DS has failed 2 end of year exams, what is likely to happen?

[Monr0e]

Just that really. He is doing a mechanical engineering degree and this is his second year. It has been very demanding, especially on the run up to end of year. He has been working on 2 group assignments for months then as soon as they were completed, started end of year exams.

He has failed 2 out of 5. He has admitted himself he could have put more effort in throughout the year on these specific modules, but the last few months were taking up so much with his group work. One of which, he was the only one who did any of the work out of 4 of them

He has been told he can resit. But I am spiralling (I have started another thread today about my increasing anxiety!)

What is likely to happen if he fails his resits? Will that mean leaving the course? Can he redo 2nd year? (He really won't want to)
Will it be resitting the same exams or will they give them another one to do?

He failed one by 3 marks and one by 6. He is more than capable but only has 2 weeks before the resits and I'm really struggling with the idea that he may fail thses also.

Thank you for any advice

Gee, thanks for the understanding reply

I already explained that I know my anxiety about it is unhelpful. Hence me starting a thread about it separately.

Thanks for kicking me while I'm down though, much appreciated

He knows he should have put more effort in, I've also included that.

My questions were more around what may happen.

Firstly resits, if he fails them then it depends on the university and modules. He may have to resit the modules alongside doing third year modules or he may have to retake the year.

Obviously the exam resits will be new exam papers.

You need to read the regulations at his uni. Some would allow him to retake the two failed modules as a part time student, keeping the existing passed module marks. Others would insist he resits the entire year, others only allow one retake so he wouldn’t be able to repeat.

Thank you, that is useful to know. So if he fails (which I'm really hoping he doesn't) it doesn't necessarily mean he will have to leave the course?

My understanding is he failed by 3 and 6 marks out of an overall score but not sure what that was. He is obviously now concentrating on revision for the resits.

Similar happened to my DS. He passed one re-sit (he had done very little work for the original module so didn't need much studying to bring his mark up to a pass) The university allowed him to continue to his final year and resit the failed module alongside year three studies.
Your DS should have a personal tutor (I think this title depends on the uni - could be called mentor or similar) and my DS found him invaluable- unfortunately, and typical of DS- he didn't know he had one until potential failure reared its head. It won't do any harm to advise your DS to investigate his uni support staff.
Incidently DS did graduate with a 2.1.

He will resit and if he passes he will go to 3rd year. If he failed by 3 & 6 marks as long as he puts some effort in he should pass resits.
He will learn his lesson about studying for 3rd year.
One step at a time, don’t think about failing resits until it’s happened

I really think that he should explain to his tutor that he was the only one who did any work for one of the projects and so didn't have time to revise. They should take that in to account

In the uni refs I know he will probably be allowed a max of 40% for the resit, however much he actually scores. So it will pull down his eventual grade quite a bit, but it’s often a good kick to do better on Y3. Lots of students pull it back.

Definitely suggest he speaks up his personal tutor. (Or maybe a slightly different name.). At my uni he would take the resit but with a maximum grade of 40%. That would stop him from getting a first, but he could still get a 2:1. If he failed both again he would have to retake the year. However every uni is different so what people tell you on here may well not be accurate—hence asking his tutor for information.

Thank you for this. Can I ask what course he was doing,

I have already suggested he contact individual tutors for feedback and also the programme lead to ask if comoeting any failed modules alongside third year is an option. Hopefully won't be needed but good to know all possibilities. I also though he would have a personal tutor but he doesn't seem to think he does.

He knows he's been an eejit. His words.

It's up to him to find out what may or might happen and to communicate all of that to you if he wishes.

Many engineering students fail a module or two en route to graduation. They resit the exams or redo the module. It's not necessarily catastrophic.

Take a step back here. Let him figure out what he needs to do and get it done.

Everyone says they're the only one who actually did the work in group projects. I think a tutor would have a little chuckle about an ex post facto sob story like that. The time to speak up about any unfair burden in a group project was the minute the issue became apparent, not months later in the context of begging for a review of grades or some sort of focused sympathy.

At mine you could either take an average of your second and third years or just your third, depending on which was higher.

Every university, and probably school within each uni, will have a different policy so you need to find the handbook. No point in asking what the policy is somewhere else.

Dd did this on her first year, it was a sharp shock for her, she's never needed to study much for anything. She failed by 2 points and was kicking herself. She went back to the Uni and did a resit, cost me a hotel room overnight. But she passed everything and made sure to studied for everything since.

I’m always amazed at the number of people on here who can’t seem to grasp the concept of worrying about, and being anxious on behalf of family members going through a hard time. Student dc fails exams? Sit back, safe in the knowledge that they’re adults, it’s all their own fault, and watch them struggle. Really sad…

I think the time is right for you to focus on yourself OP. You are struggling with anxiety and that is bloody miserable (commiserations from me who is in the same boat).

I think you might be hyperfocussed on your DS exam results as its something you have 'control' over / a clearly articulatable worry - a natural inclination when anxious.

Ultimately he has to sort this himself. All you can practically do is be a sounding board for him.

I hope he gets sorted and that you get to tackle the anxiety. 🌼 🌸 🌻

Agreed! Just read a thread where it was repeated over and over that a DD should be supporting her mum and step siblings through their grief and yet apparently parents aren't allowed to be worried about their child failing uni exams and are advised to leave them to it with no support or advice.

I do appreciate this view. And agree he should have mentioned it much earlier. Which I told him to do many times.

I can only assure you, he had spoken of this from the start of the group, and he fed back many times that he was the only one attending those lectures out of the 4 of them. He also wrote the whole code or whatever it was he had to do with no input from the others and also put together the final presentation. They met with him once.

As it stands, the moment to mention it has long passed. And he (they) surprisingly got 70% for this module which he was very relieved about.

Extremely insightful, thank you very much for your kind words 💐

I’m always amazed at the number of people on here who can’t seem to grasp the concept of worrying about, and being anxious on behalf of family members going through a hard time. Student dc fails exams? Sit back, safe in the knowledge that they’re adults, it’s all their own fault, and watch them struggle. Really sad…

But no-one on Mumsnet knows what is likely to happen to op's ds, which is what she was asking. Not 'how to support him'. Any replies can only be speculative and may give her a completely wrong idea.

She needs to get on the university website and read the regulations for his department.

And comparing failing a couple of exams with having a terminally ill husband/parent, as in the other thread, is really disproportionate.

They won’t. That just sounds like he’s trying to shift the blame on to his group mates.

My DD’s flatmate failed his second year and he failed the resits. He didn’t know the stuff as he hadn’t really gone to the lectures enough. Anyway, they said he could use the university facilities, the library and so on and he was allowed to access the lectures online. He didn’t get a loan so he had to work. Then he retook the exams and submitted essays at the same time as the new second years. I don’t know if he was paying any fees at all. Then he started third year in the normal way, but obviously a year behind and with a different cohort.

Exactly this