Failed exams

Nitefly · 17 Aug 2008 at 19:10

markyp23 said:
Yet you are still at uni?

I am at university yes. I failed one exam at University and was also permitted a resit. I do not really see how that is relevant?

So you can do an AS, get 150/300?

Then do an A2 (do well this year) and get, say, 430/600?
But also resitting AS and getting say 550/600?

Thats right.

You don't get second/third chances at everything. What is the point in giving people chance after chance at school when life doesn't work like that?

Because people are young and to be so harsh on people of 16 years of age is beyond silly. At university your marks are capped if you fail a unit, which is perfectly fair.

FrostedNipple said:
personally i believe that the fact ~50 years of your life are determined by exams that you do as a kid in the first 16-18 years of your life, is enough justice to provide resits if needs be.

Very well said.

sanaxe1 · 17 Aug 2008 at 19:46

wush said:
I remember when I realised that boasting about doing little/no revision portrays yourself as a fool. Particularly if you didn't get the top mark.

What are you on about? I Think its quite obvious that going from a Grade U - B is a big step up , and i was only a couple of marks off a A , Hours and hours of revision does not work for everyone i only need to quickly skim over everything to remember.

Spyhop · 17 Aug 2008 at 20:15

FrostedNipple said:
personally i believe that the fact ~50 years of your life are determined by exams that you do as a kid in the first 16-18 years of your life, is enough justice to provide resits if needs be.

Err.. not really. It's well within anyone's power to turn things around for themselves at any point in the following years. Exams are the least important part of the best success stories.

pitchfork · 17 Aug 2008 at 20:16

w11tho said:
Well done, here's a biscuit.

Nice. Scooby snacks?

passed first time, never tried though.
the way I see it, you can stay up all night confusing your brain revising, come in tired, do more revision being tense and nervous and make mistakes. Or you can get an earlyish night, wake up as late as possible in the day but way before exams, have a shower, have some brekky. Then go do the exam, nice and relaxed, not worried, not stressed out through revision, relaxed and ready to pass.

i remember one of my a levels, i was sat at the nearby pub in the afternoon have a drink, reading my book about keith moon, oh, i've got an exam in 20 minutes. Finished my pint and took a slow walk to the college.
I got full marks.

Ben M · 17 Aug 2008 at 20:18

markyp23 said:
I find this ridiculous.

Not to mention that there seems to be no weighting on A2s compared to AS levels for the A levels.

What's ridiculous? I got BBB at As, which is pants, so I resat, and got AAB final A2 mark.

I see nothing ridiculous there.

The weighting on As vs A2 is irrelevent for me, here's why:

Biology:
As total: 269/300 A
A2 total: 262/300 A
A level grade: A

Chemistry:
As total: 261/300 A
A2 total: 244/300 A
A level grade: A

Physics:
As total: 249/300: A
A2 total: 220/300: B
A level grade: B

Where does weighting come in here?

What did you get?

pitchfork · 17 Aug 2008 at 20:20

BBB is pants? You need to chill out and take a look at your grades mate, thats a pretty good grade I reckon.

I've always said, i'm happy with a C even if it does involve a resit, I got higher grades than C by chance.

Spyhop · 17 Aug 2008 at 20:35

sanaxe1 said:
What are you on about? I Think its quite obvious that going from a Grade U - B is a big step up , and i was only a couple of marks off a A , Hours and hours of revision does not work for everyone i only need to quickly skim over everything to remember.

But you can't be so nonchalant in implying that "literally 1 hour of revision before the exam" was a good strategy when by your own admission you narrowly missed out on an A. I'm a huge procrastinator, but I don't kid myself in to believing that taking the effort to put in the hours is ever less effective than an oh so conveniently lightweight strategy.

[TR]SweetSpotOz · 17 Aug 2008 at 21:08

[TR]SweetSpotOz · 17 Aug 2008 at 21:08

labrat · 17 Aug 2008 at 21:14

I failed a few exams at school partially because I didn't like my school but did well enough to get to university where I heartily enjoyed the people and the place and aced all my exams. Eventually getting a PhD and conducting post doctoral research. School isn't the be all and end all.

Ben M · 17 Aug 2008 at 22:00

markyp23 said:
What is the cut off for an A (total for A level)?

What I got is none of your concern, I am Scottish and we don't do resits!

480 (80%)

You didn't do as well in other words?

Nitefly · 17 Aug 2008 at 23:03

Ben M said:
What's ridiculous? I got BBB at As, which is pants, so I resat, and got AAB final A2 mark.

BBB is not 'pants' by any means.

w11tho · 17 Aug 2008 at 23:18

pitchfork said:
passed first time, never tried though.
the way I see it, you can stay up all night confusing your brain revising, come in tired, do more revision being tense and nervous and make mistakes. Or you can get an earlyish night, wake up as late as possible in the day but way before exams, have a shower, have some brekky. Then go do the exam, nice and relaxed, not worried, not stressed out through revision, relaxed and ready to pass.

i remember one of my a levels, i was sat at the nearby pub in the afternoon have a drink, reading my book about keith moon, oh, i've got an exam in 20 minutes. Finished my pint and took a slow walk to the college.
I got full marks.

I don't believe you. My rationale is as follows: if you were as smart as you hope to portray yourself as, you'd realise what a tool you'd look like if you made a post such as the one I've quoted.

[TR]SweetSpotOz · 18 Aug 2008 at 00:11

sanaxe1 · 18 Aug 2008 at 02:43

markyp23 said:
You see, this is why resits are bad.

He doesn't try hard yet he wasn't penalised for his complete lack of care first time round.

No, what it shows is that I had the knowledge to be able to get a decent grade but for what ever reason be that a off week etc i did not the first time. At the end of the day that's what the exams are for to see how much you know on the subject , it doesn't matter if you did it in 1 try or 5 try to get a certain grade as you both will have the same amount of knowledge of the subject by the end of it. And this is how life works , you make loads of mistakes and gain from the experience and try again, life isn't a simple pass first time or failed for the rest of your life and neither should exams or it doesn't represent the point of exams as a means to a end , which is as a tool to prepare and teach you for the real world. You don't get " Oh you couldnt do something first time you should quit and become a toilet cleaner ."