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

Good luck! (And, strangely, when our old car's gearbox went we were only a few yards from home after a long drive.)

@NCTDN My DS has decided to narrow in on Materials Science rather than engineering, which makes it much easier to draw up a shortlist. I haven't posted much on the support thread for that cohort, as right now it's full of DC who are struggling massively, and it would be a bit tone-deaf (DS is doing well across the board). In the end he decided not to compete at Elite level in his sport but he is 3/4 of the way to getting his first coaching qualification.

Sorry to hear about the car @craggyrat . Funnily enough, we had a similar issue with dd's 10 year old Kia Picanto a few weeks ago - well, it was the gear stick, all the connecting cables broke at once! Just managed to get it onto a car park and then the AA man confirmed that it was stuck in third gear, so it was just about driveable to a garage. It was the day before we were due to go on a family holiday for my dad's 80th and our car had failed its MOT the previous Thursday, so we were relying on the Picanto to get us there! Thankfully a kind friend lent us their car and both our cars are sorted out now. Car issues are so stressful though! Dd is reliant on her Picanto in Nottingham too, as she has to drive to people's houses for her caring job.

Hope dd can get her 2025 placement sorted this year @ealingwestmum . Glad she's feeling a bit more confident!

Ds spoke to someone at the gym this week who's predicted A stars and As and has applied for 25 higher/degree apprenticeships, had only 3 interviews and is on a waiting list for one. So he's suddenly realised that they're going to be competitive and he'd better do his best to get some decent grades! He won't be applying for a year or two though.

@crazycrofter how weird! It sounds like a Piccanto problem. Was it v expensive to sort? Garage can't look at ours until Tuesday so in limbo a bit at the moment .

@ealingwestmum best of luck to your DD. DS still not had any luck with summer internships so looks like it is back to hospital records department if they have a vacancy

Thank you Crazy and Craggy.

I know your boy’s longer term plan is RAF Craggy, but if he is still up for plugging away at internship applications, the 2025 window opens very soon for most; a useful info site DD found (albeit very American skewed) was Management Consulted. Especially for access to past case studies.

I'm not sure @craggyrat because a really kind friend took it to a garage for us when we were away and paid for the repairs! So lovely of them. We had previously looked up the cost of one cable on ebay - around £60 - but in the end I think it was three that needed to be replaced, plus the cost of labour of course. Hope yours isn't too pricey!

@crazycrofter thanks for that. I have the feeling it might be pricey unfortunately!

Good luck with the car craggy. We had to fork out £414 last week for a wing mirror after someone hit DH and didn’t stop. Sadly as it was dark the glare of the headlights meant we couldn’t make out the number plate on the dashcam.

We also had a gearbox and clutch go half a mile from home but the car was 3 years and six days old. So just out of warranty, free RAC cover etc, 6 day old MOT. Cost over £1,000 several years ago. That was painful.

DS has gone back for his girlfriend’s birthday this weekend. His end of season football dinner has been planned for when he’s down so he’ll get to go to that too which is great. He should be bringing most of his stuff home. The job search is not going quite as vigorously as we’d like but will see how it pans out.

We need to get a new car, we were thinking of it anyway but with DS driving one car a fair bit we need to get a move on. He doesn’t currently have money to buy it from a but has some savings he can access later in the year. Just can’t decide what sort of car we want, that’s the issue. We usually buy a 6month old car but they are sooo expensive. And I want a nice one, just can’t decide what that is!

Mine cost me £500 to get it through its MOT this week, two tyres, brake pads and discs, it's not that old either (6 years). On the whole it is economical and reliable though (Toyota).

Thanks @2024Newnames - I'm getting a bit scared now re how much this will be! We are going to have to pay though as it would be scrap otherwise. Currently worth about £5k acc to websites as v lie mileage.

@EffortlessDistraction mine was MOTd and serviced ast month and was about £350 I think. Gear cables obviously not checked on the service though!.

DS really upset about car. He gets v attached to things. I blame Toy Story....

We've spent weekend looking at cars. Goodness they're expensive! Can't decide whether to replace mine or DHs or what to do really.

