Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences General Guide to Resits

• Any student who fails a module during the semester is entitled to take a resit assessment for the module during the summer. A student who fails the module is only required to resit the component they failed[1]. If they failed the exam but passed the CA (coursework), they need only resit the exam, and vice versa.
• The exam/CA (coursework) weighting cannot be changed for the resit. An exam cannot be replaced with CA (coursework).
• Resit grades are NOT capped at 40%. All resits should be graded out of 100%.
• The resit CA (coursework) can be different from the CA (coursework) component during the semester. 

Please note:

• Resit CA (coursework) cannot be a group assignment.
• An alternative module cannot be taken as a resit.
• It is important to alert students to the resit process for your module at the beginning of the module. Either the module coordinator should do this directly or else ensure that the lecturer alerts students.
• As soon as possible after results are promulgated, and no later than the formal deadline listed on the Academic Calendar, the full details of CA (coursework) resit requirements for the module, including submission dates, should be made available on Loop.

[1] A “Component”, in M&S, refers to either Exam or CA (coursework). No further level of granularity is implied.

In undergraduate programmes, students may fail a module but pass the year, passing by compensation. This means that they do not have to resit the failed module. Passing by compensation is judged on a student’s full set of marks after semester two modules have been assessed. Four conditions must be met in order for compensation to be applied:

1. the modules are being attempted for the first time,
2. a minimum precision mark of 45% has been obtained,
3. a maximum of 1/6 of the available ECTS credits have been failed in the academic session,
4. the marks obtained in the individual failed module(s) is/are 35% or greater.

A student who fails no more than 10 credits in the year, with the fails being no less than 35%, will pass by compensation.

For example, a student who fails three five-credit modules with grades of 36% in each will not pass by compensation. A student who fails two five-credit modules with grades of 36% in each will pass by compensation.

The following is an example and does not cover all scenarios:

BA Joint Honours Year 1 (60 credits) where all modules can be compensated and the credits from each module can count towards compensation.

• A student with a precision mark of at least 45% who fails only two five-credit modules with grades of 36% in each will pass by compensation.
• A student who fails two five-credit modules, one with a grade of 36% and the other with a grade of 30% will not pass either module by compensation.
• A student who fails three five-credit modules with grades of 36% in each will not pass by compensation.
• A student with a precision mark of at least 45% who fails at two five-credit modules at the second attempt with grades of 36% in each will not pass by compensation.

Once the grades have been published – usually in early June – you can identify from the GURU page for your module if you have students taking resits. Module co-ordinators are responsible for identifying resit students and notifying them of requirements for CA (coursework) resits (see Section 4 below). Module co-ordinators must also be available for student consultation following promulgation of results, as per the academic calendar.

To identify students who have failed:

• Go to the module page on GURU.
• Click on the Enrolments tab.
• Then click on the “Show Results (Beta)” button.
• Sort the list by Grade Code– click on the Grade column on the top of the classlist.
• Any student listed as A, D, F, I, R or S in the Grade column will have to take the resit in your module.
• If no students are listed with the codes above, you have no resits for your module.

Resit Categories

Resit arrangements are defined according to the resit category^[1] of the module. Details including the resit category, Exam/CA (coursework) weighting are approved at the Programme Board meeting in Semester 2 prior to the relevant academic year, i.e. in Semester 2 2023-2024 for the academic year 2024-25. These details cannot be changed at a later date except in exceptional circumstances and subject to the approval of the Programme Board and final approval by the ADTL and/or Executive Dean and USC.

[1] Resit categories are as follows: Category 1: A resit is available for both components of the module. Category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module. Category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element. Further details on resit categories can be found in M&S 6.3.2, 7.1.6 and 7.2.3.6.

Note: A category 2 module must be 100% CA and is typically a module where it is not feasible to run a resit i.e. a laboratory or placement module. However not all 100% CA modules are category 2 modules.

M&S regulations pertaining to module marks and progression apply to resit assessments. Resit arrangements are defined according to the Resit Category of the module (see M&S).

Resit Examinations

Registry are responsible for timetabling, publication of timetable and running of resit exams. The dates for the resit exam period are available on the Academic calendar. The module coordinator is responsible for coordinating examination paper preparation and submission. The module coordinator or a suitable nominee should be present in DCU on the day of exam.

Resit Coursework (Continuous Assessment)

The module coordinator is responsible for informing students about the CA (coursework) resit, this information should be provided on the module Loop page. The latest date for publication of resit continuous assessment details and submission dates is included in the Academic calendar. All resit CA (coursework) should be submitted by the end of the resit exam period, but the submission dates can be set earlier to avoid clashes with resit exams, module coordinators should consult programme chairs regarding this. For example, in the 2023/2024 academic year, exam results were published on 5/6/24, the date for publication of resit CA (coursework) details was 17/6/24, the resit exam timetable went live on 17/7/24, the resit exam period was 29/07/24-10/08/24. Note: Registry do not timetable CA (coursework) resits nor publish information about the CA (coursework) resit.

If the module coordinator is unavailable, for example due to illness or maternity leave, it is the Head of School’s responsibility to assign the module coordinator’s duties to another member of staff.

As previously noted, resit grades are NOT capped at 40%. All resits should be graded out of 100%. The precision mark is based on the first sitting of each module. Bear in mind that some students submitting materials during the resit period may be deferred students who are making their first attempt.

Where CA (coursework) consists of a number of parts and a student has passed some, but not all parts, then the lecturer may choose to carry the mark for the successfully completed part and add it to the grade for the resit CA (coursework). If this is done for one student, it must be done for all resitting students.

Where a student fails their resit, and the module will not be available for their repeat year, the programme chair (or relevant subject rep in the case of the BA Joint Honours) should communicate what module needs to be taken in the repeat year.