Resits should not be allowed

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If you did it on your second/third attempt, you didn't revise enough. That's why Cambridge want to know about resits, which will be used to your disadvantage when assessing your application.

I did all my examinations well on my first attempt... Are you against everyone on this thread? Even those who agree with you? :confused:

Reply 41

Doglamlico

Original post by Robbie242

You hate January modules, probably because you don't revise enough... many people are ready for January modules and its an easy way to reduce summer exam stress especially if you are doing both mathematics subjects...

I do think it's a detriment to education though, as it forces compartmentalised learning where we learn something for one exam, then forget it as we move onto Exam 2.

If you think about it, sitting C1+C2+C3+C4+FP1+FP2 (= an A-level in Pure Mathematics) all at the same time really wouldn't be much of an issue, as they build on each other and so it's not hard to remember the previous stuff as you're still using it.

If anything, it would be a benefit, as you could continue learning throughout the two years without having to revise until the end, making learning a lot more fluid, constant and beneficial. You could link ideas between modules etc. and it allows for more flexibility in teaching too.

And to whoever negged me, as someone who has sat C1, C2, C3, C4, FP1 and is about to sit FP2, I'd much rather sit them all together.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 42

Libby18

Original post by warfarin

No, not declared but ACTIVELY resisted. If somebody does not meet the conditions you mentioned, he shall not be allowed to re-sit.

Even those who resit, have twice the exams to worry about in summer or during their A2 year if its AS resits, so in some way it still works out a burden for them and chances are it'll cause their A2 to suffer.

Reply 43

Doglamlico

Original post by Fas

Don't you have to declare resits on your UCAS Application anyway ? or is that wrong ?

You certainly don't for GCSE, as you don't put down individual modules, but I don't know about A-level.

Reply 44

warfarin

Original post by HenryD

Everybody has bad days, just because yours didn't fall on an exam doesn't mean you're going to cope at Uni better than they are.

What do you mean by a bad day? Of course should students be allowed to re-sit for health reasons (require a confirmation by a doctor?) or if they happen to have serious issues within their family. But luck shouldn't affect your performance (I guess that's what you mean by 'bad days') if you prepared sufficiently - and hence no re-sits!

Reply 45

username963570

Original post by The Polymath

You certainly don't for GCSE, as you don't put down individual modules, but I don't know about A-level.

ah right i see. Thanks :smile:

Reply 46

HenryD

Original post by warfarin

Not luck, some people get so nervous before exams that they just can't sleep, some get writers block and sometimes you just can't remember a formula. For example in maths, done 11 practice papers so far, 10 of them I got 97%+ with no notes, and on one for no apparent reason I dropped to 85. Sometimes you just aren't at your best.

Reply 47

warfarin

Original post by member591354

I did all my examinations well on my first attempt... Are you against everyone on this thread? Even those who agree with you? :confused:

no no, i guess i didn't properly read to what you replied. If it was your first attempt - well done! My point simply was that unjustified further attempts make somebody an inferior applicant (in terms of grades), when compared to an applicant with same grades who achieved them on their first try (like you :smile:

Reply 48

SirMasterKey

I disagree. Illness or just a bad day can have an effect.

However excessive resits should be banned. For example if you resit 3 times (so take it 4 times) is getting a tad silly.

Reply 49

warfarin

Original post by HenryD

solution to the first issue: mock exams.
second issue is corrected by grade fixing (ie the 11th paper was probably more difficult, and hence the exam boards would have lowered the grade boundaries)

Reply 50

Foghorn Leghorn

Original post by HenryD

I remember doing my higher maths exam an getting writers block. Predicted A only got a C in exam. Managed to appeal and get a B overall, but was still disappointed because I knew I could have gotten an A no problem. Unfortunately in scotland we don't have resits we only have appeals based on prelims.

Reply 51

PatrickB

I'm not sure about all schools but at mine you have to attain the signatures of teachers that the actual Mark you got was an obvious anomaly. Not just "oh I really wanted an A and just missed it; I'll have another go", but more like "I was working comfortably at an A all year and suddenly got a C". This happened to all my class because of a confusion with the curriculum that wasn't our fault. No one in my class got above a C when most of us were all expecting As, and it turns out our teacher (who was only there for a year) taught us the syllabus really badly. If resits weren't allowed, we would just be left to fail when it wasn't our fault. It's not always laziness and it's checked to make sure that that's not the case.

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iP

Reply 52

JSam1994

My dad has had 2 strokes, one last may, one the may after, now, i'm sorry if helping him to learn to do basic things again stopped me revising for my exams, making me 'inferior', i should just give up on the career i want and sit on the dole or work a dead end job my whole life, rather than contributing to society with my degreee, because i didn't prioritise right, my bad

Reply 53

samaaf

I disagree with this. People should be allowed to resit. And you may think it gives them an unfair advantage over the people who did well the first time but it doesn't because universities see that they've resat modules so they'll know who did well the first time round anyway. Also, so what if someone wants to resit? Those who did well on their first try are the lucky ones because they don't have to resit and face double the pressure of doing the exam for a second time so there's really nothing to complain about tbh.
Like others have mentioned before me, there are so many circumstances that can put you in a bad position for the exam whether that be medical or personal and they should get to take an exam again.

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 54

HenryD

Original post by Foghorn Leghorn

Yeah that's exactly the type of case I'm talking about, can happen to anyone :smile:

Original post by warfarin

solution to the first issue: mock exams.
second issue is corrected by grade fixing (ie the 11th paper was probably more difficult, and hence the exam boards would have lowered the grade boundaries)

This was the 11th mock I'd taken, more than most people will do before exams. And nope same grade boundaries and everyone else in my class did pretty much as well as they had over the last few.

Reply 55

username133326

Original post by member591354

It is simple; you are far inferior to someone who got the same grade as you if they got it the first time round and you had three tries or even one for that matter! Perhaps a penalty should be applied whereby if you resit you get deducted a certain number of marks - it is unfair when resit candidates artificially raise the grade boundaries when they have had longer to learn the content for a module than people who work hard for it the first time! They should not be allowed to resit and face the consequences of their laziness or sit a separate examination. Enough said.

Why? Someone who gets an A the second time around is more qualified than another who gets a B in their first go.

It doesn't matter how long it takes them to learn. The point of any qualification is to learn.

Reply 56

Memphis_93

Original post by member591354

Everyone deserves a second chance you ignorant moron. End of.

Reply 57

warfarin

Original post by HenryD

Yeah that's exactly the type of case I'm talking about, can happen to anyone :smile:

This was the 11th mock I'd taken, more than most people will do before exams. And nope same grade boundaries and everyone else in my class did pretty much as well as they had over the last few.

Perhaps you just couldn't stand doing more past papers after ten in a row, and so just couldn't concentrate? (whilst everyone else -having done less papers- still had a fresh mind).

Reply 58

jarasta

Original post by warfarin

No, not declared but ACTIVELY resisted. If somebody does not meet the conditions you mentioned, he shall not be allowed to re-sit.

I think everyone should be allowed anyway. Some people in those situations may not want to share that information. For example, when my grandfather passes away a week before my c1 exam last January. Despite not being right in the head, I didn't try to get a note about that so that the exam board could have given me extra marks for losing a family member.

Also, we should be so hard on punishing the less able people. They should be allowed to retake and it should be made clear that the mark is a retake mark.