Passing by compensation

JaneLane

Could someone please explain to me how this works? I am on my way to an exam that I really don't think I'm going to pass. I haven't done well in the module at all and regret the day I thought it would be a good idea!!

If I fail the module can I compensate it by other ones? What grade do you have to get in a module so it can compensate another one? Oh and can this be done for more that one? (Just in case!)

[Jackass]

In a nutshell, you have to pass 75% of the modules you attempt in any given stage to pass by compensation, so if it's 12 modules in stage 1, you need to pass 9 and can compensate up to 3. You don't get a decision on whether you can compensate until after the stage you're in. So if you're in 1st year you'll get it at the final results, if you're in second year (stage 2) you have to wait until after 3rd year (in 3 year degree) before you'll know.

You can't get anything less than an E (afaik) for the module to be eligable for compensation (can't compensate an F) and your overall GPA for the stage has to be above 2.0 (i.e you can't be failing your degree) and you can't (again, afaik) compensate core modules.

That's pretty much it I think. Hope the exam went better than you thought and don't have to worry about this though.

Chet T16

[Quote=[Jackass];78499362] You don't get a decision on whether you can compensate until after the stage you're in. So if you're in 1st year you'll get it at the final results, if you're in second year (stage 2) you have to wait until after 3rd year (in 3 year degree) before you'll know.
[/Quote]
I'm not sure if that's badly worded or just wrong. You compensate at the results for your current stage. If I failed an exam this week it would be compensated when these results are out in a couple of weeks.

Some arts courses have a 2 year stage so you could be waiting up to a year and a half to compensate.

[Jackass]

Yeah sorry, meant final results of the stage that you are in. (as in you'll find out at end of June, as apposed to provisional results at end of May)

gypsy_rose

I'm pretty sure you can compensate on core modules, I've done it before and there's no mention of it on modular grades explained :http://www.ucd.ie/registry/assessment/student_info/modulargradesexplained.pdf

WeeBushy

Unless specifically stated you are able to compensate core modules.

spillit67

If you get an E on a repeat can you PBC? So say you repeat an exam in Stage 3 that you failed in Stage 2 and get an E, you can compensate based on your Stage 2 results?

Shouldn't be any reason why not...?

JaneLane

Thanks so much for all of the info and the simplified version, I couldn't get my head around what it stated on the website! :)The max modules I have to compensate is two so hopefully the rest will bring it up!

WeeBushy

spillit67 wrote: »

If you get an E on a repeat can you PBC? So say you repeat an exam in Stage 3 that you failed in Stage 2 and get an E, you can compensate based on your Stage 2 results?

Shouldn't be any reason why not...?

Yup, it is treated the same way.

xxkarenxx

WeeBushy wrote: »

spillit67 wrote: »

If you get an E on a repeat can you PBC? So say you repeat an exam in Stage 3 that you failed in Stage 2 and get an E, you can compensate based on your Stage 2 results?

Shouldn't be any reason why not...?

Yup, it is treated the same way.

Are resits and repeats not treated the same way in that you have to either pass or fail? I know you are awarded a grade in a repeat but not a resit but both are capped at the same GPA.

Dannyg90

if your repeating a failed exam i.e. an E or F grade you need to get 40% to pass it not 30%

spillit67

Dannyg90 wrote: »

if your repeating a failed exam i.e. an E or F grade you need to get 40% to pass it not 30%

Well if you have to repeat and got an E that obviously means you've used your 3 PBCs up so need to pass it.

I say it because I did it a couple of years ago. Failed an exam then got an E on a repeat a couple of semesters later and got a PBC.

07_12_90

So you can afford to get 3 e's per stage? Once gpa over2?

spillit67

07_12_90 wrote: »

So you can afford to get 3 e's per stage? Once gpa over2?

Yes. Obliterates your GPA though.

Dannyg90

spillit67 wrote: »

Well if you have to repeat and got an E that obviously means you've used your 3 PBCs up so need to pass it.

I say it because I did it a couple of years ago. Failed an exam then got an E on a repeat a couple of semesters later and got a PBC.

or it means that you got 4 E's and you need to pass one so that you have the 45 credits needed to compensate the other three E's.
when you repeat an E of F its a pass fail thing and you need to get a D- aka 40% to pass it

HavingCrack

07_12_90 wrote: »

So you can afford to get 3 e's per stage? Once gpa over2?

