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

How long ago did she verbally accept the first one @crazycrofter ? You'd have thought they'd be able to see on her application portal account that she is in this position. Well done to her on the offers.

I think middle of last week @EndlessDistraction so a week and a half ago, but they only sent the contract and other documents this week. Hopefully it will be the same HR team dealing with both, so should make it easier. She’s going to ring them on Tuesday.

@shimy i would be really cross too if a company had ghosted one of mine after several interviews.
@crazycrofter thats fantastic news for your dd. She must be really good at interviewing.

Ds2 seems to be able to do a transfer at Bristol uni from Psychology to the combined Electrical/Mechanical engineering degree. Both departments have ok'd it. So we're assuming there's a place for him. Ds1 is still struggling with his dissertation .....

DH & I are currently in Taipei & arrived at our hotel in the hills last night. Only to hear a loud screech from our phones - a red earthquake alert! It was a 6.1 located off shore underground . But translated into a 3 on taipei land apparently. The alert was more scary than the earthquake.

@crazycrofter Fantastic news about your DD and what a marvellous position to be in.

@Cantonet Brilliant news about your ds's okay'd transfer, what a relief. Wishing ds1 good luck with his dissertation.

It’s ds1’s 25th birthday today. He has refused to speak to me for about 3 weeks. He started answering stuff I asked him yesterday. He obviously thought he’d better start speaking to me for his birthday. But I’ve not given him much. I’m not cooking for him as apparently he’s never liked my cooking anyway. As you can gather….im really struggling with him still. I’m sure he will be back to the usual refusing to speak again tomorrow.

Ds2 will be finished at uni at the end of next week. So will be home. I think we have to pay rent until the end of June. He’s just received a council tax bill for the last year and next year. Almost £4k it was addressed to him and one other housemate out of the 5. I asked what they both had in common that made the council send it to them, they are both in 4th year. So the council must have used their ages. I told him he needs to get it sorted. He still hasn’t applied to do a PGCE yet. He now thinks he will work for a year, then apply next year. Ds3 is looking to start uni next year. I don’t really want them both at uni at once. I’ve had one dc at uni 7 years altogether so far. Ds2 does have his usual summer job lined up. Who knows what he’ll do after that.

@icanbewhatiwant My DS had the same with a council tax bill. Just make sure he deals with it and does not ignore it. I watched a video about a young person buying their first home and they had a CCJ against them that they did not know about due to a small unpaid council tax bill after leaving university. It made getting a good mortgage deal harder.

I think my DS's council tax bill worked out at £21 each for 7 of them from the date they officially left uni until the end of their student house tenancy.

DD is going through a deep dive vetting process at the moment due to her job. The vetters need to know the dates and destinations that she has travelled abroad to since birth! Luckily from 2-10 years it was bucket and spade holidays in the UK. But since then...We have had to get the photo albums out (remember those?) It is especially hard when she pops over to Majorca for 1 day as a way of saving train fare from Manchester to Southampton. Try explaining that one!

I would not know this...

I thought it was bad enough when DS had to account for every day he's been in employment or education since he was 16 for a volunteer role recently including any gaps. We'd have to consult photo albums for holidays too, we haven't travelled abroad that much but I wouldn't be able to tell you when for most of our holidays. Luckily I take photos everywhere I go.

Also luckily digital photography started up around when the DCs were born.

@Piggywaspushed I wouldn't either! I'm not sure I could do family holidays - we went abroad some years but not every year. I certainly couldn't do school trips - DS in particular did loads of trips with the school choir and I have no real idea which one was which - some involved two or three countries over a very short trip. I could probably work out the 3 week tour to Japan but that's it!!

Oh, I forgot about school trips! I don't recall any overseas trips with secondary school (only a geography field trip to Wales), but she went on school journey to Belgium for a week in Y6 at primary school.

DD never went abroad with school but did once with Scouts, I'd have to delve back through emails for exact dates. He'd probably just know, he has a bit of an autistic superpower thing for dates and times. DD only went once with school and I know when that was because they squeezed it in just before the first lockdown. Some young people travel all the time though, especially if they have family abroad.

