Retaking university year 1?

I cannot believe a head of course is unable to answer that question and simply left you with the resolution of 'dunno bro - maybe ask OCUK'. Did you tell him/her that answer is 'not good enough' and you expect a resolution/answer by the end of the week?

Here is one to throw at him/her.... Say... 'If you are unable to find a resolution I will need to esculate this to the Dean of Learning and teaching. Can you supply me with their details such that I can get in contact with them?'
 
helpimcrap said:
After a meeting with the head of course today they didn't know either.

No worries, i'll sort it myself. Thanks for your input Dowie, much more useful than the 'you must be a complete idiot because year 1 is unfailable' crowd.
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it will be the admin women who know the score most likely, your head of course is some academic right? You could try having a word with the non academic staff in the department who handle registering on modules, stuff like that...

but overall, don't let it worry/stress you - it quite likely won't be necessary, better to resolve any issues with the coursework/where you went wrong and crack on with the re-submission for the moment
 
Maybe 20+ years ago Dowie... These days academics (especially heads of undergraduate programmes) should be 100% switched on to the admin side of things... they get paid for it after all. For better or worse universities (especially undergrad studies) are run 100% run like a business.
 
In all seriousness I'd say if you are having problems with the faculty then speak to the student union.. they can get suprising things done.
 
Oh and btw if you have to "retake" the year, you often have to reapply and cannot take the same pathway you chose before, you would have to transfer on to another or similar course.
 
terley said:
Oh and btw if you have to "retake" the year, you often have to reapply and cannot take the same pathway you chose before, you would have to transfer on to another or similar course.
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I think this may have been the case 20+ years ago but I would be careful with such statements as university is so diverse and varied these days... Not saying you are wrong but I think lots of things that were universally true many years ago are no longer the case.
 
rubberduck said:
I think this may have been the case 20+ years ago but I would be careful with such statements as university is so diverse and varied these days... Not saying you are wrong but I think lots of things that were universally true many years ago are no longer the case.
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I got told this from my head of department last week when i jokingly said i may just fail the year :p
 
As I said, I have resits and support is now getting put in place.

I've had to learn everything from scratch without help from SAT tests, GCSE's. Access Courses, licenses for various things due to the severity of the head injury meaning everything I had earned before in school etc was stripped away.

This is simply a worst case question, that is all as I couldn't find anything on the uni website or the student finance website. It was a curiosity thing as I have no intention of failing but either way I like to be prepared. I've spent my recovery expecting the worst and trying for the best.
 
dowie said:
it will be the admin women who know the score most likely, your head of course is some academic right? You could try having a word with the non academic staff in the department who handle registering on modules, stuff like that...

but overall, don't let it worry/stress you - it quite likely won't be necessary, better to resolve any issues with the coursework/where you went wrong and crack on with the re-submission for the moment
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Admin woman?? I work in student admin at a uni and i am a man..

Yes academics are typically useless with things like the OP's query. Go and speak to the student admin team..
 
terley said:
Didn't call you an idiot, just said year 1 is designed to be passed by basically anyone if they turn up... I had something happen to me that would have had most students drop off the course entirely..
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Your year 1 maybe. So what are you doing and where?
 
I failed my first year at Uni because I had no interest in one module and that module was a far bigger part of the course than the handbook suggested. Changed course, completed the four years and haven't looked back.

Wouldn't change a thing about my first year though, probably the most fun year I've had in my entire life :)
 
firstborn said:
Your year 1 maybe. So what are you doing and where?
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I'm doing web development, compared to what i've seen other students doing on other courses.. Mine is comparable to hard-mode.. Multiple 10-20k reports due within days of eachother, semester long projects, user testing etc etc.. When other friends doing other degrees get 4k word end of year essays and a few oral exams.
 
terley said:
I don't know what course you are doing, but year 1 should be unfailable..
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When I was studying engineering we had around 30% fail the first year, with something like a third of those choosing to resit rather than leave.
 
Some courses have modules in first year which many people find harder. For example, engineering degrees will typically have pure maths modules in first year which a lot of people struggle with. Also in the early years of a degree you tend to have more modules worth fewer credits, which can be harder to manage.

Its certainly not always the case that 1st year is the easiest.
 
josh_sheffield said:
Some courses have modules in first year which many people find harder. For example, engineering degrees will typically have pure maths modules in first year which a lot of people struggle with. Also in the early years of a degree you tend to have more modules worth fewer credits, which can be harder to manage.

Its certainly not always the case that 1st year is the easiest.
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My results progressively improved over the course of my degree. The first year was a steep curve and had a few modules that were absolute nails.
 
Most people I know who had to retake their first year at Uni fell in to one of two camps ...
- went out drinking all the time
- struggled to adjust to the different learning environment, this seemed to affect people a lot more who went to a six form in a school, rather than a separate six form college, as the former tends to be more of a culture shock about having to be self motivated to do the work.
Of course there was some overlap between the groups. In a lot of cases they failed the first year again and dropped out.

But in this case the OP doesn't seem to fall into these groups and from his posts his ongoing medical issues and the fact it is a new course (which may have its own problems particularly if others are having issues) I would say you definitely need to talk to your Tutor and see what can be done. I would say you may have a case for some form of dispensation or help but that will be up to your University so really they can only answer you questions. Don't let them just brush you off though.
 
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