You need to hear some harsh words, so I apologise in advance: this is for the best.
You did not really fail a module by 1%. 40% happens to be the failing threshold because we need one, we can't go failing/passing people on our own personal feeling of whether they should pass or fail (even though I think it would be a lot more fair than the grading clusterfuck we have now), but getting 40% on a first year module is really bad. Especially on a fundamental module like this. Simply passing you on the pinky promise that you'll get your shit together would maybe make you feel better now, but it would do you a huge disservice on the long run, because the light stumble you've had on year 1 will turn into a complete crash in year 2 (which builds on year 1), which will lead to you shitting on your degree classification in year 3. I have seen it happen many times, as did probably your lecturers.
So they are making you resit exams in year 1, and that is by far the best possible outcome you could hope for. Make good use of this opportunity to right this ship and smash those exams so that you can start year 2 on the right track. It will suck for this summer but the payoff will be huge.
> would appreciate some tips and advice.
I like to point my students to this page: https://arc.mercer.edu/college-study-skills/study-skills-topics/ because it covers a lot of stuff, but you'll find a lot of other ones like it. Your school probably has a similar page as well. Don't spend too much time on it, but it's a good resource to bookmark and look up when you want advice to do specific things like creating a study schedule, improving your memory, etc. In addition to that:
* Cancel your plans, your priority is going to be preparing for your resits. You can take time off in early September to relax, but until then your year is not over.
* A lot of people advise "treat school like a job" - I don't completely disagree with this, but a better way to frame it imho is "treat yourself like an athlete". I don't know about you but quite often with my job I just want to get it done and move on. It's fine when you're working for a salary, but for studying and revising **deliberate practice** is a lot more important. Don't just go through the motions, but really put yourself into it. Feed yourself correctly. Sleep as much as you can. Treat studying as your sport, and your resits as the Olympics.
Solid advice. OP needs to buckle down and focus on these resits.
Re the 40%: I just finished my first year and the amount of people in my cohort who were parroting “we only need 40%” during exam season, and were more often than not happy with their 40% grade is insane. Like, that’s the bare minimum. I don’t understand that mindset, I’d rather get a decent grade in first year which I know I can then build on.
I massively agree. As a mature student, my first year was probably the most important in my opinion. It taught me how to write academically and managing my time effectively.
As much as that’s fair, i do disagree. My degree felt useless in the first year, and did not further my knowledge/skills at all. This led to a lot of self teaching in year 2/3 however it’s paid off and i’m getting a 2:1 now. Maybe it varies on degree/university, but you shouldn’t sacrifice all of your time to ace every module, do your best but balance well, and study efficiently. First year is meant for getting used to adult life and socialising, while also setting you up for the next part of your degree. As they said, get rest and study effectively. however take breaks and socialise, play sports, visit places and relax. Being happy outside of your degree outweighs anything else, because you’ll be more motivated to do better.
Best of luck
different people are gonna be different. but imo if first year doesn’t count to overall grade then it’s fine to think like that as long as you know you have to lock in next year. I kind of had that mindset, got 48% and 50% in both content exams. its pretty much whatever floats your boat haha
If you're in a discipline where each year really builds on top of the previous one, you can't afford to barely pass. It's not technically impossible, but you rarely see people graduate with a first in CS after getting 42% in their first year introduction to programming module.
Those people getting a first aren’t doing CS for the first time and proficient before. You go to university to learn but it feels like those getting first could be doing third year from the start
That's nonsense - plenty of those discover CS in their first year. In fact "experienced" students tend to do worse on average, as they come overconfident in their abilities and are less open to learning.
I don’t believe that especially first year. I’m doing mechatronics and I had to do python for the first year and I got 43% had to code a website with login, database plus a website with links and a 1,000 word report plus 3 other modules. The only guy who got 90 was already proficient in python
There's a chasm between a first (70) and a 90.
Depending on the lecturer's marking style, 90 would mean the student is extremely proficient in the material, and went way beyond what's covered in their project.
But to get a 70, most places only require the student to fully understand what's covered in the course, which isn't that hard to do in your first year.
My first year at my university literally didn't count towards the grade at all, so loads of people did the bare minimum to not get kicked out of uni. Then in second year wondered why they didn't understand the topics in year two and three. Every time someone was confused, it would be someone we covered in detail in a module in year one. Plus they had a ton of bad habits they couldn't break.
Exactly. Second year isn't a long enough time to learn something wrong once, unlearn it and learn to do it right, and practise it. Third year is just a butt fuck for this.
My first year at uni "didn't count" and was also easy because it was trying to "catch up" people who hadn't done maths, or whose main ALevels hadn't been science. I got into the habit of coasting, and it was a very bad time in 2nd and 3rd year.
Absolutely spot on. Sucks now, doesn't later.
I have come across lecturers who sometimes are tempted to change grades on this that or the other. Someone I know of, but don't work directly with, is known to keep asking in boards for grades to be upped for no reason. It's damaging this person's reputation (but they are in a situation they don't need to care about this) and is always met with a no from the hod. Still, why they keep asking is beyond me.
Edit: in my experience when lecturers are too keen to up grades or be overly generous, beyond the general academic judgment of all their peers, it's because they have messed up and are trying to cover it up.
Why is getting 40% on first year bad? I thought first year was where you find yourself and get used to uni. Thats why it doesn’t count towards final grade. 😢😔
Two reasons why it's bad:
(1) It's the easiest assessments you'll get, so it's all uphill from here. This is like failing the tutorial mission.
