Help - Holidays booked prior to applying for Uni. Exams!

[1415isgreat]

Hello,

I booked some holidays in January for 2025, a year in advance. A few months later I applied for university and got a place and been really excited to retrain etc. As time nears, I realised there will be exams and I have come to find out the holiday coincides with the exams. If I pull out, I will not only lose 000’s but my elderly parents and my kids will all have to cancel - as they will not travel without me and thus lose their money too. ie. Cancelling is not an option.

I won’t be able to study from this September, will I? Will I need to defer to next year? 😭

My place was only confirmed this month after an interview - I had sent my application in March.

I'd be very surprised if the dates for specific exams are already known. I imagine her reply was warning you that it might be in the week you're away and she can't influence that. So you could take the 50/50 risk that it falls in the other week?

Are there any other relatives going to the wedding who might be able to take over your place in the post wedding trip and you fly back?

I can't imagine wanting to take exams while on holiday. It wouldn't be much of a holiday if you are worrying about revising for exams then hoping that the internet doesn't let you down while sitting an exam.

When DD sat her finals half of the exams were online and half were in person.

There’s no way I’d want anyone to defer uni to go
on holiday with me even if there was no other way I could go.

Is it not possible to move any of the holiday? Or to transfer your ticket to someone else who could look after the less well-traveled people?

If not, I’d be stunned if any of the six people would rather you deferred a whole year for a short holiday. You never know what could happen in a year, and you’d be half way to graduated.

I can't imagine wanting to take exams while on holiday. It wouldn't be much of a holiday if you are worrying about revising for exams then hoping that the internet doesn't let you down while sitting an exam.

Well obviously but the alternative is deferring her university place or six people not going to a family wedding and on a holiday that's been booked for over a year.

So what would you recommend?

It would be a capped resit usually -ie max of 40%

But if it's your first year results won't count towards your degree (unless an accelerated degree)
Of course you may have to show those results to someone in future.

I don't recall found any January exams on my course as all modules were a full year. So it depends if you have any modules that end in semester 1?

Call the course administrator. They will be able to tell you what the exam arrangements are.

Just please don't ask them to move them or for special arrangements because of your holiday, we hate those people 😀

Ah if it's an msc then semester long modules then exams are normal. And count towards results.

So I'd check if exams are online (and then you can do on holiday) else I'd decide which was worse; losing holiday or deferring -I did a masters for interest so deferring would have been fine for me.

It is not just the exam itself. A family holiday doesn’t seem the most conducive environment for revision,

If the holiday/wedding is that important, I would defer your MSC if it's just a matter of losing a year, rather than money as well.

This is the problem with advice on here, we can't know the processes for OP's programme or the attitudes of the staff. The undergraduate programme I teach on has December or January exams for at least two modules every year, and first year counts for 10% of the degree mark.

OP I don't think you'll get an answer from the university until you start. Asking now probably won't get your query in front of the right person, and academic support roles tend to change every few academic years so the correct person now may not be the same person come September.

I wouldn't postpone your course. Start, and as soon as the exceptional circumstances process opens, submit your application. Include information that shows it's a family wedding, and that your trip was booked before you submitted your application. Explain that you wouldn't ask for consideration for a holiday but that this is a wedding and was booked before you started. Like I said, we would grant you the deferral, especially on a post-grad module, but not everywhere would.

If they don't grant you the deferral, your resit will presumably be capped at the pass mark (50 not 40 for post-grad).

Do you have a summer semester? You need to be aware of any progression implications for that as well.

Yes I posted before I knew it was a post graduate thing where semester 1 exams common.

If undergraduate she may not have had any semester 1 exams -I didn't in year 1, did in year 2 as I did a half credit module. So whilst there was a January exam period at the university, I wasn't impacted by it in one year.

At £20k? For an MSc I'd not risk it to fail for a holiday.

Yes but my point is that just because that was your experience of first year undergrad doesn't mean it'll be OP's, the set-up will vary hugely from course to course, even within the same university. My students wouldn't recognise your description at all.

Well of course

But I was explaining that some people have January exams and sone don't -it depends what modules you select

Some exams count and don't do not.

Sone thoughts for her before she tries the university again (though it's unlikely to know which modules you will take and exam arrangements before you do the induction.

So it's a case of considering dates.

What is latest date you can defer /find out whether exams likely in January/format if exams -in person or online. Mine was you could drop out in first 2 weeks (so mid October) without cost.
And
Latest date you can cancel holiday /swap for someone else /or at least dates when you owe x%.

My DCs have never sat a physical exam at uni - it's all on line so definitely check that.

I think with the semester system that most unis have adopted there is usually an assessment period at the end of the first semester as well as the second. That could be coursework or exams.

I wouldn't rely on just doing a resit. I think it would almost certainly be capped at 40%.

If you’d be away for one week of exams, does that mean the wedding is in that week, or is the wedding earlier and this is the holiday bit tagged on the end?

if it’s the holiday bit, can you move that to before the wedding and come back earlier?

Warning about online exams - these can change to in person. Especially given the course has not even started yet.

Thank you for your advice. Would you recommend chatting to course leader prior to starting, or once it has started?

If you can contact them beforehand it'll do no harm but they may not be available for student queries over the summer. They may not be the person making the decision either, we have separate people who oversee exceptional circumstances. They'll be able to advise you though.

Thank you for your responses. Its been helpful to read the possibilities etc and I think I will email today.

The rearranging flights etc is just not possible, or rearranging to have extra travel before home country.

For context, its a trip which is Uk > home country > country 1 > country 2 > flying around country 2 (2 flights) > UK.

Honestly if it was a straightforward booking, a round trip from the UK to one country and back, I would have definitely moved the dates paid the admin fee etc. And risked losing out on the other flights.

But as these are all internal flights, multi city etc and one way international flights that are booked as well as hotels booked etc, I have to bare the cost of each individual flight, admin fees etc. Its basically losing a lot of money to cancel and more to change. We never do trips this much in advance, but as its over christmas period thought we will be organised this year!😂 Well that went to pot!

You could explore moving flights - country 2 traveling around, then country 1 then home, doing the travelling around first then the wedding. Are you able to cancel and get a refund then rebook for what you can do?

Sorry, this has now turned into a bit of a travel thread but Mumsnet is literally the place for advice on … everything so:

We are leaving UK to home country on different dates. Meeting together for 2 weddings then heading on the rest of trip during the unfortunate exam week.

Returning from that place directly to the UK together.

So any ideas of how to explore changing around that?

I mean would have been great if exam was clashing with my outbound travel date but here we are.

thank you for all being nice and understanding by the way, always scared to post on public forums!

Just work out coat of 1 way flight back after wedding to home.

Assuming everyone else stlll travels? And can travel without you there if you are less booker (would need checking)

You just ditch your other flights.

That's the maximum extra cost.

How old are the children? If they can travel there independently, they can continue on the rest of the travels without you. They may rather not but if given the option of losing the holiday and associated costs or travelling without you I am sure they will choose the former.

I think you need to be honest with the older family members, it’s not reasonable of them to expect you to miss an exam so you can chaperone them around country 2.

so options - you all leave earlier and do a week at country 2, then go to country 1 for the weddings, you come home in time for exams and they travel back with you or stay on in home/country 1 for a bit longer if they want to spend time with old family/friends.

you can only do the travel bit before the weddings now.

alternatively, another family member from home country travels with them to country 2 after you have come home.