Graded Units

[Unregistered]

A question to all colleges. What happens at your college if you fail a graded unit? Do you resit and only get the minimum grade (a C)? OR do you resit and get the grade it is worth (A,B or C)?

[Polaris]

Glasgow - If you fail you can resit it and if you pass you can only get a C.

[Unregistered]

Glasgow - If you fail you can resit it and if you pass you can only get a C.

That is no longer the case, which I believe is probably why this thread was started in the first place. At Glasgow on a resit a C used to be the maximum grade no matter what mark you got, however this year they have changed it so technically you can fail it twice, get an A on your third resit and on your HNC/D certificate there will be no indication that you had to resit the exam twice before you actually obtained this grade.

Somewhat annoying for people who for example get a B on their first attempt (and are not allowed to resit to get a higher grade), only to see people who didn't bother learning the subject and failed it twice, then get an A on their thrid resit primarily because the third resit is probably the exact same exam paper that they got on their first attempt and therefore they know what questions are in it and know what they need to revise.

Would be VERY interested to see what other college's policies are on this because as far as I'm concerned, it's not right. If you needed a resit, there should be some sort of indication of this on your certificate.

[bobofinga]

You can resit and still get an A which in my opinion isnt really fair.

[Unregistered]

You can resit and still get an A which in my opinion isnt really fair.

What college is that at? Somewhere other than Glasgow?

[Unregistered]

this year they have changed it so technically you can fail it twice, get an A on your third resit and on your HNC/D certificate there will be no indication that you had to resit the exam twice before you actually obtained this grade.

Somewhat annoying for people who for example get a B on their first attempt (and are not allowed to resit to get a higher grade), only to see people who didn't bother learning the subject and failed it twice, then get an A on their thrid resit primarily because the third resit is probably the exact same exam paper that they got on their first attempt and therefore they know what questions are in it and know what they need to revise.

.

It's an absolute joke....feels like a slap in the face. Put in the hard work to achieve a grade just for those who couldn't be bothered to be rewarded.

[Unregistered]

At Warsash it used to be that you could retake the exam as many times as you like to pass for the MCA, any grade on resit would be applied for the courses required for certification.

However, just like most (if not all universities), if you retake a unit and pass - you will only be awarded the minimum pass mark for that exam for university grading (40%)... even if you ended up getting 70% in the resit.

So you will pass both, but on one you will just pass.

And theres normally a cost associated with it.

[GuinnessMan]

It's an absolute joke....feels like a slap in the face. Put in the hard work to achieve a grade just for those who couldn't be bothered to be rewarded.

Mate, we are talking about Glasgow here. A lot of folks I know failed it the first time round as a lot of the material hadn't been covered during the phase. In fact, several of the core parts of it were done during 3rd Phase...

[Polaris]

That is no longer the case, which I believe is probably why this thread was started in the first place. At Glasgow on a resit a C used to be the maximum grade no matter what mark you got, however this year they have changed it

This was the case in Feb, maybe changed now though.

[Unregistered]

This was the case in Feb, maybe changed now though.

That's interesting because I'm sure there was people who failed our graded unit in Febuary who could resit and gain more than a C. Last year when we were in phase one a C was the maximum though.

Mate, we are talking about Glasgow here. A lot of folks I know failed it the first time round as a lot of the material hadn't been covered during the phase. In fact, several of the core parts of it were done during 3rd Phase...

That doesn't surprise me in the slightest (happened to us in one of our other exams in phase one), but I don't think it justifies the current resit system. The best solution to that would probably to put in a complaint, get the rest of the material taught and have the exam resat as a first attempt. The particular graded unit we are talking about here, all the material was covered. Personally, it didn't affect me because I got an A, still don't think it is fair though.

[Sdot]

I think it would be interesting to find out about other colleges current resit procedure as it MUST be an SQA decision not a college decision.

It would be ridiculous if it was only Glasgow doing this....definite complaint happening if so.

[alistairuk]

I was avoiding this thread, but let?s think practically here;

1. Why does it matter to you how many times it takes someone else to pass their exam?

2. Shouldn?t you have more important things to be bothered with than worrying / complaining over a colleges re-sit procedures?

Having been through University and a Nautical College, I can assure you that most universities allow you to re-sit an examination (a limited number of times) and receive whatever mark you get - and its still counted towards your degree and doesn?t show up as a re-sit. Even if it does show up on your transcript - no one else will know because all you use is the piece of paper that says ?BSc XXXXX with Honours? which is all anyone cares about.

You can even do it with your Higher examinations in Scotland - if you re-sit the higher course the certificate will show your new mark (if its higher) and no one cares that it was your second time doing it.

As another non academic example... you can re-sit the driving test as many times as you want - it doesn't matter if it takes you 5 times, or only once to pass it - the end result is the same and nobody cares!

The entire point of the cadet ship should be to get your CoC, whatever other academic qualifications you acquire in doing so are secondary. The MCA require a certain percentage pass mark which is substantially above the 40% (To take foundation degree as an example, you need 40% to pass the requirement for the foundation degree - in order to meet the MCA exemption requirement you need to obtain at least 70% (it varies dependent upon wether its navigation / operations) - therefore it doesn't take a genius to see that if they limited your mark on a second attempt it would be impossible for you to obtain your CoC which should be the reason WHY you are doing the cadet ship.

If you are doing the cadetship for the sole purpose of getting a degree (and its the only reason I can think of for caring that someone has a higher mark than you on a second attempt) - you?re doing it for the wrong reasons and you are most likely not going to last it out!

No employer will care how high a mark you got at college - all they are interested in is that you have your CoC.

[Unregistered]

I was avoiding this thread, but let?s think practically here;

1. Why does it matter to you how many times it takes someone else to pass their exam?

2. Shouldn?t you have more important things to be bothered with than worrying / complaining over a colleges re-sit procedures?

I guess it's the principle of it in regard to graded examinations. I understand that for other exams people can have problems etc and may fail which then they can obviously have a resit and get the grade they are entitled to which is fair enough.

Having been through University and a Nautical College, I can assure you that most universities allow you to re-sit an examination (a limited number of times) and receive whatever mark you get - and its still counted towards your degree and doesn?t show up as a re-sit. Even if it does show up on your transcript - no one else will know because all you use is the piece of paper that says ?BSc XXXXX with Honours? which is all anyone cares about.

I don't know what university you went to but when I was at university if you failed an exam and had to resit it then you are only entitled to the minimum grade of a C regardless of how well you did. (Correct me if it has changed as I graduated a few years ago.)

However with this graded unit I just can't see the equality in someone receiving a B or a C and is not allowed to resit it to improve their grade whereas as previously said by someone else, if you failed it (sometimes on purpose) and get the same paper twice you can pass with an A.

If you are doing the cadetship for the sole purpose of getting a degree (and its the only reason I can think of for caring that someone has a higher mark than you on a second attempt) - you?re doing it for the wrong reasons and you are most likely not going to last it out!

I'm doing this cadetship for gain my CoC. At the end of the day those that will last will be apparent.

[Unregistered]

The procedure at plymouth is that if you have to resit anything your mark for that module is capped at 50%.

This is particulaly frustrating when you have handed in coursework for the module and you mark is 75%. But get 49% in the exam meaning you have to resit and have you mark for the whole module capped at 50%. When your average mark would have been higher without the resit.

This is particularly unfair in law modules where cadets sit the same exams as students studying maritime law but with a higher pass mark.

[Ganner]

Awww but it was a fun thread now you have ruined it with your common sense and excellent post!