UCD resit fee extortionate

Blatter

Larianne wrote: »

If it's only €50 people wouldn't care.

I go to TCD where there is no charge for resits and the amount of people I have heard saying "ah sure there's always the repeats." I think they would think twice if they had to pay a €250.

There is special circumstances though where it should be waived, say if someone had been ill etc., where they can state their case but I think for the most part, the charge should be that steep.

They would also think twice if they had to pay €100, €150, €200.

€250 is far too high.

liamygunner29

helimachoptor wrote: »

Post 6: I play soccer and there are a number of students on the team, this is the average amount they spend and tbh even i was shocked, ok i can accept that this may not be the average per student per night. But i'd say as most students would probably go out twice a week they hit this figure.

Do you play for Man City? The only way you could spend a 100 is to go to coppers and buy drinks for people and it might happen everyone once but not every week!!

Your argument is bananas. From the sounds of things you may of graduated a while ago cause UCD are the biggest shower of moneygrabbers going..50euro for not briniging your student card I suppose you would argue that this will make people bring it and is a great idea? People fail exams they have to by the law of averages. I presume when you were going there was no electives which can be easily failed if your orginal course is hard. Certain aspects of courses such as the maths end of economics or a person just losing hte run of themselves. These are all factors, of course nobody wants to be 230euro or fail so it isnt really helping at all.

The point Paddy and the rest are making is simple. 230 is too much its way more then any other college and its a disgrace. You cannot be serious about all this?

Finally Trinity's is free and I don't see it falling apart. Your gpa,inconvienice of repeating and a simple 50 euro and I bet you it wouldn't change that much. It also isn't deterrent because if the wanted a deterrent they would kick you out instead of taking all your ****ing money.

Econoline Van

230 is way too high. If you mess up and fail two modules, the stress of having to come up with €460 is very difficult. It can be hard enough being a student as it is. When there were free repeats, there was no shortage of student jobs. Now there's none but it's 230 quid if you fail something. Silly.

Glenster

quicklickpaddy wrote: »

Compared to any other University, UCD's resit charges are extortionate. Simple as. DIT I think is only 60 or so

DIT

DIT

University

DIT

IT

University

Blatter

Glenster wrote: »

DIT

DIT

University

DIT

IT

University

Trinity

UCC

UL

NUIG

Maynooth

Happy?

It really is a stupid post anyway as Universities/ITs exam procedures are virtually identical.

neelyohara

errlloyd wrote: »

Lecturers get paid a salary so **** them they can ****ing correct it for free

Senior lecturers & professors don't get paid to mark. Junior, Occasional & Tutors (and tutors would mark most large modules) DO get paid to mark scripts and it's a couple of euro per question.

Things involved in providing resits: admin time to arrange the papers, the external examiner (who also gets a nice fee and checks every exam paper before it's seen by a student), space and utilities, invigilators, printing, scripts, etc.

IMO I think the fee level is there to discourage students from resitting and for that it definitely does work. I have no idea how Trinity manage their system, if UCD operated a free resit option there would be absolute chaos.

Also the percentage of people who resit and still fail on a paper that is only marked as pass or fail is still extremely high so for the most part the fee doesn't encourage them to study any harder (or those who pay for a resit and don't show up).

I'm not sure if it is purely for profit, if it was UCD would require all modules to offer a resit and there are some schools who only allow resits on cores.

I'm not saying I agree with the price, I'm just offering an explanation as to why it might be set so high.

helimachoptor

mumtoe&e wrote: »

This isnt always the case! I am a mature student - 2 active kids in tow, commuting 80 miles per day to and from UCD & currently working my fingers to the bone studying, whilst trying to juggle everything else. I am doing a course that "is" for me, however I am finding it extremely difficult. Pharmacology is a module that I am guaranteed to fail, I am studying it day and night, went to all lectures (bar one) attended an extremely worthwhile revision full day last week - yet I STILL dont get it - and am guaranteed to fail, even though I have spent 8 solid hours studying it today. Dont generalise! Not everyone who fails didnt put the work in!
Jump down off that high horse there!