CRaggy Hopefully you will get away with a repair, ours needed a whole new gearbox. Fingers crossed for you.

We dropped DD back yesterday after the Easter break. This morning I completely forgot she wasn’t here and went to wake her up. Am I the only one who does this?

Sorry to hear about all these car problems. A wing mirror for £414! do people still go and hunt for bits in scrap yards? back in the day, DH and I had a mechanic who used to do this, bits and bobs from yards to cut costs.

We are waiting with baited breath to find out what ds1's new insurance will be for this 24-25 following his accident last yr. It was a total write off. He managed to get another car for the same price from insurance. I hadn't realized how the prices of cars had changed. I got my first car (Metro) in 1995 for £400. It was preloved of course but a good runner so when ds got his little Audi costing £5000! from i think was auto car, i was .

@craggyrat That's very annoying about your gear cables, you'd think all of that will included in the checks they did for MOT.
Sorry your DS hasn't found anything for summer yet. What sort of internship is he looking for? (i may have asked already but forgotten).

@ealingwestmum Wishing your DD all the best with her placement search. They are like gold but definitely out there.

@Shimy hope the insurance isn't too eye watering! DS has applied for loads of different types - consultancy HR museums etc etc. I think he'd take anything to be honest!

@BlueMarigold - I do that too. Sometimes I just forget he's not home

On the car subject, has anyone's dc found learning to drive tricky? I'm at a loss what to do for ds.

Yes, both of mine have. DS1 also failed theory a few times.

DS2 has passed now but he does actually hate driving. He was lucky in the second test as the manoeuvres weren't the hard ones.

I think there are elements of dyspraxia in people who find driving hard. And there's a lot of teen pride toed up in failing. Different times but I didn't learn to drive until I was 26 and failed loads of times

Does he practise in your car? That makes a difference.

I think a decent driving instructor makes a really big difference too. A lot are pretty crap.

Yes, DS is dyspraxic, had to give up on manual and even auto is taking ages but that is partly because of being at uni not home. He has failed theory twice, on the multi choice not the hazard perception.

@craggyrat funny you should say that about Toy Story (3 specifically). It was the first film DD saw at the cinema and only in the last couple of years has she started being able to get rid of things, her room is clutter-central. She says the film traumatised her.

Ds's haven't had problems passing driving tests, but......up till now, neither of them can tie shoelaces properly not tie the bin bag or just make a knowt with 2 piecesof string. It's always made me wonder about dyspraxia and whether there's some element of it there as both have a neurological disorder.

Craggy, Search our Job Opportunities at Enterprise Mobility | Jobs and Careers at Enterprise Mobility always seem to have loads of placements/internships and may still have some open for this summer.

A quick look shows a lot of them are 12 month placements though. Does he course allow for that?

Thanks @Shimy will get him to look but no will just be the summer.

@EffortlessDistraction DS exactly the same. He still has every soft toy he's ever had. He is v tender hearted and gets really atrached to things. Someone at primary school once killed a worm and he was utterly distraught. Still talks about it now.

Oh my goodness I have missed this thread so much!

DS (graduated last summer) applied for 55 internships and got 1! It was originally for 4 months, they extended it for 2 more and have just made it permanent. He is living at home, but hopes to set up a flat share when his 4 year course/gap year mates graduate this summer.

DD is coming to the end of 2nd year Med.

Waves to all. 👋

Lovely update Kingscote. Hello again :)

@Shimy DS can't do shoelaces either, he uses velcro trainers for casual, toggle closures for sport trainers and walking boots (I have to put these on for him) and slip on smart shoes. He dreaded knot activities at Scouts.

Welcome back @KingscoteStaff 😀

He has hypermobile fingers so as well as the difficulty of organising the bow shape (which he can just about do now) he can't pull it tight, finds it hard to pull the tongue up and adjust the criss-cross parts of the laces etc. He's only started managing to tie his hair back in the last year or so too.

Mine are terrible with shoelaces too and neither can ride bikes. Both county cricketers , though...

I blame their father.