump sums tied to each payment of student loan?

Or is it private sector halls? Those do run longer contracts, as he will do in future as well with private sector accommodation - paying across the summer is the norm.