DD doesn't have a uni Term 3

[Globules]

Just that really.

She chose modules this year, her first year, that all completed in terms 1 & 2.

She has no lectures and no assignments, nothing, until October 2025.

£9250 academic fees, plus 39 week let fees.

Surely this can't be considered ok?!

It's been two semesters in most places for ages. Mine has 4 more weeks though, this does seem early - are all her assessments done too?
Trust me, unis are not raking in the money. The fees pay (in part) for lecturers who are active researchers and who are trying to train students to learn independently not just attend seminars and lectures.
It's a shame summer jobs are so hard to get! Hope she can find something.

Don’t be ridiculous. Of course not.

Did you think I was under the impression that only lecturers work in universities?

I wasn’t saying that those things don’t count, just that if you divide the cost of what he’s paying for by the hours received, it’s a lot of money.

I calculated the fees paid by just the 100 uk first years on DDs course - best part of 1 million. Bearing in mind much of what you mentioned is in place across all courses, and add in overseas students the sums still don’t work.

Did you think I was under the impression that only lecturers work in universities?

It wouldn't surprise me. People with this sort transactional approach to education don't typically factor in anything beyond the bits they 'see'

I wasn’t saying that those things don’t count, just that if you divide the cost of what he’s paying for by the hours received, it’s a lot of money.

If you really did factor in all of the elements of a university education then you'd realise it's not a lot of money and doesn't even cover costs.

I calculated the fees paid by just the 100 uk first years on DDs course - best part of 1 million. Bearing in mind much of what you mentioned is in place across all courses, and add in overseas students the sums still don’t work.

You're right, the sums don't work. The £9k fees don't cover the cost of running a degree course.

It is a lot of money.

I agree it doesn’t cover costs.

I am also aware of the HUGE sums that get frittered away in petty interdepartmental politics and fiefdoms which cause a lot of the inefficiencies and drive those costs. And I find it frustrating that our kids pay for that.

Dd is still on her Easter holidays! They do two semesters/three terms and so are partway through the second semester, which finishes around the end of June, whenever the last exam is. When did she break up for Easter/has she gone back at all?

She can get experience by volunteering.

She volunteered in a charity shop last summer holidays after not veing able to get a job, she has been applying for jobs since she started uni in September. She potentially could volunteer again but that doesn't really help with money though

So you don't think he's 'receiving" anything from those other hours?
Guess I won't bother marking any exams, going to exam board meetings, work out which students need additional help, write any papers, improve my lectures, keep up with the science, campaign for equal rights for different groups of staff, bang on at the university about female Muslim students having to use common toilets with men in skirts, or mentoring colleagues who've just come back from maternity leave and can't get their hours to fit with nursery?
I'll just swan in, lecture, leave, and never answer any emails or bother learning about my subject.

My DS (2nd year - Exeter) has 2 terms then only 3 exams in final term, 7, 14 and 21 May. Just love having to pay his rent for another 2.5 months after

Even my uni in late 90s/early 2000s had 2 semesters rather than 3 terms.

The 9.5k x 100 for uk first years, plus the cost of another 30 odd overseas? It costs more than that to run an established course? Over a million? For one year? 5 hours a week contact time? Library already in place, even a % replaced? Dd rarely gets hold of the books as they’re already out (1 copy) Really? The sums don’t work. Someone is raking it in.

Library already in place 😅
Yeah because buildings repair themselves and subscriptions to journals are free and library staff work for the love of it.

My daughter and her friends never get a response to emails to their lecturers. The PHDs are fab, but zero response from lecturers. And we aren’t paying for anyone to fight battles about toilets. When we did enquire about welfare the only suggestion was suggesting a second year go talk to her.

So you don't mind if students are harassed/not given extra time for their exams/not helped with library queries? Or maybe you think Muslim students, disabled students, and those who are using the library should pay separately for those facilities?

Library and admin staff are paid a pittance. It doesn’t add up, none of it, across the country. Why not make it all online and save us the accommodation?

Ever tried to run a chemistry experiment, demonstrate an art technique, or examine a patient online?

Yep, happened with our two as well.

I think both things can be true
It cost an enormous amount to run, staff, maintain buildings, and facilitate courses at a uni, and the current fees do not cover that.

and £9.5k is a pretty hefty price tag for 2 terms, on top of paying for 48 weeks of accomodation, much of which is not used especially when it's not that easy to get a job in the "spare" term

God this is a depressing read. I wish DS had applied to Durham now.

Why ? Even when i was there 30 years ago, Durham only had 2 x 9 week terms of proper teaching followed by a 3rd term of 2-3 weeks of "revision lectures" (which barely anyone went to) then exams, then hanging around college for the ball etc. And in 2nd year, some of the Arts subjects didn't even have exams.

Best times of my friends and my lives it was too :-)

Well, his second choice seems to have an extra month of uni and doesn’t finish until the end of June. I’ve looked up the term dates for his firm choice and he has the grand total of 5 weeks vac during the entire “year” ie 3 weeks at Christmas and 2 weeks at Easter. Teaching finishes at the end of April.

So for those of you who have kids at unis with two semesters, how have they found the time to read up to get ahead of their workload if they don’t have lengthy holidays?

I have 3 degrees (undergraduate, MSc, PhD) and teach at university. As far as I’ve ever known in my 16 years in university level academia - undergraduate degree academic years are usually 2 terms (typically Sept start and April/May finish). Never heard otherwise except for postgraduate or perhaps special courses.

They have no use gor the libraries if their work for the year is done and dusted.
DD is at Bath. There is only 22 teaching weeks per annum and the 2 assessment periods which has been required to attend 3 days in person