Think DD has failed? Unsure what to do to support

[MintyJones]

Just after some advice if there's any to be had!

DD has just received her dissertation grade. It's 55. She has two outstanding pieces of work which are yet to come back and are currently being assessed. She thinks they won't be good enough to bring her up to a 2.1. And crucially- she needs this 2.1 - she's about to start work in the public sector - a graduate programme with the entry requirement of a 2.1 (its the police btw)

She has always worked hard for what it's worth. And her first two years she cane out with a 2.1 each year - year 3 had been a different matter - some 2.1's and a couple lower. The uni had two long strikes and obviously the impact of corona virus too.

It's ooh these me asking her if she could have done more. I always saw her working away! She's never missed lectures (when they were on!) and had good relationships with her lecturers

So ... what do I do? Anything I can suggest to help?

I've told her to email her tutors which she's done. One said he was 'busy' and ' can't help anyway as you need to see what your other two pieces come back with' and the other has yet to respond. I've told her to try and work out what she needs for a 2.1 - but I don't really understand how to work this out myself and she didn't seem too sure either! I've also said the usual platitudes

Now I'm at a loss. She's in absolute floods and I want to help - I'm very practical! - but I'm not sure what to advise if anything at all. I didn't personally attend uni so all I know comes from her

Thanks in advance for any pointers - even if it's just reinforcing what I've said already - which is basically ' let's wait and see'

I also have no idea what a 55 is. Although I understand it's 5 marks away from a 2.1

Yeah it all really depends what other marks she's had and what % her dissertation is against everything else.

Usually your final grade is year 2&3 together isn't it? It's so long since I was at uni I can't remember. Often borderline cases are given the benefit of the doubt.

Is there a chance the graduate scheme will accept her anyway given the extenuating circumstances?

A lot of unis are not giving out final degree classifications lower than what the student was achieving prior to lockdown. So if she was achieving a 2:1 prior to lockdown, it’s possible this is the classification she will get, even if the work done since then has gotten lower marks. Check with the individual uni (should say on their website). Can she contact her personal tutor or a senior tutor/course director about the specifics of her grades and the universities requirements?

They do look at how many 2:1s you get when weighing up if you should get a 2:1... my brother got a 2:1 with 58% overall whereas I got a 2:2 with 59% overall.. he had got more 2:1s in modules so they will take that into account.
Also, respectfully, please don’t use the word fail...a lot of people I know, myself included, got a 2:2 and it hasn’t held us back :) if it’s borderline the police may still accept her.
Hope it works out ok though!

55 is a 2:2 but its only 5 marks off a 2:1. The key point is the relative weighting of each module for the final grade. Some courses are heavily weighted toward the dissertation, some to final year exam results and some consistently all the way though. If she's had a 2:1 for the previous two years, she could potentially scrape a 2:1 with 58%. although that would probably involve a viva (a sort of academic interview type situation). I know this as I worked in academia for about 5 years. Can she ask a fellow student what the weightings are?

This result doesn't look particularly encouraging, although i'd say all is not lost yet.

With due respect she is an adult and apart from a hug you need to stay out of it. Emailing tutors will make no difference and could be taken as trying a change a result. Her mark will reflect her work but if they have not been able to access resources there's a chance the boundaries will differ this year (that said most work will have been done prelockdown)

I'd get her to find out if the exam board has a no detriment policy which many universities are putting in place because of covid... it takes into consideration historic marks and recent marks may he amended

It's so difficult for me because it's just something I don't bloody know anything about. I've asked her to work out how far away she is but she said she'd ' have to use all sorts of formulas and still wouldn't get it right.' And I didn't like to push this through the despair right now!

She's gone out to cry on some friends shoulders now but when she's back I'll ask again about the weighting's etc. I'm sure she said to me that her dissertation was worth 45% but I may have got that wrong

I'm not sure if the graduate scheme would take her with a 2.2. She's passed everything else - assessments, interviews, passed her driving test as needed to be able to drive and lost a stone to hit the BMI target - and she was confident I think that the 2.1 was going to be achievable

She should be able to work this out for herself, likely she already has, she will know what she needs to score in the other pieces to bring her in ar. 2:1. It seems she feels she won’t achieve that.

