Son has been kicked out of University

[passenger]

My son H has just received a letter telling him is going to be removed
from his computer science course,for failing to do the correct amount
of course work. it's his first year at uni in London, he has been staying
at the campus in Wembley and really loved it, he is now in bits and finding it hard
to work out what to do. So I come to urban cap in hand for some advice.

 

[Edie]

He must have really struggled to submit much if any work. Do you have a sense of why that was? University offers mitigating circumstances and chance to re-take a year well before removing a student. So he must have passed up a number of last chances. Has he been struggling with the academic side or personally or both?

Anyway I’m sorry for your lad and for you, such a worry.

Trying to persuade my lad not to do CS but cyber security, and he’s strong at that but not good at maths. Hear CS has a lot of maths inc calculus in the first year. It’s a hard degree.

Best of luck to him, and to you supporting him through this next wobbly bit x

 

[equationgirl]

passenger that sounds like he's missed one or more mandatory assignments if it's coursework. Is there a submission system that he can check to prove he submitted everything required?

On Monday he needs to get in touch with his tutor, if they are not available he should ask for the head of year.

Was he sick or have an extended period of time off? Did he submit a sick line from his GP to cover it?

 

[equationgirl]

Edie yes comp sci does have a strong maths component including calculus - if he struggles with that I think you're right about focusing on cyber security

 

[passenger]

He must have really struggled to submit much if any work. Do you have a sense of why that was? University offers mitigating circumstances and chance to re-take a year well before removing a student. So he must have passed up a number of last chances. Has he been struggling with the academic side or personally or both?

Anyway I’m sorry for your lad and for you, such a worry.

Trying to persuade my lad not to do CS but cyber security, and he’s strong at that but not good at maths. Hear CS has a lot of maths inc calculus in the first year. It’s a hard degree.

Best of luck to him, and to you supporting him through this next wobbly bit x

 

[Edie]

Edie yes comp sci does have a strong maths component including calculus - if he struggles with that I think you're right about focusing on cyber security

That’s good to know. Don’t think he’d manage. He’s like me, crap at maths.

Think Clair De Lune lad is doing CS in London so may be able to shed light on both the maths and the hardness.

 

[passenger]

Ok he told me he did well in exams and i have always been on his case
he even had a little job, he told me he got behind a bit but made up for it
this sounds like its over then i just donr know where he goes now

 

[two sheds]

Yes, contact tutor as equationgirl suggested. You'd hope it's not too late if they can see how much he wants to do it.

Not that it helps but I was told I'd failed my second year at uni (electronics), so I didn't bother revising for the exams. I was then told I'd actually passed my coursework but failed my exams I retook the year which was actually good because I did start working.

 

[passenger]

Sorry im panacicing a bit need to have a walk will be back soon sorry

 

[passenger]

Cheers for the advice everyone, just a bit hard to take in but at least
there is some hope, just need to know what to do Monday morning
with some good advice and let Harry know all is not lost.

 

[A380]

So sorry to her this. Two friends are (separately) in similar positions with sons who have not been submitting work and not telling them. It is a worry although in both cases its working out.

Does he want to tell you the whole story, if so great, give hi time and space to do so. But he might not want to, in which case I'm sure you will provide the level of love and support he does need.

 

[mango5]

This sounds rotten. Echoing what others have said, if he wants to continue, contact tutor, department admin, student union and student services. Often even coursework can be submitted as a re-sit. He may be the victim of of some internal miscommunication (including databases not syncing well)

If he is thoroughly discouraged, consider a different course that plays to his strengths and interests. All my best wishes to you and him.

 

[passenger]

passenger that sounds like he's missed one or more mandatory assignments if it's coursework. Is there a submission system that he can check to prove he submitted everything required?

On Monday he needs to get in touch with his tutor, if they are not available he should ask for the head of year.

Was he sick or have an extended period of time off? Did he submit a sick line from his GP to cover it?

Advice taken, his not been off sick so we can rule that out, I hope they give
another, chance this might be a wake call for him, this is his first yea\r
we need to wait and see just seems odd they have left it until now to
say this.

 

[Edie]

Advice taken, his not been off sick so we can rule that out, I hope they give
another, chance this might be a wake call for him, this is his first yea\r
we need to wait and see just seems odd they have left it until now to
say this.

But do you know why he hasn’t submitted the work? Is he struggling academically? Struggling socially or personally? Lazy and partying? Disorganised? Until you know why it’s hard to know what’s the best next steps.

 

[Raheem]

It will be clearing soon, so maybe one option would be to try to get on a course somewhere else.

If you're going to be funding it, though, in your position I'd want to be confident that the same thing won't happen again.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

just seems odd they have left it until now to say this.

i don't know enough about universities to offer much, but that.

from my (uninformed) angle, it seems quite extreme that the first step is turfing him out (unless he's done something really outrageous) - would have thought there would have been warnings and discussions first.

i do wonder if you've had the full story...

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Sounds like you need a proper chat with him.

If the expulsion was the first communication then you’ve grounds for appeal or to take it further.

Have you seen the letter/email or just heard it from him?

 

[bellaozzydog]

i don't know enough about universities to offer much, but that.

from my (uninformed) angle, it seems quite extreme that the first step is turfing him out (unless he's done something really outrageous) - would have thought there would have been warnings and discussions first.

i do wonder if you've had the full story...

This

I managed four years of fucking around and doing nowt at university while avoiding letting the parents know . They were very clear what the acceptable levels of work were and I just about made them to hang in till the end then leave with fook all

It was only when I turned up at home skint with severely depleted serotonin levels that they realised

 

[weltweit]

He needs to get in touch with the Uni / course people asap.
He could resit the missing bits in the summer break if he has enough time, or he could resit the year.

