r/ukeducation

Trying to decide between two offers. Brunel: BSc Computer Science, confirmed place, straight into Year 1, no foundation year. Southampton: originally Computer Engineering with a Foundation Year (mismatch from my CS application), I've emailed asking to switch to direct-entry CS — waiting to hear back. I might transfer to a US university after Year 1 down the line due to family issues, but that's just a possibility , not a fixed plan. For now, which setup makes more sense as a starting point?

For some context I'm a girl and I had a friendship group of only girls in secondary and I think now that I'm getting a fresh start I want to have a friend group with both boys and girls.

The subjects in taking have barely any guys taking them... But for the few that do, Is it normal to just go sit next to a boy/ couple of them?? I'm going with 2 girls already and they wouldn't mind me inviting people to sit with us. Would it be normal to go up to people in the canteen or at the begining of the day?? Please let me know guys 🙏

I’m hoping to go to university as a (very) mature student but need to do my Alevels first.

Oxford home learning looks a good option, has anyone used this before or known someone who has?

Anyone returning to a new subject after 20ish years, do you have any advice? It might not work out but I would like to try.

Thank you!

Hello...

I'm an international student from India and I just got an offer and thinking to admit into Roehampton University (London campus) for masters for Sep intake. Anybody who are studying in the same university or graduated from the university or even living around that area, could anyone please share some advices and tips for choosing dorms, regarding part-times and anything that helpful to me.

Hi everyone,

Any help with this greatly appreciated.

For context:

My child (13) started secondary school in September 2025 and me and his mum are separated.

He has an ongoing ADHD referral in, submitted through his primary school at the request of his mum.

He has been suspended 6 times since September. Constant detentions and general behaviour issues.

He has been referred to social care 3 times since September due to activity within the community and vulnerability.

He is known to hang out with older people who are known to youth workers and police.

I have a family law court order from April 1st stating I am an equal parent and to be involved with all matters relating toy sons education, welfare, travel, religion and health.

His mum recently requested an EHC needs assessment directly through the council. I am unsure what stage it's currently at as my information was not provided with the initial request.

The school have consistently withheld information I believe they should have shared with me. Such as, my son disclosed he had been self harming to the school youth worker, I did not find out until months later when social care informed me.

My son's mum submitted an EHC needs assessment request and left my information off so I did not find out until an email from the school let it slip.

My son's school are refusing to share his SEN information with me as they class it as his personal data and under GDPR rules they cannot share it without his consent, which he hasn't given.

So at the current situation I am trying to have my views and input into his SEN at school and the EHC assessment but keep being told I am not allowed to be.

Is there a legal standing to information I am to be given and input I am allowed to have as decisions keep being made about my son between his mum and the school completely bypassing me?

Again, thank you for guidance and legal advice I don't know where to turn.

Hi everyone,
My child is preparing for the Bolton School Year 7 entrance exam, and I’d love to hear from parents or pupils who have taken it recently.
How difficult did you find the Maths, English and Non-Verbal Reasoning papers?
Were the GL Assessment practice books good preparation?
Is there anything you wish you’d practised more?
Any tips for the interview or the overall admissions process?
If your child got in, roughly how much preparation did they do?
I’d really appreciate any recent experiences or advice. Thanks!

My son came home from school genuinely upset after a ‘top student’ award was given to a pupil who, according to him, regularly receives demerits and detentions. He wasn’t upset because he expected to win. He was trying to understand what the school was rewarding.

He’s never had a detention or demerit, consistently works hard, is among the top performers academically, and quietly gets on with things every day.

I understand recognising improvement. If a pupil has turned things around, that’s worth celebrating. But at what point does rewarding improvement start to overshadow rewarding consistency?

If the message pupils receive is, “Consistently doing the right thing is simply expected, but improving after falling short earns recognition,” are we creating the right incentives?

I’m interested in hearing from teachers and parents. How should schools strike the balance between recognising progress and recognising sustained excellence?

