The Student Room Group

Failing a Module: How to Move Forward?

So I got my marks back for the first teaching block in my master's program and while I did well in 2 of them (62 and 75 respectively), I failed the third (45, 50 was the passing mark). Suffice to say, it's really affected me this past weekend (the way the course was taught and structured was incredibly frustrating for all of us, myself included) and I'm trying to figure out how to regroup. Some extra info:

*It's not one of the listed must-pass courses and is worth 20 credits
*I talked to my course director and he's trying to see if it's viable for a compensation pass
*I'm currently looking at info for resits in the summer
*One of my peers is currently reaching out to see if the class's exam scores can be scaled given the frustrating circumstances

I guess my main question is just what can I do from here?
Original post by Gojira18
So I got my marks back for the first teaching block in my master's program and while I did well in 2 of them (62 and 75 respectively), I failed the third (45, 50 was the passing mark). Suffice to say, it's really affected me this past weekend (the way the course was taught and structured was incredibly frustrating for all of us, myself included) and I'm trying to figure out how to regroup. Some extra info:
*It's not one of the listed must-pass courses and is worth 20 credits
*I talked to my course director and he's trying to see if it's viable for a compensation pass
*I'm currently looking at info for resits in the summer
*One of my peers is currently reaching out to see if the class's exam scores can be scaled given the frustrating circumstances
I guess my main question is just what can I do from here?

Hello :party:

Firstly I am so sorry that you had a grade that was lower than you were hoping, especially as your other two grades were so amazing, but you need to give yourself lots of praise for doing so well in these modules but you have excellent marks here. I totally understand how disappointed you are at the low mark, but the important thing to remember at the moment is not to focus on it totally as it has happened and instead you need to focus on the modules you are currently working on, so that you can get the good marks you so obviously deserve to get. I know it's so easy for me to say, and really hard to do, but try and forget about it at the moment otherwise you just won't have the head space and the brain power to concentrate your studying on the current work and it would become difficult to keep your motivation up, and if you're anything like me, it makes you anxious and stressed. So take the positives of your two fantastic grades primarily and also keep in mind that this is not one of the listed must pass courses.

Next steps, in terms of what to do about the low grade. Have you spoken to the course director again about the viability of the compensation pass? If not, could you chase him and find out if he has an answer yet? You could then work from there, if he hasn't keep checking back with him. The same is true of the resits, check back in with the tutor to find out if this is possible too. Also, what was the outcome of your classmate's enquiry about the scaling of the grades? If it has affected the whole class then it is obviously not just you that has been affected so your classmate may have been successful with the request - I have no idea about how this works, so I can't be more helpful, sorry. Does your university have a student services team that may be able to offer you some advice - you could enquire with the Student Union too as at Chester we have several Union workers who are able to offer us advice in relation to academic issues.

The main thing I would say is try not to worry about it, there will be a solution and you have lots of avenues in motion trying to work through it.
I really hope it works out soon for you,
All the best
Jess
PhD English
University of Chester

Reply 2

Original post by PG Study Chester
Hello :party:
Firstly I am so sorry that you had a grade that was lower than you were hoping, especially as your other two grades were so amazing, but you need to give yourself lots of praise for doing so well in these modules but you have excellent marks here. I totally understand how disappointed you are at the low mark, but the important thing to remember at the moment is not to focus on it totally as it has happened and instead you need to focus on the modules you are currently working on, so that you can get the good marks you so obviously deserve to get. I know it's so easy for me to say, and really hard to do, but try and forget about it at the moment otherwise you just won't have the head space and the brain power to concentrate your studying on the current work and it would become difficult to keep your motivation up, and if you're anything like me, it makes you anxious and stressed. So take the positives of your two fantastic grades primarily and also keep in mind that this is not one of the listed must pass courses.
Next steps, in terms of what to do about the low grade. Have you spoken to the course director again about the viability of the compensation pass? If not, could you chase him and find out if he has an answer yet? You could then work from there, if he hasn't keep checking back with him. The same is true of the resits, check back in with the tutor to find out if this is possible too. Also, what was the outcome of your classmate's enquiry about the scaling of the grades? If it has affected the whole class then it is obviously not just you that has been affected so your classmate may have been successful with the request - I have no idea about how this works, so I can't be more helpful, sorry. Does your university have a student services team that may be able to offer you some advice - you could enquire with the Student Union too as at Chester we have several Union workers who are able to offer us advice in relation to academic issues.
The main thing I would say is try not to worry about it, there will be a solution and you have lots of avenues in motion trying to work through it.
I really hope it works out soon for you,
All the best
Jess
PhD English
University of Chester

Hi Jess,

Sorry for the late reply but I greatly appreciate your support. Just for clarification, I'm studying at Bristol, not Chester. A little update: My course director and I looked through the school academic policy book and my failed module fits the criteria for a compensated pass (Needs to be 45-49, must not be a must-pass unit, and is within the limit 30 credit points in a Masters degree or Postgraduate Diploma -no compensation is permitted in a Postgraduate Certificate-, except where the credit value of each and every taught unit exceeds 30 credit points -3 of my other taught units are worth 20 credits-). I just got back another taught unit that IS a must-pass and got a 65, so I just have one more must-pass unit I have to get through. But if it goes well, I have a fighting chance of getting a compensated pass. No updates have come on the exam scores being scaled, so I assume it fell on deaf ears.

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