Son missed Y3 re-sits

[pete100]

My son is doing an undergraduate degree in business management at Lincoln Uni, he was/is due completing his final year.

He did great in Y1 and Y2 - both years all modules passed, and showing as passed credits=120 out of enrolled credits=120

Year 3 on the other hand not so good - out of the total 120 enrolled credits, only 45 are passed, 2 are failed and 2 are showing "not yet assessed"

The mini bombshell was dropped that he's missed his chance to re-sit some of the Year 3 modules as was on holiday.

Can anyone explain (in relatively simple terms) how the final grade is calculated ? I've looked on Lincoln Uni website material and it's not so clear.

The averages section in his results shows the following📧
Mean of all module marks - Undergrad Level 1 = 62
Mean of all module marks - Undergrad Level 2 = 57.25
Mean of all module marks - Undergrad Level 3 = 42.8
Median of all module marks (per level) = 42

He's "officially" been told to wait until Sept 2nd for the results of the re-sits, but since he missed those it seems to be irrelevant - will he get a degree and/or final grade for the above or is it likely he'll need to redo the 3rd year ?

He's also going in to speak to the uni support team(s) but seems they're quite uncontactable at the moment as it's summer break.

Thanks for any info :-) at the moment we have no idea how bad or good this is as not sure if it's averaged over all 3 years, or just the last year that counts. and then the grades seem to be 40-49% third, 50-59% is two/two, and 60-69% is two/one ???

If that was my degree then yes he'd have to resit year 3.

But course are different so he needs to speak to them. Normally the last year counts more towards the finial mark so missing that many modules is a big problem.

Above 40 might be a pass. You need to look at what is required. Y3 has obviously been an issue.

My degree, the first year didn't count towards your degree at all you just had to pass it to stay on the course. Then the 2 and third year counted with it being split something like 2/3 weighting 3rd year 1/3 weighting for the 2nd year. So the 3rd year was the most important and where you could gain the most marks.

What does he want to do? If he’s lost interest maybe look at leaving now. They may issue a diploma based on credits he has.
How it’s assessed depends on uni. Lots base on yr 2 and 3. Resits may be capped at 40%.
Will he authorise you to speak to uni alongside him to try and get a resolution. Presumably he hasn’t got accommodation anywhere to go back in September.

In my uni he'd need 300 credits for a 'pass' degree (without honours), which he hasn't currently got, so any split between second and third year marks is irrelevant.
He wouldn't automatically be entitled to restudy the failed modules in final year either, although to be honest it's very rare for the uni to refuse.
It totally depends on the academic regulations at Lincoln though, they're different at different unis, so how it works at my uni won't necessarily be the same.
If they try to exit him with a fall-back award (DipHE) or a pass degree and he wants to restudy, he needs to appeal and see what they say. Don't assume that if they make an award it's a done deal and he has to accept it.

We don’t have the weighting of credits for the third year modules but I would say it’s unlikely he has enough credits for the degree from the information you’ve given. He would need to resit the year.

He needs to do a big bit of soul searching about what went wrong in third year and how he prevents it happening again.

He might be able to cash them in for a different qualification, a Diploma of Higher Education for the year 1 & 2 credits, possibly an Ordinary Bachelors without the Honours if he has only missed his dissertation/thesis etc or he could re do his final year if he hasn't lost the oomph for it.

He needs to check the rules for his degree, my institution would probably not allow him to resit the missed modules unless there were exceptional circumstances (not just a holiday) so he would be awarded a Diploma in Higher Education. That is not the same at all universities though.

Is there a disability, ill health or other special needs at work here? It seems odd to me that a final-year undergraduate who has failed multiple modules wouldn't know that resits need to happen; at my university I would expect him to have received multiple messages about this. Has he been ignoring his emails since his exams? Has he been too stressed or anxious to open them? Had he misunderstood the resit requirements? Is he aware of extenuating circumstances processes in his Faculty? I think there's not enough information in your post to be able to offer advice, but the key thing for him now (and in the future) is to engage rather than avoiding (if he's been doing that). I'd tend to recommend contacting his personal tutor or the office to explain that something has gone wrong and to ask for advice on the way forward.

This.

One thing is certain - he won't graduate this summer.

