Dealing with awful grades at university
Sorry in advance, I will pretty much be venting / ranting / sounding like an absolute sob. I do apologise for all the negativity.
Every time I receive one of the marks for an assignment, I feel like I've failed. I have consistently been stuck on a 2:2 throughout my second and third year, which are the ones that matter, even though the first year was fine. I went into uni, I assume like anyone else, wanting to get a 1st and now it feels like I have wasted thousands of pounds and time on a degree I'm not capable of doing well in. What's worse is it is too late to turn anything around. I have always been someone who would base their worth on grades, so now I feel like a complete and utter failure. I'm not even sure how to let my parents down, I'm so disappointed in myself for not being able to do good. I have dealt with a lot mentally at uni and it sucks that it got in the way, it feels like I paid to do poorly. Every bad mark I get feels like a reminder that I am too stupid or too dumb to be here.
The most annoying part arguably is how well my friends do. It feels so unfair, I know it's not on them for my terrible grades or them getting better than me. But, it's always the same thing of them going on about how they've done so badly on the assignment or 'this time' they are being serious about how wrong their work has gone. And without fail, they do so much better than me, every single time. I can't even say my grades out loud because of the embarrassment. I can put in more effort than them and it won't change a thing. It's not right for me to be mad, but in all honestly they don't deserve the marks half the time, when it isn't even their own. Just something generated. I can't hear one more time about someone complaining when they haven't got anything to complain about in reality and I know their grades will somehow miraculously be something I yearn for. It's so easy to compare yourself to others, especially when they constantly have more success. I just needed some luck for once. Although, I know it doesn't come down to it, I just do feel unlucky all the time.
Every time I receive one of the marks for an assignment, I feel like I've failed. I have consistently been stuck on a 2:2 throughout my second and third year, which are the ones that matter, even though the first year was fine. I went into uni, I assume like anyone else, wanting to get a 1st and now it feels like I have wasted thousands of pounds and time on a degree I'm not capable of doing well in. What's worse is it is too late to turn anything around. I have always been someone who would base their worth on grades, so now I feel like a complete and utter failure. I'm not even sure how to let my parents down, I'm so disappointed in myself for not being able to do good. I have dealt with a lot mentally at uni and it sucks that it got in the way, it feels like I paid to do poorly. Every bad mark I get feels like a reminder that I am too stupid or too dumb to be here.
The most annoying part arguably is how well my friends do. It feels so unfair, I know it's not on them for my terrible grades or them getting better than me. But, it's always the same thing of them going on about how they've done so badly on the assignment or 'this time' they are being serious about how wrong their work has gone. And without fail, they do so much better than me, every single time. I can't even say my grades out loud because of the embarrassment. I can put in more effort than them and it won't change a thing. It's not right for me to be mad, but in all honestly they don't deserve the marks half the time, when it isn't even their own. Just something generated. I can't hear one more time about someone complaining when they haven't got anything to complain about in reality and I know their grades will somehow miraculously be something I yearn for. It's so easy to compare yourself to others, especially when they constantly have more success. I just needed some luck for once. Although, I know it doesn't come down to it, I just do feel unlucky all the time.
Reply 1
Hiya,
Being honest with yourself goes a long way, but a guilty mindset can make change feel a lot harder. Thinking of it another way, even in the worst-case scenario, a 2:2 is still a valid degree and does not close off your future. Many employers and postgraduate routes care far more about skills, experience, and what you do next. Academic intelligence doesn’t always translate to work efficiency, just as effort doesn’t always translate to marks.
If you can, consider speaking to a wellbeing service or academic advisor for support. You are not a failure for finding this hard. It’s common for grades to dip in later years, especially when balancing heavy workloads and personal challenges. Comparing yourself to friends can make it feel worse, but their results don’t define your ability or worth.
In your position, the best thing you can do is focus on improving your final classification to a 2:1. Speak to your lecturers about where you went wrong and any difficulties with focus or organisation. Universities often have flexibility in teaching arrangements and support services to help you achieve this.
I hope you get the support you need,
Alfred,
Ulaw.
Being honest with yourself goes a long way, but a guilty mindset can make change feel a lot harder. Thinking of it another way, even in the worst-case scenario, a 2:2 is still a valid degree and does not close off your future. Many employers and postgraduate routes care far more about skills, experience, and what you do next. Academic intelligence doesn’t always translate to work efficiency, just as effort doesn’t always translate to marks.
