How to deal with a bad grade

Bad grades at university can be hard-hitting and evoke feelings of panic, sadness, and stress, especially when unexpected. It can be hard to look at the feedback which can cause further stress when doing the next piece of coursework or exam – especially if it’s for the same module.

In this article, I’d like to give you my top tips on how to deal with a bad grade.

Accept it

The first thing to do is accept it. You can’t change it, so all you can do now is accept it.

This can mean having a good cry, treating yourself to a takeaway or just having a night to look after yourself – whatever suits you best. The wrong thing to do is to sweep it under the rug and have it creeping up on you every time you do work, hanging over you like a black cloud. This can only prolong the feelings of stress and sadness.

A bad grade doesn’t define you

Another thing to note is that a bad grade doesn’t define you or take away from everything else you’ve achieved. It also doesn’t stop you from continuing to achieve your goals.

Try and think what could’ve caused this grade. Were there some mitigating factors going on in your life that could’ve prevented you from trying your best? Or were you just missing out on some key information unknown to you at the time? It could even be something simple, like having the wrong referencing style.

Whatever the reason might be, you should find it out and move on from it as this grade won’t stick with you and won’t mean a lot in the long run. The thing that does matter is using this as a learning experience and incorporating what you didn’t know then into your next task.

Try to forget about it

Another technique would be to forget about it for the time being. It can be extremely disheartening to not get the marks you’ve worked for and that are not equal to the effort you’ve put in.

Therefore, leaving this for a short while and looking after yourself will mean you can come back to the feedback with a more positive mindset and really get stuck into working on what you can do to improve for next time.

Switch your mindset

Finally, it’s important to understand that everyone will get a grade they’re not happy with at some point and that’s perfectly normal. University isn’t a competition with anyone but yourself and the only thing you can do now is move forward with your improved knowledge and approach your next task with a positive attitude and relaxed mindset.