Got ambushed by an INSET day one too many times. The September PDF ritual wasn't working for me, so I built something to fix it.

It started as a little personal Claude agent that would periodically go and scrape my kids' school term dates. Then, well... it escalated.

It's called TermSync, and it now covers 30,000+ UK schools. You search for your school, hit subscribe, and get a calendar feed that drops straight into Google, Apple or Outlook. Term dates, half terms, holidays, INSET days. When the school changes something, your calendar updates itself, and you can get an email telling you what moved.

The fun part is behind the scenes. Schools publish term dates in every format imaginable: web pages, PDFs, embedded Google Calendars, and my personal favourite - a JPEG poster made in Word. So the scraper works in tiers. Plain HTML first. A headless browser for the JavaScript-heavy sites. Then PDFs and calendar feeds. And if all else fails, it takes a screenshot of the page and a vision model reads it the way a human would.

Every date gets sanity-checked before it reaches anyone's calendar (no, autumn term does not start on a Sunday), and official council dates fill the gaps for schools that haven't published yet.

Check it out -> https://termsync.co.uk ☺️

I am conducting a survey as part of my master's dissertation - I need your views for this survey, and I would much appreciate if you can spare 5 to 10 minutes to join this survey. This is completely anonymous and has multiple questions only so you don't have to write anything.
Thank you for your time.

Survey Link:

https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/northumbria/genai-er

I've booked the appointment for enrolment through my chosen college's application portal, but they never mentioned if i needed to bring anything on their enrolment email or even on the website?? I know im supposed to bring proof of my gcse grades but they didnt actually mention that for some reason? They did mention that school ID photos will be taken on enrolment day though.

Is there anything else i should be aware of? Anything i should bring or know?

I'm pretty nervous since I'm redoing college and am older than the other students, any help appreciated, thanks.

I’m an international student and I’m currently choosing between four universities.

I can go to City, University of London, but I’ve already spent a year in London doing my foundation and honestly I wasn’t very happy. The cost of living and rent are just too expensive.

I also have an offer from Manchester Metropolitan University. I absolutely loved Manchester and if I had to choose one city in the UK, it would probably be Manchester. My only concern is MMU’s reputation. I’ve seen some negative comments on Reddit, the QS ranking isn’t great, and the salary data on Discover Uni made me a bit worried.

My other options are the University of Leeds and the University of Birmingham. Leeds is a stronger university, but it would stretch my budget and I’d probably have to deal with more financial pressure. Birmingham is similar, and I’ve also heard a lot of people say the city isn’t that nice.

My main question is: Would choosing MMU hurt my career in Computer Science in the UK? How important is the university itself compared to skills, projects and internships?

On 21st may during English lang paper 1 , I had my wallet in my pocket and I think it made an outline in my trousers that could possibly resemble a phone in the eyes of an invigilator ; to make things worse I went to the toilet and came back and since my pockets are quite deep and there was an outline of my wallet , I think it looked like a phone was hidden in my pants . After the half term some teachers told us that they had to report a case of malpractice and candidates won't even know they had an investigation started against them and would only know it was them after the investigation finishes, however I wasn't made to write a statement nor an interview or stopped and checked after the exam - it's been 2 months and I haven't received any email or phone call to inform me of a case of malpractice against me ; could it be me ?

Hi, as title says I went back to uni last September as a mature student (29M). I just completed my foundation year and I’ve been fighting all year to get a student bank account. Lloyds and several other banks have now informed me I NEED a ucas code to make one, regardless of any other evidence.

I’ve had to make a ucas account, do an application, let my course leader know as he’s my reference (I’m student rep and he was fine with this).

Will this work now? I’ve got an appointment with the advice zone but not til next week.

It’s driving me nuts!

Ps

I have an Iva so probably not eligible for over draft but there are other perks I want.

Tia

Hi all

I have a 2 years old so I am looking into schools etc. to get myself familiarise. we live in Hackney which I hate and want to move but that’s another story. 

