Thread 50 - Covid GCSE Cohort - New Year of Adulting

[OrangeSpicedBun]

2024 here we are... our young people are still getting used to adulting and we're still doing that adulting thing ...it's tough !

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). 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
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/parents_of_adult_children/4922401-thread-49-covid-gcse-cohort-the-nights-are-drawing-in?page=10

That does sound stressful re A levels @crazycrofter , sympathy. Yes the terms are all out of sync, DS has been back for nearly 2 weeks, its been lovely having him here. He will be finished by early May but may have to stay on a bit for his job as term doesn't officially end till late May. He was really bored in that period last year as most cleared off. He hasn't been socialising much at home as some of his friends are still away, but also there have been fallings out within the group, I hope it doesn't mean they all stop seeing each other. There is one who usually organises theme all. However he has been playing hockey and has seen a couple of friends individually.

£5000 suits @Shimy! Surely not! Where is his internship?

@EffortlessDistraction that's a shame about the fall out, I hope things get sorted. Dd doesn't have any friends here, as we moved about an hour away from Brum when she started uni. However, she's now got a car and thinks nothing of driving a two hour round trip to see friends regularly. She's also worked out a convenient McDonald's meeting point which is half way from here and from her best friend, so that's handy! I offered for her to come with me to work (I work at uni of Bham) three days a week after Easter to work in the uni library and avoid distractions. She agreed enthusiastically and then let on that she was already planning to meet up with various Brum friends at lunchtime and after studying, so I'm not sure how much work will get done!

Well done to your DS Craggy, I hope he gets a good experience, and hope your DS enjoys his spring week Shimy.

Mine is coming home tonight returning Monday, if she can get off the runway (sat for 2 hours due to high winds). Wants me to go shopping with her tomorrow re smart casual wear for her insight days next month. I’m dreading it…

It's in London @crazycrofter but regardless of where it is, no dc of mine will be wearing a £5k suit to an internship. Even if for his own wedding, I will counsel him out of this folly.
DS has also only been home going on 3 weeks now, so surprised some are returning already. He's been whiling the time away doing course work and studying for exams.

Can't believe 2nd yr is nearly OVER! where has the time gone? DS graduates in 2026 as he has a placement yr to do. Is anyone else on this thread got a placement yr because soon you're all going to start talking about final yr dissertations ...

Not placement Shimy, but a year abroad continuing studies in unis in Cairo and Grenada. Off campus from early May 2024 returning Sept 2025. So we’ll be joining you with a 2026 graduation ;)

Oh great @ealingwestmum I know I'm going to forget who said their DC is going on a yr abroad so sorry in advance if I ask again. DS goes on placement in September this yr until Sept 2025, so their times align. Studying in Cairo sounds awesome. What's he studying, if it's something like History jus imagine the learning there.. then a nice relaxing time in Grenada.

Not a placement here @Shimy but DD is a year behind due to her false start in 2022. So we will be dissertation in 2026 too.

@Shimy mine has a year abroad too, assuming he gets through year two. He should be spending a year studying Law in France, in French. It sounds very daunting. So DS and DD will both hopefully be graduating in 2026.

No worries Shimy, you’re right, history will form part of the Middle Eastern studies programme but in the main she’ll be totally immersed in Arabic. And yes, she is seeing the 2nd semester as slightly less pressure :)

Shimy I too can't believe how quickly Year 2 has gone.
Ds1 arrived home late tonight. I'm so incredibly pleased to have him home, boy I've missed him.

Oooh! quite a few of us finishing in 2026, fab, I won't be alone . @Seeline Hope DD is having a better yr than she did in 2022? is it same course? I'm sure you've posted about it and I've just forgotten or missed it.

@ealingwestmum I think Cairo is a fantastic place to be immersed in Arabic culture. DH and i were discussing what language we wish we could speak sges ago and mine was Arabic ( i think borne out of watching so many espionage movies) i tried for a few months on Duolingo but forgotten it all now. What is she planning to do when she graduates?

@Oblomov24 Enojy your time with DS1. These times are so precious as the days are numbered when they finally move out altogether. My DS1 is still at home with us but I know next time he moves, it will be for good. Does make me feel a bit weepy sometimes.

I can't believe the second year is more or less over either, it has flown by. DS is actually only on a 2 year course (foundation degree) so he's nearly finished, but he is staying on for an optional conversion year to BSc. On our list for while he's home is to try and work out how to continue his student finance and DSA (his provider phoned him this week to see if he needs it to carry on). Amongst about a hundred other odds and ends of admin.

I don’t really know Shimy and at this stage, I don’t think she does. I think if she were able to get onto a grad scheme off an internship for consulting or similar, she’d see where that takes her. I don’t see her taking staying longer term in UK though, more likely to be a Spanish speaking country if offered.

Oh to be young again.

