HELP: College 'withholding grade' due to Industrial Action ???

[medianewbie]

Ds is in his last week of an HNC.

His Head of Dept came into his class today to say that College is 'withholding grades' due to industrial action (EIS union).
Apparantly he said that 'Uni's are used to this as Colleges have gone on strike before so just tell them your predicted grade it will be fine'. But no predicted grades are available either. We have also been waiting on a Reference for 2 wks.

Can they DO this ???

Anyone?

Has his application been sent to UCAS?

@moggiek No. He wanted to finish his course (2 weeks to go), then apply.

Okay. The lecturers will be taking action short of strike, but the department head won’t be. Tell him to complete his UCAS application, then get in touch with the department admin and tell them that he needs his Uni reference asap. Call them back every couple of days until it’s done.

@moggiek thank you. I think he needs to do so pretty sharpish as discovered yesterday DEPT Head about to go on paternity leave. He did confirm that final results won't be available on 8th August though so what happens then ?

This is happening to ds he's at uni.

Its awful for them.

And ds needs it for a graduate job but he cant get his grade...

I’m a lecturer and usually do my UCAS refs in December - there is a bit where you tick that predicted grades are not available. From memory it is the referee that does that part and not the student, UCAS send you a code to log in with once the student has completed the rest.

My college are saying staff who don’t result will have 100% of pay withheld so I suspect we will end up doing it, despite ASOS being completely legal and the union having gone through the correct channels.

As PP said, there is a box to tick for lack of predicted grade. However, most college lecturers will be finishing for the summer around the 27th, so to have a chance of submitting, with the required reference, he’ll have to get a wriggle on. Has he written his personal statement?

@moggiek He has yes.
He wasn't ready to apply in the autumn.
He had felt more ready recently but this has affected his confidence & he is busy trying to get his final work done after a difficult year on a '1st time running at this college' course & a Tutor who has been awful (even his Dept Head has asked us to share some feedback as 'he has concerns re the Tutor'. It may be best to concentrate on that & possibly try for a place at Clearing though I realise he can only try for one place then & not potentially have a choice as he might if he applied via UCAS now?
He does have an unconditional place at the college next year if all else fails.

I’d concentrate on finishing the coursework and apply through clearing, rather than the added stress of completing the form. Personal statements always take much longer than you think!

First delivery of a course is always bit tricky, and for that reason, particularly if there were problems, I’d think carefully before taking up the college place. If it was the first delivery of the HNC, it will also be the first delivery of the HND after the summer.

@moggiek ah his personal statement is ready & the HND is a different subject which has run for some years. but, yes, the priority is to finish up the HNC work. thank you for your input. I'll post how things go in due course x

Keep me posted, and wish him the best of luck from me 😊

It now seems there is a more pressing issue. A combination of a poorly taught course, a tutor who is unavailable (has been throughout but now formally so) & an ASD, Dyslexic student prone to panic attacks (diagnosed & resemble seizures when severe) mean he's going to struggle to submit enough work in time to even pass I think. He was on a College arranged trip for 3 wks recently & they were given none of the planned in study time (others are making formal complaints apparently).
I don't know the procedure here. Do I ask for GP to sign him off re MH (it's genuinely nosedived). Can College submit his 'predicted grade' to SQA (happened with Highers?) so he at least doesn't Fail? I'd not been aware of the full extent, until we sat down y'day :(

Unfortunately, unless he has passed the required number of units, he won’t be awarded the HNC.

As a matter of urgency he/you need to speak to the head of department to find out how many units he has outstanding.

How many units did the currently so lecturer deliver?

You can submit medical evidence of extenuating circumstances but my understanding is you need to do it before the exams/assignments due in.
My DD1 has a friend at Uni who's mother is terminally ill and now in a hospice. She has been given open ended extensions on her Uni assignments this year as she was in no fit state to get them finished and submitted last month. She still has to submit the work though, just delayed until she's ready.

So I'd say if his MH has deteriorated get him to the GP and submit medical form asap. Then you can start discussions with the college as to what happens next.

Do you feel he's ready to cope with university? They have to be a lot more organised and independent in their learning IME.

Thank you @moggiek
Thank you @ErmentrudeTheCow
He's already being allowed until end of month(2 extra weeks) in recognition of missing 3 weeks re Trip. But he needs some more direct teaching & Tutor unavailable (& even when he is, it's been 'word salad' all year. I was surprised to hear Head of Dept say he'd like our concerns in writing- apprhete are other ongoing complaints).
I think Ds academically capable of Uni certainly but this year has damaged his confidence (already low) so an extra year (diff HNC, diff Tutor) might help.

'apprhete' should be apparantly! (somewhat stressed, hence typos, sorry!)