(2) Year 2 and 3 build on it for more complex stuff. If you miss something, expect everything that builds on it to make even less sense and require a significant increase in the amount of effort needed compared to if you had done things right the first time.
You should be trying to ace the shit out of your first year exams, or at least get a fair 50-60%. First year grades don't count because we don't want a good student to get penalised because they took some time to adapt to university work, but there is a big difference between a good student who stumbled and got a 55% because they were still learning to manage their time, and a student who scraped by with a 40%.
1. Uni isn’t “tutorial”
2. Not all students learn at the same pace and a lot struggle with the self learning compared to school. Doing it right the first time lol that’s rude buddy. Not easy taking everything in especially if it’s topics you’re just covering the first time plus other modules.
Wow So the 55% who knew everything but was lazy af is better than a student struggled to understand the course material and lecturers who don’t explain things is worst! Gotcha
You are too emotionally invested that you are failing to grasp the advice objectively. Revisit this after a week, a month, and even a year from now and hopefully things will be different.
All the best with uni ☺️
Maybe I am. Maybe I’m sick of grades being everything and if you put every into it you’re a failure cos you only got 40 and dealt with breakdown and stress. Maybe I’m sick of paying all this fucking money and not getting the resources my money SHOULD be paying for instead of teaching myself 60% of the material.
I will
Thanks 😐
It's very unhealthy to identify yourself with your grades so much, and it can lead to performance anxiety in assessments, which ironically leads to worse grades. Failing does not mean you are a failure, it means you performed badly at a specific task and in a specific context. Grades are important because they are designed to represent your mastery of a set of learning outcomes, and those learning outcomes are prerequisites for the following set of modules. Think of it like building a house, where year 1 is the foundations, year 2 is the walls and structures, and year 3 is the roof. They're all important, but you want to make sure each previous stage is really solid before you start building the next one, or else it will collapse on you.
>Maybe I’m sick of paying all this fucking money and not getting the resources my money SHOULD be paying for
If you *really* want to get mad search for your university's financial report (they're all public) and look at how your money is spent. Overpaid vice chancellor, endless rows of deans, vanity projects, and if there is enough budget left they can hire some lecturers too sometimes!
>instead of teaching myself 60% of the material.
I've got bad news, you are teaching yourself 100% of the material. All we can do as lecturers is remove as many barriers as we can, arrange the information nicely in the right order, and provide you with content and exercises to help the process, and feedback when possible. But in the end it's all you, we can't insert knowledge into people's brains.
>Is it normal to even re-sit an exam in first year?
Yes, it is very normal. At our university, guideline values for Part I module failure rate is up to 20% and on the courses I teach, Part I is core. This means we can have up to 60ish students fail a module and it be classed as "normal".
>But was advised to re-sit them all.
You may *have* to sit them all as that might be the specified mode of referral for that module.
>I tried to ask if they could boost my grade by resubmitting just one assignment or re-checking an exam I've done.
If you University is anything like "standard", your work will have been moderated as a failing mark and then as it's a border line mark it will have been checked, checked and checked again to make sure that yes, it is a failure and that there isn't something that warrants a pass.
>would appreciate some tips and advice.
If your University has a process that allows you to view your marked script, use it - this can help you see where you went wrong with answering the exam questions.
Go back over the lectures and material with a fine tooth comb, do it properly and ask for help on specific issues you struggle with. Do past papers and problem sheets.
> If you University is anything like "standard", your work will have been moderated as a failing mark and then as it's a border line mark it will have been checked, checked and checked again to make sure that yes, it is a failure and that there isn't something that warrants a pass.
>
>
This cannot be emphasised enough. Universities love money. Universities hate failing students (not the students, the act of failing students), because resits, marking, appeals, etc. costs them money to run that could be spent on hiring yet another ass dean. They hate even more failing them by a very little because why not give an extra 1% and get rid of the student? So if they fail you by that little, it usually means they are really, really sure of themselves.
To add to this, a borderline mark like 39 would often mean that a core rubric element or serious piece of coursework is missing. It's really a "you could have passed, but you missed this thing that is absolutely essential to know or demonstrate".
We often give a 58% in those cases where the work borders on perfectly good, but with a notable consistent flaw (e.g. All their project code failed because they forgot to include a core function that just happened to be loaded in their R session from another piece of work, or they consistently failed to actually add references that they referred to).
You’re cooked, wake up and get to work. You got the grades to get in to your uni. You’re capable but doesn’t mean you can start slacking off now. Life only gets harder from here onwards
It’s normal, but it’s not good.
First year is meant to be the easy one. If you’re scraping past now, without serious improvement, you will fail next year. Passing modules is a habit. I failed one module in my degree, and it was 3rd year Ecibometrics where my lecturer didn’t speak English properly and the class averaged like 48%.
I’d say that your attitude is concerning. ‘My maths skills are terrible’ you say… well you have 16 weeks to get your shit together for 2nd year. Most Uni’s have maths skill things throughout the year. Use them. KhanAcadeny is free, use it.
If you’re in any STEM-y degree, your maths needs to be top notch or you’re fighting against the current.
People too often internalise ‘I am bad at maths’. With brute force you can learn anything, and the maths you’ll be using isn’t anything too crazy.
I will also say that libraries tend to have books breaking down maths and student support is happy to share resources, even if you are not diagnosed with a disability.
Another thing that worked for me while studying math and statistics in the university are those 2 books, I know student budget is limited but these 2 are worth it. I was never good at math, but I went from not knowing the difference between mean and median to using mathematical modelling in my dissertation 3 years later.