If you can, consider speaking to a wellbeing service or academic advisor for support. You are not a failure for finding this hard. It’s common for grades to dip in later years, especially when balancing heavy workloads and personal challenges. Comparing yourself to friends can make it feel worse, but their results don’t define your ability or worth.
In your position, the best thing you can do is focus on improving your final classification to a 2:1. Speak to your lecturers about where you went wrong and any difficulties with focus or organisation. Universities often have flexibility in teaching arrangements and support services to help you achieve this.
I hope you get the support you need,
Alfred,
Ulaw.
(edited 2 months ago)
Reply 2
Original post
by AnonymousSorry in advance, I will pretty much be venting / ranting / sounding like an absolute sob. I do apologise for all the negativity.
Every time I receive one of the marks for an assignment, I feel like I've failed. I have consistently been stuck on a 2:2 throughout my second and third year, which are the ones that matter, even though the first year was fine. I went into uni, I assume like anyone else, wanting to get a 1st and now it feels like I have wasted thousands of pounds and time on a degree I'm not capable of doing well in. What's worse is it is too late to turn anything around. I have always been someone who would base their worth on grades, so now I feel like a complete and utter failure. I'm not even sure how to let my parents down, I'm so disappointed in myself for not being able to do good. I have dealt with a lot mentally at uni and it sucks that it got in the way, it feels like I paid to do poorly. Every bad mark I get feels like a reminder that I am too stupid or too dumb to be here.
The most annoying part arguably is how well my friends do. It feels so unfair, I know it's not on them for my terrible grades or them getting better than me. But, it's always the same thing of them going on about how they've done so badly on the assignment or 'this time' they are being serious about how wrong their work has gone. And without fail, they do so much better than me, every single time. I can't even say my grades out loud because of the embarrassment. I can put in more effort than them and it won't change a thing. It's not right for me to be mad, but in all honestly they don't deserve the marks half the time, when it isn't even their own. Just something generated. I can't hear one more time about someone complaining when they haven't got anything to complain about in reality and I know their grades will somehow miraculously be something I yearn for. It's so easy to compare yourself to others, especially when they constantly have more success. I just needed some luck for once. Although, I know it doesn't come down to it, I just do feel unlucky all the time.
Every time I receive one of the marks for an assignment, I feel like I've failed. I have consistently been stuck on a 2:2 throughout my second and third year, which are the ones that matter, even though the first year was fine. I went into uni, I assume like anyone else, wanting to get a 1st and now it feels like I have wasted thousands of pounds and time on a degree I'm not capable of doing well in. What's worse is it is too late to turn anything around. I have always been someone who would base their worth on grades, so now I feel like a complete and utter failure. I'm not even sure how to let my parents down, I'm so disappointed in myself for not being able to do good. I have dealt with a lot mentally at uni and it sucks that it got in the way, it feels like I paid to do poorly. Every bad mark I get feels like a reminder that I am too stupid or too dumb to be here.
The most annoying part arguably is how well my friends do. It feels so unfair, I know it's not on them for my terrible grades or them getting better than me. But, it's always the same thing of them going on about how they've done so badly on the assignment or 'this time' they are being serious about how wrong their work has gone. And without fail, they do so much better than me, every single time. I can't even say my grades out loud because of the embarrassment. I can put in more effort than them and it won't change a thing. It's not right for me to be mad, but in all honestly they don't deserve the marks half the time, when it isn't even their own. Just something generated. I can't hear one more time about someone complaining when they haven't got anything to complain about in reality and I know their grades will somehow miraculously be something I yearn for. It's so easy to compare yourself to others, especially when they constantly have more success. I just needed some luck for once. Although, I know it doesn't come down to it, I just do feel unlucky all the time.
Hey,
I'm very sorry you're feeling this way, please know you are not alone.
It can be really disheartening to put in so much work and then not get the grade you wanted.
Here are some things that may help if you still have assessments:
•
Make use of your university services: Does your university have any support available for coursework/revision sessions etc... If so, I'd highly recommend making use of it, as they can give you tailored tips to ace your work.
•
When you are given coursework, look at the assessment brief: this will tell you what is needed to get those higher marks
•
Use past coursework feedback to improve future coursework.
•
Speak to your lecturers or academic advisors: they can help you understand where mars are being lost
One thing I want to add is that your degree is not a waste, employers look at far more than your final grade. Things like communication, teamwork and professionalism which you can demonstrate through any experiences you have whether at university (e.g. being part of a committee) or previous employment.