@pete100 Lincoln say this on their web site. Looks like a Third. However he needs to check with them, but if resits are capped at a Third, what’s the point? I’m assuming 42.8 is what he has as a percentage in that they quote percentages. If it’s out of 120 that’s entirely different so you need to explore further.

To achieve an honours degree you need to pass 120 credits each at levels 4, 5 & 6 (i.e. years 1, 2 & 3).

The classification is based on a weighted average (i.e. taking account of the numbers of credits for the module) of module marks for level 6 or levels 5 & 6, depending on which is more favourable to the student.

The algorithm is at https://secretariat.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2024/07/Undergraduate-Regulations-2023-24-1-1.pdf (section B).

He doesn't have enough credits for a degree, so will need to resit or take a lower qualification as said above. The marks are almost irrelevant given he needs 300 or 360 credits (for hons).

He needs to check the specific programme handbook for Lincoln as it's too difficult to generalise even within the same department at the same university.

As WW said, in my department we wouldn't let it get to this stage without significant attempts at intervention such as emails/phone calls etc. Try to support him to put a plan in place to contact the tutor and start engaging as he will find it easier to get this sorted if he has their backing. Does he have any mitigating circumstances such as poor physical and/or mental health, recent changes to his circumstances etc which could explain why he's gone AWOL this year?

Depends on Uni and even department- but DH gets fed up with students who've pulled this stunt with re-sits and then send him begging e-mails as he course lead.

They are informed by letter and many e-mails about re-sits and then miss them and are surprised they have to resit the year and they are also reminded to check uni e-mails over summer.

Uni support should still be there - DH had contact over summer with them for some students though they may have had annual leave taken in department - on Thursday Uni will be busy with clearing and admin - they draft in many for that at DH uni so could be they are gearing up for that but expect that uni dependent as well.

@NoNotHimTheOtherOne So if a weighed average is over 40%, is a third awarded? Is that what 42.8 means?

No it doesn't, you need the credits (360 - 120 at each level) to be awarded a degree, before you start working out classifications.
He only has 45 third year credits, so 285 in total - not enough for a degree.

No, you only start looking at average percentages once you've achieved 360 credits - you've got to have successfully completed the degree before your final grade can be worked out.

@igivein Glad I don’t work in a uni. I’m assuming the student actually knows all of this? Resits surely cap at a Third though?

The student will have all the information in programme handbooks. It's on them to read them. I agree that he will have been contacted several times before now about it, so must have been burying his head in the sand.he needs to speak to his course leader and personal tutor, but as said, it's all hands on deck at clearing time so he may have to wait for a response.

It is all incredibly complicated - which is why it's always best to get in touch and discuss options.
Just to bamboozle you further - if the student resits (ie is allowed to submit the work they should have done but missed because of the holiday) it would be capped at 40%, but if they restudy the modules next year they start afresh so won't have a capped mark.
Even if they were capped at 40% for resits (rather than restudying), their final degree classification might not be a third, because their overall grade taking into account third and second year marks (usually a 70/30 split on weighting) might pull them up to a 2:2. There can also be variation on the weighting between second and third year depending on various circumstances - but let's not go there, life's too short!
And that's without taking into account any covid regs that may still have been in place during second year.
Right, I think I need to go and spend 10 minutes sitting in a corner, with a damp towel on my head, rocking gently 😁

Haha, exactly. So glad I'm out after 17 years!

Thanks for all the info and the link to the regs - ah I see so firstly he'd need the 360 credits to even be considered for the bachelor degree, then the best of either mean or median year 3, or averaged mean of years 2 and 3.

In this case he could have potentially got the 50% (averaged mean over years 1 & 3) for a 2:2, but then falls well short on the credits required, and now the missed re-sits to try and address that, so that's not happening.

We'll have a long talk re whether to ask if he can re-do year 3 or not then, and what and why it went wrong

Finding out what happened and why is key. Also do remember it will be his last year of available student finance. Good luck to you both.

He went on holiday?

What has he been doing this year - taking the piss/drugs, mental illness, a ridiculously messy relationship?

He's failed the year, whatever happens - but if you are going to try to help dig him out of this hole, you're going to need to know exactly why and how you're going to/if you should be getting involved in the first place to do it.