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Student in the Laboratory, Lancaster University
Lancaster University
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Would I be allowed to do this?

I have been offered a place a youth orchestra in the West Midlands, but the courses would take place during term time. The course weeks are set for October 2012 and February 2013.

Is there any possibility I would be able to attend them or would I be missing too much course time? I am willing to learn all of the content I may miss individually and will ensure I have done all projects and assignments.

If it is not possible to do both courses would it be possible to do just the February course instead or will they not let me miss lectures and seminars?
It depends on the department.

My lectures never featured a register. Some people never went. It was up to you. No lecturer was going to chase you if you didn't attend. After all, the only person it really affects is you.

Registers are usually taken in all seminars, as they are meant to be compulsory. Again though, I know some people who turned up maybe once in an academic year and never again. You could email your seminar tutor to clear things up before hand, which would be the most polite thing to do, or you could take the approach quite a lot of people do which is to not turn up and not to say anything about it. They might chase you up on it, but if you are only missing a couple of classes in Oct and a couple in Feb, I doubt anyone in the department would bring it up. :smile:
Student in the Laboratory, Lancaster University
Lancaster University
Lancaster
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Reply 2
Original post by affinity89
It depends on the department.

My lectures never featured a register. Some people never went. It was up to you. No lecturer was going to chase you if you didn't attend. After all, the only person it really affects is you.

Registers are usually taken in all seminars, as they are meant to be compulsory. Again though, I know some people who turned up maybe once in an academic year and never again. You could email your seminar tutor to clear things up before hand, which would be the most polite thing to do, or you could take the approach quite a lot of people do which is to not turn up and not to say anything about it. They might chase you up on it, but if you are only missing a couple of classes in Oct and a couple in Feb, I doubt anyone in the department would bring it up. :smile:


Many thanks for the quick response :smile:

I need to reply to accept the place in the orchestra by the 1st of June so I am going to email the linguistics department explaining the situation and see if I can get permission.

Hopefully they will agree to let me go, but if they don't I may just accept one of the courses and skip a week of lectures.

Do the lectures and course material go onto a student resource website or anything? Because as I will have evenings free I could catch up with what I have missed if I can access it easily.
Original post by KeepItSecret
Many thanks for the quick response :smile:

I need to reply to accept the place in the orchestra by the 1st of June so I am going to email the linguistics department explaining the situation and see if I can get permission.

Hopefully they will agree to let me go, but if they don't I may just accept one of the courses and skip a week of lectures.

Do the lectures and course material go onto a student resource website or anything? Because as I will have evenings free I could catch up with what I have missed if I can access it easily.


It depends on the tutor. Some tutors will put up their slides and/or a handout. Others don't. Some of mine didn't even use slides/handouts or anything - they were incredible in terms of knowledge but pretty rubbish if you missed anything lol.

Don't worry too much though. The lectures are an intro or overview to a topic. Most of the real learning goes on independently when you are doing your readings etc. :smile:
Reply 4
Original post by affinity89
It depends on the tutor. Some tutors will put up their slides and/or a handout. Others don't. Some of mine didn't even use slides/handouts or anything - they were incredible in terms of knowledge but pretty rubbish if you missed anything lol.

Don't worry too much though. The lectures are an intro or overview to a topic. Most of the real learning goes on independently when you are doing your readings etc. :smile:


Okay, thanks very much for all the help :smile:
I have emailed the department so hopefully all will go well :smile:

EDIT: I have received a reply from the university who have allowed me to do the courses :smile:
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 5
@KeepItSecret Just found this thread and thought I would take the oportunity to advertise ULMS (University of Lancaster Music Society)
It has an orchestra of a good standard as well as various other ensembles. If you are interested, more information can be found on http://www.ulms.org.uk/

Hopefully see you at Fresher's fair :smile:
Reply 6
Original post by ohaem
@KeepItSecret Just found this thread and thought I would take the oportunity to advertise ULMS (University of Lancaster Music Society)
It has an orchestra of a good standard as well as various other ensembles. If you are interested, more information can be found on http://www.ulms.org.uk/

Hopefully see you at Fresher's fair :smile:


Thanks, I'll be sure to come over and see you at Freshers. :smile:
What are the music facilities like for non-music students? I will be studying Linguistics and English Literature so will this put me at a disadvantage when it comes to using the music rooms? :s-smilie:
I should really be practising both voice and viola so I am quite anxious about whether I will be able to use the music facilities.
Reply 7
Awesome, a fellow string player :biggrin:.

