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Higher education

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

Original poster

Dropping out of university

62 replies

Bollard · 19/06/2024 20:49

DD has just told me she doesn’t want to go back to university. She’s just finished year 1 of a humanities degree at a RG university. She’d like to apply elsewhere and start again in September. Does anyone know how this works? I’ve tried to find a step-by-step guide and I’m a bit bewildered.
I know she can apply for student finance and that she’ll have extra debt. I think she’d rather start from scratch than apply to start in the second year.
Should she contact some unviersities directly now and see if they can make her an offer? Or update her UCAS form and go through Clearing?
She was at the place she’d firmly accepted so accommodation was all sorted out and we knew what we were doing!

OP posts:
Original poster
Bollard · 19/06/2024 22:22

Bump

OP posts:
TeenLifeMum · 19/06/2024 22:25

What’s her reasoning for wanting to change? (I ask because I did the same but 22 years ago - I took a year out and ended up in the job I wanted post degree so didn’t go back in the end. I’m doing a pgdip with a RG uni now at 42).

Could she speak to the uni she wants to go to and get advice from them?

Pleasealexa · 19/06/2024 22:43

Does she know what University she wants to restart at?

Had she secured a 2nd year house?

I wouldn't immediately jump to reapplying as unless she really understands what hasn't worked she could be jumping into a similar situation.

Tatapie · 19/06/2024 23:06

My DD has just done this, not sure if she'll take up offers for Sep but good to have options.
The applied through UCAS via her 6th firm college, they were happy to do the submission again. She had to tweak her Personal statement to refer to reasons for applying again. Meanwhile she contacted Unis to see if she'd likely get an offer. She had to state clearly it was for year 1 entry not to transfer to YR 2. In a couple of cases she had to email her A level certificates. The updated UCAS with unconditional offers. I would advise your DD to contact UCAS on the Webchat as to the relevant deadlines for an application now.

SkillDuggery · 19/06/2024 23:08

Yes I think her understanding precisely why she doesn’t want to go back is key. And of course she may have already articulated that to you, and we don’t need to know.

The point about securing a house is a good one.

To answer your Q, I imagine she’d have to update her UCAS. Clearing extra is already open I believe. Contacting unis directly is only really relevant if she’s wanting to transfer, or perhaps if she wants to know about availability now and she wants do a course that’s creative for which she has a portfolio. (I know someone who did this.)

I’m not an expert so happy to be corrected by those in the know.

Ciri · 19/06/2024 23:10

Which university is she at and which does she want to move to. Is she tied in to accommodation for the whole of next year - presumably she is?

No3387 · 19/06/2024 23:12

Also, there is only 4 years of student finance offered and this includes the post-grad for master's loan, potential for a year out due to any issues, such as mental health etc. So she needs to think about that.

Using that extra year of funding unnecessarily could be detrimental down the line.

Ciri · 19/06/2024 23:13

SkillDuggery · 19/06/2024 23:08

Yes I think her understanding precisely why she doesn’t want to go back is key. And of course she may have already articulated that to you, and we don’t need to know.

The point about securing a house is a good one.

To answer your Q, I imagine she’d have to update her UCAS. Clearing extra is already open I believe. Contacting unis directly is only really relevant if she’s wanting to transfer, or perhaps if she wants to know about availability now and she wants do a course that’s creative for which she has a portfolio. (I know someone who did this.)

I’m not an expert so happy to be corrected by those in the know.

Clearing isn’t open yet. Extra is different, that’s where you didn’t get any offers. It’s a good indication of what might be in clearing though

SkillDuggery · 19/06/2024 23:13

No3387 · 19/06/2024 23:12

Also, there is only 4 years of student finance offered and this includes the post-grad for master's loan, potential for a year out due to any issues, such as mental health etc. So she needs to think about that.

Using that extra year of funding unnecessarily could be detrimental down the line.

That’s interesting.

what if a student decides to do a year abroad and then a masters? Would the funding cover the year abroad but not the masters?

Ciri · 19/06/2024 23:14

SkillDuggery · 19/06/2024 23:13

That’s interesting.

what if a student decides to do a year abroad and then a masters? Would the funding cover the year abroad but not the masters?

Show quote history

I’m pretty sure that post is incorrect. Masters funding is separate (and stingy)

boombang · 19/06/2024 23:17

if she wants to change course, she would be far better off staying in the same uni and changing departments - she can probably get some credit carried over, maybe the whole year, and get a mixed honours degree, so won't have t pay rent for a student house she is not using, lose a whole year of finance, etc.

SkillDuggery · 19/06/2024 23:19

Thanks @Ciri.

