u/Silly_Setting_2747

For anyone who has experience marking university language exams:
I got 38% in my first Irish exam, 4 marks short of the pass. I realised afterwards that I was making mistakes because I was translating English phrases too literally into Irish.
For the repeat, I studied properly for about 2 weeks and specifically worked on those grammar/sentence-structure problems. In my essay this time, I noticed myself correcting a lot of the small grammatical errors I would have made in the first exam. I answered the whole paper and felt fairly confident, but the exam itself felt harder because I had to think much more about the grammar rather than translating directly.
My question is specifically: if you were marking this repeat and saw a student who had previously got 38%, but whose new script showed noticeably better grammar and fewer small errors, would you expect that improvement to translate into enough extra marks to pass?
And if the final mark was borderline, say 39%, would you normally go back through the script carefully for any legitimate partial marks/rounding, especially in a language exam?
I’m mainly interested in what actually happens from the marker’s perspective.

For anyone who has experience marking university language exams:
I got 38% in my first Irish exam, 4 marks short of the pass. I realised afterwards that I was making mistakes because I was translating English phrases too literally into Irish.
For the repeat, I studied properly for about 2 weeks and specifically worked on those grammar/sentence-structure problems. In my essay this time, I noticed myself correcting a lot of the small grammatical errors I would have made in the first exam. I answered the whole paper and felt fairly confident, but the exam itself felt harder because I had to think much more about the grammar rather than translating directly.
My question is specifically: if you were marking this repeat and saw a student who had previously got 38%, but whose new script showed noticeably better grammar and fewer small errors, would you expect that improvement to translate into enough extra marks to pass?
And if the final mark was borderline, say 39%, would you normally go back through the script carefully for any legitimate partial marks/rounding, especially in a language exam?
I’m mainly interested in what actually happens from the marker’s perspective.

For anyone who has experience marking university exams (lecturers, tutors, PhD students, etc.), I’d really appreciate your perspective.
I failed a university Irish exam with 38%, so I was only 4 marks short of the 40% pass mark. Looking back, I realised I was making quite a few grammatical mistakes because I was basically translating English phrases word-for-word into Irish.
I then had to sit the repeat and studied properly for around 2 weeks. I specifically worked on the grammar and sentence structures I was getting wrong before, and I noticed I was fixing quite a few of those mistakes in my essay this time. I answered the entire paper and felt fairly confident, although the repeat actually felt harder because I had to think much more carefully about the Irish rather than just translating directly.
From a marker’s perspective, how would you look at a script like that? Would you expect a student who was already on 38% and then genuinely addressed their main weaknesses to have a good chance of getting over 40%?
Also, when marking repeats, do you generally just mark the new script normally against the criteria, or is there any extra consideration for a student who was very close to passing the first time?
Not looking for reassurance — genuinely curious about what happens from the marker’s side.

For anyone who has experience marking university exams (lecturers, tutors, PhD students, etc.), I’d really appreciate your perspective.
I failed a university Irish exam with 38%, so I was only 4 marks short of the 40% pass mark. Looking back, I realised I was making quite a few grammatical mistakes because I was basically translating English phrases word-for-word into Irish.
I then had to sit the repeat and studied properly for around 2 weeks. I specifically worked on the grammar and sentence structures I was getting wrong before, and I noticed I was fixing quite a few of those mistakes in my essay this time. I answered the entire paper and felt fairly confident, although the repeat actually felt harder because I had to think much more carefully about the Irish rather than just translating directly.
From a marker’s perspective, how would you look at a script like that? Would you expect a student who was already on 38% and then genuinely addressed their main weaknesses to have a good chance of getting over 40%?
Also, when marking repeats, do you generally just mark the new script normally against the criteria, or is there any extra consideration for a student who was very close to passing the first time?
Not looking for reassurance — genuinely curious about what happens from the marker’s side.

For anyone who has experience marking university exams (lecturers, tutors, PhD students, etc.), I’d really appreciate your perspective.
I failed a university Irish exam with 38%, so I was only 4 marks short of the 40% pass mark. Looking back, I realised I was making quite a few grammatical mistakes because I was basically translating English phrases word-for-word into Irish.
I then had to sit the repeat and studied properly for around 2 weeks. I specifically worked on the grammar and sentence structures I was getting wrong before, and I noticed I was fixing quite a few of those mistakes in my essay this time. I answered the entire paper and felt fairly confident, although the repeat actually felt harder because I had to think much more carefully about the Irish rather than just translating directly.
From a marker’s perspective, how would you look at a script like that? Would you expect a student who was already on 38% and then genuinely addressed their main weaknesses to have a good chance of getting over 40%?
Also, when marking repeats, do you generally just mark the new script normally against the criteria, or is there any extra consideration for a student who was very close to passing the first time?
Not looking for reassurance — genuinely curious about what happens from the marker’s side.