Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Pleas Help ! Need advice dd failed one module in year 1 !

21 replies

homeaway · 03/03/2012 14:48

DD is in first year of uni studying french which seems to be ok, but she took a wild history module and managed to fail that. The problem is that it is a coursework based module and therefore there is no exam for her to sit. She has two further modules to complete this year but obviously if she has already failed one, she wont pass the year. I think part of the problem is that she took on too much outside of her studies,she rides for the uni and does volontary work etc..
She is talking to her tutor who tells her she will have to reapply to uni next year and it is not sure they will let her redo the first year again. I dont know what the time line is for them letting her know whether she will have a place or not which in itself causes a logistical and financial nightmare as she was planning on sharing a house which we have to commit to now.
We are trying to provide long distance support but I just wanted some advice really as to how we can help her. The questions I have are really:
If she passes her two other modules can she "cash " those in or are they lost completely ?
In case she is not allowed to redo the year i think we have to apply to ucas for her to try and get a place at another uni, has anybody done this?
Can the uni really kick her out if she fails one module and not offer a resit?

Advice greatfully received.

OP posts:
belgo · 03/03/2012 14:52

Can she not resit in the summer? I thought that was the whole point of modular courses.

GotMyLittleLamb · 03/03/2012 14:59

Hi, I'm a lecturer. This probably depends what Uni she is at and on tutors descression, at mine you can 'carry' one failed module and either resit over summer for a 40% maximum or re-take the module the following year. As this is her elective module and not part of her full course I am surprised she has not been offered a resit. I would be really surprised if they actually kick her out especially as Uni's really depend on tution fees, it also makes them look bad if too many people leave so they tend to avoid kicking out willing students.

With regards 'cashing' in modules, my Uni has a thing called accredited prior learning where past learning is taken into account, for example if a student has done a course which covered the content of a module they can skip the module, this would apply to your DD if modules at her new Uni have similar content.

Hope this is some help, I don't know enough about admissions to help with the UCAS query.

Good luck to her :)

homeaway · 03/03/2012 15:10

Thanks little lamb, I am surprised as well. It is so hard being so far away and trying to help.

OP posts:
EduStudent · 04/03/2012 04:38

From my experience it would be extremely unusual for them to kick her out on one module. Most degrees offer more credits than you need, so that you can drop a module and still pass.

Please get her to confirm this, I truly can't see how any self-respecting uni would kick her out on a single first year module.

webwiz · 04/03/2012 12:44

She needs to have a look at the exam regulations for her course. DD2's are actually on the public university website but DD1's are on an internal system that she has a username and password for. They detail the procedure when a module has been failed and how it impacts on passing the year.

campergirls · 04/03/2012 12:54

Her tutor's advice sounds really odd to me (lecturer). Coursework assignments of one sort or another are very common in humanities subjects like history and of course there is provision for retaking - normally you write another essay on a different topic, or something like that. It would be unheard of at my uni for a student to have to redo the entire first year for a failure in a single 'outside' module, and even where students have to redo the year b/c of failure on a grander scale, they don't have to reapply.

is it the module tutor or her personal tutor that has told her all this? I really find it hard to believe it's right. She needs to go to the member of academic staff responsible for student progress in her dept and get more advice and info.

homeaway · 04/03/2012 16:53

Camper the module is a history module and she failed one assignment and the final piece of coursework which was worth 60 percent of the overal grade, meaning that the whole module is failed. There is no exam as it is just coursework based. It is her personal tutor who has told her that she will not pass the year and that she would have to ask to resit the whole year or reapply to do something else at the uni and that case she would have to through ucas again. Her main module is French , I will maybe suggest that she talks to her french tutor about this.

OP posts:
funnyperson · 04/03/2012 20:56

Dear homeaway
my DS had to repeat his entire history first year in spite of getting a 'first' because the faculty didnt accept his coursework essay marks as they were submitted after the faculty deadline (though before the 'school' deadline which was the deadline in the exam regs. )(his misunderstanding) . He wasn't allowed a retake in the summer or to resubmit his essays because there were no mitigating circumstances. Incidentally he got his first even without any coursework marks!
Looking back we should have made a written fuss the minute he knew about it as the university does in fact allow all students the right to resit/resubmit before repeating a whole year, (and also because his tutor should have let him know way in advance that this was going to happen as DS could then have resubmitted earlier) but DS felt so bad about the whole thing he didn't want to talk about it or involve his parents (us) and tried to sort it out himself and didn't, so he is repeating the year.
What I am trying to say is : 1) ensure your DD has all the paperwork and documentation to date. 2) obtain up to date written exam rules and regs for her course. 3) go and see the tutor with her and have an informal discussion as to options 4) if the informal discussion fails, seek further advice from the faculty as to the best formal way forward and try not to give in too easily as a university place is usually won by lots of hard work.
Keep onside with DD. Good luck.

Lougle · 05/03/2012 21:33

Also encourage her to ask for a detailed reason for failure. I don't mean to add salt to an open wound, but it is virtually impossible to fail an assignment, unless she was writing on a completely wrong question.