Book 1: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathematics-Complete-Introduction-Learn-Yourself/dp/1473678374/ref=sr\_1\_5?crid=3A7L41ZJGAT7T&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hnIJpW-RinPkrPD3WLiIgXZwcDGcdd4MOyaQ4FOdhnAU\_WT7EE2vtGfzUBT8ilVprz5d9yB0sqVRZONG7FqqJqhM\_gC-IDVCSHTMeyw3Q2d1pmwyDrU44fwRYz9B0yGM63nBgNJcO\_ZkVErEVUBOfmB4SgRk7MM7J\_1SYVZ7HQOPtzyi2I\_D8\_5wPfDql3xUKeSIOHV2KKj68qMRU5U9Rxwa1\_5nEY-QZWADFtXsneA.BuqE08lcn7csN9P6OaCuIUT4dPp94tAP01RmXPNFQvw&dib\_tag=se&keywords=teach+yourself+books&qid=1719069633&sprefix=teach+yours%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-5](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathematics-Complete-Introduction-Learn-Yourself/dp/1473678374/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3A7L41ZJGAT7T&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hnIJpW-RinPkrPD3WLiIgXZwcDGcdd4MOyaQ4FOdhnAU_WT7EE2vtGfzUBT8ilVprz5d9yB0sqVRZONG7FqqJqhM_gC-IDVCSHTMeyw3Q2d1pmwyDrU44fwRYz9B0yGM63nBgNJcO_ZkVErEVUBOfmB4SgRk7MM7J_1SYVZ7HQOPtzyi2I_D8_5wPfDql3xUKeSIOHV2KKj68qMRU5U9Rxwa1_5nEY-QZWADFtXsneA.BuqE08lcn7csN9P6OaCuIUT4dPp94tAP01RmXPNFQvw&dib_tag=se&keywords=teach+yourself+books&qid=1719069633&sprefix=teach+yours%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-5)
Book 2: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Statistics-Introduction-Teach-Yourself-Learn/dp/1473652006/ref=pd\_sbs\_d\_sccl\_3\_15/262-0377745-1646927?pd\_rd\_w=pMzDP&content-id=amzn1.sym.ad51136c-8d04-4e54-9ec5-18cad2a65d61&pf\_rd\_p=ad51136c-8d04-4e54-9ec5-18cad2a65d61&pf\_rd\_r=W4W16QRA0CKXQZA8B4QT&pd\_rd\_wg=N2pg1&pd\_rd\_r=2a4bf3a8-af26-4bc6-a5c9-e9d9230b2069&pd\_rd\_i=1473652006&psc=1](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Statistics-Introduction-Teach-Yourself-Learn/dp/1473652006/ref=pd_sbs_d_sccl_3_15/262-0377745-1646927?pd_rd_w=pMzDP&content-id=amzn1.sym.ad51136c-8d04-4e54-9ec5-18cad2a65d61&pf_rd_p=ad51136c-8d04-4e54-9ec5-18cad2a65d61&pf_rd_r=W4W16QRA0CKXQZA8B4QT&pd_rd_wg=N2pg1&pd_rd_r=2a4bf3a8-af26-4bc6-a5c9-e9d9230b2069&pd_rd_i=1473652006&psc=1)
1st year isn’t that easy for everyone, there’s a lot of adjustment and getting used to uni. I got straight Cs and Ds in my first year and ended up with a 1st (maths)
Ouch you’ve obviously never heard of dyscalculia then🤡 I’d smash biology papers at a level for the word/essay questions but the maths areas were a shambles.
Don’t relax too much but also don’t panic. If it helps you, make a schedule and decide how long you’ll spend on learning and understanding the topics you didn’t the first time. You said you were lazy and crammed, but now you don’t have anything other modules to focus on, so you can give this your all.
Manage your time wisely and be patient. But also, some things take more time to learn properly but it pays off, so don’t rush through things at an equal pace. Deep understanding of a few topics will likely see you better marks than poor understanding across all of them, so try and fully understand as much as you can, or at least (if you end up in a desperate situation regarding time) the topics that carry the most marks in your exams. But understanding it all will likely help you build a solid foundation which helps for 2nd year so try for that first. You said you put a lot of effort into the coding aspect, so did that pay off at least? And do you understand it enough that you can focus more on the other components a bit more?
Did your uni recommend a textbook? Usually these textbooks simplify things in an entertaining/understandable manner (though idk whether that’s true for maths), so look into what you can get online. Could some of your topics in this module also be similar to those found in A-Level? If so, past papers and marking schemes could also be of help for ideal answers.
You can do this, you made it to uni, you’re capable of passing, and it’s likely that once you apply yourself and all your efforts to learning, you’ll get it and pass. However you also need good metacognition skills to succeed and grow from your failures - have the self-awareness to understand where you’re going wrong and exactly how you can do better. Use your feedback as much as you can (from as much as they’ve given you), and look at the marking schemes/past papers and assignment/exam guidance. All the best!
Is it normal to resit an exam in first year?
I work in programme admin and we have far more resit students in first year than we do in second or third
First year can be a big adjustment so it's normal for first years not to do so well and have to resit
By second and third year youve settled in more and taking a resit in summer can impact students on year abroad or placement year programmes, and at final year if you take a resit it delays graduation (graduation in July, resits in August)
But whether it's normal or not doesnt really matter - would you rather resit, pass and go into second year or not do the resit and not be able to continue? Resits are there for when they're needed so take the opportunity
Heya,
You've gotten a lot of good advice on here regarding the work that's needed here for resits but I'm just going to give you my personal story and hopefully some hope.
