Resits or second session: how to study well

Resits, second session: which rules apply?

In a bachelor’s degree in France, the decree of July 30, 2018 requires that assessment rules guarantee a second chance. It can take the form of an additional assessment organized after the results are published, often called a rattrapage (resit), or be included in full continuous assessment. The UE to retake, the grades kept and the dates depend on the knowledge assessment rules of your program.

In the general bac, the second group of exams, commonly called the resit oral (oral de rattrapage), is for candidates whose average is between 8 and less than 10 out of 20. They choose two subjects among the written exams, for example French, philosophy or a terminale specialty, and take them as orals. Check the exact list in your session’s documents.

In Belgium, UCLouvain presents its mid-August session as a second chance to pass the year. Its name varies by institution: “second session”, “August-September session”, or “3rd session” in some faculties. Also check whether your faculty requires you to register for the exams of this session, and by what date.

How do you analyze a failure without guilt?

A low grade describes what you produced that day, in those conditions. It doesn’t measure what you’re worth, and it becomes useful if you read it as a diagnosis. If your program organizes a review of your papers, go with two questions: where did you lose points, and why?

Each cause calls for a different response. Missing knowledge is worked on by learning and questions without notes, confusions by questions that set the two notions against each other, method by full corrected papers. If the context weighed on you, talk to your program director or your university’s support service; if your mood stays low, a health professional can help you.

• Missing knowledge: the notion was never learned, or only skimmed.
• Confused knowledge: you mixed up two definitions, two authors or two mechanisms.
• Method: instructions misread, no outline, off-topic answer, right reasoning but poorly written.
• Time management: unfinished paper, last question rushed.
• Context: illness, work, fatigue or a personal situation during the session.

Which UE or courses should you rework first?

Start with the official list of exams you have to retake. Then rank them by their weight in credits or coefficient, the gap between your grade and the grade you need, and the type of mistake spotted on your paper. A heavy UE, far from the pass mark and marked by missing knowledge, goes first.

Adapt the rework to each UE. When you mostly mixed up notions, a few targeted chapters and lots of questions are often enough. When method was lacking, spend more time on full papers, written under time limits and then compared with the course.

What summer schedule for studying for a second session?

If your resit session falls at the end of summer, first plan a few days without studying after the results. Then build a week-by-week schedule rather than an hour-by-hour timetable: each week gets chapters, tests and a rest day.

If you work during the summer, keep your sessions short and regular, for example one hour in the morning before work. For definitions and vocabulary, Fichea creates flashcards from your course and schedules them with spaced repetition using the FSRS algorithm; its schedule shows flashcard reviews for the next 14 days. Exercises and written essays still have to be redone by hand.

• First week: rest, review of your papers, list of the UE and chapters to go back over.
• Middle weeks: every day, one or two learning sessions on the priority chapters, followed by questions without notes.
• Second-to-last week: full past-exam or tutorial papers, under time limits.
• Last week: going back over mistakes, a rhythm set to the time of the exams, regular sleep.

Test yourself in the exam format, written and oral

The format of a second session isn’t necessarily the same as the first: check the one announced for each exam, then practice in those conditions. For a written exam, work through a full paper under time limits. For an oral, answer out loud a question drawn at random, after a few minutes of preparation.

For the bac oral, prepare each chosen subject like a series of course questions: definition, example, link with the rest of the syllabus. Your teachers advise the students called to the oral; ask them which points to focus your efforts on in the time that’s left.

Each test ends with the correction against the course. Write down the mistake, the right answer and the reason for the confusion, then come back to that question two or three days later. This mistake notebook becomes your last review before the exam.

Frequently asked questions