Seek independant advice, bad debts are bad news. There are a few things you can look at.

1) Have they followed dismissal procedure. Check the documentation with a fine tooth comb. If there is even one small step they didn't follow or right of yours that wasn't upheld the dismissal can be overturned.

2) Had you spoken to a Dr about stress/depression before the dismissisal and did you inform uni? You would be covered by the Equality act and dismissed on medical grounds instead which may mean you don't owe the money back.

3) Check correspondance about attendance. If there is any official paper trail saying your sup can decide attendance patterns their dismissal will be upheld. If it was an informal, unoficial ad hoc 'oh this is just what we do' I doubt the dismisal could be upheld on appeal. Did you attend all supervisory meetings on time etc and can you prove you did? Also were others late and have attendance issues. If they have treated you differently from others you could argue for discrimination under your parenting obligations.

4) I'm not trying to antagonise but reflect. What was your own behaviour like towards them, were you hostile, snappy, defensive etc etc? Did you really try to be part of he team, following instructions etc? Be really hoest with yourself as sometimes it is your fault, you just can't see it until you reflect. If you acted with integrity, honour and goodwill don't let their poisonous personalities make you bitter, it will just eat you up. The best reward is doing well despite them.

Please follow other posters advice. You need this sorting for financial and mental peace of mind, don't let it lie. Do something pro-active to try and sort it out. Good luck. P.S if you've not posted your real name you could name the uni if it makes you feel better ;-p although the forum might delete it x

I hope the meds work for you :-) Be kind to yourself x

Cheers Pixie. I'll take a look. EEEK my notice period at work ends the day before PhD starts and I've a 4 and 5 year old. I'm not sure a full holiday will come into the equation but I do have a weekend in London booked with hubby for our 10 year wedding anniversary so it will be a break at least, Off topic slightly but regarding relaxng if anyone hs tips on good things to do in London that would be great also :-)

Thanks :-D I'm doing case study/narrative so qualitative will be the route I take but I do see I may need some stats in the mix.

The hard work sort of worries me a bit. I've always studied whilst working. I started my MA when my youngest was 10 months and my eldest was 2/12 and I was working full time hours in a demanding job and I managed to submit in 2 instead of 3 years so I'm pretty good at time management but I'm aware this is a whole other level in terms or amount of reading and adopting an appropriate academic writing style and that worries me, I won't lie.

I'll have a look at those programmes and have a mess about with them, I'm not the most tech savy person so it may take a while!

I really could do with some tips for my first year. I don't start until Sept but I notice people talking about hardware and software needed to write the thesis and take notes etc. I thought maybe picking one and getting to grips wit it over the summer would be easier than trying to learn a new software at the same time as all the reading for the PhD. What would people advise. SI there an all ib one that takes notes/citations etc that you can word process in or do you need a few different programmes. I have a laptop with windows 7. Should I trade up to proper PC or Mac, bother getting a printer etc etc? Thanks :-)

Brill, many thanks :-D

Please can anyone get hold of these articles? Thanks in advance. :-)


BLACK BOXES IN WORKPLACE MATHEMATICS. JULIAN WILLIAMS and GEOFF WAKE, Educational Studies in Mathematics. Vol. 64, No. 3 (2007), pp. 317-343
Published by: Springer

Metaphors and Models in Translation Between College and Workplace Mathematics. JULIAN WILLIAMS and GEOFF WAKE. Educational Studies in Mathematics
» Volume 64, No 3 (2007) , pp 345-371

I'm also worried about the social aspect. I'm on a graduate teaching scholarship so will also be working for the department so I'm really neither full staff nor student. I really want to make some friends but bobbing on in my late 30's with children makes me feel like I am going to be out of the loop a bit. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to got to the Freshers weeks stuff etc etc. This is my first time full time at a uni! My degree was OU and MA was part time mix of distance study and attendance at about 10 Saturdays a year! Needless to say, no friends made then.

Hi, I hope I can offer some interesting reading for you. Have a look at a book called 'Identity and Agency in Cultural worlds' Holland, Skinner, Lachiotte Jr and Cain (2003) Harvard press. Particularly chapter 4 'Personal stories in alcoholics anonymous'. This study looked at how taking on the adentity of an AA member shaped new identites in realtion to addiction. Not too far away from how exercise plays a role in recovery for addicts and how that shapes identity so you infact you may have not taken on too much with looking at both aspects. However, something may be gained by distilling and focusing your data more clearly to the research questions so you are not looking at 'everything'. There is a great section at the outset discussing theory in relation to the self and identity. A reference for the origianl study is 'Cain, Carole. 1991 "Personal stories: Identity aquisition and self understanding in Alcoholics Anonymous" Ethos 19:210-253. Hope that helps :-)

Done, good luck :-P

well done. Good luck with preping for your viva. :-)

I'm a Sept start and also terrified. Serious case of imposter syndrome!

As a qualified careers advisor this is the usual advice I give to get a better chance at securing job interviews. Everyone is right, never be dishonest but for the point of job applications if they don't ask for a specific grade just put the degree title on your CV. If applications ask for a grade declare it. If the employer asks for your degree certificates(they don't always ask either!) you will have to provide them, but, most jobs in the private sector (unless you are going for an internship etc) aren't that fussed about the class.

My OU first degree took 6 years part time whilst working. I got a 2:1 Overall (about 2% off a first, grrr), 6 yrs is a long time to keep up the grades!! Downside to OU, mixing study and work and the grade barriers are higher 70% + for a 2:1 and 85%+ for a first. Be aware here that the OU say they have a different marking system and that their tutors are used to this BUT this is not strictly true. Many OU tutors work at brick unis and can't get their head around the OU mark system so it can (although not officially) be more difficult to get high grades wih the OU. I fell foul of this, was getting pass and merit scores at the OU, transferred to brick uni and got distinctions for all aspects. If you haven't the money or the time def think about the other advice to re-sit as an external and think if there are any exceptional circumstances you can declare during the re-sit (it's too late now for your curent degree if it's already been awarded)I hope that's been useful. :-)

It totally depends on what your degree is in, why you want the Masters and what your career goal is. If you want the MA to get on the a PhD it would be very, very unlikely (not 100% impossible) but very remote chance of gaining a PhD place with a 3rd class degree unless your MA is a Distinction alongside considerable relevant work or research experience. You could consider vocational Post grad quals which are as respected in employment as an MA and then don't put your degree grade on your CV, employers usually never ask your degree class anyway. Or....consider the Open University, it is well respected these days. My first degree is an OU degree and I started my MA there before transfering in the second year to a brick uni. These are the option with the OU

1) Apply to an OU Masters course straight off as they don't usually ask fo your degree grades just prof you have a degree.
2)If you want to get on a PhD I would stongly suggest APEL your current degree into an OU degree rather than re-sits. This is because they point score your previous degree as credit rather than a grade so whatever grades you get with the OU is your new grade. There will be a min number of courese you have to take with them and Max APEL credit you can carry over (plus you might have to check that there is no content overlap) but if you are confident you are much better than the 3rd class you can if you work hard enough get any grade you work for, even a first. Although you are basically re-taking a year I personally think that's a better option than re-sit with the 50% rule where you might only scrape a 2.2.

Hope that makes sense.

:-P

Interesting topic. Done :-)