Compensation against university

lemonmonk

Hi, I hope this is a valid topic in this forum.

Earlier this academic year, I was informed by a university lecturer in email form that there is a new way in which degrees will be allocated and an old system was going to be abolished.

The old system was to grant people degrees with honours even if they did not receive marks anywhere near acceptable to be awarded one if they were compensated by the university. My university claimed in an email that this system would be abolished and a new system would come in, to only compensate a degree with honours on the condition that the student had only just failed (only just failed meaning 10% below the pass threshold in one module).

I have found out today that a friend on the course failed below this 10% margin but was awarded a degree with honours regardless.

Earlier on in the year, I effectively dropped out due to the news about mark allocation, the huge stress I was under from the course and from stresses in my personal life. Had I have known about this 10% margin being flexible I would have stayed on.

As much as I would like a degree, I can see that I do not deserve one, but I have paid a lot of money into my education and would like to know if this miscommunication (or to be blunt, a lie), which I see as the sole reason for my failing is something I might receive compensation for.

Thank you for reading.

tizerbelle

lemonmonk wrote: »

Hi, I hope this is a valid topic in this forum.

Earlier this academic year, I was informed by a university lecturer in email form that there is a new way in which degrees will be allocated and an old system was going to be abolished.

The old system was to grant people degrees with honours even if they did not receive marks anywhere near acceptable to be awarded one if they were compensated by the university. My university claimed in an email that this system would be abolished and a new system would come in, to only compensate a degree with honours on the condition that the student had only just failed (only just failed meaning 10% below the pass threshold in one module).

I have found out today that a friend on the course failed below this 10% margin but was awarded a degree with honours regardless.

Earlier on in the year, I effectively dropped out due to the news about mark allocation, the huge stress I was under from the course and from stresses in my personal life. Had I have known about this 10% margin being flexible I would have stayed on.

As much as I would like a degree, I can see that I do not deserve one, but I have paid a lot of money into my education and would like to know if this miscommunication (or to be blunt, a lie), which I see as the sole reason for my failing is something I might receive compensation for.

Thank you for reading.

My bolding above.

No you're not entitled to receive anything. You didn't fail - you quit and you admit yourself this was because the course was in your opinion stressful and you had personal life stresses as well

You chose to leave knowing the financial cost - you could have carried on even if it would have meant a degree without honours - you would have still got something for your money.

lemonmonk

Thank you. Any additional feedback would be welcome too.

missbiggles1

Quite honestly, a degree where your marks are more than 10% below the fail mark is going to do you little good in the future. I think that you need to accept that academic study isn't for you and move on with your life.

glentoran99

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Quite honestly, a degree where your marks are more than 10% below the fail mark is going to do you little good in the future. I think that you need to accept that academic study isn't for you and move on with your life.

How so? a degree is a degree, if you need a degree for a job it doesn't matter what your mark was, its just says degree on your application form

missbiggles1

glentoran99 wrote: »

How so? a degree is a degree, if you need a degree for a job it doesn't matter what your mark was, its just says degree on your application form

No it doesn't - you always have to put your degree classification on your cv and job applications. Anybody involved in recruitment would know that an ordinary degree's pretty worthless - many employers even specify a minimum of a 2:1.

tomtontom

glentoran99 wrote: »

How so? a degree is a degree, if you need a degree for a job it doesn't matter what your mark was, its just says degree on your application form

Try telling that to a graduate with a 2.2 or lower who can only get a job at McDonald's.

glentoran99

missbiggles1 wrote: »

No it doesn't - you always have to put your degree classification on your cv and job applications. Anybody involved in recruitment would know that an ordinary degree's pretty worthless - many employers even specify a minimum of a 2:1.

tomtontom wrote: »

Try telling that to a graduate with a 2.2 or lower who can only get a job at McDonald's.

Depends on the job specification, Seen many many jobs advertised that just state degree required, as long as you meet that criteria then its down to interview, they cant add a classification at a later date.


a lot of the time it doesn't even have to be related to the field,

tomtontom

glentoran99 wrote: »

Depends on the job specification, Seen many many jobs advertised that just state degree required, as long as you meet that criteria then its down to interview, they cant add a classification at a later date.


a lot of the time it doesn't even have to be related to the field,

Of course there will be exceptions to the rule, but look at Milkround, Prospects etc and see how few do not specify a classification - they are in the distinct minority, and generally not true graduate jobs (sales and recruitment spring to mind).

nearlyrich

How is a sales or recruitment job not a true graduate job? The company I work for have recently recruited a graduate sales team a previous company I worked for had a graduate training scheme where most people ended up in sales roles as they paid the best.

tomtontom

nearlyrich wrote: »

How is a sales or recruitment job not a true graduate job? The company I work for have recently recruited a graduate sales team a previous company I worked for had a graduate training scheme where most people ended up in sales roles as they paid the best.

What skills does a graduate bring to a sales role that a non graduate does not? It's hardly intellectually challenging work