Auto Amazon Links: No products found.
Abigail Maguire’s time at university has been deeply affected by personal hardship and health challenges. While pursuing a liberal arts degree at the University of Nottingham, she struggled significantly after the loss of her brother, an event that took a toll not only emotionally but also physically. These difficulties impacted her academic performance, particularly during her second year.
Despite these obstacles, Maguire worked diligently in her final year, achieving an average consistent with first-class honors. However, she now worries that the university’s plan to use her earlier grades to determine her overall degree outcome could overshadow her later achievements. She fears that relying on second-year results, which were affected by her circumstances, fails to accurately represent her final year’s hard-earned success.
Maguire shared how the death of her brother, which occurred before she started university, left a lasting impact on her well-being. She explained, “I was struggling with certain traumatic findings from his death, [and] I was also surpassing him in age at that time, which was also really difficult.” Additionally, her health problems severely influenced her course and grades, prompting her to appeal to the university for accommodations. She recounted, “They didn’t give me a choice, they didn’t give me an opportunity to take the exams when I was in a better state of mind… I passed, but just about, and they said ‘just do better in your third year.’” Despite performing well in her final year, Maguire feels this success might now be discounted.
Other students are reportedly sharing similar concerns about using previous years’ grades to assess their final outcomes. Maguire noted that many feel these earlier marks don’t reflect their true capabilities or recent efforts, especially at what should be a critical point in their academic journey. She remarked, “I think that applies to most students – you’re coming to the end, it’s the final push, you want to do really well, so I think all students are disappointed. It doesn’t matter what situation you are in, it’s not reflective of what you deserve.”
The university has acknowledged the situation and, without commenting on specific cases, emphasized its commitment to student wellbeing and fair treatment amid ongoing strike actions. A spokesman stated that “contingency regulations” are in place to help students facing unexpected health or personal challenges. This system seeks to use actual marks where possible, supplemented only when necessary by earlier academic performance, to allow students to graduate or move forward. Students unhappy with their appeal outcomes also have the right to request an independent review.
Faced with the choice to accept grades derived from previous work or wait for all assessments to be marked, Maguire plans to wait, despite the uncertainty about when marking might be completed. She explained the dilemma, saying, “I think the students are sort of held to ransom with it, because if you reject the derived marks you don’t actually know when you are going to get [work] marked. It could be October, it could be August, it could even be December, and obviously that affects students who are possibly on postgraduate schemes [or] have conditional job offers.” For Maguire, it remains vital that her final mark truly reflects her efforts and accomplishments during her final year. “It’s important to me that my mark reflects what I’ve done, and my hard work throughout my third year, and I don’t want that to go to waste,” she said
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.