A-Levels

[clk320x]

Totally depends on what uni.

Yes and no.

Courses like medicine, dentistry or vet med are ultra-competitive at any university that offers them.

 

[markjay]

It means a lot when you’ve worked your a*** off to get a university offer and your fate one month later depends on those results?

It also means that some hard-working selfish parents supported their children during their studies, in order for them to gain an unfair advantage over the children whose parents couldn't be bothered.

How dare they not spend their hard-earned cash on cheap booz and package holidays in the sun like true Brits, then let the socialist state fix it for their disadvantaged children...?

 

[chic0821]

Kate Middleton did well going to St Andrews, wonder why she decided to go there, bit out of the way.
Probably reckoned the standard was higher than other places.
I heard for some reason it was the place to be that year, lots of competition trying to get accepted.

 

[ALFAitalia]

It means a lot when you’ve worked your a*** off to get a university offer and your fate one month later depends on those results?

This year you will probably get in no matter what results you get. They were just saying on the news that Uni's are desperate for students due to lack of applications (people cant afford it and don't want a massive dept. and useless degree at the end ....hello to all you Art History grads working in Maccy D's!)) and severe loss of overseas students. Most Universities will be on sticky ground financially this year if they don't get more students they said.

 

[clk320x]

This year you will probably get in no matter what results you get. They were just saying on the news that Uni's are desperate for students due to lack of applications (people cant afford it and don't want a massive dept. and useless degree at the end ....hello to all you Art History grads working in Maccy D's!)) and severe loss of overseas students. Most Universities will be on sticky ground financially this year if they don't get more students they said.

Again - depends on the course…

 

[HappytalkAgain]

Again - depends on the course…

Maybe a car detailing course for @ALFAitalia

 

[alabbasi]

I dropped out of school at 16 and went back at 20 to get take 2 A levels. I got dismal grades but managed to get into University on a HND program through clearing. I transferred within a year to a degree program and got a BSC in Business Information Systems (2:1). To this day, I think that A levels in pure and applied math's were the hardest exams I've ever taken.

 

[Petrol Pete]

I would like to see more apprenticeships , personally I think it would be better for this country as a whole to be awash with young people learning some practical transferable skills .

These skills would possibly keep them in good stead for decades to come , even if they deviated from that course for a few years while 'finding themselves' , they can always come back to whatever they qualified in.

I do know it's difficult to secure an apprentices in the UK these days and from what I have seen (so far) of our new government I am not sure that it is going to get any better.

 

[HappytalkAgain]

I would like to see more apprenticeships , personally I think it would be better for this country as a whole to be awash with young people learning some practical transferable skills .

These skills would possibly keep them in good stead for decades to come , even if they deviated from that course for a few years while 'finding themselves' , they can always come back to whatever they qualified in.

I do know it's difficult to secure an apprentices in the UK these days and from what I have seen (so far) of our new government I am not sure that it is going to get any better.

I agree, especially in construction. Otherwise they’ll be a massive shortage of tradespeople to cover demand in the coming years.

 

[markjay]

I agree, especially in construction. Otherwise they’ll be a massive shortage of tradespeople to cover demand in the coming years.

....and them we'll need to rejoin the you-know-who and beg the Polish builders to come back, heaven forbid.

 

[HappytalkAgain]

....and them we'll need to rejoin the you-know-who and beg the Polish builders to come back, heaven forbid.

I assume you mean ‘heaven forbid we rejoin the ————‘
as opposed to begging the Polish back? In my experience they’re awesome workers/grafters.

 

[SpikyMikey]

I assume you mean ‘heaven forbid we rejoin the ————‘
as opposed to begging the Polish back? In my experience they’re awesome workers/grafters.

I used to deliver fair face lintels to building sites around London and the S East and many at the time had foreign labourers/trades. I remember one site forman who couldn't praise them highly enough; they turned up on time, did a good job and didn't take the proverbial with tea and fag breaks.

 

[markjay]

I assume you mean ‘heaven forbid we rejoin the ————‘
as opposed to begging the Polish back? In my experience they’re awesome workers/grafters.

I believe in Globalisation. If the Polish are good builders, let them build over here. Not a popular view these days..

 

[Petrol Pete]

Most of my pub mates are in the 'trades' one of them commented on a job advert for a site supervisor that said being able to speak Romanian would be a 'distinct advantage' to the applicant . i:e don't bother applying if you can't speak Romanian was his take on that.

