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Higher education

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Original poster

Retaking a year at university... was it successful?

28 replies

Uniretake · 26/05/2023 18:48

Just looking for reassurance really. DC has just announced that they are thinking of retaking their 2nd year of university due to poor grades in the Autumn term.

They suffered a major bereavement and just did not engage with university due to the grief. They missed some crucial parts of the course and just never caught up with the modules and missed 2 coursework deadlines. University knew about the bereavement as DC missed 2-3 weeks, but DC has just told us about how much it affected their university grades.

In the Spring term they were back on top and with new modules were getting 70s and 80s in all coursework. However, they have just had exams and the ones covering the autumn term contents were, in their eyes, disastrous.

They love their course and university and I fully back them re-doing the year. The third year builds on the content of the second year and if that is not secure it is pointless trying to muddle through. DC thinks they will come out of this year with 48-54%, which is way below the grade they are capable of.

Please tell me some success stories of DC retaking a university year.

OP posts:
gavisconismyfriend · 26/05/2023 21:41

Hmmm, are you sure it is possible to retake a year in order to improve grades? The unis I’m familiar with, you can only retake a year if you failed a lot of credits and even then you only resit the modules you’ve failed - the marks for which are then capped at the pass mark - so you can’t retake the year to improve marks. Other places may be different but it would be worth checking, if you haven’t already, before going too far down the road of planning this.

FatCatSkinnyRat · 27/05/2023 10:35

Secretary to University Exam Boards here.

Agree with PP. Usually you can only retake if you failed the year completely or were a very borderline case (ie only passed with compensation). And only then if you have good evidence of why you didn't get a fair go (sounds like this is the case here but can you evidence it?)

It is also unlikely on the courses I look after that you will be able to repeat modules you have previously passed - you have to choose something else.

That said, I see many many cases where students who struggled with issues are granted a repeat and then go on to pass the year - often at the higher end of the marks - on their second go.

Original poster
Uniretake · 27/05/2023 12:45

Thank you for your replies.

It was DC academic tutor who suggested retaking the year. It will be interesting to see the exam results from the autumn term modules. The tutor is concerned that if DC does not understand 'Calculus 2' how will they cope with 'Calculus 3' or the specialist coding module in Y2 that is extended in Y3.

OP posts:
fairlygoodmother · 27/05/2023 12:54

If they are allowed to do this I can’t see why it wouldn’t be a success, it sounds as if they are a hardworking able student.

But it sounds a bit miserable. Would it be worth considering taking some modules over the summer to get up to speed with the important concepts?

poetryandwine · 27/05/2023 13:16

I am a STEM academic. One of my personal tutees retook Y2 about five years ago with Mitigating Circumstances. It was a big success and she went on to get a First.

The idea makes pedagogical sense to me. If you are in the UK I agree with PPs that permission will be required. I hope it is granted

Calcite · 27/05/2023 21:14

Also STEM academic here and sit on various exam boards. In my institution people cannot retake units they have passed even if there were mitigating circumstances. My advice to this student if they are not allowed to retake would be to work on calculus and coding over the summer and see whether their department would be willing to discount their lower than usual marks obtained when life was not going well when calculating their final degree classification. We do this in cases such as this.

I have seen many students repeat parts of years and it rarely goes well because they get bored doing the same thing over again and disengage. Others struggle hard to get past the point at which things went wrong the previous year.

crazycrofter · 27/05/2023 21:36

There are two issues - 1. Whether lack of understanding of year 2 work will impact year 3 (but couldn’t they catch up in the summer?) 2. Whether their lower year 2 grades will result in a lower degree classification.

When I did my (history) degree, they took the best 6 or 8 - I can’t remember - module marks from year 2 and 3 to calculate your grade. So you could afford a few duff grades. You did have to have a minimum overall average for all year 2 and 3 modules too. But say if your average of the 8 best was 67%, you’d get a 2:1 as long as your overall average was over 58. So he might be ok.