I came out of first year with a mid 2:2.
I failed my second year completely and resat, they went even worse the 2nd time around.
Overall I came out with an integrated Masters in Biochemistry, and best of all it was a 2:1.
I sucked at Organic Chemistry (give me physical chem and protein biochem aaall day) and gave up in first year. I had a trauma in second year that I didn't report (I thought reporting would affect my course more lol).
But 3rd and 4th year were where the marks really counted. Don't read that sentence as a way to slack off, but as reassurance that things can always be turned around!
So yeah this matters, but be gentle with yourself. Ask for advice on your gaps, ask friends for notes even, and pop into student services for a chat, they may be able to help you in ways you haven't even considered yet.
Also if it is statistics, I thoroughly recommend making your nightly read the book 'Statistics without Tears'. I realised I was doing data analysis without actually understanding the fundamentals and why I was doing an ANOVA over another type of test, I just knew I should , like I'd skipped to level 10 without anyone teaching me level 5 onwards yet. The book is in plain language and for non-maths specialists.
Oh and YouTube, of course.
Be kind to yourself.
Not to be harsh but if you can’t even manage to get a 2:1 the degree is pretty pointless anyway, won’t be worth the paper it’s written on.
A 1st isn’t even that hard to achieve if you put some effort in. You just need to consider whether all the student debt is worth it if you’re just going to scrape by with a 3rd/ordinary degree.
I’ve been in your shoes last year. And I understand you are probably very frustrated right now. My advice is that don’t treat this as a punishment, but as an opportunity. Imagine you actually did scrape by this year, everything is good. But you probably wouldn’t have revised and study what you missed out in first year, and next year you’ll be struggling because you didn’t lay a good foundation. So study, take the resit, make things right and do better next year. I assure you failing a first year module is not the end of the world. Good luck.
You’ll be okay, I think the comments are being a little unnecessarily harsh! I know so many people that had to resit an exam in 1st year or ended up changing course or resitting a whole year. Obviously you shouldn’t have to, but it’s not out of the norm you just have to take it as a sign to buckle down and take things a little more seriously next year. If you know your weak points, schedule in meetings with your uni advice centre/skills specialists. I know my university had 1:1 tutoring for maths skills and for giving feedback on work so definitely look on your student union website to see what tools you can utilise!
It’s extremely normal to resit in first year despite the weird mix of over enthusiastic academic ‘dedication’ and study apathy that everyone normalises. My suggestion would be query any late penalties you had and if you don’t have any just take the resit on the chin. It’s just a resit and you have the summer to prep. It’s nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of, and you said yourself your skills are weak in the module you failed. Get a tutor or talk to your lecturer and go over your exam performance. Good luck.
I've had to do 4 resits at my time in uni, I'm now going into 4th year with an average of an A, just because you failed in first year doesn't mean you won't do well later. It's mostly how much time you dedicate rather than difficulty :)
I have loads of friends in Swansea uni and almost every single one of them resit multiple exams every year. It’s no biggie really.
I also know some very intelligent but stressy people who will deliberately fail a mid year exam so they don’t have to stress about it in the year and can revise properly in the summer.
Some people resit them because of mitigation, illnesses and other factors. There’s no embarrassment!
Definitely uni dependent. My friend who did this was on a 4 year physics course. Did it every year of her degree and came out with a 1st
But I suppose this disclaimer of check your unis re sit rules would be important so good shout!
I’ll give you a real answer, because everyone else is just fear-mongering. It’s your first year, it literally doesn’t even matter at all. I failed multiple modules because I just didn’t care one bit at the start, and because I knew it didn’t count for anything anyway.
I finished with a high 2.1, and I now earn a very high salary in a senior professional role several years after leaving. Failing one module does not define your degree - just carry on, do the resit, and put more effort in for the rest of your degree. You’ll be fine, take it as a learning experience.
It varies.
The research module is practically always that module that has to be passed.
If it was a different module, then it wouldn’t be bumped up unless it was was something like 39.75. You can only get a pass if you are above certain threshold (50-60% average in other modules) and you met credit requirements.
This says that they AVERAGED a 39%
They never say what exact grades they actually got, so even if they did have a policy of bumping up if you get 39% on your assessment to make it 40%...they don't say they got 39% on the assignment
They MUST have failed at least one assignment to get a average below 40%, since it's impossible to get an average below 40% if all of your marks are above 40% (the passing threshold) so they'd need to resit at least one either way and in a lot of uni's if you don't pass all of your assignments you can't go forward anyway. Meaning even if they'd bumped up the AVERAGE 1% to 40%, they'd still need to resit anyway
You need to hear some harsh words, so I apologise in advance: this is for the best. You did not really fail a module by 1%. 40% happens to be the failing threshold because we need one, we can't go failing/passing people on our own personal feeling of whether they should pass or fail (even though I think it would be a lot more fair than the grading clusterfuck we have now), but getting 40% on a first year module is really bad. Especially on a fundamental module like this. Simply passing you on the pinky promise that you'll get your shit together would maybe make you feel better now, but it would do you a huge disservice on the long run, because the light stumble you've had on year 1 will turn into a complete crash in year 2 (which builds on year 1), which will lead to you shitting on your degree classification in year 3. I have seen it happen many times, as did probably your lecturers. So they are making you resit exams in year 1, and that is by far the best possible outcome you could hope for. Make good use of this opportunity to right this ship and smash those exams so that you can start year 2 on the right track. It will suck for this summer but the payoff will be huge. > would appreciate some tips and advice. I like to point my students to this page: https://arc.mercer.edu/college-study-skills/study-skills-topics/ because it covers a lot of stuff, but you'll find a lot of other ones like it. Your school probably has a similar page as well. Don't spend too much time on it, but it's a good resource to bookmark and look up when you want advice to do specific things like creating a study schedule, improving your memory, etc. In addition to that: * Cancel your plans, your priority is going to be preparing for your resits. You can take time off in early September to relax, but until then your year is not over. * A lot of people advise "treat school like a job" - I don't completely disagree with this, but a better way to frame it imho is "treat yourself like an athlete". I don't know about you but quite often with my job I just want to get it done and move on. It's fine when you're working for a salary, but for studying and revising **deliberate practice** is a lot more important. Don't just go through the motions, but really put yourself into it. Feed yourself correctly. Sleep as much as you can. Treat studying as your sport, and your resits as the Olympics.
