Hi, @wrongtimewrongplace -
I apologise for being late to this thread after being tagged by @Londonmummy66 . I am sorry to say that I missed her tag.
This is a fascinating dilemma, touching as it does on the intersection of talent, effort, motivation and self image. I realise that isn’t intrinsically good news, but I think it’s part of the reason you have so many thoughtful and useful responses. Mine may be a bit lengthy.
Do you have a sense of what is driving your YP? Why do they think they can turn things around? That’s not been addressed, and it matters a great deal.
It is certainly possible. She was too modest to say so, but IIRC, @Needmoresleep ’s DS is now a very successful young academic (PhD) economist. I imagine that his CV gives no hint of the fact that he once struggled with Statistics. Gently, please read that bit of her post again: he turned things around by confiding in his tutor and, more importantly, following the advice to spend two hours preparing for each lecture, and undoubtedly doing more afterwards.
Doing that work makes him exceptional. Almost all of us are happy to help struggling students, within reasonable parameters, but most of what we can do only amounts to getting them started. If we can help motivate them to carry on independently, perhaps by helping them over a particular hump, we’ve done something valuable.
I agree 100% with the study skills tips suggested by @Needmoresleep above, btw. Other students are also floundering! And some strong students appreciate mixed level study groups, because they know that helping is the best way to consolidate their own learning. (But - and this is not personal to your YP - no one likes being taken advantage of. Mostly in my observation able students care that everyone try.)
In this vein I thought @ParmaVioletTea ’s suggestion of a PhD student tutor was excellent. One hopes that at Bath Maths your YP could find someone they are really comfortable with to meet with for, say, 2hrs/wk who could provide help across almost all of their course units.
The varied perceptions as to whether your YP may have hit a wall and how much this matters are fascinating. Ultimately it must be their decision. FWIW, a 2.2 does make job seeking more difficult and a 3rd def makes it tricky, but neither is the end of the world. Our (broadly speaking) graduate job rates in STEM prove this.
But stress matters, and self image matters, in addition to the question of ability - which I reckon changes over time anyway.
Even if your YP has a choice about what to do, my concern is that they will have been bruised by the experiences of these two years. @ParmaVioletTea raised a key point about Y1: although it may not count (much) for the degree classification, is the foundation for the whole edifice. Not to get it right is to be left scrambling for the rest of the degree programme. There is also the erosion of self confidence to worry about. I haven’t studied this formally, but my impression is that students can be left deeply shaken by failure and many benefit from a fresh start - whether at the same university or elsewhere. The important factor seems to be the clean slate.
However Student Finance England will only extend the tuition loan automatically for one year past the term of the original degree programme. If YP restarts, they will need 5 years overall (for a 3 year degree), so another year of tuition fees will need to be found.
If YP has mitigating circumstances they can petition SFE for an additional year, but the outcome is by no means predictable.
I have seen many good outcomes from a fresh start, including within my own family. I am probably biased.
YP may pull it together this term, rendering this discussion moot. If they do not, my wish for them as for anyone struggling would be a clean slate, with some reflection first on how to get off to a strong start. Whether they should re-start Maths or try either Joint Hons or a related field is a topic for another day.
Best wishes to YP