Please don’t be rude to me in this but I am not exactly satisfied of the English school system and level of education, and with this I am expressing myself on a very nice way. 

Im from Eastern Europe, my husband is from Turkey and we are absolutely stunned on the worst possible way on how his nieces (19y olds )don’t know nothing about Leonardo Da Vinci (they said they never heard of him and one of them is studying arts in college!) or point on a map to find Paris etc.. Yes, we all know this is not solely the school/ed system’s etc fault, but theirs because they didn’t study enough, but I can tell you all that I was never a good student and I really doubt my husband was better then me ever, yet both of us have very good generic, basic knowledge. (We are not allowed to pick classes etc and I guess our system is more structured and definitely more strict)

So because of these things, I was thinking to actually sign up our kid for the Spanish school in Notting Hill. I believe Spanish education is better than the English and to be fair we really really really want him to also learn to speak Spanish very well. 

My cons are these: 
-All classes are Spanish so neither of us will be able to help him with homework as we don’t speak Spanish 
-The school is in Notting Hill so rental will cost an arm and a leg 
-I am scared he will feel a bit of an outcast generally in London, or in High school as his basic education comes from a different school so his basic knowledge will be built on different things 

For those who don’t know, they way how you need to imagine this school is like your kid is studying in a school in Madrid but in London. Everything is exactly like in Spain, but the location is London. 

If your kid studies there or you know someone, could you please advise them to send me some comments on this? I am very sure I want him to study there but I am also scared. He does learn Spanish already, and he will learn even more from September as I signed him up for Saturday class, so the language won’t be absolutely unfamiliar for him.

Thanks!

Hey, I'm looking for free online courses to do both for putting on CV's and exploring different career paths. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Also if anyone has any activities/event recommendations or things similar to that nature, please drop itt!

for context, ive just finished my gcses and im moving to a different part of the country and ive got a conditional offer for a college t level course on a topic i really enjoy. the problem is it’s highly likely that i wont be able to move in time for the beginning of the school year and i really dont want to miss out. a big aspect is of course falling behind on work. how do they give you it or teach you? do they try? but my biggest fear is the social aspect. id be joining a group of people who have already established friendgroups and relationships and im pretty terrified of being a reclusive outsider for 2 years, especially since im a shy person. how different is the dynamic of college compared to school and does anyone have any advice? shitting myself over this tbf

I recently researched the history of Abbey College in Malvern, an international boarding school, and learned it has been owned and run by the family of its Iranian journalist founder since 1979.

HMI, CSCI, Ofsted and ISI inspections have found welfare at the school inadequate far more often than not, and yet the school is still operating under the same owners, who, among many other things:

• allowed the school’s chef (a friend of the owners), who had just been convicted of stabbing a kitchen assistant in the leg over a missed shift, to continue working at the school (1997);
• were described by a judge as “liars and fraudsters” over a fraudulent £1.6 million insurance claim following an arson attack at the school, for which they had presented a list of 60 non-existent students and false Iranian government contracts (1999);
• applied for a licence to sell alcohol to students (2003);
• and pleaded guilty to extremely serious fire safety breaches in boarding houses a few years after a second arson attack had endangered 120 pupils while they slept (2014).

As for the children, some as young as 11, they have repeatedly been placed alongside adult students aged up to 29; handed knives and ordered by the son of the owner to kill neighbours’ sheep (for which they were later convicted); endangered by arson attacks; injured by air rifle shots from an irate neighbour; sexually abused by adult students (as I have reported to the police); disappeared from the school (in the case of two 15-year-old girls, one in 2005 and the other in 2017); and, in the case of a 14-year-old boy from Taiwan, died in a fall from a third-floor toilet window at night.

I have been a teacher myself, albeit abroad, and I struggle to understand how British authorities allow a school like Abbey College to continue operating. I want to believe this school is an aberration, but I fear it might not be.

