‘First sit’?

[Allloveisbeautiful]

Our son is in his last year and due to having a bad dose of the flu last month he had to ask for extensions for 2 assignments which he was given. He submitted one but wanted another day past the extension to complete it and was told that was fine. He was then told a few hours later that due to the university firewall he wouldn’t be able to submit his assignment later and he emailed his tutor about it. He has now been told that he needs to do the assignment all over again in August in something called a ‘first sit’ which means he won’t be able to graduate in July with his friends. This seems unreasonable in our opinion especially as he has never asked for extensions before or failed anything etc. Any ideas on how to deal with this?

This is very normal, deadlines are deadlines, around a quarter of DD’s year were late graduating (Covid years)

@gototogo thank you. Yes I agree deadlines are deadlines. At least the overall grade isn’t affected and it’s a life lesson for him!

The bit that's unusual here, and which I'd be questioning, is them telling him he could have an extra day in the first place. But other than that, yes, moving the deadlines to the resit round in August is normal, if a shame in situations like this.

At my university no one would have the authority to grant an informal one day extension.

It is too bad about graduation, but that happens in life. The most important thing is that DS’ mark will not be affected.

This may seem rigid, but he and his classmates are at a stage of life where both fairness and the transparent appearance of fairness are important. Informal arrangements, even when sensible in a particular case, play havoc with the latter. (DS may be above gamesmanship but long experience of Mitigating Circumstances panels gives me the background to assure you that many are not)

Best wishes to DS for a strong, healthy finish

Also, as much as I'm sure it's annoying and sad that he won't graduate with friends, I could also well imagine a scenario where the non-submission would result in a capped resit, so it is good for him that he's getting to resit for full marks.

Thank you everybody for your replies which are extremely helpful and make total sense. Apparently the course convenor said he could have an extra day! But I totally agree @poetryandwine-he’s a grown up now and needs to live with the consequences! @CreativeGreen I will double check about the extra day but I’m sure that’s accurate

My DD is in a similar situation. This is no help to you, but your situation and the responses have been comforting to me. Thanks for sharing.

Has he got proof in writing that he was offered an extra day?

It's your son's responsibility to get the extension properly agreed. And indeed to find out what 'first sit' means. The information will be in his course handbook - he just has to bother to read it.

"First sit' means that he sits his exam/submits his assignment in the summer referral/deferral period as if he were doing it the first time ie no penalty.

He's lucky to have been given this mitigation.

There’s probably a course administrator currently banging their head against a wall sending YET ANOTHER reminder to academics not to issue casual 1 day extensions without talking to them first…!

@ParmaVioletTea I’m sure he will ‘bother to read it’. This is purely for my knowledge as a parent who is interested in my son’s welfare. And yes I agree it is his responsibility and he has in no way asked us to sort this for him. Sometimes it’s ok for a parent to want to know these things too?!

This. If he was given incorrect information and has proof then I'd be advising him to complain.

@AelinAG & @oopsidedown I’ll check but I think that’s irrelevant as I believe he was then told in writing that the extra day wasn’t possible due to the uni firewall so I don’t think he has a case?

@Dramainclass glad I’ve been of some help even if inadvertently! And it’s a shame for our DC but it’s understandable if that is uni policy. A lesson learned-if he’d known about the potential consequences maybe he would have got it in on the extension deadline day….but that was up to him to find out!

The extensions policy at our DC's university is remarkable for its clarity. Our DC have, fortunately, never needed to ask for an extension and mostly submit assignments well in advance of the deadline. Perhaps that is because they are well aware of the policy? I do quite a lot of reading around university policies just to make sure that the DC are aware of them - it's good practice for the plethora of work place rules that govern corporate life. I have a relative in "employee relations" ie workplace policy enforcement so perhaps am more aware than some of what awaits young people.

@Ceramiq point taken. All part of the learning curve!

Academic here. What was the timeline? Eg if the extension deadline was 5 Jan, he asked on 1 Jan if he could have an extra day, then that was corrected a few hours later then I think that's unfortunate but fine, and they are being quite generous in allowing him an uncapped mark in the summer (normally it would go down as failure to submit and would count as the first attempt).

If he was emailing on 5 Jan just before the deadline and was told it was ok to have an extra day so then missed the deadline, then I think there's a bit of fault on both sides, but ultimately the responsibility is on him. Having another attempt in August which counts as a first submission is the best (and only) possible positive outcome now, so I disagree with PP that it's worth a complaint. They can't turn back time and they can't just accept an assessment submission at any point.

I must admit I'm quite staggered at parents reading the university policies to digest them for their children!

@Allloveisbeautiful for yours and all parents" future information - all universities should have their teaching and examination regulations publicly available on their websites. It's OK - you can read them yourself. Not many people know this, so I'm passing on the information.

It can take a bit of digging (believe me, I am daily frustrated by the digging I have to do on my won university's website), so maybe look for the Teaching Quality Assurance manual, or just search your DS's website for examination handbook "class of 20xx" (whatever the year of his projected graduation).

This information can also be useful for applications: you can see how programmes and degrees are generally examined.

HTH

That is indeed fortunate for your DC. In the case of my DD her extension request went in in the 10 working days prior to submission date as she believed necessary. The university had not at that time stated anywhere that in fact it was 10 university working days and that the Christmas break fell in the middle. This meant her extension request (on medical grounds that were not an issue on the new date) needed to be submitted a month before the deadline. The university has now changed the wording - which is of no help to DD.

@Ceramiq surely the wording in the initial instance is relevant here and your daughter can argue that? The fact that the uni has changed their wording is not her problem? What has the uni said to your DD?

It's sometimes possible to negotiate an earlier deadline with course administrators and marking tutors (thereby avoiding later graduation) so he should speak to programme leaders/admin to see if that's possible.

Has he been informed that he won’t be able to attend graduation? There were a handful at DC’s ceremony who participated but did not formally graduate due to resits in August (presumably because the outcome of resits was a foregone conclusion).

So he asked for a weeks extension and got it and then asked for another day the day before which the course convenor said should be fine and that he should contact his personal tutor and student services which he did and they took almost a week to get back to him. When they did they said he would have to do the first sit in August….

I would check about the graduation. In some places, students are allowed to attend the graduation with an assignment or two pending, even though they don't officially graduate or get the certificate until they complete and pass all the units.

@JediNinja thanks. Will do 😊