Here is another gem from him (tin foil hat not mandatory but reccommended) , I can't remember exactly how he put it but it went a bit like this...

MSN and the government are implying that 'growth' is not possible until we get the feckless off benefits and back to work but as governments are not really working out how to do this they are importing (via France) young men to do 'all the building work' .... You need a moment to go get your tin foil head gear ? I will wait.

When some of the trades around the table argued that 'you could never train that lot up' I asked "why not ?" None of us were born Carpenters , bricklayers , plumbers etc
He also added that not all of 'them' need to be masters at the trade just some of them and the rest can do the more menial stuff.

So his take on it is 'they' will be building all the houses that that they need for themselves with government paying subsidies to the big building companies with taxpayers money to train them to do so.

Remove BacoFoil headgear ....and breathe....

'

 

[Darrell]

....and them we'll need to rejoin the you-know-who and beg the Polish builders to come back, heaven forbid.

The large developments eg Berkeley homes etc don’t have builders on them. They’ll have many trades but none of them are builders.

There aren’t that many Polish on sites now anyway.

 

[Darrell]

I used to deliver fair face lintels to building sites around London and the S East and many at the time had foreign labourers/trades. I remember one site forman who couldn't praise them highly enough; they turned up on time, did a good job and didn't take the proverbial with tea and fag breaks.

It’s a lot different nowadays as most of the boys are on a price and the guys that want to come for a
doss do t last long.

 

[Petrol Pete]

The trade blokes I have a drink with are all getting on a bit now , one is in his 80's and is still on the trowel...yes I know he has plenty in the bank but has a motto 'ease up , seize up' His son , also a bricklayer works with him and 'jokes' he will have to take his dad off site dead in his own wheelbarrow one day ! But I digress.

These bloke are all 'one man bands' with more work on their hands than they can cope with and refer to anyone working for the big house construction companies (no matter what trade) as 'site slashers' , implying that those on the big sites are incapable of getting work for themselves as they are all rubbish at what they do ! How rude.

When I point out that some people in the trade might want secure jobs with paid holiday and sensible hours , job security etc I get laughed at .

As someone who spent decades working for a 'boss' and nearly 2 decades working for myself I can see both sides of the discussion.

 

[Darrell]

The trade blokes I have a drink with are all getting on a bit now , one is in his 80's and is still on the trowel...yes I know he has plenty in the bank but has a motto 'ease up , seize up' His son , also a bricklayer works with him and 'jokes' he will have to take his dad off site dead in his own wheelbarrow one day ! But I digress.

These bloke are all 'one man bands' with more work on their hands than they can cope with and refer to anyone working for the big house construction companies (no matter what trade) as 'site slashers' , implying that those on the big sites are incapable of getting work for themselves as they are all rubbish at what they do ! How rude.

When I point out that some people in the trade might want secure jobs with paid holiday and sensible hours , job security etc I get laughed at .

As someone who spent decades working for a 'boss' and nearly 2 decades working for myself I can see both sides of the discussion.

I can see both sides tbh. The guys on site on a price are earning big money and depending on your trade and a bit of negotiation the day rate isn’t bad either.

The firm I’m on pay me £320 a day working 8 until 2.30 but I’m driving from Mill Hill to Sevenoaks and back 6 days a week. They pay the Bridge toll but not my diesel which is around £70 per week.

Secure jobs, paid holiday, job security and sensible hours are a load of balls though.

 

[markjay]

The large developments eg Berkeley homes etc don’t have builders on them. They’ll have many trades but none of them are builders.

There aren’t that many Polish on sites now anyway.

Happy for people of any nationality that has deep rooted cultural skills to come and practice their skills over here. Italian designers, German engineers, Norwegian shipbuilders, everything goes.

 

[Darrell]

Happy for people of any nationality that has deep rooted cultural skills to come and practice their skills over here. Italian designers, German engineers, Norwegian shipbuilders, everything goes.

Totally agree.

The English guys on site will have a bit of a moan about the amount of bozzo’s but in reality they don’t give a shite.

Even as far back as 1983 when I started the chippies were all Indians, the brickies and their labourers were Paddies and the plasterers were West Indians. The general labourers were mostly young Aussies simply doing a bit to find their next bit of travelling.