17 when going to uni. Do they cope?

[Puygo]

Why do scotlands education system do this? Kind of wishing we were in England where ds would be oldest in year and would be almost 19 when going to Uni. Did anyone have dc go to uni at 17? Don’t they seem really young still? We are a few years away , but just worrying about this already.

I wasn't 18 until the next summer, in time to start 2nd year of Uni.

Nope.
I started at just turned 17.
I wasn't 18 until almost the start of 2nd year.

A summer born can leave at 16 too, after S5.

Well it's the cut off isn't it and a reason that parents defer my Dd went at 17 stayed at home though she managed ok but the social aspect wasn't great until she turned 18 in the February.

I’M a university lecturer. It’s becoming less common to go to university at 17. I’ve definitely noticed a difference for those who start at 17. They’re often not ready for university level study. (Obviously not everyone) They can be academically very good, but they struggle with the independence of university. (In the Humanities, at least.) We expect students to be able to organise their time and do independent study.

I have seen more of students with advanced Highers going directly into second year. AH are seen as equivalent of first year at university. It cuts the degree down to 3 years. I also wouldn’t recommend this. It’s difficult entering a pre-established social network. We don’t cater for this very much as all our study skills teaching is done in first year.

⬆️This. 4 year degrees mostly in Scotland. Scotland's educational system is different at secondary and tertiary.

I went to Uni in Ireland - left school just after turning 17 but it was a four year degree

I went at 16 to agricultural college living away from home and was absolutely fine

You're right, I think those that don't cope very well have perhaps been spoon fed and mollycoddled and haven't had a great deal of independence.
I wasn't 18 until December of second year, as I didn't do S6. It really wasn't an issue, socially or academics. I was ready for it and came out with a good degree.

What I did struggle with was class, I was a working class, state school kod surrounded by private school snobbery and attitudes I'd never encountered before, that was the toughest adjustment. But this might not have been such an issue at a different uni, my friends at Strathclyde and Stirling didn't have that problem.

I went after S5 and it worked fine. My son could have gone at 17 but stayed on to S6 which hd declared was a complete waste of time.

The only issue I can think of is socially when they're not old enough to go out drinking and all their friends are.

@Invisimamma

Most degrees in Scotland are 4 years so you won't be 'graduating before most have even started.'
You don't need to have a life plan to study for a degree either, lots of subjects are not related to a specific vocation and further study is always an option.
I was commenting on the person whose child went to uni 16-19 years old. As many people take gap years, they start at 19 in England. So like I said, the poster's dc finished before many English students start

I went when I was 17 as I left after s5. I was fine, but I did stay at home, so going away would be different I guess. My eldest will be nearly 18.5 as he’s done s6 and old for his year.

Showing my ignorance do English kids normally do A levels at 18 and that's why they don't go till 19 ?

My.eldest was oldest in her year so left school at 18.5

DD has just finished her first year at Uni, sharing accommodation with people of lots of different ages. She has seen a massive difference between the 17 year olds who finished S6 and are just young for their year, most turning 18 between September-January, and the 17 year olds who left school after S5 for uni and who have barely turned 17 rather than being almost 18. The younger group have struggled with the social side of things, some pubs let them in without checking, others, and the clubby type places are very different and they have no chance of getting in. Which is tough if all your friends are old enough.

Academically no issues, it does depend on the child. And if they are staying at home, it might not be as much of a shock to the system.

It's because the school year intake cut off is August not February, so when kids in England start year 1 they are all already 5 (done a reception year age 4 which Scotland doesn't have)
They then do a further 13 years at school and so all turn 18 sometime during their final school year, meaning they turn 19 during 1st year at Uni

This is very true. DD has had many friends refused entry to the (one and only) club in Stirling because they couldn't open a banking app or social media, even if they were over 18.

Ah ok thank you I forgot about reception I knew the start date was different but of course reception.

My eldest dc went to uni age 17, but my youngest will be 18.5 at the end of S6 - and this is one of the reasons I deferred them in p1 was so they would be older when they left school/took exams/potentially went to uni. Didn't defer dc1 as their birthday was Oct, but for dc2 with a Jan birthday it was definitely part of the thinking.

I went at 17 to an English university so I'd graduated by 20. I didn't have any issues and certainly didn't want to wait around for a year, I had no money for travel and little employment opportunities.

Does your daughter's Uni have many who go after S5?
My DC1 has just finished 2nd year and has only met 1 person who went straight to Uni after S5 (a girl in flat next door in 1st year). Everyone seems to have either done S6 or done a year or 2 at college.
I thought it was pretty rare now to go after S5.

My DC went at 17, met loads of others who were the same. They can still drink in flats if they want to, and still attend events in the student union, just not get served alcohol. It's perfectly normal for many young people in Scotland.

I do know someone who went at 16, January birthday who went after S5, and that did not work out very well as he was bright enough but not mature enough.

Out of the 10 of them in her flat on campus at Stirling, two girls had come straight from S5. In both cases it wasn't a positive choice to go to uni, more than being keen to leave school because of issues they were having.

It isn't mandatory for your 17 year old to go to uni. Some are more than prepared, others not. There are pros and cons to every system and everyone will have different ones. ds had outgrown and was starting to get demotivated in the school environment before he turned 18 and needed to be somewhere where he was treated more like the young adult he was. I personally prefer the Scottish system which has an extra year in the uni environment rather than staying that extra year in school mixing with 11-12 year olds.

If your dc is not continuing in the Scottish education system and potentially going to a uni in any other country's education system at 17 I would agree, unless they are very mature, a gap year would be appropriate to match the age of their peers in that country.

When I went to university in Scotland there were some 16 year olds. Complete madness.

Defer a year. Go when you're 18.

There is 10 in a flat?