Disappointed that exam support discussions are now blocked on WIWIKAU

[EducatingRosemary]

I was on WIWIKAU Facebook group a few years ago when my DS was applying for university, and I’ve recently rejoined now that my DD is going through the same process. It’s such a valuable group.

Many parents reach out there for support, so it’s been disappointing to see that just as peak exam stress has begun, the moderators have blocked all exam-related chat. While I completely respect that it’s their group and their decision, the alternative website they’ve suggested (which they run) feels quite clunky, and the exam discussions there are virtually non-existent.

It’s a real shame, as exams are such a significant part of this stage, and the sense of community and shared support is exactly what many parents rely on. I just hope those looking for reassurance and advice are able to find it elsewhere, now that conversations — even supportive ones — are being restricted.

Agree- it’s really controlling and so obviously not what people using the site find helpful.

WIKIWAU is actually my guilty pleasure- I find the site in general so intense, with the occasional pocket of useful info. But agree with you- it’s misguided.

I know nothing about this site but I'm trying to imagine my (loving, involved) parents knowing anything at all about my uni exams a decade ago, and the idea seems almost laughable.
Is that why they've restricted this topic? It's a subject relevant to the student only.

It’s the A levels (and equivalents) that are taking place alongside the university applications, offers, rejections, student finance applications etc rather than Uni exams.

I saw , but tbh I don’t see the point of talking about exams after the fact and parents asking about questions from exams their yp has already done . It’s a useful site for extra info on uni and finance and accommodation .

wiwikau is very english centric so I stopped using it pretty quickly. Should also add that it was full of stealth boasting about oxbridge.

I can understand why they don't want their FB group clogged up with parents dissecting every A level exam their young person has taken. It's their group. If you want to discuss exams it would be on parents to make a new group.

I know sometimes there is a controversial exam paper or exam board mistake. There's usually a Mumsnet chat when that happens.

Could you start a Mumsnet chat about A level exams?

They do seem to want to direct people to their website at any opportunity but it never seems to get much traffic. I never found it appealing or user-friendly.

The stealth boasting is one of the best bits!

I agree. WIWIKAU has been an invaluable source of info and guidance for me as my eldest navigates Year 13. But, at this crunch time, the admins seem to have made A level discussions deliberately tricky.

I can see how the board would be inundated with posts and something had to be done. But the action the admins did take seems to have killed all discussion stone dead. Which I doubt is a good thing.

It's not uni exams (that would be more legitimate). It's A levels and equivalent. I have some sympathy tbh. The discussion is designed to be about university and the board is often flooded at this time of year by people going on about A level exams and, in some cases, GCSE's.

I felt there could be an issue with some parents adding significantly to their child's stress by intensely raking over exams already taken and trying to guess at outcomes, and that this wasn't very healthy or what the site is supposed to be for. I don't know if that is what the site owners felt or if there's some other rationale.

It's almost the time of the year where every other post is about whether air fryers are allowed or suggestions for those "open when" packages (just give them the cash ffs) so there's that to look forward to.

😂Yeah, the topics cycle round on an annual basis with amusing monotony!

Nah, the reason they have directed questions to the clunky website is that they know that exam discussion is a hot topic and so they are hoping to use it as leverage to get people to register and start using the website (so it can take off and start to be monetized). I expect they will do the same for clearing when the time comes.

Unfortunately for them, hardly anyone has moved across.

I was just thinking this last night. Really can’t be bothered switching to an exam chat site, which I would need to register for. At this time of the year, it’s the exam that most parents are looking for!

But the exam chat is nonsense anyway.

Did anyone else find today's Maths exam hard?

Ours did.
Ours found it piss easy.

All meaningless unless you know the YP in question.

I am a member and have a strange kind of fascination of the number of parents who seem to be able joins groups and post on Facebook but seem unable to use Google/other search engines for questions about accommodation for specific universities, what are the ucas deadlines, the amount of teachers that that lower predicted grades as they don't like the child is crazy! Russell group obsession is mad. Also the perception that life in UK cities is really unsafe , I saw one post today asking about Birmingham as they'd heard it was a s*it hole.