As her lecturer said, all she can do is wait and see

I'm aware she's an adult and I'm not about to contact the university or anything . However - no matter how old your kids, you want to help them right? Where you can and if you can. I started the post to hopefully get some advice on stuff I may not have considered - I realise it's probably just a 'wait and see' thing

I asked her about the possibility of remarking but apparently that won't happen as she's too far away from the 60 required

have to use all sorts of formulas and still wouldn't get it right

That’s not right though, my daughter worked hers out and I was able to go on the uni website and see it myself, it was a points system, effectively. She will know how many points she has and how many she needs to bring her into a 2:1.

And I'm not using the word 'fail' btw. She is. I'm hardly saying to her ' oh you've failed'

Get her to check the no detriment policy in the Covid area of the university's web page. Also have her submit for extenuating circumstances for the other pieces of work. Lots of institutions are accepting these without evidence in the current climate.

The dissertation might be double weighted (i.e. 40 credits rather than 20 credits like her other modules).

She can check her university's degree regulations.

Tbh, her lecturer is right that there's nothing to do at this point other than to wait and see what marks she achieves in the other assessments. Even then, the decision about degree classifications is made by the examination board, and will not be final until then.

I'd imagine exam boards will be a complete nightmare this year, and the final classifications will not simply reflect the calculations outlined in the degree regs.

OP: your job here is really to help her to keep calm and distract herself until the results are in. IME, lots of students totally panic and email several lecturers (who can't help because the processes are still ongoing). But in the end, the marks that come back are very often better than they'd imagined the were going to be and everything is fine.

Presumably your dd does know, what % of her final marks come from all the different sections: dissertation, exams, coursework in year 2, coursework in year 3 etc?

When was the dissertation handed in? I can't see how covid can be used for extenuating circumstances if it was handed in before March.

Exam boards are probably not done yet, so she will have to wait for her final classification, can’t imagine it will be long. Search for the academic calendar/ key dates on her university’s website to find out when final results are published.
There should also be really clear guidance about how they are responding to COVID, as someone mentioned up thread, possibly an average no lower than that before lockdown? Some kind of no detriment approach.
Look at the info on the institution’s website before despairing.
Lastly, even if she doesn’t quite get a 2:1 sometimes recruiters might be a little bit flexible when it comes to it.
Fingers crossed 🤞

Dissertation was handed in approximately 4 weeks ago, maybe a little less. Results came today

Thank you for all the advice so far - much appreciated

@MintyJones

And I'm not using the word 'fail' btw. She is. I'm hardly saying to her ' oh you've failed'

With all due respect, you used it in your thread title... that’s why I said please don’t say it :)

I did say fail you're right. But that's how she feels. For her, if she doesn't achieve a 2.1, it's a fail. She has failed to achieve the entry requirements for the graduate programme. So, no matter what words are chosen, that's the facts potentially

It's highly likely that the university will have a no detriment policy and/or a safety net policy due to COVID. All is probably not lost, and in any case there's likely an appeals process as well if she wants to go down that route.

It's crap if the lecturer really has said they're too busy to help, but it's not wrong of them to say there's nothing can be done at this point.

I got a 2.2. Started an accountancy qualification with a firm and was earning quite a good wage by the time I qualified and that grew significantly in the years after I qualified. All is not lost but I am still disappointed 25 years later.

@BoxAndKnife her lecturer emailed back and said ' sorry to hear you've had a disappointing result. I'm busy assisting my colleagues right now so it's just a case of waiting until your next grades come in. Sorry'

And that was it. Other lecturer still to respond

Oh bless her, sounds like she's worked so hard with a lot stacked against her.

Other PP are right. Somewhere on the uni intranet there will be a thing that spells out the classifications and what they do in borderline cases. If she's minded to you might help her find it and work it out calmly, but if she's still too emotional this will be hard.

Best you can do is coach her through it. Keep her spirits up while she waits for more results & help her prep to speak to her employer if the worst (still graduating with a 2:2 - a massive achievement!!!) happens.