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 !

Great result @OublietteBravo!

I'd put in a complaint, we plan to next week as the accommodation debacle at Uni of Reading was just awful. No accommodation confirmed until Wednesday (moving in tomorrow!), then allocated the total opposite to what DS had requested which is going to leave him with far less money. Really unimpressed and as everything was so last minute there was no time to challenge it - told take it or nothing!

Really disappointed with the way UOR have been, and know it isn't just us

Well we managed the car Tetris without too much hassle

.... whoops!
Have made it to the hotel so just counting down the hours until 10.30 tomorrow! Good luck to everyone else.

DH has so much crap in his car but thinks he can just ram everything in. Hmm.

Ds is keeps messaging me. He can't complete his university registration as it says he's got to set up direct debit for fees. I've told him no he hasn't. But he's saying he can't do anything until that is set up. He can't view anything that is happening just tells him complete bank details. I've text do not do it. I hope he doesn't set it up as he's not got the money to pay. He's set up direct debit for the accommodation. Anyone else had this?

DD all settled with just a few things still to unpack. She's catered so has met some others to go to tea with which I'm really pleased about. Hoping to see her in the morning before we leave.

@icanbewhatiwant no direct debits set up here but obv a different uni.

Got to Nottingham at 2pm. Nobody to help with bags, car park full. Had to u pack along with others on the side of a road and wait for DH to park. Events got checked in, no help offered. Room ok though DD crumbled a bit as it looks out into a wall. Only 4 in her flat, 2 boys and 2 girls. Met them at various stages and seemed nice. Asked at checkin about Freshers, they said they leave them to their own devices. Not feeling great tbh on way home now after taking DD for a drink and food. She wanted us to go, will give it a week and see .

Belated thanks for the new thread - sorry I've been awol for a couple of weeks. I don't know where the time goes! DD is heading off next Saturday - I've no idea how we will fit everything into the car.

Hope all those already off are settling well!

@NCTDN thanks. I feel helpless. I don't know what I'm meant to do. He sent a text saying one of his housemates has clicked on the link to pay it. I hope he hasn't done that 🙈

DD got an email awhile ago asking how she’d be paying her tuition fees and she sent a copy of her SFE award letter.
Different University but has your DS missed an email asking for evidence of how the tuition fees are being paid?

Aww @Benjispruce4 that's hard. I hope things improve for her. Is it uni of Nottingham?

As far as I know he hasn't had any emails asking about paying fees. But I suddenly thought.... could he have applied for maintenance and not fees as well? We have a letter her saying how much maintenance he will get. But nothing about fees. Ds1 had a letter about fees too, saying they will go direct to university and the dates. Ds2 hasn't got that in his paperwork.

@icanbewhatiwant I should add DD got an invoice last week from her University showing her fees and the SFE payment so a nil balance due, although it gave details about how to set up a DD payment
Id ask DS to forward the email asking for tuition fee payments to you?

Oh that sounds scarily plausible icanbe
But it shouldn't be too difficult to fix and I bet it happens every year. Can he log in to his student finance account and check what he has applied for?

@ProggyMat he's not getting an email asking for fees. When he's trying to register on the Sussex uni page he had to set up direct debit for his accommodation fees, that's fair enough. He did that. But next it says direct debit for tuition fees. So he can't register to see timetable or any other course details until it's completed.

@singingstones yes I've told him to. But he's not replying to messages now. Just sent one saying he's clicked on pay fees 🙈

Well I suppose he'll find out soon enough if that's what has happened, if they try to take the fees and the money isn't there. What a worry for you though. Will he send you his SFE login for you to check?

I am catastrophising much more with DS2 than I ever did with 1. And yet 2 is more reliable and resilient. Maybe it's because I want him to love it so much and there is a nagging voice that he made the wrong choice. It's also empty nest settling in.

Sending hugs to all of you, what a weekend. Afraid I haven’t got any advice re student finance @icanbewhatiwant except to say that DS’s most recent letter from SFE also only had the maintenance loan and nothing about the fees, he had to log onto SFE and check before declaring it on his online registration before he went.

It's ok. I have found the letter from student finance. It does have both loans on there. Ds1 had 2 separate letters. The tuition fees take up most of the letter with the dates it will be paid. First is mid October. Then in small writing at the bottom of the page it has the maintenance loan without payment dates.

It doesn't solve ds's problem. But at least we know we filled in correct forms.

@icanbewhatiwant when I worked in that area the online registration was set up in such a way that if you ticked the box saying you yourself were paying fees (as opposed to student finace)...it asked for dd details. There might be a guide to online registration he can send you...or he could do a video call from his phone if he has a laptop

Definitely get the student finance confirmation letter to have a look too.

That's a relief icanbe
Hopefully just a glitch then and clicking on the link will open everything up for him without causing any issues.
DS was supposed to be learning to cook this summer, lesson one now scheduled for tomorrow 🤦‍♀️
And DH is supposed to be doing a recipe book for him as a surprise, hasn't started it yet. Thank goodness for the bank holiday.

@CinnamonOrangeCremeBrulee thanks. I don't think he's ticked any boxes about fees. I've taken a photo of the letter. He will have to show that. But I expect nothing can be done until next week. He can't get his student ID until it's done.

What about when he tries to do online registration...does it ask about fees on those pages?