I hope this helps, do let me know if you have any further questions.
Fatma.
Reply 3
Original post
by AnonymousSorry in advance, I will pretty much be venting / ranting / sounding like an absolute sob. I do apologise for all the negativity.
Every time I receive one of the marks for an assignment, I feel like I've failed. I have consistently been stuck on a 2:2 throughout my second and third year, which are the ones that matter, even though the first year was fine. I went into uni, I assume like anyone else, wanting to get a 1st and now it feels like I have wasted thousands of pounds and time on a degree I'm not capable of doing well in. What's worse is it is too late to turn anything around. I have always been someone who would base their worth on grades, so now I feel like a complete and utter failure. I'm not even sure how to let my parents down, I'm so disappointed in myself for not being able to do good. I have dealt with a lot mentally at uni and it sucks that it got in the way, it feels like I paid to do poorly. Every bad mark I get feels like a reminder that I am too stupid or too dumb to be here.
The most annoying part arguably is how well my friends do. It feels so unfair, I know it's not on them for my terrible grades or them getting better than me. But, it's always the same thing of them going on about how they've done so badly on the assignment or 'this time' they are being serious about how wrong their work has gone. And without fail, they do so much better than me, every single time. I can't even say my grades out loud because of the embarrassment. I can put in more effort than them and it won't change a thing. It's not right for me to be mad, but in all honestly they don't deserve the marks half the time, when it isn't even their own. Just something generated. I can't hear one more time about someone complaining when they haven't got anything to complain about in reality and I know their grades will somehow miraculously be something I yearn for. It's so easy to compare yourself to others, especially when they constantly have more success. I just needed some luck for once. Although, I know it doesn't come down to it, I just do feel unlucky all the time.
Every time I receive one of the marks for an assignment, I feel like I've failed. I have consistently been stuck on a 2:2 throughout my second and third year, which are the ones that matter, even though the first year was fine. I went into uni, I assume like anyone else, wanting to get a 1st and now it feels like I have wasted thousands of pounds and time on a degree I'm not capable of doing well in. What's worse is it is too late to turn anything around. I have always been someone who would base their worth on grades, so now I feel like a complete and utter failure. I'm not even sure how to let my parents down, I'm so disappointed in myself for not being able to do good. I have dealt with a lot mentally at uni and it sucks that it got in the way, it feels like I paid to do poorly. Every bad mark I get feels like a reminder that I am too stupid or too dumb to be here.
The most annoying part arguably is how well my friends do. It feels so unfair, I know it's not on them for my terrible grades or them getting better than me. But, it's always the same thing of them going on about how they've done so badly on the assignment or 'this time' they are being serious about how wrong their work has gone. And without fail, they do so much better than me, every single time. I can't even say my grades out loud because of the embarrassment. I can put in more effort than them and it won't change a thing. It's not right for me to be mad, but in all honestly they don't deserve the marks half the time, when it isn't even their own. Just something generated. I can't hear one more time about someone complaining when they haven't got anything to complain about in reality and I know their grades will somehow miraculously be something I yearn for. It's so easy to compare yourself to others, especially when they constantly have more success. I just needed some luck for once. Although, I know it doesn't come down to it, I just do feel unlucky all the time.
Hi there,
I am sorry that you are feeling this way - uni can be hard and not getting the grades you want can also be tricky.
Firstly, I would say that no matter what happens you should be proud of yourself and how far you have come. You have done so well to get into uni in the first place and you will get your degree which is something to be proud of in itself. I am sure all of your friends and family will be happy for you and proud too.
The best thing to do now is to try and do as well as possible in your last few assignments. I'll put my tips below so have a look and see if you can do any/if you think of them will help you:
•
Collect all of the feedback that you have had over your past assignments and then see which things are common. Try and write down the things that you have received and see if there are any similarities so that you can make sure you fix these things for the next assignments.
•
If you have any questions, or if there is anything you are struggling with make sure you ask your tutors as soon as possible so that you can straighten out any issues and make sure that you are happy with everything so that you do as well as you can do.
•
Make the most of any formative feedback opportunities as these will be the best way to get the feedback to make your work as good as possible.
•
Make sure you get things such as referencing and structure right as these will be 'easy' marks to get to make sure you are not missing any marks or getting marked down for things that you could do well.
•
Talk to your peers about what they are including and if you have any questions make sure to ask them. Of course you can't share work, but if you have questions they will help you or let you see how they have gone about answering it.
