Son not allowed to continue to second year at uni

[PocketSand]

DS2 has just completed his first year in an engineering degree. His results are all over the place from 1st in maths to 2:2 to required resits. He exceeded the A level grade requirements for MEng. He is autistic and has ADHD. He was un medicated prior to and during most of his first year due to shortages followed by referral to cardiology.

His DSA support didn't start til the spring term and one support worker provided 1 hour support when 30 hours was approved. He constantly tells the one he has seen that everything is fine and they believe him.

He always says everything is fine and doesn't ask for help. He has never been to the library and relies totally on lecture notes. He doesn't know what independent study is. I have always been his advocate but now he is expected to advocate for himself. No one at the uni knows these issues - he has not even contacted his personal tutor let alone disability services and just thinks he needs to work harder.

He found out today that he has failed his third submission of a lab report he initially submitted in February. He did not have DSA agreed support at that time so he didn’t have his own laptop. He borrowed another student’s at the time but when he had to resubmit no longer had access to his results and so he tried to cobble together a report using specimen (and maybe someone else’s results - not clear). He had previously received an email saying he couldn’t proceed unless he passed resubmission. I assume that’s where we are at now.

His feedback is harsh - shouldn’t study for a degree if not prepared to use feedback to improve his work. Trouble is he often doesn’t understand the feedback and he is unwilling to ask for clarification as he fears tutor’s anger. He says he doesn’t know who marked the work so doesn’t know who to talk to and seems generally clueless about most administrative issues.

I feel completely in the dark and don’t know where to go from here. Obviously I don’t want to just give up and accept his journey ends here as it seems very unfair but don’t know what I can do to try and enable him to fix this or if it can be fixed.

Can anyone who knows the system provide advice on next steps please?

@Tippertapperfeet I presume you are talking about essays in the humanities where students will have studied the subject and written multiple essays at A level? Obviously the standard required is a step up but it is familiar. Engineering is not taught at A level and skills required are novel and very different to the skills required to study eg A level maths.

His coursework for GCSE computer science was writing a working programme which as I have said requires the skill of learning from mistakes.

University is for independent study. I say this as a lecturer myself.

@LIZS This is the second email DS2 has sent in response to the lecturer's initial email. How many times do you think he should take the initiative before it becomes 'chasing'?

It's also not an offer of help as DS2 has not been given the opportunity to resubmit again but just been told he has not met requirements. I think the university is obliged to tell him where he stands.

That’s true. There will also be a standard that the lecturer is expected to respond within and this week is hellish if the lecturer is involved in undergrad admissions.

He could still have asked his lecturer to read a draft, asked the DSA tutor if he was adhering to what was expected, asked a peer to read over what he had written. He could even have asked you to read what he had written.

Yes but especially for disabled students there is support - study skill sessions, office hours, tutors and mentor (normally given by DSA or the uni Disability Service) and therapy accessible for students. So there is most definitely support and help alongside the independent study, its a key part of universities and they do offer support which they should.

Quite. I wonder if op ds suggested any times to meet or asked what specific options might be available in their emails. Op, if you are seeing the support service could you pop by the department to arrange a time? In person discussions would be better if he can manage it.

I think the best option is for your DS to submit an appeal against the decision that he cannot continue. The fact that he was without his full dose of medication is key. He needs to look up the appeals process, it will be available via the students' portal and there will be time limits to submit the appeal.
I see no harm.in chasing the lecturer as he has done politely...I say this as a lecturer myself.
But I agree with others that 6 resubmissions is troubling...he may need to look at following his engineering aspirations in a non degree based way. All is certainly not lost.

@Tippertapperfeet it would be good if the lecturer was willing to read a draft - I get DS2 to ask if this is possible in future (assuming he can continue). I doubt the DLA tutor would be able to help - too specialist. My degrees are in the humanities and am not familiar with the requirements in engineering so could end up doing more harm than good.

@LIZS DS2 has said he would welcome the opportunity to discuss this using the lecturer's preferred method of communication and at whatever time is convenient for the lecturer. I thought it best to be as flexible as possible. I'm not going to be on campus this week. I have a court hearing for financial dispute resolution in my divorce on Thursday which is taking up a lot of my time. Regardless, there is no official communication since resitting and I think we need to know where DS2 stands before taking next steps.

