Sitting an exam with a newborn

[Katiekattty]

Hi all,

FTM due 4th of Jan but it’s looking like I may need ELCS. I’m on my last year of finishing a course and my next exam sitting is around the 20th Jan. I’m currently not working and have plenty of time to revise until the baby gets here but realistically is it even possible to still revise while the baby is here and sit the exam?

Could you put in for extenuating circumstances? I went back to uni 6 weeks after an ELCS, had essays to finish and submit so not the same as an exam but it was hard. Do you have a good support network in place to enable you to study once the baby is here? If you are able to revise now it might be doable but that's if birth and delivery all goes well.

Oh and it was 6 weeks after the birth of my second child that I returned so I had a better idea of what to expect and it was still a lot to take on. Good luck with it all

@CanofCant they’ve annoyingly said if I don’t sit my exam in Jan, I would need to repay the fee’s and book again for June. My husband has 2 weeks paternity leave but I’ll be on my own 3 days a week after that. It’s mainly that I don’t know what to expect but it’s looking like I just need forget the exam until June.

I'm sorry, but I would suck it up and repay.

Three/ four weeks post section I was still struggling to remember my own name, let alone sit an exam even if I had revised before hand.

I recovered very well from surgery, but even so the shock of a newborn and the sleep deprivation made any thinking very difficult.

And if you want to establish BFing it might be very tricky to time being away from your baby - even if it's not a particularly long exam, if they want a feed they want it NOW which will be impossible if you want to avoid bottles.

I invigilated an exam once with a student and her very tiny baby.
We had a room to ourselves, and were able to stop and start the exam as needed within exam board guidelines.
Speak to the exam centre maybe?

What will happen if you fail? Repay fees and resit in June? If you're in an equal financial position either way, can resit, and are feeling quite confident it might make sense just to give it a go.

I agree it would be hard but frankly 3 week olds are pretty boring, by June you will have a 6 month old, potentially crawling and getting into everything and just generally being harder to juggle.

Will there be new content to revise between the baby being born and the exam? If not, I'd give it a go if possible, providing you felt well after the birth. Many women will have recovered well (to the point that they can sit comfortably and complete an exam) by that stage. If you're breastfeeding a one-off short period of time away should be manageable by expressing beforehand. You may need to start shortly after birth tho and cup feed if you don't want bottles. Or a haaka style pump may be a better option as that will collect milk from one breast while you feed from the other. You can freeze it until it's needed

@grafittiartist

I invigilated an exam once with a student and her very tiny baby. We had a room to ourselves, and were able to stop and start the exam as needed within exam board guidelines. Speak to the exam centre maybe?

This sounds like a much better option

@grafittiartist my exams are all online based with remote invigilation since covid.

@OverTheWater I would just repay and resit the exam, I can cover the exam fees again. I think I’m going to give it a go.

@Anotherdayanotherdollar there’s no new content and my DH can take a half or full day to help me that day.

Thank you all, I think I’m going to give it a go as long as I feel well. I’d rather get it out the way sooner rather than later and fingers x the baby will be having an easy day. I might try and see if I can get special dispensation to feed the baby depending on breastfeeding works out.

I'm in uni next week and my DS will be three weeks old then, I have a toddler DS too. It's definetly possible, not easy but possible. If you can get any help, definetly do