# Not got great 2nd year degree results - is it worth repeating?



## red rose (Jul 12, 2007)

I hate posting all these advice seeking threads but I need the benefit of experience I think.

I just finished my second year of a philosophy degree. The second year is worth 25% of my final grade and the third year is worth 75%. This year I scored an average of 54%

The thing is I did pretty well on the coursework (mostly fluked at the last minute  ) then had a minor meltdown during the exam period and screwed up my exams (also partly to do with trying to wing it most of the year and not doing all of the reading  )

Now everyone is telling me that 54% is an all right grade - worth a 2:2 but I don't feel like I'm prepared enough to go into my third year and that I'll really struggle. I could try to catch up over the summer but if I'm doing all the second year work I'd like my marks for this year to reflect it.

So my question is this - is it worth repeating my second year, actually doing the work and getting into about £7 grand more debt to get a better grade (that I know I can get if I actually put the effort in) or should I just catch up over the summer, accept the 54% and work extra hard in my final year to try and make up my marks?

Also if I didn't actually fail the year will the LEA/student finances still allow me the extra year's loan/tuition fee grant? I heard that to be eligable for the extra year's money you have to actually fail.


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## 118118 (Jul 12, 2007)

can one repeat years and not get a 40 mark then??


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## J77 (Jul 12, 2007)

I'd say not to repeat -- 7 grand's a lot of cash.

Plus, if you work hard -- which most people do in their final bit of their final year -- you could push that 54% up to a 2:1.


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## Bob_the_lost (Jul 12, 2007)

3rd Option, take a year out. Come back more mature and more ready for your degree.


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## J77 (Jul 12, 2007)

Bob_the_lost said:
			
		

> 3rd Option, take a year out. Come back more mature and more ready for your degree.


Most "year outers" I've taught are more immature; ie. they constantly complain about stuff like assuming they remember things from their A-levels.


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## Balbi (Jul 12, 2007)

Get onto your third year and go for it  It's worth it.

You've got this far!


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## _angel_ (Jul 12, 2007)

red rose said:
			
		

> I hate posting all these advice seeking threads but I need the benefit of experience I think.
> 
> I just finished my second year of a philosophy degree. The second year is worth 25% of my final grade and the third year is worth 75%. This year I scored an average of 54%
> 
> ...



Work extra hard next year, seven grands a lot of money.


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## aqua (Jul 12, 2007)

another go into your third year and work your socks off from me too


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## marty21 (Jul 12, 2007)

7 grand? no way would i repeat if it cost that - and nowt wrong with a 2:2 anyway


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## Leeloks (Jul 12, 2007)

I've just finished my 1st year at uni as a very mature student (lol) heading into the dreaded 2nd next year. 

It depends on if you repeated the 2nd year can you see your grades improving that much? 
You say you 'wing it' which is a bad habit. What is to say after starting out with good intension's you don't fall back into these ways and then have the extra 7k to think about. Wouldn't do much physiologically for you.

After having no decent grades from school and working in factories/warehouses (nowt wrong with that of course) i decided to try and do something to improve my life. 
My mentality with the uni thing is aggressive, i attack every paper and wont put my head down until its perfect..ish! Revise like 2 weeks before exam (fucking hate exams!) Go for a beer or whatever when your done as a reward.
I feel privileged (after my life history) to be given the chance that some never had.

I think you need to get your head down third year and stop fucking about. In the nicest possible way of course.


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## baldrick (Jul 12, 2007)

no, go straight into your third year.


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## chio (Jul 12, 2007)

I've done two years of a course that really wasn't suited to me, purely because of family pressure to be doing _something_ "with my life". Second year results awful because the course was about as inspiring as a wet Wednesday in Stoke (actually, it _was_ a lot of wet Wednesdays in Stoke), decided to leave, now got a decent chance at several jobs in the field I _really_ want to work in round the country with A-levels but no degree. Family not best pleased, but... meh. I'll work for a few years, find out what I'd actually like to do, then go back to uni and do something that actually inspires me with more of a clue and less of that awful rush to get on a course -- any course! -- at the end of A-levels.


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## Callie (Jul 12, 2007)

Take it as a kick up the bum and work really bloody hard next year  

and yes that means doing course work when its handed out

and lots of extra reading 

Im sure you'll be fine

I dont know much ofthe ins and outs of repeating but I doubt it would be worth it unless you know what grade you need at the end of this and getting 54% this year is going to stop that iyswim?


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## Leeloks (Jul 12, 2007)

chio said:
			
		

> I've done two years of a course that really wasn't suited to me, purely because of family pressure to be doing _something_ "with my life". Second year results awful because the course was about as inspiring as a wet Wednesday in Stoke (actually, it _was_ a lot of wet Wednesdays in Stoke), decided to leave, now got a decent chance at several jobs in the field I _really_ want to work in round the country with A-levels but no degree. Family not best pleased, but... meh. I'll work for a few years, find out what I'd actually like to do, then go back to uni and do something that actually inspires me with more of a clue and less of that awful rush to get on a course -- any course! -- at the end of A-levels.