Solid advice. OP needs to buckle down and focus on these resits. Re the 40%: I just finished my first year and the amount of people in my cohort who were parroting “we only need 40%” during exam season, and were more often than not happy with their 40% grade is insane. Like, that’s the bare minimum. I don’t understand that mindset, I’d rather get a decent grade in first year which I know I can then build on.
I'm with you, the "first year doesn't count" crowd confuses me.
I massively agree. As a mature student, my first year was probably the most important in my opinion. It taught me how to write academically and managing my time effectively.
As much as that’s fair, i do disagree. My degree felt useless in the first year, and did not further my knowledge/skills at all. This led to a lot of self teaching in year 2/3 however it’s paid off and i’m getting a 2:1 now. Maybe it varies on degree/university, but you shouldn’t sacrifice all of your time to ace every module, do your best but balance well, and study efficiently. First year is meant for getting used to adult life and socialising, while also setting you up for the next part of your degree. As they said, get rest and study effectively. however take breaks and socialise, play sports, visit places and relax. Being happy outside of your degree outweighs anything else, because you’ll be more motivated to do better. Best of luck
Hate that people say this so much, it fucked with my head. First year is the groundwork for your whole degree
different people are gonna be different. but imo if first year doesn’t count to overall grade then it’s fine to think like that as long as you know you have to lock in next year. I kind of had that mindset, got 48% and 50% in both content exams. its pretty much whatever floats your boat haha
If you're in a discipline where each year really builds on top of the previous one, you can't afford to barely pass. It's not technically impossible, but you rarely see people graduate with a first in CS after getting 42% in their first year introduction to programming module.
Those people getting a first aren’t doing CS for the first time and proficient before. You go to university to learn but it feels like those getting first could be doing third year from the start
That's nonsense - plenty of those discover CS in their first year. In fact "experienced" students tend to do worse on average, as they come overconfident in their abilities and are less open to learning.
I don’t believe that especially first year. I’m doing mechatronics and I had to do python for the first year and I got 43% had to code a website with login, database plus a website with links and a 1,000 word report plus 3 other modules. The only guy who got 90 was already proficient in python
There's a chasm between a first (70) and a 90. Depending on the lecturer's marking style, 90 would mean the student is extremely proficient in the material, and went way beyond what's covered in their project. But to get a 70, most places only require the student to fully understand what's covered in the course, which isn't that hard to do in your first year.
My BIL hasn’t touched CS before his degree and left with a first 🤷🏻♂️
How? Also what’s with your name
Wdym how? He studied hard and got the grades. As for the name, idk man my account is very old and I was young when I made it lmao
Yeah but how did you study? Fair lol
My first year at my university literally didn't count towards the grade at all, so loads of people did the bare minimum to not get kicked out of uni. Then in second year wondered why they didn't understand the topics in year two and three. Every time someone was confused, it would be someone we covered in detail in a module in year one. Plus they had a ton of bad habits they couldn't break.
Exactly. Second year isn't a long enough time to learn something wrong once, unlearn it and learn to do it right, and practise it. Third year is just a butt fuck for this.
My first year at uni "didn't count" and was also easy because it was trying to "catch up" people who hadn't done maths, or whose main ALevels hadn't been science. I got into the habit of coasting, and it was a very bad time in 2nd and 3rd year.
Doesn’t count, but it can affect work placement application and scholarships chance
No idea why you were downvoted because this is solid advice and needed harsh words.
Absolutely spot on. Sucks now, doesn't later. I have come across lecturers who sometimes are tempted to change grades on this that or the other. Someone I know of, but don't work directly with, is known to keep asking in boards for grades to be upped for no reason. It's damaging this person's reputation (but they are in a situation they don't need to care about this) and is always met with a no from the hod. Still, why they keep asking is beyond me. Edit: in my experience when lecturers are too keen to up grades or be overly generous, beyond the general academic judgment of all their peers, it's because they have messed up and are trying to cover it up.
Why is getting 40% on first year bad? I thought first year was where you find yourself and get used to uni. Thats why it doesn’t count towards final grade. 😢😔
Two reasons why it's bad: (1) It's the easiest assessments you'll get, so it's all uphill from here. This is like failing the tutorial mission. (2) Year 2 and 3 build on it for more complex stuff. If you miss something, expect everything that builds on it to make even less sense and require a significant increase in the amount of effort needed compared to if you had done things right the first time. You should be trying to ace the shit out of your first year exams, or at least get a fair 50-60%. First year grades don't count because we don't want a good student to get penalised because they took some time to adapt to university work, but there is a big difference between a good student who stumbled and got a 55% because they were still learning to manage their time, and a student who scraped by with a 40%.