I hope some of this helps,
Lucy -SHU student ambassador.
Reply 4
Original post
by AnonymousSorry in advance, I will pretty much be venting / ranting / sounding like an absolute sob. I do apologise for all the negativity.
Every time I receive one of the marks for an assignment, I feel like I've failed. I have consistently been stuck on a 2:2 throughout my second and third year, which are the ones that matter, even though the first year was fine. I went into uni, I assume like anyone else, wanting to get a 1st and now it feels like I have wasted thousands of pounds and time on a degree I'm not capable of doing well in. What's worse is it is too late to turn anything around. I have always been someone who would base their worth on grades, so now I feel like a complete and utter failure. I'm not even sure how to let my parents down, I'm so disappointed in myself for not being able to do good. I have dealt with a lot mentally at uni and it sucks that it got in the way, it feels like I paid to do poorly. Every bad mark I get feels like a reminder that I am too stupid or too dumb to be here.
The most annoying part arguably is how well my friends do. It feels so unfair, I know it's not on them for my terrible grades or them getting better than me. But, it's always the same thing of them going on about how they've done so badly on the assignment or 'this time' they are being serious about how wrong their work has gone. And without fail, they do so much better than me, every single time. I can't even say my grades out loud because of the embarrassment. I can put in more effort than them and it won't change a thing. It's not right for me to be mad, but in all honestly they don't deserve the marks half the time, when it isn't even their own. Just something generated. I can't hear one more time about someone complaining when they haven't got anything to complain about in reality and I know their grades will somehow miraculously be something I yearn for. It's so easy to compare yourself to others, especially when they constantly have more success. I just needed some luck for once. Although, I know it doesn't come down to it, I just do feel unlucky all the time.
Every time I receive one of the marks for an assignment, I feel like I've failed. I have consistently been stuck on a 2:2 throughout my second and third year, which are the ones that matter, even though the first year was fine. I went into uni, I assume like anyone else, wanting to get a 1st and now it feels like I have wasted thousands of pounds and time on a degree I'm not capable of doing well in. What's worse is it is too late to turn anything around. I have always been someone who would base their worth on grades, so now I feel like a complete and utter failure. I'm not even sure how to let my parents down, I'm so disappointed in myself for not being able to do good. I have dealt with a lot mentally at uni and it sucks that it got in the way, it feels like I paid to do poorly. Every bad mark I get feels like a reminder that I am too stupid or too dumb to be here.
The most annoying part arguably is how well my friends do. It feels so unfair, I know it's not on them for my terrible grades or them getting better than me. But, it's always the same thing of them going on about how they've done so badly on the assignment or 'this time' they are being serious about how wrong their work has gone. And without fail, they do so much better than me, every single time. I can't even say my grades out loud because of the embarrassment. I can put in more effort than them and it won't change a thing. It's not right for me to be mad, but in all honestly they don't deserve the marks half the time, when it isn't even their own. Just something generated. I can't hear one more time about someone complaining when they haven't got anything to complain about in reality and I know their grades will somehow miraculously be something I yearn for. It's so easy to compare yourself to others, especially when they constantly have more success. I just needed some luck for once. Although, I know it doesn't come down to it, I just do feel unlucky all the time.
Hey,
I am so sorry you are going through this. First off, please don't apologise for venting. It’s especially tough when you feel like your hard work isn't reflected in your marks while others seem to have it easier.
Please remember that your worth as a person is not defined by a grade on a screen. Here is some advice on how to move forward:
•
The Comparison Trap: It is incredibly draining when friends complain about "bad" grades that are higher than yours. Their journey, especially if they aren't being honest with their work, is not a reflection of your intelligence or your potential.
•
Check the Weighting: Look closely at how much this specific assignment counts toward your final degree. Often, a 2:2 feels like a dead end, but there may still be enough marks left in remaining modules to help your overall average.
•
Book an Office Hour: This is what lecturers are there for. A quick chat to go over the rubric can make feedback much clearer and help you understand exactly what they are looking for next time.
•
Reach Out for Support: Since you’ve been dealing with a lot, please contact your university’s wellbeing team or student support services. They are there to provide a safe space to talk and can help you explore options like mitigating circumstances if your mental health has impacted your studies.
My best advice is to be kind to yourself right now. Completing a degree while struggling with your mental health shows massive resilience. You’ve shown a lot of strength just by getting this far. 😊
Hope this helps!😊
Rachel
(Third Year)
Undergraduate Multimedia Journalism
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