Your GPA is absolutely ****ed though. You'll struggle to even get to a 2:2 in a lot of cases I'd say unless the rest of your grades are all A's.

Chet T16

HavingCrack wrote: »

Your GPA is absolutely ****ed though. You'll struggle to even get to a 2:2 in a lot of cases I'd say unless the rest of your grades are all A's.

This is true but then, you're failing 3 modules so its to be expected

HavingCrack

Chet T16 wrote: »

This is true but then, you're failing 3 modules so its to be expected

Agreed, I've found a lot of people who compensate don't appear to realise the effect that it has on their overall result.

Clegg

I think I'll have to compensate for 1 of my modules this semester. But I was wondering if I could take up a new module as a replacemant instead of compensating. I know it's more expensive but wouldn't it make more sense to attempt a new module with the chance of obtaining a high GPA, rather than limiting yourself to a 1.6 or whatever?

cavan4liam

You have to pass core modules, by passing it or compensating them, it doesn't matter. You can only 'replace' electives and I don't know if your grade in your original choice puts a pass/fail cap on your new choice. If you repeat your failed module you will get a 2.0 on passing it but you will only get 1.6 for a compensation. You have to decide if.4 of one module on a usually 24 module final GPA really matters. Depending on your stage it might be even less than that ie. if you're 3rd stage and 3rd stage only counts for 35 per cent of your final GPA. If thinking of repeating it to get that .4, think about how much the extra study could cost in terms of grades in the other modules you are doing.

WoollyRedHat

If I have got 5 E's, one F and a D in stage 1, having chosen to compensate 3 subjects, while repeating the other 3, leaving my GPA at 1.51, is it possible to be able to still compensate, with 5 modules in Semester 2, obviously providing and pass them all. What kind of grades would I need to get in my 5 remaining modules?

If someone can advise me on this that would be great, thanks.

cavan4liam

simply put, 5 Es 1 F and 1 D averages at an E, a D average is a pass so you will need a C average for semester 2. You have to decide whether youll be able to put in the work to pass the repeats and get a C average in the rest. You can keep carrying through all the years but it's expensive and will get consistently harder. I know people in fourth year doing modules for the fourth time.

WoollyRedHat

cavan4liam wrote: »

simply put, 5 Es 1 F and 1 D averages at an E, a D average is a pass so you will need a C average for semester 2. You have to decide whether youll be able to put in the work to pass the repeats and get a C average in the rest. You can keep carrying through all the years but it's expensive and will get consistently harder. I know people in fourth year doing modules for the fourth time.

I made the decision to compensate three of them because of workload/ pressure that would of been on me if I didn't. Two of them were looking likely to be 3,000 word essays, which I didn't like the look of. I already did two 3,000 word repeats, which allowed me to be able to still focus on rest of exams, which is only 5... anyway thanks for that, really appreciate it, has put me in better spirits, have been nervy over it

JaneLane

Just a further question regarding the mention of GPA... Does your GPA for first year count towards your degree in any way? I'm wondering that even if I bust my a$$ for the next two years I'll be dragged down by how I did this year!

beardedmaster

JaneLane wrote: »

Just a further question regarding the mention of GPA... Does your GPA for first year count towards your degree in any way? I'm wondering that even if I bust my a$$ for the next two years I'll be dragged down by how I did this year!

It all depends on what degree you're doing.

JaneLane

beardedmaster wrote: »

It all depends on what degree you're doing.

Arts! I've applied to do single degree in Archaeology. That shouldn't make a difference, should it? *worried*

cavan4liam

In my degree it's the final two years that count towards my GPA and I believe third year (my 2nd last year) was weighted at around 35% of my final GPA. I've never heard of anyones first year counting towards it, it seems to me, in my course at the very least, that first year is just a means of thinning out the herd.

beardedmaster

JaneLane wrote: »

Arts! I've applied to do single degree in Archaeology. That shouldn't make a difference, should it? *worried*

Your first year result doesn't count towards what degree you get, as in if you get a 1:1, or 2:1. But, for applying for 2nd year subjects, depending on the demand for places in them, the places may well be allocated to the people with the highest GPAs.
Talk to the School of Archaeology and see what the GPA was needed for spots in 2nd year. And who knows, maybe less people applied than was their max capacity - perhaps they'd be more than happy for more people to apply.

JaneLane

Thanks for the advise! Finished exams so fingers crossed for the results!