Add in the aforementioned air fryer posts, and also the heated dryers!

That said there are posts where posters do get genuine advice especially for vulnerability, welfare and additional needs and finances. So it is really useful.

However it is my guilty pleasure. I'm waiting for the outpouring of grief and loss in September when the 26 intake go off to their futures.

My favourite recent post on WIWIKAu was one where members were asked what grades their offspring actually got into uni with, versus their offer - the question being asked to illustrate that you were in with a chance when you missed the grades. But cue reams of responses with “offer AAA, achieved StarAstarAStar - accepted”.Yes the point of the thread was not to show how exceptional your YP is but to show what happens when they don’t shine on the day…anyway, ‘twas funny. It’s my guilty pleasure too atm.

Loving all the fellow mumsnetters who also find WIKIWAU a guilty pleasure. My fave bits are when people studiously flatpack the frozen chillis and whatnot for their kids, and the hysteria over RG not mattering one iota- and they get really competitive about it ‘my ds passed up Oxford for (insert any town uni) and we were thrilled’ 😁 Proper cheers me up….

I have some sympathy with them as it probably would get a bit much otherwise. Realistically I expect exam chat to happen on the Student Room and parents asking whether everyone else’s YP found X exam hard is not very useful. Personally I wish they’d ban the “have you heard from Y yet” posts for similar reasons. Unlike a PP, I will actually mute the group once term starts as I cannot bear all the wailing and “my life is over” because their child has gone to uni for 10 weeks.

I have found my people. It is such a guilty pleasure, especially the number of parents who believe that their DC really had tech issues which prevented them from submitting their dissertation on time and knows 100% that their DC would never use AI.

Then I feel actually guilty because while it has its uses, some DC (often those who can least afford to) end up getting quite bad advice re choosing course over Uni etc. because posters regurgitate second hand advice out of context.

But, to be fair, where it has been v useful is making me appreciate how the university "experience" has changed and what to prepare my DC for in respect of that and also my own expectations. I probably would have been prone to funnelling my DC into Uni, but was always of the view that "most of what you learn at Uni won't be in a lecture theatre" but I'm not sure that it's the best way to learn those lessons now, especially not with a price tag of 90k.

I'd not even noticed the Oxbridge stealth boasting!

My observation is that it's full of parents whose children get to Year 12/13 and suddenly realise that they have no idea about university applications and it's come as a total surprise that their child is now old enough; and those who micromanage every aspect of their child's life ("my child doesn't know how to use the washing machine in their university laundry - can anyone help" ; "how many ready meals should I send with them?")

I have found my people. It is such a guilty pleasure, especially the number of parents who believe that their DC really had tech issues which prevented them from submitting their dissertation on time and knows 100% that their DC would never use AI.

I have to admit to having a mild panic the first time my DD had to submit an assessment due to so many DC on WIWIKAU having "tech issues".

However, she assured me that assessments were due at 12pm, and she always made a point of submitting them the day before, just in case there was a last minute hiccup - and that was when I realised that, actually, most sensible DC were going to be doing that!

I had to look up what the acronym was, but it sounds like the kind of overly-involved helicopter parental chat that makes me think we should do what is done in the future society in Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time, and drop teenagers off in the wilderness for a week to camp and transition to full adulthood (and afterwards their parents aren’t allowed to talk to them for three months to cement recognising them as separate adults, not dependent children.)

I thought it was full of absolute nutters. MN education boards have had a rep for being full on but WIWIKAU raises this to laughable levels.

The sending your DC a box full of wrapped treats - open this when you're feeling sad, open this when you need a hangover fix, open this when you are missing home (usually a photo of Mummy).....hell no my DC would have killed me.

Even worse than the envelopes of treats/uplifting messages was the (short lived) trend of hiding hundreds of tiny ducks in your teenager’s stuff for them to slowly discover over the course of their first term. Such a strange thing to do!