Is Ds2 not able to look up his registration code on his student portal? Fail and resubmit, repeat with attendance, proceed, whatever?

The DSA tutor should be able to tell him if his formatting meets the standard.

no one - not even the lecturer - is going to read it and mark it like a teacher does at school.

@Tippertapperfeet Excellent advice! I have just got him to do this and after some digging found a page he has never been to before.

It says
"Decision made by the Board of Examiners: you are required to take further assessment, EITHER

1. Reassessment as you have at least one module grade of 'Reassessment' OR
2. Delayed assessment as you have at least one module grade of 'Extenuating Circumstances - Delayed First Sit'"

I'm confused by the either/or and what this means in terms of practical next steps.

What I think that means is that if they don’t accept his EC then it’s a resubmit which will likely be capped at a bare pass.

however if they accept his EC, then it’s treated as a first attempt and the mark won’t be capped.

He's sent another email to his lecturer and copying in his advisor quoting the comments to ask what this means, what he needs to do, who can support him with this etc.

For his EC, he needs to look at what evidence they accept for an EC. There will probably be a form to fill in which might be called an EC1 Form.

common sorts of evidence accepted would be report from GP, counsellor, disability support assistant etc.

basically it needs to be independent evidence (if you get what I mean). So for eg “I struggled to focus because I had no access to my ADHD Medication from x date to y date.” And that backed up by a gp letter that says “x had no access to … from xxx to yyy dates. without his adhd medication, ds2 NAME struggles to …..”.

does that make sense?

Exchanging course experiences and difficulties with fellow students is a key part of university learning. Basically independent learning is not a solitary exercise. Of course some students provide much more help than they receive but usually they are fine with that.

OP, I guess your DS may have missed out on that?

Ideally, despite his academic capabilities, he should have started with a very structured foundation type programme of engineering type degree skills.

I think this is an opportunity for a rethink on what course would best transition him to what he is capable of. I am not sure a PhD trajectory is in his long term best interests as it can be quite isolating and make it more difficult to get and adjust to ‘normal’ work.

DS2 has a teams meeting in an hour with his lecturer and has requested that I sit in to support him.

Thanks for all your help and advice.

This is good news. Good luck.

I hope you get some resolution.

Fingers crossed for him, and that it's a good wake up call for all involved in going forward.

ND in the sense of neurodiversity refers to all brains.

ND in the sense of neurodivergence refers to some brains, usually those diagnosed with autism, adhd etc.

Obviously both the expressions neurotypical and neurodivergent are meant to cover a range of minds/behaviours. There isn’t a single exemplar of a neurotypical or a neurodivergent mind, of course not. There are diagnostic thresholds for conditions like autism and adhd though, and cut-off points. These are subjective to a degree,and definitions do change, but it doesn’t mean the terms NT and ND (for neurodivergence) aren’t useful.

Best of luck to you and DS2, OP.
Hope the meeting goes well 🤞🤞🤞

I think the best option is for your DS to submit an appeal against the decision that he cannot continue. The fact that he was without his full dose of medication is key. He needs to look up the appeals process, it will be available via the students' portal and there will be time limits to submit the appeal.
I see no harm.in chasing the lecturer as he has done politely...I say this as a lecturer myself.
But I agree with others that 6 resubmissions is troubling...he may need to look at following his engineering aspirations in a non degree based way. All is certainly not lost.
https://www.tomorrowsengineers.org.uk/media/2ebpl0og/all-routes-booklet_final_ccedit.pdf

If I've followed correctly it sounds like your DS may already have had reasonable adjustments made regarding this assessment as there are few circumstances where a student would be allowed to submit a piece of work 3 times without extenuating circumstances.
It's quite possible given the other borderline work that it will be suggested that your DS resits the year. This might be enough for him but I would caution that the work is going to become more challenging, require increasing independence, and the assessment types likely more diverse. He may often find himself in situations where he won't have had previous direct experience.
Good luck clarifying your current position.

On the online portal it says that 3 attempts are allowed (for everyone) but it requires the lecturer to reopen submission and set deadline. It wasn't just for him and he's definitely not applied for extenuating circumstances.