Thread 42 Corona GCSE Cohort - 👻Creeping it Real for Oct22

[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 advice to be had.

previous thread

@EwwSprouts ds1 left his phone in his jeans when he put them in the washing machine. His phone was completely smashed front and back. It literally looked like it had been under a car wheel 🤣 so you did well.

I thought so piggy! Hence why I was surprised he didn’t know what to do in this scenario 😂 is it insured? Maybe he just needs a brick for a while!

Not insured, no. Grrrr....

@icanbewhatiwant Blimey! Must have been the hoodie cushioning it.

I'm getting a foretaste of what some of you are going through contact-wise - dd2 is on a school trip to Berlin and messaging is sparse. Obviously I know she's fine or I'd hear from the teachers in charge - but that won't be the case next year of course.

Dd1's blood tests have revealed a potential reason for her constant tiredness and poor concentration, but we won't know more without further investigation, which will have to wait until after our half term holiday.

Hi everyone, lost the thread and forgot it was under ‘adult children’ probably because they seem far from adults!
@Oblomov22 you’ll have to update your list to remove NTU (shudder from the experience) from DD’s name if you wouldn’t mind.
She’s in a gap year and has got herself a full time temporary job at a bank HO so that’s keeping her busy and she’ll be rich if she can stop her spending habit.
She’s applying for next year with grades in hand and doing more research this time. Her lovely Head of Year and subject tutor updated her PS so she’ll be sending off her UCAS application this week.

Great update Benji, she continues to line everything up well for next year, good for her.

Great to hear from you @Benjispruce4 that's great dd has a job. She will learn a lot and mature in that year. My boys are both tight with money, especially ds1...so never had to worry about them spending.

@Benjispruce4 Wow! The speed she has picked herself up and moved on is impressive.

Well we said it’s study or work, no lolling! 😁

Fantastic news, @Benjispruce4! Fingers crossed that UCAS etc goes smoothly and sounds like a great job!

Great to hear a positive update about your dd benjispruce4, her dread experience at NTU will soon be the stuff of anecdotes.

That’s great @Benjispruce4 , I still half wish dd had had a year out to get some money behind her and perhaps lose a bit of the entitled attitude! Is she applying for Sociology again? Where is she thinking of applying? I was talking to a friend whose son is at NTU the other day and he went with a load of school friends and lives with them. If there’s lots of existing groups it must be hard for those going solo!

Yea that was a major issue there @crazycrofter . She’s still looking at Sociology and similar. She wants to try York again as a different course requires BBB and she has BBC so that might be wishful thinking. We went to Lincoln open day yesterday and liked it a lot and it had similar cathedral city vibes. A small city that felt safe. She should get an offer from them.

The thing about applying with grades in hand is that so long as you include some which are very safe and where you'd like to go, there's no downside in including some other "wishful thinking" ones. (With my school hat on, I've helped various people in that position with paperwork, and sometimes it works.)

Back with DS and a car-load of very very wet camping gear and kit (but that's expected as his sport is windsurfing). Will try to dry it where we can around the house, it's an excuse to put the heating on!

Meanwhile in Cambridge... (to my unprofessional eyes, this could very well be a children's book illustration already!)

@Benjispruce4 welcome back, I had been wondering about your DD. Great that she has taken steps for a successful gap year. Lincoln makes sense for someone who loves York.

Was the other course at York Sociology with Social Psychology? On DiscoverUni 30% of entrants on that course had fewer points than your DD.discoveruni.gov.uk/course-details/10007167/UUBSOCSSPS3~UBSOCSSPS3/Full-time/

No that doesn’t ring a bell. No psychology involved. Thanks @PhotoDad. Her tutor knows her normal capabilities and she rarely got less than an A in Sociology in her essays and assessments. He feels she’s more than capable of a degree the subject .
Your DD is very talented. Good luck to her.

Ahh, lovely to have you back @Benjispruce4 and sounds like your dd has a great plan in place for the year :-) Do let us know if there’s anything York wise that you need to know as things process: but Lincoln sounds like a really good option. Canterbury as a town has a very similar vibe to York too - no idea what the unis are like though!

Really good update Benji. Glad she's ok and doing well.

Great news @Benjispruce4 love it when a plan comes together. Well done to your DD for her bounceability .

Such a nice update for a Monday morning @Benjispruce4 so glad she's gor back on her feet with a plan in place and a job to boot.

Think things are going pear shaped for DS1 and his gf. It's not quite over but I think she's looking to be unburdened...

DS did not get back to Brum until 11.15 last night due to trains running a bit late.

I hardly saw him as he spent the whole time with DH watching wall to wall TV sport.

First history lecture for him today!

The trains were all delayed yesterday around Birmingham - dd went to visit some friends there and was held up both ways. It must have been the rain.

Oh dear @JustHereWithMyPopcorn but maybe good for it to end sooner rather than later? Is she at Nottingham too?

@Benjispruce4 we’re big fans of York as a place as we used to visit lots when the kids were little. We went to Canterbury for the first time a couple of years back and it feels like York’s twin. Even the shops seem to be in the same places! So it might be worth looking at Kent if it’s not too far from home?

Sadly, when DS was travelling it wasn't raining. An incident on the tracks, as it is called, delayed trains in and out.