A spanner in the works - defer?

[BabyOfMineAndYours]

DD was fully set on uni for 2025 start, her preferred unis are 200-300 miles away. However, she has just been told she is going to scheduled for surgery in the next 18month to 2 years. This is major surgery that will require a few days in hospital then 4-6 weeks recovery time.

in this situation, should she still start uni next year, what would her options be for missing that 4-6 weeks? Is it even possible? (Preferred unis are in Scotland, we live in England if tff go at makes a difference).

or should she plan to defer/take a gap year and study at a local college for subjects that she is interested in but doesn’t need for uni?

This has come completely out of the blue so we’re both a bit she’ll shocked

Would it be possible to request the surgery in the summer holidays. If that is possible, I'd go to Uni. It is often possible to make a request for such reasons.

Although mine is deferring for a year but gor different reasons.

Hope your dd is OK.

She should go ahead and go to university as planned.

The surgery could be deferred or could be brought forward. She could suddenly be offered a cancellation slot. There's just no knowing. If it interferes with her studies, she could access support or redo a year. Or it could end up nearly tucked in the summer holidays and not affect her studies at all. Or something in between those two scenarios.

While she's waiting for surgery she might be able to access support from uni as well. This should not be allowed to hold her back.

Thanks both. She is excited but incredibly anxious over starting university, so now has the additional worry over starting then potentially having to miss weeks. She definitely doesn’t want to repeat a year, hence the idea of deferring.

No option to request summer surgery, I already asked

Assuming you're going on the NHS, I would not defer on such a vague timeline. 18 months - 2 years is a long time and it may be delayed further by other people becoming more urgent and pushing her down the queue. Also, once she gets a date, it may fortuitously fall in a holiday. I would go and defer a year later if it becomes necessary.

I would go as planned.

If they are suggesting surgery in 18months- 2 yrs, I can't really see how deferring this year would help?
In any case, she is likely to have finished a 3yr degree by the time the surgery actually takes place.
If it does happen whilst at uni, hopefully she will have enough warning to arrange things properly. She could ask for a suspension of studies and take a semester out if necessary.

Similar situation here, my son needs surgery with a similar recovery time. He was fist offered it in November during 2nd year of A'levels so he decided to wait till the summer. Unfortunately the next date offered after exams was only 8/9 weeks before starting uni (in Edinburgh) and he was concerned that wasn't giving him a long enough time to fully recover. He has delayed it again as he should have a 14 week break next summer, I just hope they can offer a date at the beginning of his holidays and he doesn't change his mind again. It's been a very difficult decision for him but he didn't want to take a year out. Once your daughter reaches the top of the waiting list, she should then be able to delay it until the following summer holidays?

Academic and former admissions tutor here.

Is this surgery related to a health issue that is likely to affect DD’s quality of life until it occurs? How likely is it that her health will affect her studies until the surgery?

I ask because there is no substitute for starting university as you mean to go on, physically and mentally. We see time and again that although it may be a self imposed barrier, the majority of students who get off to a weak start are negatively affected by this. I would rather see your DD wait than fall into this trap. I say this on the basis of a long term on Mitigating Circumstances panels, where sadly I had the opportunity to follow a number of students over time.

Otherwise I agree with the consensus above. Best wishes to DD

Thanks @poetryandwine. it’s not having a major impact on her at the moment - the surgery is planned to stop that happening.

DD wants to fully submerge herself into uni when she does start, and is absolutely desperate not to stop and re-start her studies. Knowing DD, I think that will definitely have a big impact on her sometimes fragile mental health.

You've all given us a lot to think about thank you. She has been given a few weeks to think things over (if she needs it) but she knows she needs the surgery. It’s just trying to reassure her about the logistics which is proving more challenging, particularly when we have little idea about when this will be happening.

It's not quite clear @BabyOfMineAndYours - is she in year 12 and planning to go after A levels next year? Or is she in year 13 and was planning a gap year anyway?

If the former tbh I would carry on as if going in 2025 as planned; as others say, a timeline of up to 2 years is a good while. In a year's time (ie her uni start date, more or less) she will have a better idea and it may be that it is then going to be a further two years (I mean I hope not but you don't know).

If she has done her A levels and was planning a gap year now then I would actually rethink that and see about going this Sept if possible - as that would see her potentially two years into her degree before the surgery was likely. Though if she is going to Scotland she will be doing a four year course so that does seem to make a break in studies more likely, either way. It's just that two years seems such a long time to wait.

Hmm helpful huh! If she is really desperate not to break her studies then she will have to defer really. I would talk to her about how a break in studies is not the end of the world.

I'd go as planned as well. DN needs surgery and it's been deferred several times now. It has very fortuitously been rescheduled for the last day of term so they should be fine for the start of school in September.

@clary she would be Sep 25 entry if not deferring, just about to start Y13. I’m trying to give her as much info as I can about the pros and cons of each option - but equally trying not to overwhelm her!

I would go ahead as planned as NHS timelines often get exceeded and university will try and find a solution. I was told in Dec 21 surgery would be in a year with 4 month recovery, finally getting it Aug 24. Its partly their timescales can not have today as day 1, in my case a year and a half wait before put on list and then they said strikes had lengthened times.

But @clary is abs correct that a break in studies, if it comes to that, is not the end of the world!