If your heart aint in it ey? I'm a mature student as stated and to be honest it has taken me 18 years to discover what i wanna do. 
To do a degree you really have to like it, not like other examinations, it is so full on its literally part of your life. I research when i am out and about its got that bad! Only cause i love it though.
I am that keen been doing some volunteering in my sector and now have a part-time paid job with a firm. Wicked.

The way i see it, you either do a degree seriously or not bother at all. Whats the point of getting in debt and wasting 3 years?


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## Throbbing Angel (Jul 12, 2007)

move onto your 3rd year is my 'advice'

I resat a 2nd year and ended up being ill again and the funding had run out from the LEA whereas if I had taken a year out or moved onto the 3rd year - my becoming ill wouldn't have mattered as I could have resat 3rd yr or been ill 'on my own time' as it were

Seven Grand tho' fuck me - what degree is it <scans thread can't see it> Law or Medical or summat?

Resitting my 2nd yr at 7k a year would have definitely bucked my ideas up *for me* rather than me having to try and buck them up myself

did that make sense?  
anyway - _"gerronwi'it ya wimp" _as my dear old Dad would say


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## Belushi (Jul 12, 2007)

J77 said:
			
		

> I'd say not to repeat -- 7 grand's a lot of cash.
> 
> Plus, if you work hard -- which most people do in their final bit of their final year -- you could push that 54% up to a 2:1.



Aye, I graduated with a 2.i despite getting a 2.ii grade in my second year, just up your game for the final year.

That extra seven grand would put me off repeating the year again - you will have to pay it off one day and it aint easy.


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## chio (Jul 12, 2007)

Leeloks said:
			
		

> If your heart aint in it ey? I'm a mature student as stated and to be honest it has taken me 18 years to discover what i wanna do.
> To do a degree you really have to like it, not like other examinations, it is so full on its literally part of your life. I research when i am out and about its got that bad! Only cause i love it though.
> I am that keen been doing some volunteering in my sector and now have a part-time paid job with a firm. Wicked.
> 
> The way i see it, you either do a degree seriously or not bother at all. Whats the point of getting in debt and wasting 3 years?



I don't want to hijack the thread, so I'll shut up in a minute, but the thing with this particular course was that it didn't _feel_ like a degree at all. Like I say, I literally jumped onto it as the first place in the region that'd have me in a mad panic not to miss the September boat after A-levels. I'd always been interested in radio, not so much the presentation side as writing and production, so I started on a broadcast journalism course. But it turned out that most of the content of the course was generic media-studies bollocks shared with various other courses and not particularly relevant to anything at all. It seemed to be there just to fill hours -- I mean, analysis of soap episodes?! It was far more of a practical course and had far more emphasis on TV than I thought it'd have. It was a rubbish choice and I only embarked on it because of the family "expecting" me to get a degree. 

At the same time, I started volunteering with a community broadcaster in Manchester, just up the motorway. I loved it from the minute I stepped in the front door -- real freedom to report on what I felt was important, the chance to be creative and try new things that didn't always work, but at least I was learning something real, working with professionals, going out to big stories and mingling with a real broadcast media circus, getting my work put out on an FM broadcast station in a big city rather than sitting through droning lecturers whittering on about semiotic whatever in The Bill, or that radio lecturer whose sole industry experience was a few years doing the Sunday morning 6am God slot on BBC Radio Stoke (I kid you not). Through that work, I eventually started getting paid to make advertisements which kept me going after I got the boot from my job at the DIY shed. I've now made decent contacts in Manchester (which, unlike Stoke, actually has something resembling a media industry). I'm in touch with people within the BBC as well as various commercial and community radio organisations and to be frank, community broadcasting is where my heart's ended up -- it's something that really makes a difference to people's lives rather than just being a voice in a box in the corner. The contrast between my Manchester work and the crushing boredom of sitting in a room in Stoke being shown tapes of Children's BBC from 1994 is staggering.


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## Cloo (Jul 12, 2007)

I wouldn't retake personally... other than your pride, perhaps, a 2:2 wouldn't hurt and I honestly don't think employers are that bothered by whether an applicant has a 2:2 or a 2:1. Far better to get on with things, IMHO.


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## ChrisFilter (Jul 12, 2007)

Not worth it.. you won't see a huge difference in future success between a 2:1 and a 2:2.


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## aqua (Jul 12, 2007)

Throbbing Angel said:
			
		

> Seven Grand tho' fuck me - what degree is it <scans thread can't see it> Law or Medical or summat?


£3000 fees, plus living costs loan of £3000 (ish can't remember the figures now) plus other bits


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## jonead (Jul 12, 2007)

ChrisFilter said:
			
		

> Not worth it.. you won't see a huge difference in future success between a 2:1 and a 2:2.



correct.  i got a 3rd in philosophy and makes not a jot of difference to any earning potential.  c'mon it's philosophy ffs, no employer cares.   honest


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## Belushi (Jul 12, 2007)

ChrisFilter said:
			
		

> Not worth it.. you won't see a huge difference in future success between a 2:1 and a 2:2.