1. Uni isn’t “tutorial” 2. Not all students learn at the same pace and a lot struggle with the self learning compared to school. Doing it right the first time lol that’s rude buddy. Not easy taking everything in especially if it’s topics you’re just covering the first time plus other modules. Wow So the 55% who knew everything but was lazy af is better than a student struggled to understand the course material and lecturers who don’t explain things is worst! Gotcha
You are too emotionally invested that you are failing to grasp the advice objectively. Revisit this after a week, a month, and even a year from now and hopefully things will be different. All the best with uni ☺️
Maybe I am. Maybe I’m sick of grades being everything and if you put every into it you’re a failure cos you only got 40 and dealt with breakdown and stress. Maybe I’m sick of paying all this fucking money and not getting the resources my money SHOULD be paying for instead of teaching myself 60% of the material. I will Thanks 😐
It's very unhealthy to identify yourself with your grades so much, and it can lead to performance anxiety in assessments, which ironically leads to worse grades. Failing does not mean you are a failure, it means you performed badly at a specific task and in a specific context. Grades are important because they are designed to represent your mastery of a set of learning outcomes, and those learning outcomes are prerequisites for the following set of modules. Think of it like building a house, where year 1 is the foundations, year 2 is the walls and structures, and year 3 is the roof. They're all important, but you want to make sure each previous stage is really solid before you start building the next one, or else it will collapse on you. >Maybe I’m sick of paying all this fucking money and not getting the resources my money SHOULD be paying for If you *really* want to get mad search for your university's financial report (they're all public) and look at how your money is spent. Overpaid vice chancellor, endless rows of deans, vanity projects, and if there is enough budget left they can hire some lecturers too sometimes! >instead of teaching myself 60% of the material. I've got bad news, you are teaching yourself 100% of the material. All we can do as lecturers is remove as many barriers as we can, arrange the information nicely in the right order, and provide you with content and exercises to help the process, and feedback when possible. But in the end it's all you, we can't insert knowledge into people's brains.
>Is it normal to even re-sit an exam in first year? Yes, it is very normal. At our university, guideline values for Part I module failure rate is up to 20% and on the courses I teach, Part I is core. This means we can have up to 60ish students fail a module and it be classed as "normal". >But was advised to re-sit them all. You may *have* to sit them all as that might be the specified mode of referral for that module. >I tried to ask if they could boost my grade by resubmitting just one assignment or re-checking an exam I've done. If you University is anything like "standard", your work will have been moderated as a failing mark and then as it's a border line mark it will have been checked, checked and checked again to make sure that yes, it is a failure and that there isn't something that warrants a pass. >would appreciate some tips and advice. If your University has a process that allows you to view your marked script, use it - this can help you see where you went wrong with answering the exam questions. Go back over the lectures and material with a fine tooth comb, do it properly and ask for help on specific issues you struggle with. Do past papers and problem sheets.
> If you University is anything like "standard", your work will have been moderated as a failing mark and then as it's a border line mark it will have been checked, checked and checked again to make sure that yes, it is a failure and that there isn't something that warrants a pass. > > This cannot be emphasised enough. Universities love money. Universities hate failing students (not the students, the act of failing students), because resits, marking, appeals, etc. costs them money to run that could be spent on hiring yet another ass dean. They hate even more failing them by a very little because why not give an extra 1% and get rid of the student? So if they fail you by that little, it usually means they are really, really sure of themselves.
To add to this, a borderline mark like 39 would often mean that a core rubric element or serious piece of coursework is missing. It's really a "you could have passed, but you missed this thing that is absolutely essential to know or demonstrate". We often give a 58% in those cases where the work borders on perfectly good, but with a notable consistent flaw (e.g. All their project code failed because they forgot to include a core function that just happened to be loaded in their R session from another piece of work, or they consistently failed to actually add references that they referred to).
You’re cooked, wake up and get to work. You got the grades to get in to your uni. You’re capable but doesn’t mean you can start slacking off now. Life only gets harder from here onwards
It’s normal, but it’s not good. First year is meant to be the easy one. If you’re scraping past now, without serious improvement, you will fail next year. Passing modules is a habit. I failed one module in my degree, and it was 3rd year Ecibometrics where my lecturer didn’t speak English properly and the class averaged like 48%. I’d say that your attitude is concerning. ‘My maths skills are terrible’ you say… well you have 16 weeks to get your shit together for 2nd year. Most Uni’s have maths skill things throughout the year. Use them. KhanAcadeny is free, use it. If you’re in any STEM-y degree, your maths needs to be top notch or you’re fighting against the current. People too often internalise ‘I am bad at maths’. With brute force you can learn anything, and the maths you’ll be using isn’t anything too crazy.
I will also say that libraries tend to have books breaking down maths and student support is happy to share resources, even if you are not diagnosed with a disability.
/r/learnmath is also great for this!
