Repeating a year in one’s course has a negative image because it is often portrayed as a failure. However, the opposite is true.
In my academic career, I’ve had to repeat a year, and I can testify that I wouldn’t be where I am today without it.
What is repeating a year?
➡️ Repeating a grade means failing to achieve sufficient marks to move on to the next grade. The teaching staff proposes that the student repeat the same class a second time the following year.
There are two schools. The one where it’s thought to be very beneficial 👍 for the child or young adult, as it will enable them to get better grades. And the one where it represents something very negative, it’s considered a failure ♟️ for parents.
🤔 I think that repeating a year can be very negative as well as very positive, but it depends on two things: the character of the person concerned and their age.
A little aside. I don’t know what it’s like to repeat a grade in elementary, middle or high school, but knowing me, it wouldn’t have been as beneficial as higher education. Indeed, I think that taking the bac with my friends is what motivated me to work 💪 whereas in primary school, I probably wouldn’t have thought the same way.
Repeating a year at university and higher education: how does it work?
In France, in higher education, to validate a year, you need to validate what are called ECTS credits. 💡 One year of study corresponds to 60 ECTS credits. In other words, a bachelor’s degree is equivalent to 180 and a master’s degree to 300 ECTS credits.
Different institutions have different rules on repeating a year.
Repeating at college 📚
At university, it seems to me that you need an annual average of 10/20 to pass to the next year. Note that there is inter-semester compensation between two semesters of the same year. And if your average is less than 10, you don’t have to make up the whole year, just the subjects you didn’t pass.
It is possible to pass to the next year with failures. ⚠️ But the aim is to avoid, as far as possible, students doing years with only three subjects to validate. So you have to understand that, in addition to your new subjects, you have to take (and possibly attend) those not validated from the previous year.
As you can see, if you’re in this situation, you’ll need to work at a very sustained pace 🥵 to get through all this.
The limits of repetition
In view of the difficulty for students who may have a large number of subjects to retake, some universities have imposed limits. In order to pass to the next year, a minimum number of ECTS credits must be obtained to avoid having to repeat a year.
⚠️ There are always exceptions, which universities deal with on a case-by-case basis.
My repetition
In my business school, there were also limits. We weren’t allowed more than two non-validated subjects. This represented 50/60 ECTS credits.
Note 🦋: In my school, there is no inter-semester compensation or overall average that counts, you have to have an average of 10 in each subject!
First semester result 📝: failure of three subjects. There’s always the catch-up at the end of the year, but let’s face it, I had little chance of making it. The rest of the year turned out to be a lot less stressful 😅 since I knew I was going to repeat.
➡️ In addition to these three subjects, another one was added in the second semester. All in all, I failed four subjects in my first year of higher education.
My parents’ reaction
What scared me most about repeating a year was my parents’ reaction. It’s a bit of an obligatory step when you know you’re repeating a year, talking to your parents about it since they’re the ones paying 💶.
I was very apprehensive about it, especially in relation to my father who was very strict about studying. To tell you the truth, the way I announced it, I didn’t even get a shrug from him 😱.
💡 So if one day you have to inform your parents that you’re repeating a year, a little advice: show that you’ve understood. The fact is, I was so devastated – I wasn’t going to be with my friends anymore – that they didn’t see fit to add another layer.
Is repeating a year a bad thing?
Absolutely not! You have to keep things in perspective, it’s okay to fail, as long as you get back up 💪. Yes, it sounds like an Instagram motivational phrase, but it’s true. If every time you fail, you give up, then why did you try in the first place? You always learn from your failures, your mistakes….
Another piece of advice I can give you is precisely to understand why you repeated a year and to modify this behavior during your “second chance” 🍀.
When I took orals for the Bachelor program, of course I had questions about my repeating and my gap year 🛫. But you always have to know how to justify yourself and your choices. Why did I want to change my career path? Because my different experiences made me realize that…
The effects of repetition
For those who say that repeating a year is negative, have you ever repeated a year? Of course, it’s not all positive. For example, you lose your friends – although I kept most of them – but that’s all.
Then, if you’re repeating a year, maybe it’s because what you’re studying isn’t for you, or you don’t really know what you want to do. In that case, I’d advise you to talk to our expert 👇
Positive repetition
➡️ More time to devote to my associative and personal projects.
Having become project manager of my committee (a small association), I’ve been able to manage my team and get them to set up events within the school. What’s more, I managed to get back to my personal blog 💻.
These two activities made me more aware of what I liked and gave me a glimpse of a potential professional project.
➡️ Better grades.
The fact is that with four subjects, I had enough time to properly understand the courses and go beyond 🚀.
Repeating allowed me to increase my average considerably and improve my work method, which benefited me in my second year when all subjects were in English 😬.
I didn’t have to repeat a year in my second year, nor did I have to catch up, even though I had a lot of difficulty in English.
➡️ Becoming more mature.
Having time to think, it’s interesting to open your mind. As much for the courses as for questioning yourself 🤔 and challenging yourself.
Repeating made me realize my mistakes and how immature I was at 18. But that’s normal, you’re young, you make mistakes, you just grow up.