So I know someone who didn’t apply until June last year and had contacted a university directly to see if they take her based on her portfolio (creative subject) and they said yes. They already had their overseas school qualification equivalent.

They applied via UCAS in June and got an unconditional offer. What would that have been? Does Extra apply if you haven’t applied at all?

Ciri · 19/06/2024 23:21

The deadlines in January of each year are just for equal consideration. You can apply after this deadline it’s just that they might have filled their offer quotas already.

Ciri · 19/06/2024 23:22

Extra is a special process whereby if you’ve used up your five ucas applications and you didn’t get any offers you can make another application. You can go onto the ucas site right now and use the filters to see which universities still have vacancies for September

Sloejelly · 19/06/2024 23:23

Just checked UCAS:

^”If you don’t meet the main application deadline, you can still apply for many courses.
We recommend you ask the universities whether they have vacancies first”^

No3387 · 19/06/2024 23:25

Ciri · 19/06/2024 23:14

I’m pretty sure that post is incorrect. Masters funding is separate (and stingy)

Edited
Show quote history

You are correct, I have been misinformed.

Original poster
Bollard · 19/06/2024 23:30

I really appreciate these replies - thank you.
She hasn’t arranged accommodation for year 2. We’d looked at private halls and were about to send in a deposit.

She doesn’t know where she would want to go instead and that’s the crux of the problem, I think. She liked the course and she got stuck into an extra-curricular activity, but she didn’t feel settled, found it hard to make friends, and didn’t take to the city. She found the shift to university study difficult as well. She doesn’t feel good about herself and I fear that the universities she’s interested in wouldn’t take her with her grades. I also think she’d feel as though she’d failed if she went to a non-RG university.

We hoped that starting in her second year, in nicer accommodation closer to the university, with plans for visits home if she needed them, would help. But when she told me today that she didn’t want to go back, she sounded more decisive than she has in ages. But the decisiveness seems to end there!

To add to the problem, she’s overseas now, isn’t always available to talk, and is in a different time zone and with a poor internet connection. The only technology she has with her is her phone.

OP posts:
SkillDuggery · 19/06/2024 23:30

Ciri · 19/06/2024 23:21

The deadlines in January of each year are just for equal consideration. You can apply after this deadline it’s just that they might have filled their offer quotas already.

Ah that’s what they did, cheers.

Ciri · 19/06/2024 23:33

If you are able to say which university and which subject then we might be able to assist more. You should encourage her to look beyond RG. Many of the RG universities are much lower ranked than some of the top non RG universities like Bath, Lancaster, Loughborough, St Andrews etc and even some mid ranking ones like Surrey

Fgfgfg · 19/06/2024 23:34

Clearing opens on 5th July. It's worth contacting places she's interested in and looking at any open days that are coming up even if it's just to put her on their radar.
I know she's looking elsewhere but would she be interested in a different course at the same uni? Provided she meets their entry requirements it can be easier to do an internal transfer than start elsewhere from scratch. Obviously courses have different admissions procedures but sometimes it's worth an informal discussion then follow it up with the UCAS application if they're interested in you.

Ciri · 19/06/2024 23:34

Is she by any chance at Bristol?

BiancaBlank · 19/06/2024 23:34

DD1’s friend decided last month to change both course and uni and applied through UCAS extra - it’s for anyone not currently holding an offer, not just those who applied in the normal cycle and didn’t get one. She now has two offers for Sep.

pinkdelight · 19/06/2024 23:38

It doesn't sound like it's necessarily the right thing for her to do to start over straightaway if the only thing she's clear on is not going back to her current course. Better to take time out to find her feet and see what she really wants to do and apply next year when she's much more clear. Otherwise it could go pears again and she's in more debt and used up another year of funding. Sounds like she's got some hang ups (the RG idea is far from helpful) that could do with some space and time to deal with as she matures more. It doesn't even sound like her first year was that bad tbh, so maybe don't do anything hasty and have a proper big chat when she's back. Take the pressure off and don't let her rush into applying for anything that she's not 100% about.

SkillDuggery · 19/06/2024 23:42

BiancaBlank · 19/06/2024 23:34

DD1’s friend decided last month to change both course and uni and applied through UCAS extra - it’s for anyone not currently holding an offer, not just those who applied in the normal cycle and didn’t get one. She now has two offers for Sep.

See that’s what I’d thought…

Ciri · 19/06/2024 23:45

Yes you can apply through extra if you’re not holding offers. So you can use extra for example if you suddenly decide you want to do a different course and so you release all of your offers and apply again in extra. My point was that extra is different to clearing