You obviously didnt read my post, if you have done all this work and yet are still guaranteed to fail maybe pharamcology isnt for you.

liamygunner29 wrote: »

Do you play for Man City? The only way you could spend a 100 is to go to coppers and buy drinks for people and it might happen everyone once but not every week!!

Your argument is bananas. From the sounds of things you may of graduated a while ago cause UCD are the biggest shower of moneygrabbers going..50euro for not briniging your student card I suppose you would argue that this will make people bring it and is a great idea? People fail exams they have to by the law of averages. I presume when you were going there was no electives which can be easily failed if your orginal course is hard. Certain aspects of courses such as the maths end of economics or a person just losing hte run of themselves. These are all factors, of course nobody wants to be 230euro or fail so it isnt really helping at all.

The point Paddy and the rest are making is simple. 230 is too much its way more then any other college and its a disgrace. You cannot be serious about all this?

Finally Trinity's is free and I don't see it falling apart. Your gpa,inconvienice of repeating and a simple 50 euro and I bet you it wouldn't change that much. It also isn't deterrent because if the wanted a deterrent they would kick you out instead of taking all your ****ing money.

No, I play for Boardeaux actually.
2006 I left and tbh it was pretty bad then. AS i have said numerous times i wasnt in a position to afford to pay for repeat exams so i made sure i didnt have to repeat.


Yes the repeat fees are higher compared to the other colleges but i dont think they're extortionate. And as mentioned above the other colleges will raise their fees you can be sure of that.
I dont think its too expensive as you already have 1 "free" attempt at the exam. If you fail for not doing enough work to pass then why should you get another free attempt?

I agree with the comments on the student card as there are other forms of Photo ID that can be used.

helimachoptor

dyl10 wrote: »

To the troll in this thread:

You seem to be a) confused about the matter and b) to be clutching at straws.

UCD charge an extraordinary fee to resit and allow their students to resit exams practically forever.
Despite what delusions you may have about UCD, the quality of student that graduates from UCD isn't a top priority for the college at the moment, money and numbers is.

If they cared about the integrity of their courses they would kick people out eventually, but they don't, they let them repeat forever because all they want is $$$

I have no opinion on the merits of this either way, this is just my observation.

a) no i am not confused. The OP argues its extortionate for no reason other than its €230. I argue its not as you have already had an attempt at the exam, why should UCD incur the costs for you to have another go. Hell if you fail a year why dont you just go ahead and repeat it for free.

b) See above.

Well if you do an exam 5 times and are still failing you're an idiot to keep paying money for something you're not going to pass.

goose2005

Glenster wrote: »

DIT

DIT

University

DIT

IT

University

DIT is practically a uni:

The institution considers itself to be quite distinct from other Institutes of Technology in Ireland and is a university in all but name. ... In 1975 the University of Dublin entered an agreement whereby it conferred academic degrees at the colleges; this allowed these graduates a vote in the University of Dublin constituency for Seanad Éireann representatives. This situation continued until 1998, when the institution was granted its own degree awarding powers. The institution sought university status in 1996; although the application was declined, the institution now has powers comparable to those of a university, and its degrees are recognised as such in Ireland. The institution recently confirmed that it is applying for university status again[1].

nbrady20009

errlloyd wrote: »

I believe Ag Science students should be charged 450 and made to resit even if they pass, as a general deterrent to them being here.

Thanks errlloyd, I appreciate your kind words because everyone who studies ag science is a big thick ejit from the country. I live 40 minutes from ucd but yet because I'm not a Dub you seem to think that I'm some uncultured, loud-mouthed fool? More than half the people that study the course don't come from a farming background, myself included. I have a genuine interest in food, and for that I'm being slandered? Your misconception of the people who study the course is quite a representation of people with a narrow mind, I'm glad that's not something that I've had to encounter during my studies, that majority of people would be quite happy to be friends with anyone. I'm glad that's your problem to overcome and not mine.

helimachoptor

Erm i think he was joking :pac::pac:

parker kent

davi78 wrote: »

As I was not ill at the time of my exam, I will be liable for the resit fee which will bring the cost of passing a 5 credit module up to nearly €500.