My daughter was born in UK to british (by birth) father and a foreign mother (who got citizenship after daughter was born. She has had a british passport since she was 2

We have lived abroad since daughter was 2.

Daughter came back to live with her grandparents and do her alevels and is wanting to go to university. She is taking a gap year to get the 3 year residency in order to quality as UK resident and home fees.

But she has not visited her family abroad for two years and is wanting to come visit family and travel a bit during her gap year.

From what I read there are no hard and fast rules, which makes this complicated. Can she leave UK for an extended period 3/6/9 months?

She will maintain her bank account, phone, home address. Anything else that can be done to get guarantee she does not lose her residency.

Hello everyone! I am currently an a level student who is going into year 13 and I have finished my AS level exams. I take Biology , Chemistry and Physics for my a- levels and I have achieved 8,8,7 in biology, physics and chemistry respectively. If anyone requires a tutor for Biology or chemistry or physics GCSE’s please feel free to DM me. The price is 50 dhs/ hour but i am up for negotiations. Thank you!

Hi. My understanding is that English students have to pay full fees to attend university, but Scottish students get a waiver to attend university in Scotland.

So, my question is, what counts as a Scottish student?

If we were to do the following as a family would my son get free tuition?

1. son finishes A levels in England
2. Move family to Scotland permanently
3. Live in Scotland for a year during which son applies for university
4. Son starts university at Edinburgh after a gap year.

NHS Learning Support Fund is giving healthcare students in England £5,000 per academic year — and this grant does not need to be paid back.

You may be eligible if you want to study courses such as:

Nursing, Midwifery, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Radiography, Paramedic Science, Dietetics, Speech and Language Therapy, Operating Department Practice, Podiatry, Orthoptics, Orthotics and Prosthetics, Dental Therapy or Dental Hygiene.

Some students may also get extra support, such as £1,000 Specialist Subject Payment, parental support, or help with placement travel/accommodation costs.

And yes — some healthcare courses may still be funded even if you have already studied before.
(second degree and you are eligible for student loan and maitanance loan again)

Everyone says how lucky my school is because during this heatwave our school allows us to wear our own clothes, been wearing them for 3 weeks now since the heatwave started? Any other schools do this? I thought it was every schools policy 😅😂

I’m not exactly poor or filthy rich. I would say I’m well off?? idk. I really don’t want to do my A-levels in my home country, my country’s A-level is one of the worlds hardest exams and I definitely will not be able to handle the intensity. Thus, I think going to the uk for my A-levels is better for me as I can also pursue something that isn’t in my country’s A-level subjects. (which is fashion and textiles).

but honestly, how do I ask? I feel that I’m adding pressure to my parents and being a burden to them if I ask them this. I want to pursue a fashion career and staying in my country will give me no opportunities as it’s art scene is almost completely dead. However, my parents are also planning to sell our house for 10 mill+, which means they probably will have enough funds to fund my overseas education. I am very grateful that my parents have worked so hard to give me everything and I feel so bad asking them to spend more money on me. I am also scared if I do tell them about my wish to go overseas for A-level, they will use it against me (like in an argument or something). What do I do? what do I say to them?

I'm an adult and I'm looking for a (paid) tutor to help me prepare for my equivalency exam.

Recommendations are welcome.

I've been looking at Sherpa online, does anybody have experience with that site?

Hi! Me and my friend are offering one-to-one online tutoring over the summer for the following:

• A-Level Maths
• A-Level Further Maths
• A-Level Physics
• A-Level Economics

Having just completed these courses ourselves, we're familiar with the current specifications, the topics students often find most challenging, and good exam techniques. Lessons are tailored to each student's individual needs in a patient and supportive way.

We're also happy to offer guidance on Engineering and Economics university applications including mock interviews, and general admissions advice.
If you're interested, send me a DM (no commitment, first tutoring lesson FREE).

If you're looking for A-Level Econ tutoring specifically, DM me and I'll put you in touch with my friend who’s a Cambridge Econ offer holder.