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Afraid that I'm going to fail my first year of uni.

So , Im living at home and studying at uni (its a hour commute one-way) with my parents paying for my tuition fees , so im afraid that if i fail i fail them and they will be angry and I dont know what to do if thats the case.

so My exams start next week , all year I have been stressing alot (there where issues with my tuition fees , my dyslexia and my girlfriend who is on the other side of the country). So this means i have only handed in 3 out of 8 essays that I have had due , in 3 of my modules. Im not sure how uni is graded or what I need to get into the second year. so i geuss im asking if its possible to get in for my second year at this point?

thanks
Reply 1
We can't tell you - it will depend how your department deals with your situation. Every uni can set its own rules. Talk to your course leader.

If you have a formal dyslexia diagnosis, you should be able to get help. For example things like extensions on coursework and doing exams on a word processor instead of hand writing them. Contact your uni's Student Support function. If you can't find them, ask your Student Union who will have a Disability Officer who can advise and help you.

Having failed to hand in 5 of 8 bits of coursework, I suspect the best you can hope for is repeating the first year. However you might have a better shot next time round if you have the appropriate support in place.

Talk to people at your uni as soon as possible.
Original post by Wik1995
So , Im living at home and studying at uni (its a hour commute one-way) with my parents paying for my tuition fees , so im afraid that if i fail i fail them and they will be angry and I dont know what to do if thats the case.

so My exams start next week , all year I have been stressing alot (there where issues with my tuition fees , my dyslexia and my girlfriend who is on the other side of the country). So this means i have only handed in 3 out of 8 essays that I have had due , in 3 of my modules. Im not sure how uni is graded or what I need to get into the second year. so i geuss im asking if its possible to get in for my second year at this point?

thanks


Most unis require a minimum of 40% overall to pass first year and for anyone who has actually managed to get into university getting 40% shouldn't be too difficult at all - it basically requires that you complete the exams/coursework required of you and have at least some idea of what to write about.

Find out what the individual pass rates per exam/coursework and per module are for you uni and course - I'm pretty sure that it should all be 40% but check. If it is, then yes you can pass first year. You don't have to know your subject very well to get 40%, you just need to demonstrate some understanding but you don't have to know an awful lot.

So you have 5 essays plus your exams to achieve 40% - that doesn't sound too bad. Find out the end date of your exams and find out the deadline for your essays - then prioritize whichever ones are the soonest. If your essay deadlines are after your exams then focus on your exams now. Also, for your essays - if you're short for time, don't spend more than 1 day per essay.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 3
Original post by somethingbeautiful
Most unis require a minimum of 40% overall to pass first year and for anyone who has actually managed to get into university getting 40% shouldn't be too difficult at all - it basically requires that you complete the exams/coursework required of you and have at least some idea of what to write about.

Find out what the individual pass rates per exam/coursework and per module are for you uni and course - I'm pretty sure that it should all be 40% but check. If it is, then yes you can pass first year. You don't have to know your subject very well to get 40%, you just need to demonstrate some understanding but you don't have to know an awful lot.

So you have 5 essays plus your exams to achieve 40% - that doesn't sound too bad. Find out the end date of your exams and find out the deadline for your essays - then prioritize whichever ones are the soonest. If your essay deadlines are after your exams then focus on your exams now. Also, for your essays - if you're short for time, don't spend more than 1 day per essay.


Hi thanks for answering, All of my essay deadlines have passed and my exams end on the 19th may. Does this mean I need 40% in every essay and exam or just on my overall grades ?
Original post by Wik1995
Hi thanks for answering, All of my essay deadlines have passed and my exams end on the 19th may. Does this mean I need 40% in every essay and exam or just on my overall grades ?


Have you disclosed your dyslexia? Would massively help on your exams if you did (speaking from experience:P)

Most unis want 40% in every assignment to go onto second year but have heard of some where if you average over 40% and only have one fail they ll let you progress but it depends.
Reply 5
Original post by Wik1995
Hi thanks for answering, All of my essay deadlines have passed and my exams end on the 19th may. Does this mean I need 40% in every essay and exam or just on my overall grades ?


In order to pass your year, usually you have to pass each of the individual modules with 40% or more. Your overall grade is calculated from your module results.

You are unlikely to pass units where you have just not handed in the required coursework. However, you should check with your course leader urgently. You may be permitted to resubmit your missing coursework over the summer in order to pass the year. It's an outside chance but you won't know unless you ask.
Original post by Wik1995
Hi thanks for answering, All of my essay deadlines have passed and my exams end on the 19th may. Does this mean I need 40% in every essay and exam or just on my overall grades ?


That depends on the university and the particular course. You need to check this ASAP - it should be in your student/departmental handbook.

As for your essay deadlines having passed, have you asked for an extension or anything? If not, you need to get in contact with your personal tutor or your module co-ordinators as a matter of urgency and you need to find out whether you can still submit work even if it's late. At my uni this was actually possible but the achievable mark was capped so the highest that someone could get if they did this was 40% (even if the work submitted was 65% standard) - but in your case, that's all you need. So find out if you can still submit and if they say yes - find out what the deadlines are. You need to do this ASAP. Do it tomorrow morning. There's no use studying for exams if you're unable to pass the whole year (due to failure to submit essays) even if you sit the exams and pass. So you need to find out about your essays first.