If you have a doctors note to say you were ill at any time during the module, you could still apply for extenuating circumstances. At risk of causing World War 3 like when I said apply early for your grant (joking!), you should act quickly if you feel you genuinely have extenuating circumstances.

davi78 wrote: »

It is absolutely ridiculous that no other form of ID is acceptable. I do not understand why a drivers licence or passport is less trustworthy than a student card.

Neither of those prove you are a UCD student. Whilst it may seem far fetched, there have been cases of students getting other people to sit exams for them in the past. I know of one particular course that had particular problems. So due to this and the many, many years that students have been forgetting them en masse, they have basically gone nucleur and saw a way to kill 2 birds with one stone. Raise money and get people to bring the cards. Whichever happens, is a win for UCD.

As for the general comments in the thread, I don't think that €230 is necessarily extortionate. Yes it is a lot, but there are issues to think about. Firstly, the Trinity approach is madness. Something like €50 would be too low. As is said above, repeats don't pay for themselves. It is also a lot of unnecessary hassle. Maybe €100 might be a more reasonable fee, but whatever figure is picked will always lead to claims it is too high.

I know many people don't want to hear this, but there is a way to not pay the fee. Basically pass the module! A very high percentage of repeats are due to students not putting in enough work. Electives have played a role in this as some people view them as a doss, or they end up having to pick something they don't want to do due to choice problems or else they end up picking something that does not suit them. But often, people have just not made the effort over the 12 weeks. I know that there will always be unlucky people and you have to feel sorry for them. But sadly they are collateral damage.

I have bigger issues with UCD accepting far too many people for courses who are not able for them. This is especially true for postgrads. Then when they get into them, they are not either not good enough or suited to the modules. So failures are bound to happen.

davi78

Cheers for that, I thought that the extenuating circumstances situation would only apply if I was ill at the time of the exam, not during the module. I'll get on that on Monday. That's taken a weight off my mind!

parker kent

davi78 wrote: »

Cheers for that, I thought that the extenuating circumstances situation would only apply if I was ill at the time of the exam, not during the module. I'll get on that on Monday. That's taken a weight off my mind!

Just to give you some better information, this line is what you would be applying for:

Circumstances that persisted throughout the semester or a substantial part of it that affected your performance

Read these two documents to understand the procedures fully.

Student Guide to the Policy on Extenuating Circumstances 2010-11 http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/pol_ext_circum_gn.pdf

POLICY DOCUMENT Extenuating Circumstances http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/pol_ext_circum.pdf

WeeBushy

parker kent wrote: »

Neither of those prove you are a UCD student. Whilst it may seem far fetched, there have been cases of students getting other people to sit exams for them in the past. I know of one particular course that had particular problems. So due to this and the many, many years that students have been forgetting them en masse, they have basically gone nucleur and saw a way to kill 2 birds with one stone. Raise money and get people to bring the cards. Whichever happens, is a win for UCD.

A passport or drivers license would be able to prove you are though. And if the name corresponds with the name on their list... bingo. You are a UCD student.

I don't see why it has to be a student card. A passport/drivers license can do everything a student card can.

In saying that, its not that hard to remember your student card. It just say you lose it the day of an exam, its a bit harsh that you have to pay a fine instead of being able to use another ID that does the exact same job.

OT though. Nothing to do with resit fees, I realise.

davi78

parker kent wrote: »

Student Guide to the Policy on Extenuating Circumstances 2010-11 http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/pol_ext_circum_gn.pdf

POLICY DOCUMENT Extenuating Circumstances http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/pol_ext_circum.pdf

Very helpful, thanks a million.

Blut2

Most exams are designed in such a way that theyre quite easy to pass but quite hard to get an A in. Id be surprised if any significant number of students who go to all their lectures, go to their tutorials and do all their assignments (and have no other interfering factor - family issues, health etc) manage to fail any courses. And if they do all that and still fail then perhaps they dont have quite the intellectual capacity required for their course.

