Final year Failure

Hey guys,

Just to preface things, I am a final year product design student at Nottingham Trent University. I was meant to graduate this year, but after failing a single module, I have been asked to repeat the module the next year, meaning it delays my graduation by a whole YEAR… for a single module.

I am seeking advice on my options and general guidance on the topic.

Here are the additional details.

Last month I was sent an email informing me of a notice of ‘Fail and Repeat’, of the major module in our course. This very short and incredibly vague email just notified me of the module failure, how much it would cost to repeat (10,400 POUNDS), and informed me of the option to appeal the decision. No reason why I failed, no feedback left, nothing, that was the entire email.

To make things worse, this repeat module would place a cap of a low 3rd on my grade, meaning that no matter how hard I try in the next year, it amounts to absolutely nothing, I’ll be wasting a whole year of my life to only just pass.

Then came the process of having to actually figure out why I failed. Instead of the information/feedback being handed to me upon notice of failure, it took me a week to find out the reasoning. During that time of sheer confusion and panic, I spent ages trying to find the people in charge and liaising with them on a date to discuss the failure. With the egregious price I pay as an international student, you’d expect this information to be immediately available. Not to mention how incredibly dodgy and greedy it is to include the pricing of the repeat module BEFORE I even receive a reason for why I failed.

Of course I appealed immediately, the pricing and capping of the grades are outrageous. I completely understand that I failed and that is entirely my fault, sure, but asking me to waste a whole year on a single module and achieve the lowest passing grade is such a spit on the face. In the meantime, I can’t work full-time jobs, and have to continue paying for living and accommodation expenses in an expensive country, severely hurting my finances and prospective job applications.

I was informed in those meetings that due to the project's size, there is no way it could be done over the summer, and thus warrants me staying back for a whole year to complete it. The module is 5 months long and runs alongside a minor project too, which I have already passed. Realistically speaking, this should take about 3 months to complete. Adding on to the fact that from September to December the module isn’t running, there will be a significant portion of the year where I have absolutely nothing to do.

Yup, I’m repeating a whole year for about 3 months worth of work.

Of course there is a lot that I left out, I won't be name-dropping here to keep myself anonymous, for obvious reasons, but the sheer lack of empathy and overall unprofessionalism displayed by certain staff members and administrators is entirely worth warranting a name-drop. Please feel free to message me and ask for more details.

I’m honestly still enraged and depressed, seeing all my friends graduate around me while I am held back a year over 1 project is so frustrating. I want to know what options I have available to me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated,

Thank you.

(edited 1 year ago)