You may be at a slight disadvantage as after 6pm each day some of the music practice rooms are locked and only music students with a swipe card are able to get in. This is also true of the weekend but in the daytime as well which can be a bit of a nightmare at times!!

There are other practice rooms inside the Great Hall complex however they are booked out most afternoons/ evenings during the week by various ensembles. They are mainly free in the mornings and usually totally free at weekends.

If you really need a room to practice in, I think you are able to book a room- however I am unsure about this as I have never done it myself.

Personally, I have never had found the issues mentioned above to be a problem -a friend of mine studied music and a couple of times I borrowed his swipe card if I wanted to use one of the practice rooms after 6.

The practice rooms that require a swipe card are not great and are in desparate need of refurbishment. Sadly this is unlikely to happen as the music department is low on funding and dieing a slow death (the music degree at Lancaster is gradually being phased out which is a shame).

I have practiced in these rooms many a time and have gotten used to their faults... the walls are paper-thin so don't practice in these rooms if you are bothered about other people hearing you :P

The practice rooms in the Great Hall complex are good. I can't really fault them.

All in all if you want to practice during the day, you will have little problems finding a room. It's a different story if you want to practice at night.

Hope this has answered your question fully- if you have any more feel free to ask :smile:
Reply 8
Thanks very much for the in depth reply! I found it helpful and reassuring - I will probably be practising in the day, rather than at night :smile:
What string instrument do you play? :smile:


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Reply 9
No problem :smile:. I play the violin and have been for 9 years. I also sing in the choir and am in charge of barbieshop (a vocal group of 8 female singers) although I have never had lessons, which is something I regret as I was given the oportunity to have lessons when I was younger but turned it down :/.
Reply 10
Sounds hectic! :P Is it all hard to fit in around lectures, seminars and such?


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If it were me, with my course, no one would notice you were gone. Lectures and seminars shouldn't be an issue. Plenty of people barely turn up to uni at all. One girl I was pally with in first year went to about 10 lectures per semester.

The thing you need to make sure of is any term time assessments. We had the odd in class exam mid-semester, so missing anything like that would be a big issue.
Reply 12
Original post by KeepItSecret
Sounds hectic! :P Is it all hard to fit in around lectures, seminars and such?


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App


It was a little difficult haha. This year I am not going to be doing quite as much!! My course is quite lecture/ lab intensive (I do Natural Sciences) so I found that I was mainly in one of the following places: lecture theatre, lab, library and music rooms in a rehearsal! Oops :P.

This year I am going to be dropping string orchestra and not take up any new things. When exams came round in the summer, I did not do as well in them as I would have liked, so I have definitely learnt my lesson!
Reply 13
I think I might moderate how much music I do when I get to Lancaster. When I was doing my A2/AS exams I was in 3 orchestras, 2 choruses, had lessons for Viola and Voice, aswell as all my revision and exams! A little bit too hectic!
Original post by KeepItSecret
Thanks, I'll be sure to come over and see you at Freshers. :smile:
What are the music facilities like for non-music students? I will be studying Linguistics and English Literature so will this put me at a disadvantage when it comes to using the music rooms? :s-smilie:
I should really be practising both voice and viola so I am quite anxious about whether I will be able to use the music facilities.


They are very good. You have access to practice rooms most of the day. ULMS is great fun and there is an orchestra, string orchestra and choir with ULMS. This year they were all unauditioned (for strings at any rate). I play bassoon in the orchestra and sing in the choir.

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