Ofsted continued with inspections despite the heat 🤨

Hi everyone,

I’m a postgraduate researcher at Bath Spa University (UK) doing a small qualitative study exploring how young people make sense of growing up in Christian environments.

I’m especially interested in how people understand things like belonging, identity, authority, morality, guilt/shame, and personal change in those contexts - whether that experience was positive, difficult, complicated, or somewhere in between. I’m interested in how people themselves interpret their experiences over time.

You can take part if you:

Are aged 16-18
Were raised in a Christian context (any denomination or background)
Are currently in the UK (or recently lived here)

It doesn’t matter if you’re still practising, no longer practising, questioning, or somewhere in-between.

What taking part involves
One online interview (45-60 minutes, Microsoft Teams)
A relaxed conversation about your experiences growing up in a Christian setting
You choose what you want to talk about
You can skip questions or stop at any time

Ethics & safety
This study has full ethical approval from Bath Spa University’s Research Ethics Committee, following BERA (British Educational Research Association) guidelines.

A quick note because this sometimes comes up:

UK universities don’t use “IRB numbers” like US institutions
This study has been formally approved through university ethics procedures
Everything is confidential and anonymised
Data is stored securely under UK GDPR rules
Safeguarding procedures are in place if needed

If you’d like more info or want to take part, you can contact me here:

Ruth Lloyd
ruth.lloyd24@bathspa.ac.uk

I’ll send an information sheet first, and you can decide after reading it whether you want to take part.
University: Bath Spa University
Ethics approval: Granted via institutional research ethics process ( in adherence to BERA (2018/2024)
Participants: Ages 16–18 (Gillick competent)
Safeguarding: Protocol in place
Data: Anonymous, GDPR compliant
Supervisor oversight: Yes

https://dakshgulecha.github.io/ucat-tracker (I recommend using this on a laptop)

Excel works, but after a while it becomes difficult to spot trends, measure improvement, and actually learn from your mock results. I wanted something that felt more like a proper analytics dashboard than a spreadsheet, while still being completely free and simple to use.

The tracker stores all of your data locally on your own device (nothing is uploaded anywhere), and includes import/export support so you can back up your progress or move it between devices whenever you want (you don't have to do it daily, only if you are switching devices or browsers). Alongside tracking scores for all three cognitive sections and SJT, it automatically generates detailed analytics, section-by-section graphs, progress history, radar charts, streak tracking, score predictions, trend analysis, and other insights that are difficult to get from a normal spreadsheet. The goal is to make it much easier to understand where you're improving and where you should focus next.

I originally made this for a friend of mine, but I figured it might be useful for others preparing for the UCAT as well. If even a few people find it helpful, then it was worth sharing.

I would love to hear any changes that you want to be made, however small they may be. My aim is to make this as frictionless to use and as helpful as possible to UCAT students :). Feedback and feature suggestions are always welcome!

our head of year came in just after the half term and told every yr11 class that theyve had to report 2 cases of malpractice , one of them we know of having flashcards but unrelated to the exam subject but noone knows of the other case , it mustve happened from 12th - 25th May cus they reported them over the half term , noone else was stopped or taken back so it must've been a silent report ; would the second person be informed of the investigation against them by now ? just curious cus it happened in my own skl and i've been wondering of the process and who it could've been

I recently got kicked out of my High School (Mercia School in Sheffield) because I was sick.

I woke up almost fainting due to a cold and my mum called the school and told them I'd be ill. They called my dad because I wasn't in school even though my mum told them I was going to be out. My dad was okay with me taking a day off from school but I had to go explain the situation.

When I went to the school to explain (I live 5 minutes away walking) the office lady thought I was lying when I told her I was sick.

Then when my math teacher came in, I asked him if I could leave because it was all cleared. He then called my mum and said I was being very rude. Even though I wasn't. I'm very shy and I could never raise my voice against anyone.

Then I got a call from my mum saying that I would be kicked out.

It's not fair, so I was wondering if there's anything I can do to get back in.