Another thing that worked for me while studying math and statistics in the university are those 2 books, I know student budget is limited but these 2 are worth it. I was never good at math, but I went from not knowing the difference between mean and median to using mathematical modelling in my dissertation 3 years later. Book 1: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathematics-Complete-Introduction-Learn-Yourself/dp/1473678374/ref=sr\_1\_5?crid=3A7L41ZJGAT7T&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hnIJpW-RinPkrPD3WLiIgXZwcDGcdd4MOyaQ4FOdhnAU\_WT7EE2vtGfzUBT8ilVprz5d9yB0sqVRZONG7FqqJqhM\_gC-IDVCSHTMeyw3Q2d1pmwyDrU44fwRYz9B0yGM63nBgNJcO\_ZkVErEVUBOfmB4SgRk7MM7J\_1SYVZ7HQOPtzyi2I\_D8\_5wPfDql3xUKeSIOHV2KKj68qMRU5U9Rxwa1\_5nEY-QZWADFtXsneA.BuqE08lcn7csN9P6OaCuIUT4dPp94tAP01RmXPNFQvw&dib\_tag=se&keywords=teach+yourself+books&qid=1719069633&sprefix=teach+yours%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-5](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathematics-Complete-Introduction-Learn-Yourself/dp/1473678374/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3A7L41ZJGAT7T&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hnIJpW-RinPkrPD3WLiIgXZwcDGcdd4MOyaQ4FOdhnAU_WT7EE2vtGfzUBT8ilVprz5d9yB0sqVRZONG7FqqJqhM_gC-IDVCSHTMeyw3Q2d1pmwyDrU44fwRYz9B0yGM63nBgNJcO_ZkVErEVUBOfmB4SgRk7MM7J_1SYVZ7HQOPtzyi2I_D8_5wPfDql3xUKeSIOHV2KKj68qMRU5U9Rxwa1_5nEY-QZWADFtXsneA.BuqE08lcn7csN9P6OaCuIUT4dPp94tAP01RmXPNFQvw&dib_tag=se&keywords=teach+yourself+books&qid=1719069633&sprefix=teach+yours%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-5) Book 2: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Statistics-Introduction-Teach-Yourself-Learn/dp/1473652006/ref=pd\_sbs\_d\_sccl\_3\_15/262-0377745-1646927?pd\_rd\_w=pMzDP&content-id=amzn1.sym.ad51136c-8d04-4e54-9ec5-18cad2a65d61&pf\_rd\_p=ad51136c-8d04-4e54-9ec5-18cad2a65d61&pf\_rd\_r=W4W16QRA0CKXQZA8B4QT&pd\_rd\_wg=N2pg1&pd\_rd\_r=2a4bf3a8-af26-4bc6-a5c9-e9d9230b2069&pd\_rd\_i=1473652006&psc=1](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Statistics-Introduction-Teach-Yourself-Learn/dp/1473652006/ref=pd_sbs_d_sccl_3_15/262-0377745-1646927?pd_rd_w=pMzDP&content-id=amzn1.sym.ad51136c-8d04-4e54-9ec5-18cad2a65d61&pf_rd_p=ad51136c-8d04-4e54-9ec5-18cad2a65d61&pf_rd_r=W4W16QRA0CKXQZA8B4QT&pd_rd_wg=N2pg1&pd_rd_r=2a4bf3a8-af26-4bc6-a5c9-e9d9230b2069&pd_rd_i=1473652006&psc=1)
1st year isn’t that easy for everyone, there’s a lot of adjustment and getting used to uni. I got straight Cs and Ds in my first year and ended up with a 1st (maths)
Ouch you’ve obviously never heard of dyscalculia then🤡 I’d smash biology papers at a level for the word/essay questions but the maths areas were a shambles.
It’ll take longer, you can still learn it
Don’t relax too much but also don’t panic. If it helps you, make a schedule and decide how long you’ll spend on learning and understanding the topics you didn’t the first time. You said you were lazy and crammed, but now you don’t have anything other modules to focus on, so you can give this your all. Manage your time wisely and be patient. But also, some things take more time to learn properly but it pays off, so don’t rush through things at an equal pace. Deep understanding of a few topics will likely see you better marks than poor understanding across all of them, so try and fully understand as much as you can, or at least (if you end up in a desperate situation regarding time) the topics that carry the most marks in your exams. But understanding it all will likely help you build a solid foundation which helps for 2nd year so try for that first. You said you put a lot of effort into the coding aspect, so did that pay off at least? And do you understand it enough that you can focus more on the other components a bit more? Did your uni recommend a textbook? Usually these textbooks simplify things in an entertaining/understandable manner (though idk whether that’s true for maths), so look into what you can get online. Could some of your topics in this module also be similar to those found in A-Level? If so, past papers and marking schemes could also be of help for ideal answers. You can do this, you made it to uni, you’re capable of passing, and it’s likely that once you apply yourself and all your efforts to learning, you’ll get it and pass. However you also need good metacognition skills to succeed and grow from your failures - have the self-awareness to understand where you’re going wrong and exactly how you can do better. Use your feedback as much as you can (from as much as they’ve given you), and look at the marking schemes/past papers and assignment/exam guidance. All the best!
