How would you cope and support kids who failed Uni exams?

[Wren21]

I have two kids at Uni, one in first year, one in second. They have both recently failed their exams. They get a chance to resit in the summer but I am so worried that they will fail again and get kicked out of Uni. It would absolutely break them both and they would be absolutely devastated. I fear for their mental health and for their futures. Has anyone got any experience of this and how did you support your kids? My heart is absolutely breaking for them both.

the “why” is important in terms of answering your question

why have both failed?

the one in second year i would be particularly concerned about

Yes, why did they fail?

so they take the resit in summer?

are you sure? usually resits are in the holidays post exam session so would be easter

It depends. Did they study hard and still fail or did they get caught up in uni life and not really put the work in?

This is the first exam that my child in second year has taken at Uni. All other assessments have been ongoing and have taken the form of essays etc. They get to resit in the summer. I do wonder whether the Uni's offer additional help - I am sure they are invested in their students succeeding.

My child in first year is studying medicine so a very difficult course. I do think that their first term they were adjusting to being away from home and enjoying their new found freedom so this may be what they needed to study harder.

what is the first child on track to achieve?

how has previous assessments gone? what was the weighting of this exam?

how many exams did your younger child take and how many fail? what was the weighting? medicine is quite brutal

I failed chemistry and statistics in my first year, second semester. My parents basically told me to get it together or they’d stop funding my studies and I’d have to drop out and get a normal job. Needless to say I never failed anything again.

I would also ask how many others failed the exam too because Ds luckily passed a module based on coursework but the exam he got below 40% which was surprising because every other exam or coursework he got a 1st in. The students did a FOI request for the statistics on it due to the inconsistency with students getting a very low grade in that module. Turns out 2/3 of them failed it but rather than adjust the grades with a bell curve the uni ploughed on and made those that failed resit. Luckily this was first year so didn't count toward his final grade so don't assume it is always the student. Sometimes the teacher either doesn't teach well or the exam they sit is too hard.

As there was a large number of them they all got together and studied together for the resit and all passed that module.

First child training to be a teacher - failed maths part of the course. Needs to pass this exam to continue on course. Has passed other parts of course.

Youngest child - first exam on course - just one. Also needs to pass to progress to year two.

My DS seemingly failed year 1 at university. He fully admitted he had not done much work but, from friends and his elder sister (grrr) had been told it was practically impossible to fail year 1. We all knew from A-level results he was academically able.
Three modules were not at the required level.After the initial panic, we persuaded him to speak to his personal tutor - who he never bothered with previously!- she was really helpful.
1 module had been incorrectly marked and was in fact a pass. DS was allowed to resubmit 1 module pretty immediately and for the third module he attended an extra lecture + one on one session with the relevant tutor for the first two terms of year 2. This all shocked him into working harder to complete and be awarded a 2.1.(hons)
I think individual universities have very different approaches though. A friend's son ended up without the (hons) after failing some modules and a colleague's DD ended up leaving uni altogether, although now doing an OU degree alongside work very happily.
It is a worrying time, especially with both DS's affected. Good luck.

Turns out 2/3 of them failed it but rather than adjust the grades with a bell curve the uni ploughed on and made those that failed resit.

a strong academic university. If they’d wanted the easy way out, they should have selected another university

It's a very worrying time and also hard not to wade in and contact universities myself like I would have if they'd been at school. It just feels like such a long time to wait until the summer.

ok so it sounds serious

ball is in their court op. Very little that you can do

i don’t think there’d be any harm in conveying to the youngest who’s partied hard that he’s in danger of pissing this opportunity up the wall

I know - difficult though.

Oh yes, they've been told in no uncertain terms by his father that he's got to pull his socks up!

Think of it as plenty of time to revise - particular as they'll also have semester 2 exams. They should treat this as a wake up call and work their socks off. For the older one get them to access all the maths support there is.

I know. Difficult though! I feel like constantly anxious about it so goodness knows how they must feel!

Definitely Summer. We're in Scotland so not sure if that makes a difference.

Ask them what action they are taking. Have they been in touch with their tutors?
Have they researched what support is available- student services/ libraries/ study skills/ mentoring. Students union? Older students?
Being anxious is not helpful in itself- supporting/ nudging them to take action is more helpful for all.

But they should both be acting now — no need to wait till the summer. I’m an academic, and have been contacted recently by first year students who failed a semester 1 module of mine. I offer them a chance to come in and talk through their assignments and feedback, go through the marking guidelines with them, and point them towards other sources of support that will improve their writing, study skills etc. Some first years just struggle with the jump up to university level work.

Your children should contact their personal tutor as a first port of call, and get as much information as possible at this point. There’s a huge amount of support available.

Every year, the students who fail in my department are the ones who don’t engage with that support, who don’t attend lectures/seminars, who don’t see their tutors or lecturers.

Yes, student peer-mentoring is another good shout.

First child training to be a teacher - failed maths part of the course. Needs to pass this exam to continue on course

Ah, this is worrying!
But you are sounding over dramatic about it all - give them a good talking to then leave them to it. People fail exams all the time. Your kids need some resilience.

It sounds like the younger one just needs to get it together but maybe the older one could get an extra session or two of help with the maths side if available? Think all you can do is to ask the questions - is this something they can swot up on with online resources? Could their personal tutor help?

It also depends whether they just need to put more time in learning the stuff or whether they're struggling with comprehending the maths that's being taught. If it's the latter then they will need to seek some help from the course, I imagine.