Resit information 2019

future
Resit FAQs
The Progression Board meets on Monday 17th June at 2pm.

This is when resits are decided. I cannot provide any information before that date except what you will find on this website.
After the Progression Board, I will contact each student individually by email and tell you what you have to do. There is nothing you have to do until then.

You will be have to REGISTER for all resits you are eligible for. To make things more exciting there is a DEADLINE by which time you have to register. See the site below for instructions on how to do this:


Please note: Resit grades are based solely on the resit exams and nothing else.
There are no caps on marks.
Resits are scheduled to take place between 1st and 9th August. The dates of the particular exams are decided by the Academic Registry and so I cannot provide you with more detailed information. You must therefore ensure that you are available throughout this period.

It is your responsibility to find out when and where your resits are to be held. See


If you have any questions about resit arrangements, you must contact the Academic Registry.

Mitigating circumstances. If a grade has been replaced by an MC this means that you are being allowed to take the resit as first opportunity. My understanding is that you will not be asked to pay for the resits marked in this way. If you experience problems let me know. However, you should not worry if you do --- just ensure you turn up for the exam --- things will be sorted out.

It is your responsibility to revise for the resits, not your lecturers'. This is why attendance at tutorials is so important as well as an organized approach to private study. Previous exam papers can be accessed via the Mathematics Department's website.

The Resit Progression Board meets on Thursday 13th August at 2pm.

I cannot provide any information about how you did in the exams before that date. After the Board has met, I will contact each student individually by email and tell you your results and whether you will be allowed to progress into the second year or not.




Organization
Resits are organized by the Academic Registry not by the Mathematics Department.

Revision information

For Introduction to university mathematics, you can access all available information via my homepage (or VISION).

For all other courses, including courses taken in other Schools, please check on VISION.
Please note: The responsibility for revising for a resit is yours not the lecturers who taught you.

What you must achieve in order to continue with some kind of Maths degree

The four core Maths courses are Introduction to university mathematics, Calculus A, Calculus B and Problem Solving. You must have obtained a minimum of grade D in all these courses. If you do not do this, you will not be allowed to continue with any Maths degree.

Hypotheticals

I'm usually bombarded with questions by students who are taking resits about various hypothetical outcomes. This is understandable --- taking resits is anxiety-inducing --- but also pointless. Please put your energies into passing the resits and leave the future to look after itself.

My advice to you

This is my personal advice as First-Year Director of Studies in Mathematics.
  • If you have resits in any of the core maths courses listed above ensure that you pass them and do as well as you can.
  • If you are taking a joint degree of some kind and you have resits in the other subject ensure that you pass them.
  • Plan your revision --- looking at last year's exam paper the day before the resit is not revision. You need to re-read your lecture notes and work through all the exercises and then re-attempt last year's paper. If I were taking a resit, I would allocate at least 2 to 3 weeks per subject.
  • It is also important to rest and relax.
  • A useful additional reference for all first-year Algebra and Calculus is Fundamentals of university mathematics by McGregor, Nimmo and Stothers.
What if I cannot continue with a Maths degree?

See my comment about hypotheticals above, but if you push me to answer I would say this:
It simply means that mathematics isn't for you. Attempting a degree and then failing is not a crime. It just means you were attempting something that just isn't you. Perhaps you should study some other subject at university? Perhaps you should enroll on an apprenticeship? Perhaps you should climb Everest? Some students go to university because of parental pressure and some because everyone else went to university and so why not? But you should attend university for positive reasons that make sense to you. The only reason to study Mathematics at university that I can see is that you enjoy and are good at Mathematics. If the worst happens, then you should contact the Careers Advisors on Campus and get good professional advice.

Added in July 2018. If you do have to leave after the first year, it is worth finding out if you are eligible for an intermediate award.