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

They won’t care about this at all. Part of university is managing your workload and teammates and timeframes effectively. He could have been revising the topic every week as lectures happened but he didn’t.

OP,
hope you find some of these replies helpful and hope you can ignore the snide replies.
It’s completely normal to worry about your ‘adult’ kids. Mine are much older than your and I still worry about them. Worrying about them potentially failing a year at Uni is a very legitimate thing to worry about. Apart from wanting your kid to do well for themselves there could be financial or other repercussions that directly impact on you and the rest of your family.

Hope it works out.

Death via terminal cancer and an exam resit really aren’t comparable….

If he doesn't have a personal tutor, he needs to speak to student welfare (or similar) to see if they can tell him what the outcome is likely to be. Will there be group-work again in the 3rd year? If so, he needs to select the people he works with very carefully.

I would say that given that he only needs 3 marks for one unit and 6 marks for the other to pass, he should be OK in the resits.
It would also be a good idea to check in advance what the structure of the 3rd year (assume this is the final year) will be like to make sure that he plans his time better between coursework (more likely to be individual in the final year) and exams.

My nephew failed 3 modules in the 2nd year and again in the August retakes. As he was doing a work placement he was allowed to take them again in the following summer and did pass then. He worked really hard in the 3rd year and managed to get a 2:2. Also a engineering course

Hi, OP -

I am sorry for your stress around this, which I think understandable. I am sorry you’ve gotten a hard time.

The policies for how things will unfold following various outcomes do vary from place to place, except that capping the resit mark at 40% barring special circs is essentially universal. Regardless of what would help you, DS may or may not find it useful to know now what those policies are, and his needs around this take precedence.

It would not be outing to tell us the university: Mech Eng programmes are generally quite large and a good percentage of students do resits after Y2! Then we might be able to tell you whether Mech Eng students have personal tutors/academic advisors. The reason I bring this up is that there is a strong correlation between ignoring the existence of your PT/AA and being required to do resits. (But keep in mind that there is no guarantee that someone fills this role in DS’ life.)

Whatever the details, my instinct is that by failing both exams so narrowly DS is decently placed to pass his resits. Even if he doesn’t, he does not look like a hopeless case.

When students fail Y2 and we make a decision on allowing continuation, the question is whether they can plausibly graduate. I don’t like students to carry two Y2 courses into the much more difficult Y3. It does them no good.

Because Student Finance England will extend the term of the original loan, it sounds likely in the worst case that I would recommend DS either resit these two modules (formally or informally according to university regs, but passing the exams) and revise the rest of the Y2 curriculum, or resit Y2 formally, taking new course modules to the extent possible.

The second option would be better for his education, but probably require more self discipline.

I hope it doesn’t come to this, and that you can relax in the meantime. Best wishes to you both.

My DS has just graduated in an engineering subject. He failed a group coursework and an exam in 2nd year. He passed the resits of both and went into his 3rd & final year. In his final year he failed another module & the resit exam. The uni allowed him to retake that module in what would be his 4th year (so only did the one module last year). One of his mates failed 2 modules in year 2, even after resits, and just took those 2 modules in his 3rd year and has just completed his 4th year taking what should be his 3rd year. I think a lot of universities have different rules and regulations about what students can do after failing modules. If your DC does fail the resits (which is not a given) speak to the university to see what the options are.

Hi everyone and thank you again so much for your reassuring stories.

He is at Salford uni, not very prestigious but allowed him to stay at home (his choice) and save on student loans.

He has generally been scoring well overall in his assignments, a couple in the 50's but the rest have been 70 and over, so I'm confident he is capable, he just by his own admission didn't study enough before hand.

It seems there are a variety of ways they can be supported to achieve what us needed but I completely understand it all depends on the different uni's. He also knows the scores are capped. He is annoyed at himself more than anything as he knows he has let himself down. He is quite confident he will be able to pass second time round though and is already talking of third year and what he needs to do which is positive.

Thanks again everyone. He may be 19 but as most of you seem to agree, we don't stop worrying about them as soon as they hit 18!

We definitely don't stop worrying about them.

Agree with others saying universities have different systems but it sounds like your son will likely pass these resits and be allowed to continue into year 3.

If he fails the resits as mine did - also doing Mech Eng - the uni will let your son know his options. My son would still have been allowed another go at resits later in the year (this was at Birmingham Uni) , but we took it as a sign that the course was not right for him. He admitted after failing the resits that he had been struggling with the course more than he had told us until then.

Whatever happens @Monr0e it's not the end of the world. They are young and have options even if a certain path doesn't work out. My son switched to a different degree subject and ended up with a 2.1. Mech Eng is hard!!