Hairbrushhandle · 27/05/2023 21:39

Academic tutor here who never knows he ruled on this stuff and we often get assigned students who are in quite different subject areas. So even if the academic tutor has suggested a retake I'd go to the actual module convenors and the professional service staff who support the programme to find out what the best course of action is.

arlequin · 27/05/2023 22:24

DB did this with great success. Ended up with an Oxbridge high 2:1 after almost failing a year. Just was having a bad time and another chance reset him.

arlequin · 27/05/2023 22:25

Definitely do it! Only downside is another year of student loan but so so worth it.

JenniferBarkley · 28/05/2023 01:01

Another secretary to the exam board here, in my university it wouldn't be allowed. Also many of my academic colleagues are not as familiar with the rules as they should be! So I would go cautiously for now, you should be able to check the university's regs online. In my uni, the marks would stand and she would go into third year since she has passed. We're very sympathetic to students who experience a bereavement or other difficulties, but if they have sat exams and submitted assignments then they are declaring themselves well enough to do so and the mark will stand.

Having said all that, if it's a possibility for her and she will actually be motivated enough to work in the second attempt then it sounds like a great idea.

I would also make very sure of the financial position before committing to anything, would she get funding for a year she's already passed?!

If it isn't possible, or she decides against it, she'll have access to all of this year's materials, so a bit of study over the summer and then hard work next year and I'm sure a bright and motivated student will do well.

damekindness · 28/05/2023 08:03

@JenniferBarkley is absolutely right that us academics are not always the experts in academic regulations. We're quite good in our own niche subject areas but the arcane rules of assessment and progression can be a bit of a mystery and they can get changed year on year without us being aware.

In my place repeating a year isn't generally a thing ( but see above why I'm not absolutely sure)

AliTheMinx · 16/06/2023 21:07

At the institution where I work, any units which have been passed cannot be retaken to improve the grade. However, we have a mitigation process. Could she apply for retrospective mitigation? This would let anyone reviewing her transcript know that something was affecting her performance at the time and (where I work) allow this to be taken into consideration when deciding on the final degree classification.

Original poster
Uniretake · 16/06/2023 21:12

I think they are likely to take entirely new modules apart from the autumn term's which are compulsory.

OP posts:
Original poster
Uniretake · 12/07/2023 17:28

Update:

DC got their exam results back last week and had failed 3 exams/half modules on Autumn term content (so failed the year although got 49% overall). They applied for 'exceptional circumstances' to repeat the year last Friday (with all the paperwork, evidence and department support in place) and today heard that the Special Cases Committee has granted DC the opportunity to repeat Year 2.

Thank you for all your wise words. Lets hope DC has a better year. It is good to know universities are supportive when students go through a major bereavement.

OP posts:
Original poster
Uniretake · 01/07/2024 18:22

Update:
DC has had a very successful repeat of the 2nd year and has got their studies back on track. This year they passed all their exams, met all the coursework deadlines and this year was in a much better place MH-wise. Today they heard they averaged 77% for the year.

It was the right thing for DC to repeat the year.

OP posts:
arlequin · 01/07/2024 18:24

OP that's wonderful news!!!

arlequin · 01/07/2024 18:25

Hope things are easier now x sorry about the bereavement

JenniferBarkley · 01/07/2024 18:28

That's wonderful news, well done to them and the very best of luck for next year. Thanks for updating, there are so many unfortunate outcomes at this time of year it's lovely to hear a good news story!

Yippiddy · 01/07/2024 19:02

That's brilliant news. Was this Oxford or Cambridge?

Original poster
Uniretake · 01/07/2024 21:08

No, not Oxford or Cambridge.

OP posts:
Ellmau · 01/07/2024 21:10

Great news! Congrats to your DC.

justabigdisco · 01/07/2024 21:13

That’s great. I repeated a year in Medicine and while it felt shit at the time it was def the right thing to do.

poetryandwine · 01/07/2024 23:38

Great news, OP!

justasking111 · 01/07/2024 23:53

My son was having awful problems with a girl back home so kept coming back to help her mental health issues. His tutor phoned us saying that he wanted him to take an industry break from studies and return the following year.

He agreed took a break, returning to do his final year and flew through the course. Getting an excellent degree.

So it does work sometimes

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