Innit, once you've got a bit of experience under your belt thats what will interest employers rather than whether you have a 2.i or 2.ii.


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## chio (Jul 12, 2007)

To be honest, the whole university industry's been a little suspect in my eyes for quite a while. You can't move at present for ads saying balls like _"come to the University of Tytherington! It's the coolest party in town AND you'll get a free iPod!"_. Most of these places are just low-quality degree factories that seem to play on people's insecurities about the future, they trade on the fact that you're told (whether outright or just hints from these self-appointed "career advisors") right from the day you take your GCSEs that a degree is the only way to get a "decent job". But that's veering way off topic -- to cut to the point, everyone I've spoken to who's actually within the industry I'm getting into has said experience first, then look at degrees.


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## red rose (Jul 12, 2007)

Thanks for all the advice guys, its really shocking to see such a strong agreement from everyone, I guess I'm going straight into my third year. And there's certainly no need to worry about not doing the work properly, I've learnt my lesson.


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## fractionMan (Jul 12, 2007)

I'll just add an extra echo.  Go straight onto your third year.


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## lobster (Jul 12, 2007)

Look forward to the third year  , the grade your got is not bad  , next year work harder and your get the grades you want.
I know of some people with first's who have had a hard time finding work, experience , personality and other attributes can count as much or more than a degree.


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## chio (Jul 12, 2007)

Two people I know have gone off to London to work at the World Service. One's seventeen, the other's nineteen, neither have degrees. Quite how I missed that gravy train, I'm not sure... ! Even I'd move to London if it meant working somewhere interesting like the WS


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## Fuzzy (Jul 12, 2007)

i'd also say dont repeat and get on with your third year. find out how exactly your degree is finally marked. is it just an average of your marks or are some modules weighted better. do you get to do a dissertation. there may be other factors that will enable you drop some of the bad marks from this year and pick them up next year. and as others have said all that money for the chance to pick your degree class up one level really isnt worth it.


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## Thimble Queen (Jul 12, 2007)

You've still got a good chance of getting a 2.1 in your third year if you give it a good go... it's 60 - 70% for a 2.1, yes? So your not that far off. Use your dispointment to motivate you and use your summer to do some reading for your third year. Good Luck! 

ps what are you studying?


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## keicar (Jul 12, 2007)

If the cut of for 2:1 is 60%, you only need 62% in year 3 to get it.


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## aqua (Jul 12, 2007)

chio said:
			
		

> I don't want to hijack the thread, so I'll shut up in a minute, but the thing with this particular course was that it didn't _feel_ like a degree at all. Like I say, I literally jumped onto it as the first place in the region that'd have me in a mad panic not to miss the September boat after A-levels. I'd always been interested in radio, not so much the presentation side as writing and production, so I started on a broadcast journalism course. But it turned out that most of the content of the course was generic media-studies bollocks shared with various other courses and not particularly relevant to anything at all. It seemed to be there just to fill hours -- I mean, analysis of soap episodes?! It was far more of a practical course and had far more emphasis on TV than I thought it'd have. It was a rubbish choice and I only embarked on it because of the family "expecting" me to get a degree.
> 
> At the same time, I started volunteering with a community broadcaster in Manchester, just up the motorway. I loved it from the minute I stepped in the front door -- real freedom to report on what I felt was important, the chance to be creative and try new things that didn't always work, but at least I was learning something real, working with professionals, going out to big stories and mingling with a real broadcast media circus, getting my work put out on an FM broadcast station in a big city rather than sitting through droning lecturers whittering on about semiotic whatever in The Bill, or that radio lecturer whose sole industry experience was a few years doing the Sunday morning 6am God slot on BBC Radio Stoke (I kid you not). Through that work, I eventually started getting paid to make advertisements which kept me going after I got the boot from my job at the DIY shed. I've now made decent contacts in Manchester (which, unlike Stoke, actually has something resembling a media industry). I'm in touch with people within the BBC as well as various commercial and community radio organisations and to be frank, community broadcasting is where my heart's ended up -- it's something that really makes a difference to people's lives rather than just being a voice in a box in the corner. The contrast between my Manchester work and the crushing boredom of sitting in a room in Stoke being shown tapes of Children's BBC from 1994 is staggering.


have you any idea how lucky you are? you have been able to chop and change what you're doing so many time now, not everyone has that option


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## equationgirl (Jul 12, 2007)

Bit late chipping in with my two-pennethworth, but go into your third year.

It's estimated you'll go up a degree grade from your second year result to your actual degree result, so if you put in a decent amount of work in your third year, I don't see why you won't get a 2:1.

It's not worth repeating your second year if you've passed it - I passed my second year by the skin of my teeth (literally) and worked solidly for two years (4 year degree in Scotland) and got a first.

You can do it.

Don't ask about buying your dissertation though


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