Plus lets be fair here, with academic funding the way it is at the moment the more ways UCD admin think of milking the dumbest 10% of the student body the better - more funds will be available for more worthwhile causes and it might also convince that 10% to drop out, raising academic standards. Its win-win really.

quicklickpaddy

parker kent wrote: »

Neither of those prove you are a UCD student. Whilst it may seem far fetched, there have been cases of students getting other people to sit exams for them in the past. I know of one particular course that had particular problems. So due to this and the many, many years that students have been forgetting them en masse, they have basically gone nucleur and saw a way to kill 2 birds with one stone. Raise money and get people to bring the cards. Whichever happens, is a win for UCD.

This is what I have a problem with. Obviously, some sort of deterrent to forgetting your card is useful - the new thing about having to go to a meeting to explain why I think is enough. But €50 for forgetting your card is downright greedy.

parker kent wrote: »

As for the general comments in the thread, I don't think that €230 is necessarily extortionate. Yes it is a lot, but there are issues to think about. Firstly, the Trinity approach is madness. Something like €50 would be too low. As is said above, repeats don't pay for themselves. It is also a lot of unnecessary hassle. Maybe €100 might be a more reasonable fee, but whatever figure is picked will always lead to claims it is too high.

I am delighted to actually hear a reasonable argument for this. Although I still disagree overall. I think having them dropped to €100 would be perfect. I makes sense to have a deterrent and while it may not necessarily have to be financial - if it is financial then you have to at least be reasonable about it.

I do think €230 is extortionate. The only thing we have to judge whether it is extortionate or not is the fees other colleges are charging. And by that reasoning I don't think anyone can argue that they ARE extortionate. Also, by the same logic I think people would cease complaining about the cost if it was in line with the average

errlloyd

I think its fair to say that a financial deterrent is completely subjective!!

parker kent

quicklickpaddy wrote: »

I am delighted to actually hear a reasonable argument for this. Although I still disagree overall. I think having them dropped to €100 would be perfect. I makes sense to have a deterrent and while it may not necessarily have to be financial - if it is financial then you have to at least be reasonable about it.

I do think €230 is extortionate. The only thing we have to judge whether it is extortionate or not is the fees other colleges are charging. And by that reasoning I don't think anyone can argue that they ARE extortionate. Also, by the same logic I think people would cease complaining about the cost if it was in line with the average

I can totally see where you are coming from and I know I would not like to have paid such an amount for a repeat. It does seem unfair when Trinity does not have a fee. But I guess UCD could always use a line about having higher costs.

I do think that people will always complain about any fee. There are pretty small fees for other things around UCD (like printing etc) which I think are reasonable, but they are still complained about. Plus one person's reasonable, is beyond other people. €230 may be beyond some hard-up students and a drop in the ocean for others. I know that I am glad that I am not the one setting the fee. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

But there has to be a financial implication to repeating in my view. As much as I would love everybody to act entirely out of personal academic interests, some people need extra motivation.

Blatter

parker kent wrote: »

I can totally see where you are coming from and I know I would not like to have paid such an amount for a repeat. It does seem unfair when Trinity does not have a fee. But I guess UCD could always use a line about having higher costs.

I do think that people will always complain about any fee. There are pretty small fees for other things around UCD (like printing etc) which I think are reasonable, but they are still complained about. Plus one person's reasonable, is beyond other people. €230 may be beyond some hard-up students and a drop in the ocean for others. I know that I am glad that I am not the one setting the fee. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

But there has to be a financial implication to repeating in my view. As much as I would love everybody to act entirely out of personal academic interests, some people need extra motivation.

I don't think they can use that line at all, Universitys get funded with respect to their student quota.

parker kent

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

I don't think they can use that line at all, Universitys get funded with respect to their student quota.

Well that is me suggesting an excuse for them, not necessarily a valid reason. Funding is also slightly more complex than you suggest.

