Failed one element of my module

Hi everyone, I’m a bit confused and needed some clarification.

I had a 15-credit module which had two elements of assessment: a lab report and an in-class quiz. The lab report had a weighting of 70%, and I achieved 60% in this. However, the quiz had a weighting of 30%, and unfortunately I got 25% in this. The qualifying mark for each element to pass the module is 30%. To pass the module overall, a percentage of 40% is needed. So, although I got 50% overall, I didn’t get 30% in one of the elements and so I failed the module.

My question is, when I resit this element alone will my overall module grade now be capped at 40%? Or will it just be capped for the element I failed? Surely they won’t cap the entire module because I didn’t fail the other element?

I have emailed my module leader and he said that reassessments are capped at 40%, but I don’t know if the entire module grade will be capped at 40% or not?

Any help would be appreciated

Every university has their own rules and regulations, so whether they cap just that one assessment or the whole module can vary between universities. Which university are you at?

Hi, I’m at Anglia Ruskin university.

Thanks. See the Access our Academic Regulations (17th edition) (PDF) link on Anglia Ruskin's Student regulations and student protection plan page. The relevant section would appear to be 3.5 which says (with the bold added by me):
"3.5 Reassessment (Resit)
3.5.1 Recruits who at first assessment do not pass a module or assessment block are entitled to a reassessment opportunity (resit).
3.5.2 Only the failed elements of assessment may be re-sat.
3.5.3 The maximum mark which will be awarded for a module block or assessment block in any re-assessment is the pass mark.
3.5.4 Where a recruit achieves a lower standard in reassessment than in first assessment, the higher mark will stand.
3.5.5 A reassessment is not permitted for any module block or assessment block where a pass mark has been achieved.
3.5.6 The scheduling of any reassessment will be determined by the Collaboration Partner Universities in conjunction with Babcock."
I don't know why they refer to a "module block" and an "assessment block". From the context both above and in the rest of the document, I believe they just mean "module" and "assessment". My interpretation of the above (which still isn't 100% clear, to be honest) is that if you fail an assessment, then the resit of that assessment is capped. It's only if you were to fail the entire module that the result of the whole module would be capped.
Assuming that the module definition says something along the lines of, "In order to pass this module, a weighted average mark of 40% is required", then a module-level cap would not be appropriate. The fact that there's a separate and distinct requirement to achieve a particular mark in each assessment should mean that only an assessment-level cap would apply.

Thank you so much for going to all that trouble to find this!

I had a read through it before but couldn’t comprehend what they were trying to say😂. Just to clarify, it’s only the assessment I’ve failed that will be capped at 40%?

I believe so, yes, based upon my reading of their regulations. However, clarity clearly wasn't a key consideration in the mind of the author.

Thank you so much, I really appreciate your help!

You're very welcome.

Hi, I just thought I’d let you know I asked the academic registrar to clarify the regulations regarding resits and grades.

He just replied and said that the overall module grade will be capped at 40%.. how is this fair?? I got 60% in the lab report but was 5% off the pass mark in the class quiz (got 25%, needed 30% to pass)!!

As of now, my module grade is 50% overall, but after the resit it will be capped at 40%, so is there even a point of me doing the resit if my grade will just go down anyways? Plus, I’m transferring to another university anyways after this year, so I’m not even going to be at ARU next year. I’m just worried about what will be written on my transcript if I don’t do the resit, as I need to provide the uni I’m transferring to with one: will it just have a 0 written for the module, or will it have 50 and an ‘F’ for fail written next to it?

I hate university.

I agree that seems unfair. Can the academic registrar not tell you what your transcript shows right now for the module in question?

The module right now says 50% and FR, which means fail with resit pending.

This is so unfair, I don’t understand why the regulations are like this. Plus, this is the only exam I’ve failed out of all the ones I’ve done so far. I’ve gotten 60% and above in all my other exams so far except this one

So what are you going to do? Retake the assessment, and see that 50% FR change to 40%, or do nothing and hope that your target university is OK with the "fail with resit pending" module?

Just to note that unis are aware of the common 40% cap for retakes.
So seeing a 40% mark for a retake isn't necessarily going to be seen any worse than a higher fail mark. And as someone that sees a lot of UG transcripts, I'd probably take at least some comfort that they did eventually pass.

I’m not too sure because my target university said I needed to achieve 50% in each module for the transfer. But I’m just concerned that if I were to not resit, would there just be a 0 for that module? I have no clue what to do..

Understood. I'd contact the target university and say that for this module you have a mark of 50% (show them your current transcript as evidence), but that you've been asked to resit one of the assessments with it, at which point the university's regulations will cap the whole module at 40%. Hopefully they'll accept that you've achieved the 50% they've mandated and be happy with that. Hopefully.
Given that your transcript says 50% FR right now (from what you've said above), it's difficult to imagine that this would change to 0% at some point.
@Admit-One, does that seem like a reasonable approach? If you were reviewing such a transcript, what would you make of it?

Understood. I'd contact the target university and say that for this module you have a mark of 50% (show them your current transcript as evidence), but that you've been asked to resit one of the assessments with it, at which point the university's regulations will cap the whole module at 40%. Hopefully they'll accept that you've achieved the 50% they've mandated and be happy with that. Hopefully.

Given that your transcript says 50% FR right now (from what you've said above), it's difficult to imagine that this would change to 0% at some point.

@Admit-One, does that seem like a reasonable approach? If you were reviewing such a transcript, what would you make of it?

Thank you for the advice, I’ll get in touch with them!

I had so much hope that the 40% cap was only for a failed assessment, but is this common among unis? To cap the entire module at 40%?

Yes, that sounds like a reasonable approach to me. A lot of transcripts do show both the first and second attempt grades, but it is down to the format used by the uni. There is no harm in sending an explanation.

When I consider transcripts for postgrad apps, I'm typically looking at them holistically. So not just looking for one stray mark as a gotch. I take into account what it was relating to, what the overall grade trajectory is etc. Sometimes a ref might comment on it if it was an outlier.