I need advice on how to approach my revision and can I resit with the OU?

[dressingown]

I have if not flu a bloody bad cold, am on day three. I feel so ill my revision this weekend has been completely pointless. If I try and read my head hurts. I can't concentrate.

My exam is on Tuesday, I need to get 70%. I have done 2/3 of my revision and will only have a few hours as I am in work tomorrow and Tuesday morning before the exam.

If I don't get my 70% can I resit?

It is highly unlikely I will fail the exam. I missed out on a pass one for my essays by 1 mark. Am I right in thinking that I can only resit the exam if I fail?

look here
& here

Good luck

It appears that I have to fail the exam to be allowed to resit. I won't fail unless I do so deliberately. There is a chance that I may get under 70% which means I will have wasted my year.

Sometimes life is crap. I really hope this clears up for Tuesday

The second link has a form - so if you aren't at your best but are a few marks under, they give you the the benefit of the doubt (I think)

Can you delay the exam a few days (I didn't read my link sorry)

Thanks Katy.

I don't think a cold counts as a serious reason. I am so annoyed. I will probably have to resit the whole year and shell out another £600.

IIRC you have to fail within a set range as well, not just fail. It was considered a big gamble when I was an OU student

Hope you feel better soon.

Is it your last course? Because I could have got a pass 2 in my last course and still have got a distinction (I think) - certainly I could have got a pass 3 and ended up with a 2.1 overall. How is it stacking up overall?

No it isn't TFM Dh is trying to calm me down and he said I need to think of my overall result not just this one.

I have so far one distinction and one grade 2 pass. Because I dropped on one of my essays I can only get a grade 2 pass on this unit. There is still a chance I will get a Pass 1 for the whole degree but I would have thought not if I drop to a pass 3 for this course. My exam mark cannot drop below 70% in order to get a pass two on this unit.

I havea feeling this is as clear as mud

My head is not clear enough to fail within a set range.

Dh is being fab he thinks I can do it even though I am ill. My lowest essay mark is 80%. I did that essay in a few hours with little reading. DH thinks therefore that even ill with little revision I should be able to get 70%. I wish I had his confidence.

can re sit 2 times normaly speaking with OU but you may find a mark or 2 under will still get a pass. i got under distinction threshold by about 6 marks and still got the distinction. If you are unwell you may want to get a drs letter and wait till feb to take next exam

Actually, if you are only under by one mark, you could go up to distinction if you ace the exam. I did. Three times. I am a bit of a boy when it comes to coursework vs exams. They say you are limited by your lowest component, but not IME. They went with my average.

My revision would focus on past questions - get the technique right, because that's what makes the difference between the different grades.

Would they really let me resit because of a cold? I feel crap but at the end of the day it is just a cold, if a bad one.

I have 3 free periods at school tomorrow I may get some revision in then and just pay the time back. I will just have to hit the books in the evening and hope I feel better. I ahve taken lots of paracetamol and liquid

I don't want to hear that I could get a distinction if I ace the exam TFM! I want to hear that there is no need to perform that well in the exam because I an only get a pass 2.

The boundary for a pass 1 is 85% so it is more than one mark.

You are right about past questions. I have been making revision cards but if I was one of my students I would say look at past questions

To get a first class degree you need one level three pass one and mostly pass 2 for the rest, but iirc only 3 or 4 strongest results count, so I would think one pass 3 wouldn't ruin your chances of getting 1st class degree.

he is right you should reach 70% easily my av essay markd below 75 and i got over 80 in exam with little revision. do you know the range of Q as you may only need to revise certain blocks but elimating a few will leave you stuffed if you dont like the q for the blocks you ahve revised

I have looked and I actually dropped to 79% on an essay so my coursework mark is 81% - 4% under the threshold.

I am seriously pissed off that I could have blown my chance of a pass 1.

Right off to look at past questions and think positive

Yep. Unless you really don't think you have covered all of the ground, then you need to be putting it all together. Timed essays (if your exam has essays of course) is the way to go.

Sorry to tantalise you, but you might surprise yourself though...

I got 80% average in TMAs for one subject, and 92% in the exam, and got a distinction. Really, they say that you have to get it in both, but you really don't.

Don't do that now though. Classic avoidance...

It is a level 2 prolesworth.

DH thinks the same as you I need to stop stressing.

Your DH is right. Go to bed!!

I have a whole book I have not looked at and I am too bunged up to sleep. I will do some essay plans on notecards and then hit the hay. Luckily I have an easy teaching day tomorrow so I should be OK.

have you looked at the qualification planner on your student home page? Once you input your courses for your degree, it lets you play around with course results so you can see what grade your overall degree will be.

Good luck, and try not to worry too much