@Shimy DD1 will also be finishing in 2026. She’s secured a placement now and will be living at home for a year.

Oh that Cairo sounds fabulous Ealing, dead jealous. I love a good year abroad (sad ds1 isn't having one). But, Shimy add us to the 2026 graduates. No year abroad, but his was always a 4 year course because of the Autumnal Working at PwC Canary Wharf, which he'll have again this year (Oct?) again, which will actually be Year 3 for us all !

Two of DS close uni friends are in Egypt next year too - I think Alexandria but not really sure. He will find it strange next year without them I think. Sorry to hear about home friendship group struggling @EffortlessDistraction . DS doesn't really see any home friends any more. They all have uni houses now and aren't home so much and he is rubbish at keeping in touch. I think covid put paid to a lot of close friendships from school.

DS keeps talking about consultancy as a job @ealingwestmum - I'm not even sure what that is! I don't think he really knows yet though. I think he would actually like something like RAF intelligence so he could travel and do a lot of sport!

@Shimy get your ds to look at suit direct. We got ds one from there for the same price as a next suit but designer.

@Shimy different course at the same uni (UEA). I think it did her good leaving at Christmas last year - she got a job and learnt to drive, and is a different person this year. She settled in well in different accommodation, has made lots of friends and seems to be having a ball.

Cairo sounds amazing! @ealingwestmum !

Quick update on DS as have been absent for a while - no big reason just nothing to report! News -:

He has now secured a house for next year
He also has a job in Edgbaston ticketing so will actually spend much of the summer in Birmingham
And has just applied for an internship in the Stuart Hall archive ( the sociologist, not the It's A Knockout man!). V woke, so no £5000 suits. Just £20 black trousers for the cricket!!!

@craggyrat thats great news about the internship, DS still having no luck in that area.

@shimmy £5k suits?? 😮😮 DS would be extremely lucky to get a standard M&S one, in reality it’ll be back to his sixth form suits!

@crazycrofter I can see why you’d be concerned about the A levels, hopefully his hyper focus will see him through the revision period. 🤞🏻

@ealingwestmum your DDs year out sounds amazing!

@craggyrat I think your DS means Consultancy (advertising corporate clients) as in, Technology - using it to improve business performance, Tax - 'tax loopholes'/tax structuring to pay the min , Strategy and Audit etc working for firms like Accenture, Deloitte, PWC etc there are of course smaller to medium sized consultancies as well. They are quite competitive but not impossible. There is path to follow to snag an internship. DS was lucky enough to get one but he was warned not to put all his eggs in one basket.
He attended lots of Insight days and joined societies where he could get an office and spent every day practising tests. Has he applied for any Spring weeks?

@ealingwestmum Oh to be young again indeed, although i think our dc have so many more opportunities than we did when we were their age. I certainly didn't have the opportunities DS's have. Good for them!

@Seeline - Glad to hear she has settled so well and she definitely iuised her gap year wisely.

@NCTDN Thank you Thank you for that tip. I've just had a look, they have soo many suitable suits reasonably priced.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn Even he said it with a little giggle!. No £5k suits here, I don't know who these students are.

Thanks @Shimy - it is all a very different working world to the one I grew up in! Maybe his pink kangaroo year 11 maths challenge will come in handy.....!

@craggyrat I’m hoping the home friends will sort themselves out as DS hasn’t really formed close friendships at uni (he has plenty of people to hang out with and keeps busy but his main friend is one from home who went there too and the rest are more acquaintances). This is one drawback of having stayed in halls I think, but he didn’t feel he’d cope with a shared house and won’t for the final year either, again, the friendships thing is a struggle. The home friends are all autistic like him so they all struggle a bit too. He is seeing a couple of them separately while he’s home but no big group meet-ups which is a shame as he has been really enjoying those in previous holidays. Mind you he’s got so much else to do, work, driving practice, volunteering, we are going to a football match on Tues, the job application last week took ages. Everything takes him ages unfortunately. A friend was saying that her DC has applied for about 100 part time jobs in the last few months, DS would completely burn out if he tried anything like that while studying.

All these travel years sound amazing.
@ealingwestmum Friend's DS (different university) also looks to be heading to Cairo. Luxor is amazing so I hope exploration further afield is an option for them.

@Shimy DS got a suit he actually liked for a wedding from Suits Direct. They are in an outlet not far from us, so maybe see if you have similar as that brought the prices down further.

I think consultancy can mean almost anything?! In the professional services firms like PwC, the work is roughly split into compliance and consulting, but there’s loads of different types of consulting work, as shimy mentioned.

Good that ds has got a summer job @Piggywaspushed, do his old and new house tenancies overlap? Dd was thinking of spending June in Nottingham and trying to get as many caring shifts as she can, and then she’s coming home for July and August to work in the warehouse. She’s got a few holidays planned, but not quite as many as last summer, so she might actually build some savings!.