Hopefully, you can still submit your essays late. If you can then, as I say, do your best but 40% will scrape you through into 2nd year.

Also, looking further to the future - you say your parents are paying your fees. Have you considered student finance? Because if you don't get your act together in 2nd year, it's going to be even harder to pull a trick like this because the work is harder (and there is more of it) in 2nd year and getting 40% won't be this 'easy'. If you **** up like this next year, it'll be harder to scrape though and it will massively affect your overall classification if you do. I'm saying this for your own good, not to get at you - I don't know your personal circumstances or what led to this situation, but you need to do everything possible to make sure it doesn't happen next year because you're only making life difficult for yourself.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Wik1995
So , Im living at home and studying at uni (its a hour commute one-way) with my parents paying for my tuition fees , so im afraid that if i fail i fail them and they will be angry and I dont know what to do if thats the case.

so My exams start next week , all year I have been stressing alot (there where issues with my tuition fees , my dyslexia and my girlfriend who is on the other side of the country). So this means i have only handed in 3 out of 8 essays that I have had due , in 3 of my modules. Im not sure how uni is graded or what I need to get into the second year. so i geuss im asking if its possible to get in for my second year at this point?

thanks

Well the fact you spend 2 hours a day travelling possibly has something to do with it.

The uni will issue make up assignments over the summer and you sound your predicted some resists these will all be capped at 40%.

If you fail then you'll do the units you failed next year



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Reply 8
Original post by jonathanemptage
The uni will issue make up assignments over the summer and you sound your predicted some resists these will all be capped at 40%.

If you fail then you'll do the units you failed next year



Posted from TSR Mobile

I'm afraid that unless you're in the same department at the same uni as the OP, you can't be this certain. It might be what would happen where you are, but it may not be elsewhere. Each uni - and potentially each department - can set their own policies on this sort of thing.

OP: The key is now in not making any assumptions and talking to your uni staff/SU as soon as possible. Explain the situation and get some help on how to go forward. It may well be retrievable but you won't know until you ask. Not talking to the uni won't make anything better. You need to be brave and get help.
Reply 9
Hi, I just wanted to post on her to say thank you for all of your advice and I took most of it on board. and thankfully after talking to people at my uni I was able to organise re-submits for coursework. after my exams and re-submits I acheived a 2:1 in 3 modules and 1st in one module.

thank you
Original post by Wik1995
Hi, I just wanted to post on her to say thank you for all of your advice and I took most of it on board. and thankfully after talking to people at my uni I was able to organise re-submits for coursework. after my exams and re-submits I acheived a 2:1 in 3 modules and 1st in one module.

thank you


Yaaaaaay!!!!!!!!

Congratulations :biggrin:

See, you can do it. You just needed that extra boost and now all the hard work has paid off.

Well done!


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Reply 11
Was this thread for real? lmao.
Original post by Wik1995
So , Im living at home and studying at uni (its a hour commute one-way) with my parents paying for my tuition fees , so im afraid that if i fail i fail them and they will be angry and I dont know what to do if thats the case.

so My exams start next week , all year I have been stressing alot (there where issues with my tuition fees , my dyslexia and my girlfriend who is on the other side of the country). So this means i have only handed in 3 out of 8 essays that I have had due , in 3 of my modules. Im not sure how uni is graded or what I need to get into the second year. so i geuss im asking if its possible to get in for my second year at this point?

thanks


Hello :smile:

Well university works on a grading system of 1st (being the highest) and then 2:1, 2:2 and then a 3rd (lowest but still a past) - I can't remember the exact boundaries off the top of my head but a 1st is 70%, a 2:1 is 60% to 69% and so on. Any of those are a pass - admittadely a 3rd is a low pass but a pass none of the less. As bad as it is to say, First Year at university doesn't exactly count. Like those grades that you get don't go towards your overall grade at the end of the 3rd year. Some tutors use your grades from First Year to see if you've improved. To get into Second Year you need to pass. So, a 3rd - it'd be a low pass but again, you'd pass none the less.

I wouldn't worry about failing. It's worrying that you've only handed in 3 out of the 8 assignments you've needed too. Have you spoke to your university about what's going on? There is a lot of student support avaliable about university that can help you with extensions and so on. I'd make the most of these. I do believe you are letting the fact that your parents are paying your tution put pressure on you - unneeded pressure. If they didn't believe you were able to do well at university, I don't think they'd have paid for you. If you're worried, speak to your parents. That's important. Don't suffer in silence, talk to all the resources avaliable to you.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having a tough time and I apologise if this hasn't been helpful. Best of luck and keep pushing!
Original post by JustGeorgeJ
X!

This thread is a year old... they already passed
Closing because it's gravebumping...

Just FYI @JustGeorgeJ, grade boundaries are different for every uni. When talking about grading at uni, it's best to direct the person to their university to seek more advice - so that they don't get the wrong advice.

Cheers :smile:

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