Options after failing 3rd year Physics at Glasgow University

[LongtimeLurker123]

My son has just received an email saying that he has not met the requirements to proceed to Level 4 of the BSc Hons Physics programme at Glasgow. He has been told that he can take some resits in August and graduate with a 'designated' degree. He has his heart set on an honours degree. Does anyone here have any experience of this situation and can you offer advice? My son is also trying to contact his Adviser of Studies but they seem to be on holiday for a few weeks.

Does anyone know if Glasgow might possibly admit him back into Level 4 if he does well in his resits? Or might it be possible for him to transfer to another university (ideally, Strathclyde or Heriot-Watt, because we are in Scotland) and complete his 4th year there? Do any universities offer 'top-up' degrees in Physics to upgrade a designated degree to honours? Are there any other options?

Many thanks in advance for any advice or stories.

the answer depends somewhat on the why is he in this position?

I think it depends. Is the result through lack of effort and he could do much better? Or has he done his absolute best and this is the result? If it's the latter, he might be best to cut his losses and take the designated degree. What did he hope to do with the degree?

He has failed some of his third year exams. His GPA is 7.2 and the minimum GPA for entry to fourth year is 9. He is a very engaged student, attends all his classes, and is very interested in the subject, but it is a very tough degree!

Can't he resit the whole year?

He has his heart set on an honours degree

yes but he either didn’t study hard enough or it’s beyond him

universities really do try to avoid kicking out for year 3 so fact they have done indicates it is not a close fail.

Presumably he would have been pretty. expecting this news anyway as it’s generally not spring on the student

That is a material gap to even reach the bare minimum

The answer is probably in the middle somewhere. He has put in a lot of effort and attended classes regularly, but he can be a little disorganised and can procrastinate a bit. He is very interested in the subject and was hoping to go on to postgraduate study but that is looking rather remote now.

*He is a very engaged student, attends all his classes, and is very interested in the subject*pls don’t think me argumentative but how can you be so sure of this?

No, unfortunately, I don't think it is an option to resit an honours year at Glasgow.

No, it is a fair question, and I don't mind answering it. I am very close to him and contact him regularly, and he tells me specifics about the classes he has attended. So I am pretty sure that he attends regularly but of course I can't be 100% certain he is telling me everything. I know he is interested in the subject - he likes talking about it.

op have you posted quite a few times about your son and uni?

No, this is the first time I have posted about this. Why?

he’s shown up op

but he hasn’t put on sufficient effort and / or doesn’t have the capability to continue this course. He isn’t even close to the minimum.

You now need to help him come to terms with fact that an honours degree is not going to happen

He could perhaps go back and do third year in another related subject though, from what he took in first and second? It's been a long time since I was there though.

resonates from other threads but ok my mistake

If you’re very close to him presumably you knew this was very much in the cards and that he’d been failing for some time?

did he have to do resits to get to year 2 and then on to year 3?

Hello, this happened to someone I know in podiatry (or something foot related). Didn't pass their exams (or the resit) so wasn't able to continue with the studies into third year. They've transferred to Edinburgh University. I appreciate this is for a different course but there's definitely options.

Hope he's doing okay! It isn't the end of the world.

Yes, he did have to do resits, and I have known that he has been struggling. This is not a complete surprise to me or to him. What I'm interested in finding out now is what options are available for a student in this position who wants to complete an honours degree. I would appreciate advice from anyone who knows about this.

I believe that the main reason my son has been struggling is that the course at Glasgow is very difficult. I think that he might do better at a different university, but I do not know what routes there might be to get him there.

I do know my son well, and I am also a university lecturer myself, in a science subject, at a university that is much less prestigious and tough than Glasgow. I am confident that my son would be able to get an honours degree at the university where I teach, but it does not offer Physics.

If you're a science lecturer at another university you are in a much better position to advise on the options than anyone here. You should also be more realistic than you are being - he's already had to resit, he has to resit again, and is still a mile away from results in the 3rd class degree range. Whilst I recognise the some universities may have more challenging content, and won't spoon feed as much as others, and Glasgow will expect a lot, you seem to be assuming at a in

this this and this

and especially this

If you're a science lecturer at another university you are in a much better position to advise on the options than anyone here.

DDs friend (Edinburgh) took the designated degree (not physics but another science) at end of Y3 and is topping it up to honours via the OU (she's doing really well with the OU - teaching methods suit her). Edinburgh wouldn't entertain any switch at the end of 3rd year but would have at end of 2nd (no special circumstances for her).

Many thanks, SandyIrving, it is good to know that the OU may be an option we can investigate. Thank you for sharing your experience - very helpful!

Hi OP,

I studied at Glasgow Uni and knew of a couple of students who left after Y3 as they couldn't get onto the honours course (not in Physics but another science subject).

One immediately moved to another field as it was fairly clear that this wasn't the subject for them career-wise.

Another did a final year at OU to "top up" from designated to honours degree. Not as prestigious and they couldn't get onto a decent research-based masters course. They worked in the field in a lab role, gained experience and then applied for a PhD. Although they also moved fields after completing the PhD.

Would your son consider treating it more as a hobby and have a rethink about academia? Glasgow isn't that tough of a Uni, although Physics courses are always going to be high level as it's the nature of the field. And frankly I found the post-grad job-market for sciences pretty grim.

Don't want to put him off, but it'll be a bit of a slog.

Sorry...
You're assuming he's failing because it's Glasgow rather than accepting that it is probably mostly him. The English equivalent for those unfamiliar with Glasgow's GPA system is that he has averaged less 30%. Another lower ranked uni may mean he could scrape 40%, and a 3rd. But that still rules out a masters - and being blunt rightly so. It's not enough to be interested and turn up. You have to work and have the ability.

Options - phone round some other unis that do physics and see if they'd take him into their 3rd (Scottish) or 2nd (English) year (if paying fees is an option.)

Why didn't you and he address this when he resat last year?

A friend did this twenty odd years ago and now is on I’d reckon €250k ish in a top tech company so that worked out just fine.

Encourage him to get a niche skill with what he has and keep building on it. I’ve seen plenty of people skip over honours degrees and down the line with recognition of prior learning and go on to get a masters in something that furthers their career. Not UK but he could nip over to Ireland and do it here.