Article in guardian.
Advice for parents about making sure their DCs do stuff for themselves. Rather than doing it all for them.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2 ... are_btn_tw

Explains the reporting elsewhere of Bristol contacting parents of first years to say that they should be particularly supportive of their DC, as the second year accommodation finding season will soon be upon us.

DD isn't applying there anyway, but neither I nor she have actually considered checking the websites of the ones she is applying to, to see what use they were intending to make of my contact details.

When DS1 was planning the end of first year move out of halls, we just got a message from him, to say that he and a group of friends had found a house and could one of us act as guarantor, please? No contact at all from the university on the subject, nor would any of us have expected it.

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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx

Sounds like Bristol are trying to pass part of the pastoral care remit back home - must say I am glad DS1 decided completely independently he didn't like it - OH was of the same opinion when he went and I have never been an overt fan.

Edited on request from a forumite.

Slighty OT, but I see that sadly there has been another suspected suicide at Bristol last weekend. This makes any parent of a university student feel a wave of anxiety and empathy for the parents.

Indeed it does

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mad?

I had one of those surveys from UCAS a few weeks back asking me what information I thought parents needed blah blah. I tend to ignore that sort of thing but couldn't resist taking the opportunity to reply to every question with the suggestion that the information parents really needed was to butt out and let their adult offspring get on with it themselves.

+1

Desperately sad, in every case. I wonder when someone will join up the dots between the type of pressure our education system puts on children, the high-stakes exams they have to take, the nasty sides of social media and the pitiful under-resourcing of mental health services. Blaming one university for this epidemic is short sighted and lets the real source of the problem off the hook. I know of many students who have been very happy at Bristol. It is the one which gets the headlines but student suicides happen everywhere, tragically. My own local university in Gloucestershire saw a young man take his own life at the very beginning of term but I don't think it made national headlines.

I agree re helicoptering, and am shocked by the amount some parents do for their children once they have left home. But emotional support is another matter and it is my view it should be on tap at any time, 24-7. Heck, we all need that at times.

Yes we do.

The Telegraph report that Bath Spa Uni will only be making unconditional offers this year (and for the next 3 years), if they like an applicant following interviewing everyone who applies to them. Additionally, any candidate who exceeds their predicted grades will also be given a £750 welcome.

They are advertising it as a way of reducing pressure on students in their final year at school (having trialled it last year), but some cynics are saying it is a way of them trying to attract students to ensure full courses.....

On reflection, I think that all the University offers in the USA back in my day were “unconditional”. Our entire performance at school and in entrance exams that were completed prior to the last months of school was the basis of university decisions, and these were made in a timely manner so that people could plan their university choice, course, accommodation, careers and get on with their life. We had to graduate but that meant attending classes and continuing to participate in class like always. If a student was not working, this was apparent all along, hence no offer! or if they changed for the worse suddenly was due to some extenuating circumstances which would be considered. If they improved, this also could be accommodated.

There is no comparison with the stress and chaos-fest of the current system in this country.