E

 Another 'Bond' girl for you today - this is 'E', relaxing outdoors at Missy's 18th party.  It was a very civilised affair and nice to be part of.  All her friends are, like her, finished with school and about to undergo a momentous change in their lives...University beckons!  There was a good cross-mix of subject areas - from English to Animal Science, Media/Arts & Pharmacy.  There was even one (who shall remain nameless but not too hard to figure out) holding offers for Midwifery, which is a very hard course to get onto in the UK, as the numbers are tightly capped by the government.  Now, however, at the 11th hour, she has decided that Zoology is what she really wants to study, so this last week has been a little fraught, emailing and ringing University Admissions teams asking about the possibility of changing course.  It's never straightforward in this house, no sir.

'E', at Missy's 18th.  Via the 'Blad & HP5+, on Foma 313 paper.

UCAS, the UK's University and College Admissions Service is an amazingly complex beast - the rules are many and the deadlines are real.  We are still anxiously waiting to see what, if anything, is doable.  Given that it's probably the worst year in recent history for applying to University in the UK things are very much up in the air.  Briefly, COVID-19 issues mean that final school leaving grades (which determine whether or not a University will accept a student onto a particular course) are not this year being administered centrally, but by the schools themselves.  There is an anticipation that this will mean grades will be inflated, so Universities have responded by drastically cutting the number of offers they make.  The whole thing is, I kid you not, a total nightmare for all concerned. 

So we're crossing fingers, toes and everything else that Missy's predicament can be resolved soon.  Failing that, she will have to wait until results day in August and then join the mad rush for whatever courses still have places.  Absolute worst case is that she takes a gap year and re-applies to start September 2022, but she would rather get on with it this year if at all possible.  It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, however, since she is pretty much the youngest student in her year.  Some of her friends will be turning 19 in a few weeks.  Aw...still so young, eh?!  Not sure I'd want to do it all again, given the choice, but I have great memories of my Uni days and am still in touch with many of the friends I made there, some 40 years later.  Good times.