I'm in the final year of my acadamic degree course at university, but i'm finding it very difficult lately..

Question

I'm in the final year of my acadamic degree course at university, but i'm finding it very difficult lately....i've gotten so far, in the UK this is.. i got 5 Cs in my GCSEs, 2 Bs in my A-Levels, a C on my Foundation course.. and now i'm at University, i've past the first 2 years, in my final year and i'm finding very hard... does anyone know if its possible that i can get half a degree in the UK and get graduated?...i might need to talk to my careers advisor about this one.. not sure, but if i do fail my final year, surely i get sum kind of achievement/recognition right??.......it would seem like such a waste of time if i failed and got nothing of any kind on my CV saying i went to university...i'm really scared right now, i don't want my parents to know i'm falling behind.. i do work hard but lately i just can't be bothered much anymore.. all my life i've been studying... i just wanna get a job, cus i'm 22 and i've never had a job before in my life, it possible to get HALF degree?

Answer 1

Hi,  Firstly, please don't worry about your degree.  You've acheived so much already and you're almost there - take the next couple of months to really study and promise yourself something fantastic as a reward to yourself at the end.  If you are worried that you might fail, go and talk to your personal tutor (or equivalent).  If you've got through the first two years, the University clearly think you're capable, or they would have asked you to leave by now (that's a big point of the first year exams - to help identify anyone who is stuggling with University work and who would be unlikely to pass if they carried on doing their degree for the full length of the course).

It's not possible to get half a degree, but if the very worst came to the worst (which hopefully it won't), Universities award what is known as a 'pass degree.'  This is effectively a piece of paper that says that you attended that University and studied your course for however many years the course ran for, but is not the award of a degree and isn't a BSc or BA etc.  Effectively, the pass degree means that you have something which backs up your CV and shows that you were studying during the years you were at University rather than you having an unexplained gap between leaving school and starting employment (which can lead some employers to suspect you were in prison).  I have seen several students who have dropped out midway through their degree course but the majority seem to end up returning to higher education in the end.  You really are so close to finishing - give it one good go, so at least you won't regret not doing so in future.