Those marks in the 70s are great news, OP. They are objective evidence that DS is capable. Universities are not eager to let capable students go. I would make a bet that as long as DS doesn’t fall to pieces on his resits (and maybe even then) there is a path through this for him.

Salford is a pragmatically orientated university but there is nothing wrong with that. They have some good programmes! I don’t know much about the place, but AI informs me that Engineering students do have Personal Tutors.

DS should get to know his. Everyone understands messing up a couple of modules. Happens all the time..The high marks will be impressive.Some PTs are essentially neutral, virtually none are worse than that. Many are great resources in ways that will only emerge as you get to know them. Having a (mostly light touch) relationship with an academic can help keep DS on track, and if he does need help with anything this person can either provide help or give him a steer. It’s really nice to have someone on your side.

Can I ask what he went on ti study?

DS sort if fell into mechanical engineering as he didn't really know what else to do and he has always been very strong at maths and physics and it felt like a natural progression.

He has since said he feels he should have thought longer and maybe give with something he had more of a passion for (but he doesn't know what!)

We have told him we would support him no matter what, including changing degree but he feels he has done 2 years and doesn't want to start from scratch or get more in debt. Also, there are definitely parts if the course that he is enjoying overall.

OP, it is great that you are supportive. However it may be of relevance that if DS is English he is only eligible for two more years of Student Financing in the ordinary course of events.

I haven't seen your other thread, but if anxiety us new to you have you considered whether you need to start HRT?

My son did a complete change to History! His A levels were History, Maths and Physics and it turned out that he was better at writing essays than doing very high level Maths and Physics, though he was equally good at all 3 at A level.

Seeing as your son has done really well on some of his modules, he probably could switch to something that builds on them rather than starting something completely new from scratch IF he fails his resits.

Take it one step at a time @Monr0e It's a bit overwhelming at the moment because there are a lot of unknowns but I would wait to see if he passes the resits before worrying about alternative courses. Best of luck to him.

Good advice. I will try and stop the worry and deal with things as they come. I've always been a planner, and planning for the woelrst outcome whilst hoping for the best usually makes me feel better, knowing there will still be options.

@herbetta unfortunately I can't take hrt but I completely understand why you have suggested it 🙂

In that case try Mirtazipine? I was given it initially to help with the MH side of peri / menopause.

Exactly what I thought. What parent doesn’t worry about their children if they don’t pass their exams even if it’s their own fault. Advice and support is the very least that a parent should give. I feel very sorry for children with parents who don’t seem to give a shit and leave them to struggle through life on their own as soon as they hit 18

Hi @poetryandwine can I pick your brains please? My DS has failed one of his 1st year exams (by 4 marks). His course is already 4 years MEng so would he not be eligible for SFE if he needed to retake a whole year? Thanks

Hi, @MillicentFaucet -

Great username!

The key question is the length of the course to which DS originally signed up. SFE will automatically extend the loan for one year beyond that.

For the moment it sounds like DS is in pretty good shape, if he can buckle down. Best wishes to him.

Thanks @poetryandwine I thought that would be the case. The fail did come as a shock to him so hopefully will be the jolt he needs to spend less time gallivanting & a little more studying! TBF he's loved his 1st year living in college with all of the social & sport opportunities but now realises he doesn't need to be out every single night!

Hi @poetryandwine would this also apply to DS? His is also the 4 year Meng that he applied for.

Thanks again everyone, it really has been helpful to hear from everyone and for your support.

Yes! Very sorry I misled you . The principle of ‘one year beyond the term of the degree originally applied for’ is universal with SFE.

I think your DS is going to do fine on his resits. But let’s suppose he wants to start over after two years on his MEng programme, for whatever reason.

In that case I would take the advice of the new admissions tutors about starting in Y1 vs Y2. It will depend on how much background the programmes have in common and how much knowledge DS has retained. We sometimes see families pushing for Y2 entry against advice and IMO this is usually a mistake for their DC.

The main point is that starting a new programme after two years, the one year extension would give DS the time to do a three year degree. But any need for more support would require a special petition, and frankly the success rate isn’t great.

Again, I apologise for misunderstanding you earlier and I hope this helps.

Thank you so much, you didn't mislead me at all, don't worry, I just wanted to clarify 🙂

I hadn't heard that rule before so it's good to know if he absolutely wanted to switch to something new he could do. I'm almost certain he won't though!

And thank you for the confidence on his resits. We've had a chat today, he's pretty clear on what he needs to do (I think)!

raising the issue with the tutor doesn’t always achieve anything either. Both my DCs have been in this situation (different uni, different course) and in the end you just carry the others.