I got a third class degree...

And the grad schem i want to go on requires a 2:2 what would you do in the situation

Before you say it i was lazy and dont deserve i did have reasons and during third year i just lost total motivation as it started to dawn on me pretty much how impossible itwould be to get into the industry i wanted. I really wish i made more thought into it after college. The course was also fairly hard if you simply just wasnt good enough and the lectures marked work harshly which is fair as they exspected industry standard. i was learning skills during the course so of course my work wasnt going to be top notch but just avergae. I tried but the standard was pretty much unrealistic if i wanted a life too. I have held a part time job throughout uni too so my focus wasnt always on uni and didnt have evey day to invest in uni as i worked to live also.

And the grad schem i want to go on requires a 2:2 what would you do in the situation

Before you say it i was lazy and dont deserve i did have reasons and during third year i just lost total motivation as it started to dawn on me pretty much how impossible it would be to get into the industry i wanted. I really wish i made more thought into it after college. The course was also fairly hard if you simply just wasnt good enough and the lectures marked work harshly which is fair as they exspected industry standard. i was learning skills during the course so of course my work wasnt going to be top notch but just avergae. I tried but the standard was pretty much unrealistic if i wanted a life too. I have held a part time job throughout uni too so my focus wasnt always on uni and didnt have evey day to invest in uni as i worked to live also.

1, accept that it was your fault, and entirely your fault.
2, accept that it is perfectly ok that its your fault - we all make mistakes, and we all disappoint ourselves sometimes. I certainly have before.
3, work practically on what you can do now, to rectify the situation.

That involves two parts:

1, recognizing what went wrong last time. In your case:
"during third year i just lost total motivation" - you lost motivation
"I really wish i made more thought into it after college." - because you made a bad decision when you were younger
"standard was pretty much unrealistic if i wanted a life to" - you didn't commit enough work, and focused on your social life
"I have held a part time job throughout uni too so my focus wasnt always on uni" - you priortised short term financial benefits over long-term career goals.


So in short, you made a bad decision when you were younger, and then didn't commit the work or focus required to achieve the grade you needed in your degree. You became distracted both socially and with a part-time job, and only realized how much of a problem this would cause, after it was to late.

2, working on piratical changes that you can make going forward

Excluding the more unusual options, you have a two very common routes that people take in your shoes:

1, Continue studying
My sister went this way, after receiving a 3rd. She went out, got a part-time job, and studied a masters at the best university that would give her a place (considering her 3rd) - she ended up with a merit in her masters, and then entered into a career that she would not have been able to enter into with only a 3rd. They were much more open to her, after she had a masters, more years of work experience, as well as her 3rd.


2, Get a job that has no degree requirement, and work your way up
Another friend of mine wen't this way, and it worked well for them. They lowered their expectation and first took a job in retail. Around 6 months later, they finally managed to get a lower-level job in a decent career sector, with a smaller local firm that didn't have fixed grad-scheme type requirements. After 4 years of working there, they secured a place in a traditional graduate-type company role, on the back of their solid work history, good reputation/references, and good applicable skill-base, all easily making up for their lower degree mark.

I dont agree with the prioritizing short term financial benefits i unfortunately we are not all privelled enough to live of the bank of mum and dad for 3 years I had to work otherwise how would i survive. I also didn' soley focus on social life i meant that i worked 25 hours a week and didnt have 7 days a week tk commit to uni. So are you basicallt saying unless youre rich and have 7 days a week to commit uni is pointless. I do appreciate the other points you made but really dont agree with what i pointed out. I also had some persoanl family things going on at the time there was alot of factors partly was mine some not so much.

Sounds to me like you're being defensive and are simply trying to justify your 3rd. I'd look at 2 options. Grad schemes and postgrad courses won't really be very open to you, broadly speaking. You can either find some jobs that will take you. If some of those provide opportunity for progressions then maybe go for it? Get some experience to add to your CV and go from there. Or you could try ringing up some unis and try to get onto their degree courses 3rd year entry (doesn't have to be your old uni). Work hard, do better than a third and go to your grad scheme of choice.

The problem why im a bit annoyed is because on the more acedemic parts i was doing fine i was getting around 65 to 70% on them but the main tasks was obviously worth more so this brought me down. I'm not really trying to be defensive just annoyed at myself a little and how harshly the work was marked I have plenty of work experiance in sales and customer service and already have a job but its just a generic job with little progession i honestly have very little interest in progressing in the field i studied. I understand that you have to draw a line somewhere but that doesnt mean i wouldnt be capapble of most grad schemes. But i suppose ill just have too work my way up. My main question was would grad schemes that require a 2:2 have any leway if i asked them beforhand. What do you mean about the 3rd year part?

So basically you're saying you had poor time management?

Maybe were not all perfect. How is your time management? And im not being sarcastic.

Most grad schemes are pretty competitive and set their requirements for a reason. If you're filtering 100 CVs for 20 interview spots, degree class is one easy way to do it.

As you have experience in certain areas, why not look for jobs in those fields, instead of specific grad schemes where you don't meet the minimum requirements. There are lots of career paths available that don't involve going on a "grad scheme" as such.

Im not limiting my self to grad scheme there is just one i like specifically. I have no issue with taking a lower end job at all its just i want somthing different. Im already in work and i am pro actively searching for a new job that i would enjoy more,grad schemes are clearly laid out whereas a normal job i guess isnt so.

I'm not claiming to be perfect, but you need to accept that you are the reason you came out with a third. That was due in part to poor time management. Lots of people have issues at university, myself included.

I have accepted the fact that it was me who produced the work at a lackluster level and hence i got a third. But i guess it annoys me because the work i failed at was nothing actaully acemdemic and thus have linited myself.

The problem why im a bit annoyed is because on the more acedemic parts i was doing fine i was getting around 65 to 70% on them but the main tasks was obviously worth more so this brought me down. I'm not really trying to be defensive just annoyed at myself a little and how harshly the work was marked I have plenty of work experiance in sales and customer service and already have a job but its just a generic job with little progession i honestly have very little interest in progressing in the field i studied. I understand that you have to draw a line somewhere but that doesnt mean i wouldnt be capapble of most grad schemes. But i suppose ill just have too work my way up. My main question was would grad schemes that require a 2:2 have any leway if i asked them beforhand. What do you mean about the 3rd year part?

Tbh, given that you keep making excuses it doesn't sound as though you've accepted it. And it is academic, it is part of your degree, is it not? To get a third it means you've consistently performed at a level around 40-50% (unless you're at the OU) for at least 2 years. You had time to change your grades in your final year, you didn't.

For example, I used to loathe doing lab reports, I couldn't get my head around them in my first year at university. I was consistently getting high thirds and low 2:i's in first year for this particular aspect of my course. However, my dissertation (which was basically a huge lab report) ended up being among one of my highest module grades at 76 at the end of my degree. I learnt how to improve, I asked for help, I managed my time more effectively (despite all the other stuff going on in my life). When you're putting in that amount of money into something you need to be putting in work. It's like a full time job. That means making sacrifices sometimes.

Set your sights lower for now. Work up to other things.

Has anyone on this thread actually applied to a grad scheme if so which one? And how did it go?