Year 12 / 6th form support thread

[minesawine]

The term is about to start and I though it would be good to have a support group to help us on our 6th form journey.

May the year be drama-free and our DC's study hard and without complaint

Ds loved Nottingham and it is top of his list now. We all enjoyed the talks we went to in the two departments he is interested in. We started off in the accommodation at Florence Boot hall (where my sister was many years ago ) and really liked that. He was wowed by the sports facilities.

We did Loughborough today and liked that more than we were expecting to. We really enjoyed the politics lecture we attended. Less keen on the campus than Nottingham. All in all we are feeling like we had some positive visits. No more now until the autumn.

We did Oxford Brookes today and I thought it was OK but dd really liked it. She loved Oxford. Cardiff Met and Nottingham Trent next.

Dd1 did Durham today and loved it except for the distance. She went up by train yesterday and stayed in a hotel by herself, so is feeling very old!

Jorah trying to get DS to consider Oxford Brookes as a potential fallback option but he won't consider Oxford or Cambridge for higher education at all. Can't think of two more beautiful cities to study in (with the possible exception of Bath) myself.

for comparison - an en suite room self catering in Bangor starts from £88 a week the equivalent in Southampton is £150, the absolute cheapest rooms they have is £105 a week.

Wow that's quite a difference Laniakea. Anyone been to Lancaster yet with their DC?

Wow.

Dd2 paid £119 a week (for 40 weeks) in Newcastle in 2016/17 for self catering en suite, very nice new halls, which I thought was a good price. For 2018/19 they're £134/week That's a hefty increase.

In Manchester the cheapest s/c en suite is from £131/week. Cheapest overall is £99/week (not even a basin). 41 weeks.

yes they've really increased - when I looked last year they had a few for under 100 (those are 105 now) and the typical en suite sc was 115-125, those are 130-150 now.

having looked closer (rather than take dd's word for it) en suite sc is 127 in Bangor (non en suite is 88) so a bit closer to the Southampton's 150/week.

We have been very lucky up to now as dd is at Cambridge and it is very cheap compared to everywhere else. Her first year room was en-suite and catered and came in at just under £5k for the year. Obviously we were aware other places are more expensive than that from the other places we looked at for her but I did find it shocking when we looked at Loughborough yesterday and some of their catered accommodation is nearly £7.5k for the year

NewModelArmyMayhem18 it's a lovely city! It looks like a great place to be.

The accommodation she liked is so expensive though. Its 150 a week for 50 weeks! That's 7500 pa!!

piggy I've been through the mill with ds1, who sounds exactly like yours. He is actually dyspraxic (is that a possibility for your son?) and has a diagnosis since age 13.
I can reassure you that you can certainly get uni places with CCC. Leicester Oxford Brookes, Hull Lincoln all spring to mind. Ds did a subsidiary Btec in Sports Science to make up for the A level he bombed in Year 12 in the internal exams, got an A* equivalent in that, despite very poor computer skills and presentation (but he worked quite hard on it, it was much easier to understand what was expected compared to essays) That brought his points with a CC or a CD in his other A levels to a respectable tariff. Oxford Brookes asked for 104 points for example and usually gives unconditionals if they like you. I would assume that is the case for Politics although ds is studying Music.

Often the Open Days can be very inspiring, ds went from very ambivalent about uni to quite engaged over the summer, and interested in all the lectures in his subjects and the other people he was meeting at the Open Days. He still struggled with academic work though. Still if you can just get him through without making him feel that CCC is bad (I would be thrilled if ds had managed 3 Cs, but he had to drop Business and do the mini Btec instead) you may find that by the end of the Year 13 he is in a much better place.

Failing that there are foundation courses at unis, which top up bad A levels, or a year or two out working/travelling to work and an Access Course from 19. There are so many options if A levels fail to deliver. My son would never have thrived on an Apprenticeship despite everyone suggesting it.

He is very much looking forward to uni in Sept. [greetings from the end of Year 13 and the A level finishing line)

when ds came out of his A levels I felt he finally understood what he had been studying and had really engaged, whereas earlier in the year, it felt a bit hopeless. they go on learning right up until the last moment and often whilst they are writing the exam essays IN the actual exams.

That's encouraging nettle. Is your ds off to Oxford brookes then? Dd is also doing a Btec a level equivalent.

Durham's always struck me as a pricey one. Catered en suite £7,643 - I don't really know how Durham works, I know you get assigned a college, but I don't know whether you can request self catered?

The way we've done things is to pay rent and let the kids live off the maintenance loan. So if say ds went to Durham to a catered college, I'd say to him that we would pay the rent he'd be paying at a s/c college and he would have to make up the £2100 difference - which would be more than half his money for the year! £70/week (catering is term time only) is a crazy amount.

I remember a thread on here a while back about someone who had got into Durham, then the family realised how much it was going to cost, and they had to stay at home or go somewhere cheaper.

nettle , that is so reassuring . Thanks. Those are all unis I am trying to get him to think about. Plus Lincoln. He has already said he wants to go somewhere with a lower league football team to support! A big city would not work for him. And social life isn't a draw either. There needs to be a degree in nerdy football stats!

My DH is of work in two weeks but unfortunately the Open Days have stopped til September by then which is annoying!

Dyspraxia has been mooted before (and he was diagnosed with a generalised anxiety disorder years ago) but he was a very talented cricketer until he gave up, and a skilful footballer so the dyspraxia seemed unlikely.

Liverpool John Moore is great for football!

Sorry nettle : you mentioned Lincoln!

yes Jorah. Accommodation is pretty pricey though, although they seem to have some for 128 uncatered 38 weeks; I suspect in short supply. There is also some earmarked for different courses, ie nurses, teachers, foundation students which is cheaper.

Yes the place dd liked was 150 for 50 weeks

ds really likes the accommodation which is 170 a week eek! no way...

Is that the one in cowley? Dd fancies that. Its still cheaper than the one on campus as the contract is shorter

DD loved York. The subject talk, mini lecture and the campus. She liked the way 'it didn't feel like being at school.' Which for her, Nottingham did.(I think it was the older building/dining halls). York accommodation was quite varied. Didn't look at anything on east campus as no time. Saw nice shiny en-suite and older standard shared facilities. Felt that some of it was in need of a summer deep clean. She feels that the grottier it is the stronger the bond with her flatmates may be ... we're all in this together mentality!! Through looking at three uni's back to back she's now of the opinion an en-suite isn't essential.
Lancaster in the middle of the month and that'll be her done.

dd's kind of finished mocks today

biol 1 - still not done
biol 2 - really good
chem 1 - absolute disaster *
chem 2 - really good
phys 1 - ????? *
phys 2 - hard

• these were when she was quite ill & not really functioning.

Not expecting fabulous results, she's pretty sure that she'll have to redo them in September, I think she's past carrying atm though. She's now got two days to get the bulk of her EPQ written - she's done the draft so can hopefully knock something respectable out that can be worked on over the summer.

pressed send to soon ...

I'm think of getting a few hours physics tutoring over the summer. She's, miraculously done fine with the maths, but definitely needs work on the long answer questions. I'd like her to go back feeling more secure about it.