Anyway as I have said earlier, I agree with having a resit fee and it has to be set at something. Whatever that fee is, there will always be somebody to complain about it.

quicklickpaddy

parker kent wrote: »

Well that is me suggesting an excuse for them, not necessarily a valid reason. Funding is also slightly more complex than you suggest.

Anyway as I have said earlier, I agree with having a resit fee and it has to be set at something. Whatever that fee is, there will always be somebody to complain about it.

Yyyeah fair enough but I don't expect them to anything about just because I'm kicking up a fuss. I expect them to do something about it because it shouldn't be as expensive as it is

brokenhinge

Totally agree that it's extortion. Some subjects literally do not compute with students -Maths, Science and Accounting etc., and the penalty of €230 is ridiculous. Noone goes in hoping to fail, and I don't think it's fair.

I repeated an exam today in accounting and I worked flat out all semester, study week in it, yet I think I might have just passed. I've been to every lecture and tutorial, met the lecturer after class and done more than my share of work in it. I literally just don't understand it. Do I deserve to be financially crippled cause of it?

My friends in other colleges think it's ridiculous how much we're charged, and I agree totally. BTW- the comments saying stuff like you should study etc. are extremely ignorant and condecending.

parker kent

brokenhinge wrote: »

BTW- the comments saying stuff like you should study etc. are extremely ignorant and condecending.

They are directed at a lot of people who don't put in the work you are doing. There are plenty around college who do damn all and then complain about repeats. So that type of person is fair game in my view.

Pierce_1991

230 is a ridiculous amount of money to charge after failing an exam.
You can't use money as a deterrent for failing an exam. If you do than students who are financially better off will be in no way put out as daddy will pay for the resits while less well off people will be put in real trouble and may even have to consider dropping out if they really cant afford it.
Also, the money can't be used to earn money for UCD, they legally can't budget for students failing exams so any extra money they get from it is rarely used for anything of significance.
I don't buy into the argument that it costs 230 quid to pay for a resit, if other colleges can provide the same service for so much less than I don't see why UCD would pay more. I failed one exam last year and my repeat was nothing more than an essay to be done by a certain date and corrected by the lecturer. It was only a pass or fail essay so even the lecturer wouldn't have spent ages correcting it, once they see its good enough for a pass they give the pass (I even bumped into my lecturer the day after I handed in the repeat essay and he told me that he had glanced at it earlier that morning and that it was going to be a pass).
Its an extremely unfair and extortionate fee, which definitely does act as a deterrent (unfairly) but I just feel sorry for people who, like it was said earlier, are maybe doing maths or something and just genuinely could not grasp a concept.

aine92

Sorry to drag up an old thread but does anybody know how you find out exactly when the resit exam is on?

parker kent

You'll find out when everybody gets the timetable for the summer exams.

aine92

Just to throw in my 2cents here...

I failed one of my modules last semester. It was a module I really, really, liked, I went to every single lab, every single tutorial and lecture, studied all the time. My final exam was worth 60% and all the other continuous assessment stuff was worth 40%. I missed my final exam due to something COMPLETELY beyond my control, UCD wouldn't even humour my plea for extenuating circumstances..Got my results anyway and turns out had I gotten 3% more, i would have had enough marks to compensate for the module without even doing the final exam, which means I was averaging a pretty class 70%-ish considering the difficulty of the module.

So because they wouldn't accept my circumstances, I failed the module, had to pay €230 and have another exam at the end of the year. So if one of ye guys really genuinely thinks that is fair that I missed my exam that I know I would have done quite well in and I have to pay a ridiculous amount of money...I mean, you're just ignorant then. Its not like I didn't bother turning up or bother to study or whatever. €230 to me would literally fund 10 nights out!

And to the guy who spends €100 on a night out and "plays soccer"...you're just an idiot.

jripper

Well is there anything we can actively do to get the resit fee lowered? People elected to the su have made promises of lowering it before... but empty promises is all they were. UCD are the greatest load of money grabbing pigs ever, and for everyone bar well off d4's getting their way paid for them by mammy and daddy, it can be a real struggle.