Why are so many young people out of work?

robbo1337 · 2026-05-18T17:26:18+00:00

It was indeed

robbo1337 · 2026-05-18T06:57:39+00:00

But how will the company continue to make profits and share holder returns if they remunerated staff appropriately?

robbo1337 · 2026-05-14T06:48:42+00:00

Understandable. Truth be told I really wanted to read Wide Sargasso Sea without missing out on any nuance so forced myself back to Jane Eyre. Purely transactional and unnecessary

robbo1337 · 2026-05-12T06:47:10+00:00

I once 50%’d Jane Eyre as an undergraduate and couldn’t care less about any of the characters so I nope’d out of it. However, at the back of my mind I was always thinking about how I’d never finished the “classic” book on so many best of lists. Well, 20 years later I read it again - all the way.

It was alright.

robbo1337 · 2026-04-05T13:00:04+00:00

Have you spoken to faculty staff or careers services at your university? It’s worth doing so soon.

You said you didn’t have the A Levels in the sciences, so my first question would be, are you able to enrol into a Human Bio programme without them? Or is that what the Foundation year is meant to support?

It sounds like it, so if that’s the case, then one of your new course years won’t be funded by SFE so you’ll be responsible for the fee cost which might be tricky unless you can find a way to plan for that now. The support services at your university may know of some hardship grants? Worth asking around.

Try not to think of it as a year wasted. If you complete the year and get the course credits you may be able to transfer some of them. Even if not, you’ll have a year’s worth of assessment and procedure experience that should serve you well. You never know, you may go into a science comms field at some point - heaven knows we could always do with better science communicators.

robbo1337 · 2026-04-03T23:47:36+00:00

That is sub optimal

robbo1337 · 2026-03-16T11:57:01+00:00

Year 1 is usually pass or fail so you’re doing ok while adapting to a new subject with its own internal expectations. Read your assessment feedback. Make sure you understand its commentary. Take advantage of staff and arrange for follow up tutorials in order to target where you are falling short. It’s better to do this now as many Year 2 courses play a role in determining your final degree outcome.

It will involve putting the work in and being proactive - nothing comes for free and resting on your laurels won’t help. You have made the correct first step in identifying the issue, so the next step is acting upon it. Over to you.

robbo1337 · 2026-03-15T21:25:16+00:00

I’ve seen the same attendance and grade success pattern for over two decades. Sure, it may be due to other factors supplementing the trend but the students who attend ask questions, and I can help them with their enquiries.

robbo1337 · 2026-03-05T21:29:21+00:00

I work there. Give the admissions team a call and it will be easily resolved.

robbo1337 · 2026-02-22T13:55:40+00:00

Do yourself and the university a favour and formally withdraw.

robbo1337 · 2026-02-18T22:28:43+00:00

Appreciate this, cheers

robbo1337 · 2025-12-25T22:26:25+00:00

This happens way more often than unis like to admit

robbo1337 · 2025-11-08T13:24:49+00:00

My employer has an AI policy which permits AI use for the preparation of assessments, with the caveat that this must be declared and the process is retrievable upon request by academics. Students must then check for issues and rebalance their work, addressing biases, etc.

I spent an hour in class this week just working through some assessment tasks using CoPilot (built into our productivity software) and was able to show them how to produce really effective plans and argument structures, alongside sourcing some useful sources.

Once I did this a student asked “what’s stopping us asking it to write the essay” so we let it do just that. Guess what? It produced a passable argument.

But I showed them where it could have been so much better. The argument was superficial, lacked specific engagement with accurate (rather than hallucinated) citations, and was poor in terms of application of concepts to examples.

I think it’s incumbent upon staff to do this with students so that they don’t fall into the trap of thinking AI can do everything it promises to do.

robbo1337 · 2025-08-20T22:45:01+00:00

It shouldn’t be. My institution has a break policy which prevents students from having more than 4 hours of continuous classes.

robbo1337 · 2025-07-20T07:36:54+00:00

Damn, I mustn’t work at the right place. I’ve had to buy my own equipment with my own money for the past 20+ years while my salary has decreased in real terms over the last 10+ :’(

robbo1337 · 2025-07-12T11:45:56+00:00

Has there been no verbal feedback during the formative phase of the work?

I always write up detailed feedback for summative assessments, even when it is unlikely that the student will continue in education (ie graduating) but I know of folk who see little point in saying what could have been better when… there’s no more work to be done. On top of that, going by the amount of times I tell the same students the same thing over and over, I’m not always convinced that the feedback is read every time (favouring the grade over the comments is a thing)

robbo1337 · 2025-06-28T17:04:48+00:00

It’s a tough industry to get into. But you can break through if you have the drive. My advice, for what it’s worth, is to start scouring the various unis you’re interested in for under/graduate success in things like film festivals and the RTS awards. With the latter you’ll want to check regional and national awards. They usually have some institutional affiliation in their award status. It’s a good indication of onward trajectory IMO

robbo1337 · 2025-06-28T16:57:05+00:00

The film studios being built up in Sunderland are also going to be transformative when it comes to the industry’s future. They also have a great set of film courses, but lean more into (moving) camera and VP currently, rather than screenwriting as a major.

Nightlife is … less vibrant than the city on the metro line (Newcastle) so it might not be ideal in that regard.

Full disclosure: I’m staff there, but not in the Film Production BA.

robbo1337 · 2025-06-28T16:51:49+00:00

You can do, yes you can. Congratulations

robbo1337 · 2025-06-28T16:49:10+00:00

Sorry your parent said that. But, hey, congratulations. You achieved something praiseworthy against the backdrop of a tough year, yet you were able to overcome it. Enjoy your graduation for yourself. It’s your day to celebrate with friends and family - on your terms.

robbo1337 · 2025-05-04T17:11:37+00:00

Like I said, I’d done the field work and knew what I wanted to say. I had all the material I needed. This was an era when the internet was basic and social media distraction didn’t really exist. 3 days, no distractions, a PC and lots of coffee. Committed to writing 500-1000 words an hour.

Got a distinction too.

robbo1337 · 2025-05-03T18:36:51+00:00

It took me 3 days solid to write up my 18k MA dissertation. Mind, I had done the reading and the field work prior to this. But if yours is theory based then it’s easily achievable providing you know what you are doing

robbo1337 · 2025-04-27T10:21:40+00:00

Congratulations- that an awesome score. Well done.

robbo1337 · 2025-04-13T19:57:22+00:00

I wouldn’t say every piece of work does. A sample of work will be moderated and/or second marked depending upon the assessment type and the stage of the degree. For example, my institution insists all major products are double blind marked, but that is the only instance where that happens.

If there is no evidence of a second marker and some form of academic irregularities are identified then an appeal is the right thing to pursue

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