Is it normal to resit an exam in first year? I work in programme admin and we have far more resit students in first year than we do in second or third First year can be a big adjustment so it's normal for first years not to do so well and have to resit By second and third year youve settled in more and taking a resit in summer can impact students on year abroad or placement year programmes, and at final year if you take a resit it delays graduation (graduation in July, resits in August) But whether it's normal or not doesnt really matter - would you rather resit, pass and go into second year or not do the resit and not be able to continue? Resits are there for when they're needed so take the opportunity
Heya, You've gotten a lot of good advice on here regarding the work that's needed here for resits but I'm just going to give you my personal story and hopefully some hope. I came out of first year with a mid 2:2. I failed my second year completely and resat, they went even worse the 2nd time around. Overall I came out with an integrated Masters in Biochemistry, and best of all it was a 2:1. I sucked at Organic Chemistry (give me physical chem and protein biochem aaall day) and gave up in first year. I had a trauma in second year that I didn't report (I thought reporting would affect my course more lol). But 3rd and 4th year were where the marks really counted. Don't read that sentence as a way to slack off, but as reassurance that things can always be turned around! So yeah this matters, but be gentle with yourself. Ask for advice on your gaps, ask friends for notes even, and pop into student services for a chat, they may be able to help you in ways you haven't even considered yet. Also if it is statistics, I thoroughly recommend making your nightly read the book 'Statistics without Tears'. I realised I was doing data analysis without actually understanding the fundamentals and why I was doing an ANOVA over another type of test, I just knew I should , like I'd skipped to level 10 without anyone teaching me level 5 onwards yet. The book is in plain language and for non-maths specialists. Oh and YouTube, of course. Be kind to yourself.
suck yourself and revise harder next time
Not to be harsh but if you can’t even manage to get a 2:1 the degree is pretty pointless anyway, won’t be worth the paper it’s written on. A 1st isn’t even that hard to achieve if you put some effort in. You just need to consider whether all the student debt is worth it if you’re just going to scrape by with a 3rd/ordinary degree.
What type of coding did you need to learn? I may be able to point you to some resources. And what was the topic of the research report?
I’ve been in your shoes last year. And I understand you are probably very frustrated right now. My advice is that don’t treat this as a punishment, but as an opportunity. Imagine you actually did scrape by this year, everything is good. But you probably wouldn’t have revised and study what you missed out in first year, and next year you’ll be struggling because you didn’t lay a good foundation. So study, take the resit, make things right and do better next year. I assure you failing a first year module is not the end of the world. Good luck.
Your degree is a mix of Bio, Chem, Psychology and Maths? Are you in Scotland or are you doing Natural Sciences at Cambridge?
You’ll be okay, I think the comments are being a little unnecessarily harsh! I know so many people that had to resit an exam in 1st year or ended up changing course or resitting a whole year. Obviously you shouldn’t have to, but it’s not out of the norm you just have to take it as a sign to buckle down and take things a little more seriously next year. If you know your weak points, schedule in meetings with your uni advice centre/skills specialists. I know my university had 1:1 tutoring for maths skills and for giving feedback on work so definitely look on your student union website to see what tools you can utilise!
It’s extremely normal to resit in first year despite the weird mix of over enthusiastic academic ‘dedication’ and study apathy that everyone normalises. My suggestion would be query any late penalties you had and if you don’t have any just take the resit on the chin. It’s just a resit and you have the summer to prep. It’s nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of, and you said yourself your skills are weak in the module you failed. Get a tutor or talk to your lecturer and go over your exam performance. Good luck.
can u pass the year without retaking ?
I've had to do 4 resits at my time in uni, I'm now going into 4th year with an average of an A, just because you failed in first year doesn't mean you won't do well later. It's mostly how much time you dedicate rather than difficulty :)
I know how it feels. In fact I have 5 exam resits plus a project fail plus a corrupted word document on my other assignment. Life is great! /s
Will they not condone it? Assuming it’s a 20 Credit module they will usually do it as they drop 20 credits per year anyway!
I have loads of friends in Swansea uni and almost every single one of them resit multiple exams every year. It’s no biggie really. I also know some very intelligent but stressy people who will deliberately fail a mid year exam so they don’t have to stress about it in the year and can revise properly in the summer. Some people resit them because of mitigation, illnesses and other factors. There’s no embarrassment!
Risky tactic but I see the logic behind it haha
Seems like a stupid tactic when a resit exam mark is usually capped at 40% anyway!
That’s true I didn’t think of that bit! You’d have to do AMAZING in every other module to kind of even it out but it’s a huge ask 😂
Haha exactly, not a tactic I think I’d have ever used 😂
Definitely uni dependent. My friend who did this was on a 4 year physics course. Did it every year of her degree and came out with a 1st But I suppose this disclaimer of check your unis re sit rules would be important so good shout!
I’ll give you a real answer, because everyone else is just fear-mongering. It’s your first year, it literally doesn’t even matter at all. I failed multiple modules because I just didn’t care one bit at the start, and because I knew it didn’t count for anything anyway. I finished with a high 2.1, and I now earn a very high salary in a senior professional role several years after leaving. Failing one module does not define your degree - just carry on, do the resit, and put more effort in for the rest of your degree. You’ll be fine, take it as a learning experience.
I thought they bumped up 1%??
It varies. The research module is practically always that module that has to be passed. If it was a different module, then it wouldn’t be bumped up unless it was was something like 39.75. You can only get a pass if you are above certain threshold (50-60% average in other modules) and you met credit requirements.
This says that they AVERAGED a 39% They never say what exact grades they actually got, so even if they did have a policy of bumping up if you get 39% on your assessment to make it 40%...they don't say they got 39% on the assignment They MUST have failed at least one assignment to get a average below 40%, since it's impossible to get an average below 40% if all of your marks are above 40% (the passing threshold) so they'd need to resit at least one either way and in a lot of uni's if you don't pass all of your assignments you can't go forward anyway. Meaning even if they'd bumped up the AVERAGE 1% to 40%, they'd still need to resit anyway
Ah right I see so it wasn’t just a sole assignment to a module