The criteria for a 40% mark (pass) for, as an example, University of Edinburgh is:

Work which is adequate but limited. It may include irrelevant material and be
too descriptive and narrative. Some aspects of the question may be answered
competently, but others will be ignored because of omissions in the reading,
factual inaccuracy, difficulty in identifying the key issues and arguments, or
poor style, structure and presentation. In exams, an answer left unfinished
may earn a mark in this range if it gives evidence of the potential to perform
better. In courses involving classical languages the work shows, where
appropriate, a basic understanding of the principal linguistic features of the
subject.

A Marginal Fail (30-39%) is:

Work which is poorly structured and of very limited relevance to the question.
It may be distinguished by a lack of supporting evidence, misunderstandings,
a failure to address the question asked, substantial generalisation and the
lack of any real argument. In courses involving classical languages the work
approaches closely a basic understanding of the linguistic aspects of the
subject but is deficient in important respects.

If your DD has passed her main subject assessments, it would be really odd to even be performing at 'pass' level in her history one, let alone 'marginal fail' Confused

homeaway · 07/03/2012 18:56

Thanks everyone, she had the detailed feedback and tells me she has read the rules and it seems that they are ultra strict. She does not want me to talk to her personal tutor so I guess that she has sort this one out herself. She could have messed up the main coursework as she had not been writing essays at that level before so did not reference enough. Lets see what happens but thanks for the support.

OP posts:
mrswoodentop · 07/03/2012 20:07

Without wishing to be rude if she is about to be thrown off the course then i think that you need a better explanation,presumably she will be expecting you to fund the extra year plus if she is doing French she is already on a four year course.

This really does sound very odd,I would be inclined to Email the personal tutor and say that you are aware that they cannot discuss the issue with you but that you are ensuring that they are in the picture and that clearly you are very concerned .This will hopefully result in the PT being involved,I cannot believe that one failed piece module in a year 1 elective will result in being asked to leave.I would also be quite firm with your daughter about it, this is something that needs to be sorted out ,if necessary she needs to speak to the HOD about it and make sure they have the full facts so that they can make a decision,it sounds like she is popping her head round the door ,asking if her understanding is right and then going,she needs to be more forceful

EduStudent · 07/03/2012 20:11

Seriously, this sounds so, so wrong. Get her to speak to module tutor, personal tutor, any academic tutor she can bend the ear of.

Also, get her to speak to her Students' Union, Jo should have a Vice President for Education or similar. They may be able to advise, lobby on her behalf or kick up a stink higher up the chain.

Although, thinking about this earlier, i did wonder, is it possible that this is a cover-up and she's leaving due to some other reason? I really don't want to imply she's lying, but could it be a possibility?

mrswoodentop · 07/03/2012 20:16

She should definately see the advice service St the students union ,they will be able to advise her on the procedure and appeals mechanism.You do sound admirably clam I would be beside myself,can I ask is this a really academically demanding University ie top 5 etc?

mrswoodentop · 07/03/2012 20:17

Sorry calm non clamBlush

Bluestocking · 07/03/2012 20:48

I work at a university and this all sounds very odd and most unlikely. All UK universities (and this includes the most elite and difficult to get into) are very, very reluctant to let a student get to the point where they are required to leave the degree course, and I can't imagine a situation in which failing one module in the first year would have such a serious consequence. The fact that she's asked you not to contact her personal tutor makes me suspect that you have not been given the whole story, and I do wonder, with EduStudent, whether something else is going on which is making you daughter want to leave the university.
When you say you are far away, are you too far to go to a meeting at the university with your daughter? As you know, you can't ask for any specific information about your daughter's situation; this is not just the university being awkward, it would be a serious breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. But you could arrange a meeting for you, her and her personal tutor, and if she was there too then she would be giving her consent to information being shared.
Good luck, this all sounds very anxiety-provoking.

homeaway · 12/03/2012 11:33

I have given her some pointers that she is going to follow up. Of course I am worried but that wont help anything or anyone.

OP posts:
SarkyWench · 12/03/2012 11:54

I agree with everything the Bluestocking has said.

Also you can contact the course tutor and ask for general information. They won't give you specifics to do with your DD but they can tell you want their policy is for students who have failed a single module. This will give you a clear indication of whether you are getting the full story.

FWIW in 10 years working in this sector I have never heard of a student being told they will have to leave the course because of failing a single module.

mrswoodentop · 12/03/2012 14:25

I am afraid that I would be getting in the car and making sure a meeting was booked ,obviously with dd present.Most pastoral things I would leave to them to sort out but this is far too serious.

outtolunchagain · 19/06/2012 17:24

Just wondered what happened with this one?

gingeroots · 19/06/2012 19:51

Yes ,would be good to have update ,hope it all turned out ok .

crazymum53 · 19/06/2012 19:59

Agree with the other posters that this seems strange. When I taught at university level, course-work that achieved marks below the 40% pass mark received a "Refer" grade which gave students a chance to re-submit the work and increase their mark.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page