 

[muscovyduck]

This sounds rotten. Echoing what others have said, if he wants to continue, contact tutor, department admin, student union and student services. Often even coursework can be submitted as a re-sit. He may be the victim of of some internal miscommunication (including databases not syncing well)

If he is thoroughly discouraged, consider a different course that plays to his strengths and interests. All my best wishes to you and him.

Yes, contact multiple departments. Could be an admin fuck up, tyrannical member of staff throwing their weight around, someone who's talked him off the course and is following up by sending this paperwork thinking they're doing him a favour. Or maybe he's not done something he was supposed to. But you won't know any of this unless you start kicking up a serious fuss. Without knowing more I'd lean towards the fault being with the uni because to be frank, they're vile places where people play weird games and shit like this happens all the time.

Also consider asking your kid to put in a subject access request under the GDPR to get your hands on the paper trail of what's gone on behind the scenes. Don't ask for specifics, ask for all their data.

 

[Pickman's model]

My son H has just received a letter telling him is going to be removed
from his computer science course,for failing to do the correct amount
of course work. it's his first year at uni in London, he has been staying
at the campus in Wembley and really loved it, he is now in bits and finding it hard
to work out what to do. So I come to urban cap in hand for some advice.

Student union > academic appeal

 

[Pickman's model]

passenger soz not read beyond your op but this is a very drastic step for them to take out of the blue so either it's a massive cock up on their part or there have been some intermediate steps before this. But my first stop would be student union for info

 

[Miss-Shelf]

Lots of good advice already

I work in a uni

Sometimes decisions are made at exam boards that students with less than x credits will be withdrawn

sometimes that decision is reversed when the uni struggles to recruit in clearing

All is not lost for your boy

There should be a right of appeal
Or
An option to retake the year
Or
the option to start again on another course and / or another uni

He should atill have 3 years of student loan funding available

Good luck

 

[passenger]

Student union > academic appeal

This is the only way i am going at the moment ,my sons 21 a really wonderful
lovely lad ,he is a bit yeah yeah will do it in a minute type, but have been told
by his friend's group that is very good at what he does, but can leave things
to the last minute but on the other hand, I am a bit un sure, this has just come out the
blue I will ask him to email me the letter and go from there

 

[Pickman's model]

This is the only way i am going at the moment ,my sons 21 a really wonderful
lovely lad ,he is a bit yeah yeah will do it in a minute type, but have been told
by his friend's group that is very good at what he does, but can leave things
to the last minute but on the other hand, I am a bit un sure, this has just come out the
blue I will ask him to email me the letter and go from there

Ask him to send you all the correspondence he's had from his department and other areas of the university, esp registry. One thing you learn doing casework is people want to present themselves in the best light and won't tell you things you really need to know to help get their problem sorted out. So to make sure you and the su can help your son you need to make sure the su have everything even if it weakens your son's case. There's nothing worse than being in a meeting and about to deliver the killer point than being told didn't he mention x, which undermines what you were about to say

 

[ice-is-forming]

It absolutely sounds like a systems and/or human error.

Or everyone is lying,
your son to himself and you,
his friends lying to you,
The uni lying to him
Your parenting intuition etc..

If something doesn't add up and he's being honest then it's gotta be some error by the uni surely.

If you're clear that he's telling the truth ( and it sounds like you are) then just prepare for Monday. But as pickmans just pointed out it's not uncommon when you're sitting with someone all prepared to advocate for them, for a piece of 'evidence' to be handed over the desk. And it's the first time you've seen it.

If you want to clarify with him can you hang out with your son and have a chat on Sunday?

 

[Elpenor]

My gut feeling is, as others have said, you’re missing some key information and hopefully you’ll get it asap and can work out what to do

Might I suggest that your son may not have felt comfortable sharing the full story initially as he wanted to see how the “failed first year” part went down with you before going into the finer details.

 

[muscovyduck]

He could be holding information back because he's ashamed because thinks he's in the wrong when he's not, and it'd help his case if you knew. For example, if he's disabled, once he's told them, it's on the uni to be proactive providing support and following up if he's not using it. Unis are very good at playing on these sorts of insecurities to stop students holding them accountable or seeking refunds/compensation

 

[spring-peeper]

He could be holding information back because he's ashamed because thinks he's in the wrong when he's not, and it'd help his case if you knew. For example, if he's disabled, once he's told them, it's on the uni to be proactive providing support and following up if he's not using it. Unis are very good at playing on these sorts of insecurities to stop students holding them accountable or seeking refunds/compensation

....or it may be that he doesn't really want to go to uni.

We were discussing your son's predicament, and that was my daughter's take on it.
I remember the phone call from her, voice quivering, asking if I would upset if she quit uni and went back to her old job.

I was not disappointed, not all kids want to continue their schooling. She didn't, but went anyway......
She is now the head of her department.

 

[equationgirl]

Advice taken, his not been off sick so we can rule that out, I hope they give
another, chance this might be a wake call for him, this is his first yea\r
we need to wait and see just seems odd they have left it until now to
say this.

i doubt they have, this type of letter is very much communicating the last step in the procesd, not the first, and hints at a large amount of coursework missing. so he needs to be completely honest with you about what he's missed and why he's missed it.

did he speak to his tutor at all throughout the year about missing work?
did he request any extensions to deadlines?
did he ask for extra help from course tutors if he got stuck?

he needs to be clear about what is expected goung forwards - it's not like school, he is responsible for his own learning.