Thread 40 - Corona Cohort , Falling into Autumn 🍂

[CinnamonOrangeCremeBrulee]

This is a support thread for our young adults post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting, and their results ( or life updates for those who went into work or have had results earlier). It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, uni vs employment please don't within this thread.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue. We were previously on the secondary board and then further education, now we shall be here in 'Parents of Adult Children' gulp

Our DS/DD may continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed). Be warned there might be lots of 'Uni Freshers' chat this time of year. My experience is that everyone is welcomed wherever, whatever their child is doing we have some in work, gap years , apprenticeships etc too. Lots of contributors with different experiences and always sympathy and support to be had !

DD just FaceTimed. Last night was not her cup of tea but she met lots of people. The group have been there a week which doesn’t help with bonding. Still no sign of the girl in her flat. She has someone in her flat.
Today she is going to walk I’ve to the SU , try to get help finding her timetable and make something to eat in the kitchen.
Good luck Sunday movers.

Ds has messaged. The 6th person arrived this morning but has gone to bed as was up at 4am. There are 3 boys, 3 girls. He said they are all lovely. So that's good. The 5 went out together last night.

Ds doesn't like the monarchy but apparently someone in his flat has an uncle who was the queens longest standing guard, the uncle will be at the funeral. So they are going to watch it on ds's laptop together. I'm glad they are all getting on well.

We are back home after our 8am drop off! The journey both ways was better than I’d expected. We had a walk around yesterday evening so Ds could get his bearings, see where the different buildings are for lectures etc. Then an early dinner & early night.

There were loads of student helpers this morning to give directions etc & we were able to park right outside his halls to unload. I had to eat my words as he was the first person in his flat (I thought everyone else would have moved in yesterday). We had breakfast together & then left him to finish sorting out his room (I pointed out the charity clothes recycling bin nearby in case he decided he didn’t want to keep all the clothes he’d brought with him, some of which are probably too small…)

He’s hoping that his flatmates will be friendly & want to go out tonight but if not he has a couple of school friends to call on.

Ds1 is going back to his uni on Tuesday & Dd has managed to find a new flat so will also me moving out this week.

@icanbewhatiwant Re the tuition fees problem. When Ds was completing his pre-registration online, it asked how his tuition fees were going to be paid. Is it possible that your Ds had to do similar & ticked the wrong box?

I have given DS our copy of the Good University Guide 2023. He’s in Y12, and currently has no idea where he wants to go, or what he wants to study.

@Decorhate I don't think he's been asked how fees will be paid. One other in his flat had the same, he paid it. I've told Ds not to pay. He might not get it back. Well....he hasn't got the money anyway.

@icanbewhatiwant, I hope that the fees are soon sorted... SFE will only pay fees once a student is registered (as some kids just never turn up on their 'accepted' places). Worth a phone call to SFE, or finding someone to speak to in the Student Union.

@OublietteBravo does the good university have most courses at most universities? I've never seen a copy. It would be useful for ds3 one day if it does, as the older 2 didn't really know what they wanted to study, especially ds1 once he decided on biology he realised he wasn't doing the A levels that a lot of universities wanted for biology. But there are probably many other courses we've not heard of.

@PhotoDad I have the letter with dates it's being paid. So as long as Ds gets himself registered it should be ok.

That's a relief, @icanbewhatiwant! My experience of university admin for incoming students has been better than most people, but it does seem like there are a lot of problems. Still be good to get things sorted, fingers crossed for you and him. There should be somewhere he can go to speak to a person who knows, maybe where he would normally collect ID card etc? Good luck to DS with his new flatmates!

@PhotoDad everyone else had ID cards posted to their home address. Of course Ds didn't bother to fill details in. Apparently it said to fill it in by a date in late sept. So for Ds that means leave it until that date! But he did start filling it in the evening before we left...but when it said pay tuition fees he stopped. So he can't register without setting the direct debit up. They have an older student coming to give them all a talk Monday at 7pm. So Ds will ask him who he needs to speak to.

