Anxious

I have failed 3 resits I'm currently in my first year and it's been decided by the award body that I can not progress onto 2nd year. I have appealed 1 of the assignment, as the resit was not marked by the same lecture who initially marked and suggestions in the first instance. I'm hoping they will let me carry over the other 2 or do you think I'm dreaming. I am absolutely devastated, If this does not work then I will have to resit the 3 modules in order to progress which will mean a whole year wasted

It's not a whole year wasted. It is a year where hopefully you will have the opportunity to reflect on what you have done wrong so that as you progress in life, you can have a different attitude towards your work. Or, you have found something that you are not that good at so either need to improve or focus your energies on things you are good at? I assume you are just out of school. You have 50 odd years of working life ahead of you. You don't need to get it all done in the next three years. If it takes you 5 years to figure out what you are good at then you are better than most. It took me over 17 years and some never find out. Be gentle on yourself!

Please don't feel ashamed - in any way. You have had the courage to try and you have worked so hard. A lot of learning is about how you cope with the pressures of life and study. It's never easy. I understand why you might feel devastated. It might be worth trying to get a one to one with your tutors or someone who can sit down with you and unpick your answers. Sometimes it can be the way an answer is 'framed' or structured. Many answers require 'trigger' words to score and it could be the case you have used every word but that one the marker has been looking for. Sometimes it is simply that you have not answered the question they were asking. The important thing is to decide how badly you want this qualification or why you want a change of career (or life affirming aim) that you have submitted yourself to. It is very hard to go back to study when you are a mature student. It is a bit like being in Peter Pan world envying all the 18 year olds with no life commitments yet having a higher mountain to climb (with family, kids, parents, world life work experience in the mix) Sometimes you realise you have skipped the prelim study years and are immersed in the thick of it, and some of those learning curves are vertical. However, sometimes it is working 'smarter' to make sure you get the structure and words in an answer rather than just a plain narrative? If there are gaps in your knowledge you will have to deal with that. Go and talk to several people who support you at college or Uni and see exactly what your options are? Then make a decision based on time and finance or whether you know you want a change but maybe try a different course if it's that bad? If you really want what you have entered into you may well have to take the same year again as your only option? Never give up, but don't be too hard on yourself. This is now like the Grand National. It is an endurance test where often the fences don't get higher; it is about being able to run the distance. I hope you have someone to support and cheer you on.

Ok so feel ashamed, but then you still have to deal with this? You are maybe your worst critic, and being very harsh on yourself. Most other people really don't care that you failed, you are not unique in this respect? I wouldn't feel you have wasted your life, not at all. There are some issues here that perhaps you are not wanting to be realistic about? If in your heart you have given 300% and still not achieved your aims you have to ask if you are cut out for the course and the very job you are studying for? Most education facilities want you to succeed but there is a limit as to how much they can help someone. If you have genuinely struggled with the demands of just the study, how would you cope and deal with the rigours of the job demands? Maybe close one chapter and reassess? Look again at what it is you are so embarrassed about? There have to be failures in life, not everyone can win. How you deal with failure is very much more important than any success. If you keep shoulder barging a reinforced closed door it isn't going to open. Everything you have stated here suggests you are in that situation. So find the nearest opening to it, find a window and see what the view is out of that? Please go and find someone at the college or education unit to talk your options through. The hardest part of all of this is you accepting the situation you are in. One or two assignments can possibly be recovered from but a whole year?