Thread 55 - Covid GCSE Cohort - Autumn 25 - Yr 4 Uni and Graduates

[Oblomov25]

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 54:
Thread 54

Lovely to hear from everyone.

Sorry to hear about your mum @piggywaspushed.

Well done on exams results for your DD @Aslockton and I hope she gets a good posting.

@EndlessDistraction will be sending him to PO with strict instructions on recorded delivery. I'm not sure any of them know how to post items at a PO anymore!

@Piggywaspushed sorry to hear about your mum, that must be tough especially if you're not allowed the usual grieving process/ time with family etc. Good to hear ds has settled in well at Sheffield!

@AnneOfCleavage glad dd's bf's parents responded - I was a bit worried for you in case they just ignored it! Good luck with that! We met the partners on Sunday and they're both really lovely, very like dd and ds (unsurprisingly!), incredibly chatty and energetic and enthusiastic! Both also awaiting ADHD diagnoses 😂Now that we've met them we can't get rid of them! Dd's bf has been here since Sunday - I think he might be going home today. Ds' gf has been and gone and returned again.

Like @craggyrat ds, my ds is bad at telling me any plans, so I don't know how many I'm cooking for every day. Yesterday I said I'd cook for everyone but he forgot to tell his gf so she ate before she arrived.. Fortunately ds just hoovers up any leftovers!

@PhotoDad glad your ds is enjoying NZ! Good luck to your dd and @EndlessDistraction ds in their job searches. Fair play to both of them for being so positive and proactive, volunteering etc. They will find their niche eventually I'm sure.

Lovely to hear about @Aslockton dd's first boyfriend too and I hope the next posting isn't too inconvenient!

Hi everyone! So sorry to hear about your mum @Piggywaspushed , big hug to you. Glad dams is busy and happy in Sheffield. Also pleased to hear of @PhotoDad ’s ds in no and sorry your dad is finding job hunting dispiriting. As you know I am a big fan of her talents.
I am so delighted to have ALL my kids in the house together at the same time for the first time since last Xmas, albeit only for 2 .5 days. DS2 just returned from his university field trip yesterday (scientific diving in Indonesia) and DD1 flies to Australia on Christmas morning with her bf for a mixture of test-cricket watching and visiting mates who have moved out there. So we are making the most of all being together. DS1 is here until 27th when he flies to the Bahamas to spend a week on a yacht courtesy of his Californian girlfriends parents, and dd2 has finally taken a week off from her cheffing job in the local pub where she has been doing 14 hours a day 6 days a week since she dropped out of uni. Seems very happy with life but no signs of making another uni application sigh.
anyway I wish everyone a very merry peaceful and lovely Christmas. You are all fab. Xx

Lovely to hear all the updates. Sorry to hear about your mum @Piggywaspushed.

As for jury service @EndlessDistraction and an area move, courtesy of google:

"If you've moved and received a jury summons for an old area, you should contact the Jury Central Summoning Bureau GOV.UK immediately to explain you've relocated, quoting your juror number and new address, to get the summons transferred or adjusted to a court near your new home, as they manage location changes for recent moves or university students."

@Delphigirl Your children's travels sound amazing! Oh to be young.

Lovely to hear about your kids’ plans @Delphigirl ! Enjoy having everyone together for this brief time 😊

Ds has been doing nights (1am-10am) at Tesco and his sleeping patterns are properly reversed. Somehow he has to shift to a 6am-3pm session tomorrow and then back to normal life from Christmas Day. Although he may be hoping to pick up more night shifts in the new year, once he’s back from a break away with friends.

Have a lovely Christmas everyone!

@Aslockton thank you, I could have googled that myself couldn't I 🤦‍♀️

I have taken a half day off work to catch up with last minute shopping, odd jobs and housework, the DCs are both here and mucking in. DS, DH and I are working tomorrow but will all finish early. In some ways Christmas is nicer with grown up children, more relaxing. Parents and siblings OTOH aaargh.

I agree @EndlessDistraction , I used to feel an underlying pressure/anxiety when the kids were younger about whether they’d enjoy the whole thing that lasted until Christmas Day was over! Now theyre older , they’re relaxed about presents and I know they’ll just enjoy the fun of opening them and the time spent with relatives. It does help that I’m not cooking the Christmas dinner too - we’re going to my sister-in-law’s.

Catching up a bit; I'm so sorry to hear about your mum, @Piggywaspushed.

And, @EndlessDistraction, yes; DD has been applying for all sorts of art-related things, and also some generic NMW stuff. The dispiriting bit is how few replies she gets, even to say "no thanks!" She is volunteering in a school and in a museum, both of which are great.

The application processes are so complicated too, I tried to help DS with the school volunteering one as it was clearly designed for people who have had a succession of jobs one after another (and being in a school all gaps having to be accounted for) and it could not cope at all with DS's job history of overlapping and repeating part time jobs and volunteering, he ended up having to email it in as a word document. But the whole thing took hours.