@icanbewhatiwant Ah, got it. If older student doesn't know, maybe your son could call in at the SU (who should advise on legal/admin matters) or ask his "Personal Tutor" (or similar title). Who almost certainly won't know the answer but could point your DS in the right direction. I'm amazed that my DD seems to have registered for things... I am sure that the university will have encountered this many times before.

@PhotoDad yes thanks. I'm sure it will be sorted. He doesn't know anything about personal tutor as he's not registered. So he can't see timetable or anything about his course. Really he should have filled in the forms weeks ago...contacted the university and got it sorted. But I'm not sure he will ever learn.

@Heifer thanks for mentioning the insurance. Different uni here but you inspired me to check and we were supposed to confirm it as well.

@Monkey2001 great info, thank you. We don’t yet know what block he’s in. I find it strange that some students have been able to find their flat mates before going when we haven’t been given any information about his room other than it’s a single en-suite there.
Great to know about the bike parking, he won’t be taking his bike next week but has mentioned coming down on the train to collect it at some point. We don’t have a bike rack to attach it to the car. Maybe I should think about that this week 🤔

@mummyinbeds @Cantonet do you have a link to your alarms? They sound like a great idea for DS, he’s terrible at waking up.

@icanbewhatiwant - the Good University Guide is about the universities rather than the courses. It helpfully includes the dates of open days for many of them.

Thanks for the nudge about insurance Heifer, I didn't realise we had to do anything.

Any Nottinghammers, have you received instructions for drop off day yet?

Hope all is going well for those dropping off today.

@OublietteBravo thanks.

Oooh! Insurance!
(checks details)
DD has insurance via uni through "Cover4Students" and no action required. Whew!

Well dd all settled at Bristol. I was very impressed. They had cages to pile everything into from the car. Her room isn't exactly modern but it was clean.
The one thing she didn't take which would be very useful is a keyring. Never thought about that fact she'd need a key!!

DS all dropped off. Accident on M1 delayed us a bit but otherwise smooth sailing. Aitken is the mystery accommodation at Birmingham as there are no photos online. I can report that it's fine. They are like maisonettes really. He is upstairs with 3 others in an adequate sized room. They share a toilet and a separate shower room. Must say the shower room is tiny! Downstairs is 2 rooms , kitchen and tiny shower room with toilet. We thought he was downstairs but can't see it as an issue. Other side upstairs does have the better view.

Kitchen nice but two small fridges between six people is tight. And yes, it is true, no hooks on doors!! Very strange.

Campus and The Vale are lovely.

I may have blubbed a little.

There are people on WIWIKAU posting pictures now of below par accommodation. Most of it looks perfectly OK! A gripe appears to be lack of living rooms!?

@Piggywaspushed I don’t think I’ve ever seen halls where there was a separate living room. Most just have a kitchen with a dining area. Sometimes there are sofas but often not. It’s more likely that there will be a common room somewhere in the complex.

Yes, indeed. It's odd that they expect one!

Aitken doesn't have a common room of any kind. It is a bit claustrophobic tbh compared to eg colleges in York. DS1 had a lounge in Lincoln but he does know that was unusual as they were townhouses. No one ever used it.

WIWIKAU is so crazy and yet I keep reading it

I bought the Dr Seuss book online the other day but didn't think it was DS's vibe so instead I'm giving it to a baby cousin who is about to turn 1 and has just started walking. Another of life's big moments and I think it works equally well!

DD’s Newcastle flat has a kitchen (with table + chairs and bar stools under a counter) and an adjoining lounge with sofas and a telly. There’s a common room with a ping pong table somewhere in the complex, but she hasn’t found it yet!

Dd has a kitchen with breakfast bar/island and at the other end are two leather sofas and a tv. There is a social area, pool table and tv in the main building.