@Aslockton my mind not working this morning. When I first read your message I thought the deep dive meant she was going on the submarines. I couldn't work out why they needed all that information just for going deep fown into the sea ...in my defence DS had us up most of the night with the most awful stomach bug. I cannot stand someone other than me vomiting - luckily DH is amazing at that kind of thing.

@icanbewhatiwant That sounds v challenging all ways round

@craggyrat sympathies, I'm the same! DH always dealt with the DCs while I found clean bedding and dealt with the washing machine while quietly heaving 😆 To be fair, it never bothered me before DCs but I had severe morning sickness with the first one and I've never been the same since!
Hope your DS is feeling better now, and everyone else escapes it 🤞

We haven’t been abroad much (although dd and ds have been to loads of places since 18) so I’d know the places but not the exact dates, that’s crazy @Aslockton

@craggyrat poor ds! But I also hate other people’s sickness! Weirdly I think we only had two bouts in the last 25 years - one when the kids were toddlers and one much later when they could look after themselves! Hope he feels better soon and it’s not contagious 🤞

@icanbewhatiwantthat sounds very difficult with ds1. Is he looking to move out any time soon, as it sounds like it would do you all good?!

Dd still has loads of work to do - Nottingham deadlines are always late. She managed to hand in a draft of her dissertation though and got some useful feedback so that’s a relief. Ds is waiting to hear if he’s accepted by the French uni. And then he can sort out year 2 accommodation… and visa etc.

Thanks everyone. I was sick several times a day for 9 months with DS so you'd think I'd be used to it but no!

Poor DS @craggyratI’m the same as you, cannot stand sickness and was sick every day, several times throughout entire pregnancy. DH is also fab with dealing with it too however fortunately we’ve hardly had any episodes which is v lucky. Fingers crossed no one else gets it 🤞

That is crazy @AslocktonI wouldn’t know where to begin to know exact dates - could hazard a guess to month and year at a push. Are they wanting exact dates or a ball park date?

DD took me to see The Devil Wears Prada 2 on Friday as home for BH weekend. I enjoyed it immensely but I probably wouldn’t see it again unlike the first one that I’ve seen countless times and love. There was only 3 of us in the entire cinema despite it being opening day!

@Aslockton I have a spreadsheet with holidays on for this purpose as DS1 and DH both have various vetting levels. The spreadsheet has the exact dates of each trip with a tick column for each family member who went! We also needed full details of all trips aboard in the last ten years for a Russian visa in 2019, plus I needed three months of bank statements as I'm a company director. All for a weekend wedding!!
Thankfully I have kept an electronic diary for decades.

As DS1 worked for FCDO for six years I didn't include all his work trips!

@AnneOfCleavage I quite liked the Devil Wears Prada 2 but it wasn't a masterpiece. Fine way to spend a couple of hours though and the cinema was packed on Saturday.

I'm off to see the DWP tomorrow night with friends, looking forward to it. DD went to see the Michael Jackson one with a friend on the cheap weekday viewings and said they had the screen to themselves to had a singalong

Another who went to see DWP at the weekend. We went to a 5pm showing and it was 70% full. Enjoyed it but not as much as the first.

@crazycrofterhe would prefer not to live with us. But as his assistant ecology job is march to October he plans to travel in the winter months. It’s annoyed dh. He says why should he live here for nothing, then clear off and enjoy himself for 4 months of the year. He will spend a lot of his earnings. He can’t rent as he’d not be able to pay rent the months he doesn’t work.

I can see that makes sense @icanbewhatiwant but if he’s getting free accommodation (is he paying for food?) he should at least be treating you well!

@crazycrofterhe mostly buys his own food as he’s vegan so cooks for himself. I don’t think he realises that’s he’s not being particularly nice to us. He thinks it’s the other way round.

Oh that’s tricky @icanbewhatiwant . Sounds like maybe you and dh need to sit down with him for an honest chat?

@crazycrofteryes I agree. But I’ve no idea what to say or where to begin. Everything I say is taken the wrong way as it is.