Gosh I’ve missed a lot of chat in the past week or so. I hope everyone had a nice Christmas.
Im so sorry to hear of your mum’s passing @Piggywaspushed , Christmas definitely amplifies our loss but I hope that you manage to enjoy some time with family. Your DS sounds like he’s doing very well.
The past few days have been madly busy here so today I’m vegging on the sofa eating the remaining Quality Street chocs and watching trash tv as one should in ‘the void’ as DS1 calls the time between Xmas and new year.
DS2 has another offer, Manchester offered on Christmas Eve. Bath is playing the long game it seems. I’m slightly concerned though as they just rejected his girlfriend who has amazing predicted grades and PS and just interviewed with Oxford. Her course is definitely more competitive but she would be a genuinely fantastic student for any uni.

Good luck to DCs with their job hunting, hopefully the new year will send opportunities their way.

Please does anyone have any advice for choosing a tutor / on-line suppprt choice for ds2 , for A'level biology.

I don't know whether to source a local tutor. Or pay for an on line course eg :

Biology with Clare.
Empowered Stem.
UpLearn.
Tailored Tutors.

How am I suppose to choose?

DD used an online tutor for A level biology, I will ask her.

Thank you Endless.

Sorry to hear of your bereavements @Piggywaspushed and @AnneOfCleavage. The first of everything subsequently is hard. I hope your young people helped bring bright moments.

@Oblomov25 DS worked through Seneca online (free!) and had the AQA guides and revision books.

Cheers Sprouts. I'd talk to him about that too.

While I wait for DD to search back through her emails, my friend whose DCs both did science A levels highly recommended Uplearn, DD did the free trial and said it was good but that she suspected she would have kept putting off doing it (ADHD) and preferred specific appointments with a real person.

Right, the agency DD used was called Sherpa, I will pm you with a link to the specific tutor but there are loads on there and you can do a short free trial session.

DS1 didn’t have a tutor but used YouTube videos going through past papers with Biology Carol @Oblomov25

Thank you kindly Endless, and thank you Popcorn.

So sorry to hear about your mum @Piggywaspushedand I hope you have a good support system around you at this time.

Meeting the parents went very well @crazycrofterand they are lovely and very similar to us in many ways - conversation flowed easily. We have exchanged numbers and hope to meet for a drink sometime without our children as hopefully it’ll be a bit more relaxed. DD’s boyf was a bit on edge as hosting at his new house - which we’d not seen - and he and DD had cleaned it, tidied it and bought pastries.
She’s still got an assignment to finish and loads of lesson planning and has said she feels a bit rough as starting a sore throat so is nervous about her placement that re-starts on Monday if she gets ill plus having to drive back with detour as part of the motorway there is shut for maintenance.

Happy New Year one and all 😁🎉

Glad meeting the bf’s parents went well @AnneOfCleavage! Hope your dd doesn’t come down with anything before her placement next week.

I think we have our two here for another few weeks as neither have exams to go back for (ds has one online). They’ve both got a few deadlines to meet though and paid work to fit in, so they’ll be busy.

Happy new year to everyone , when it comes!

Glad the meeting went well @AnneOfCleavage Is that the M27 closure? I live fairly near there, it is a lot of disruption but I don't think the diversion is too bad. Hope she stays well. I have got a cold but not actually feeling too bad, I'm at work this week but hardly anyone here so keeping away from others as much as I can.

My DD goes back at the end of next week, she isn't working apart from studying, but is enjoying chilling out. DS is at the point where he wants to get back to routine, he's off this week but working weekends, his volunteering starts back next week.

Happy new year to everyone! 🎉🎉

glad the parent meet and greet went so well @AnneOfCleavage always nice to know that the other side are a good match! 😄. Hopefully your DD’s throat is better before starting work.

DS2 has his mocks next week and has done so little revision that we had words yesterday. I do feel bad that they don’t get to enjoy their Christmas holidays though, they really need down time before heading into the exam run up.

Happy new yr to everyone! Haven't popped in in a while but hope all the young people are doing well, including all those on here that had one 'niggle' or another? A new yr and new hope and new opportunities for us all.
DS2 still job hunting but working through all his essays whilst we are on holiday, i think he's got one more to do. DS2 still hoping for that promo at work with one eye on any external opportunites, Joba market is completeley dire, so fresh grad out there with a job, must hold on tight to it!

@Piggywaspushed Very sorry to read your mum has passed. Condolences to you, i think if i remember correctly things were a bit 'strained', which can make an already difficult situation even harder, trust me i know! I pray you have the wisdom & strength to do what you need to do and feel comfortable with, without the 'well meaning' interference of other relatives who haven't walked in your shoes.

Happy new year to all! I hope 2026 is kind to everyone.

Interesting to hear about the parental meet ups. No partner for DS that we know of...and he chose to stay in with us and family friends (also with young adults) last night.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn Agree mocks before Christmas is the better option for study/life balance.

DS is enjoying his job. They really do want them all to understand the detail of the business. This month a week long butchery course!