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'

Does your DD's university have a no detriment policy in place this year? DS's (waiting for final results ) sadly doesn't but many do and if her overall grade based on her work to date was at a 2.1 level, she may be ok.

No tutor will be able to say anything except that she will have to wait for the exam board which will be taking all extenuating circs into account and to point your DD towards any existing safety net policy.

@unfortunateevents I think so? I'll ask more when she's back. I hope your son will be ok!

That's also good advice to prep something to put forward to the police

Is it Police Now? Min criteria is 2.2 www.policenow.org.uk/eligibility/

@FAQs sadly not! It's the graduate programme. Whether they could transfer her over who knows?

And annoyingly, we are a police family! But I don't know anyone in recruitment , neither does my husband, and even if we did, it's obviously not the done thing to start poking about.

I'm going to gain more clarity from her later about the no detriment policy. And her grades over the 3 years and tell her she must try and work out how far away she is likely to be. I'll reiterate about just sitting tight for now until her final 2 marks come in and then we can see what's what

I feel a bit clearer now myself so thank you all

I have my fingers crossed for you and your DD

possibly an average no lower than that before lockdown? Some kind of no detriment approach.

That is what DS1's uni is doing so he knows he has a 2:1 "in the bag" so to speak.

Did she have any input on a draft for her dissertation from her tutor? If she was expecting much better she needs some clarification of what's happened, the lecturer who marked it should be able to explain what the issues were.

She also needs to check that the 2 papers she is waiting for are enough to swing her to 60% or over for the year and what marks she will need to get to achieve this. Her tutor should be able to help with that.

I would be amazed if the grade boundaries haven't been pulled back, considering the long strike and lockdown.

Fingers crossed for her.x.

The uni won't do or say anything until all her marks are in. She really does just have to wait and see.

It will probably be the case that she won’t receive the last two marks until the day she is awarded her final degree classification now. Does she know when this is? Best for her not to worry every day about if the last two grades are released and try to forget about it until the final results are released. Easier said than done though

@ktp100 yes! A fair bit of input. They were always chatting away over Skype - her tutor looked at her work at least twice and gave advice on it and told her what to take out and what to add in.

@CupcakesK I think it could be in the next week or so for the next two grades

I can see it doesn't sound like the tutor is being sympathetic but there is really nothing they can do at the moment. Her overall result will depend on all her marks so if some are not in yet, it makes sense to wait. Plus the dissertation has been marked now - even feedback on where it wasn't so good won't actually help. A lot of people seem to think you can get university work remarked like it's A levels but for many universities you can't unless there has been some kind of rule broken in the way it's been marked - such as to different criteria to the ones the students were given.
It may well be though that the no detriment policy will help. Find out the details of that.

To answer your direct question OP I don’t think there’s anything you can do other than provide love and reassurance that the world hasn’t ended. Your dd needs to wait and see. Until she has the final result there’s nothing to inform the employer. I appreciate that this is easier said than done as my dd got a 2.2 3 years ago and we went through all the ‘I’ll never get a job and my life is over’ agonies. She is now employed on a blue chip grad scheme and has been promoted. So even if your dd’s current job offer falls through - and that’s by no means certain - there is a bright future out there for her even though it won’t feel like it now. Based on my experience I would suggest being guided by her emotions but not letting her wallow - so acknowledge her sadness but don’t encourage it. Reassure her it will pass but don’t commit to how and when - you can’t know that. She’s done well to secure a job offer already - the qualities they saw in her will be apparent to others too - so she will get another if she needs to.

I feel awful for your DD. This years graduates have been royally shafted by the strikes and covid-19. My child missed lots of lecture time because of strikes, im not going to vent but to say I feel my child has been ripped off. Wonder how it feels now staff are facing redundancy that this years students just won't go because they realise the shitty deal this cohort have had.

My uni have implemented a no detriment policy because of the current situation. We were emailed the new rules when calculating our final grade. For examples instead of it being your top 180 credits and having to include your dissertation. It’s now your top 120 credits and doesn’t have to include your dissertation.
It might be worth her contacting her head of course to find out how they’re calculating the final grade.

@MintyJones That's so disappointing, when the tutor has advised her on how to make improvements. Was the tutor aware that she needed a minimum 2-1?

Hopefully the other 2 grades will be enough. Bless her.x.

What wobble said.
You are getting to a point in your life when you can actively solve problems for your daughter. Just support her and don’t make it a big deal.

I got a 2.2 because I wasn’t particularly interested in studying at uni. It doesn’t sound like it’s the case for your daughter, but if she’s worked hard and has good personal skills she will be employable in a range of sectors.

She’s just coming to the end of the drama of exam results and it being the be all and end all. My partner has a first class degree from a RG uni that has never really been used, and I’ve got a 2.2 from a former poly but earn 6 figures doing something unrelated.

She will be fine, just support her and don’t make out this is going to be a downhill spiral into unemployment, depression, and homelessness if she doesn’t quite get the 2.1 she wanted for the police program.

We've been told we can't correspond with students about marks as exam boards are still sitting. I imagine it is like that everywhere and she's probably just going to have to wait.

It's absolutely horrible, but fingers crossed she gets a 2.1.

It's been a while since uni for me. I cant remember Iif you get given a personal tutor. If you do, could she email them with all her results and see what they think she is likely to come out with?

Is the unhelpful tutor who said they were busy, the one who looked at it twice, and gave lots of feedback?
Because I'd be marked too!

If she has some firsts then she might be able to pull it up!

(I'm a professor, 28 years and counting in HE).

She should have a personal tutor who she can approach about issues like this. If not, then she should try and speak to the head of department / programme convenor. They should be able to go through the calculations with her to work out how far off a 2:i she is overall. Talking to any member of staff about her concerns will NOT be seen as her trying to influence the outcome. Many other students will have similar questions. If you want to look up the regulations yourself they will all be online in the student area of the website.

As others have said, many universities are running 'no-detriment' policies for the exam boards this year, as we are aware of how severely students have been affected by first the strike and then the covid situation. This is particularly the case for students doing dissertations, as they have not been able to access materials in libraries that would in many cases be key to their research. So the grades she is on track for under the model in the university regulations may well be adjusted in the light of these policies.

I do also think that further study / employment programmes requiring particular grades will be much more inclined to relax the rules this year. And it is also possible for her to appeal after the exam boards.

So there is much to be positive about, and things you can do to get more information about her situation (and she certainly hasn't failed ). Best of luck to you both.