Son's attendance is at 68% after a month on the college fest committee. What does condonation involve?

lemon_sparrow_601430 Aug 2026

My son is in the third year of his engineering course. He spent most of August on the organising committee for the college fest, and he has now told us, fairly calmly, that his attendance is at 68 percent. The college requires 75 to sit the semester exams. He says committee members 'usually get it condoned'. I would like to understand what that means before anyone relies on it. Is it an application to the department, a medical certificate, a fine? Does the college count attendance up to a cutoff date, so that he can still make it up by attending every class from now on? I realise it varies by college. I am mostly trying to work out what to ask him to find out.

2 comments

mint_veranda_716430 Aug 2026
Our daughter's college had a version of this in her second year. Two things we learnt. The percentage was calculated up to a fixed date before exams, not on the day she checked, so there was room to recover by attending everything. And condonation for event work needed a letter from the faculty member in charge of the event, not just a request from the student. Ask him whether the faculty coordinator will sign anything, and what the cutoff date is.
- ochre_kettle_62331 Aug 2026
  Five or six years before we get to this. Already noting the faculty letter part.
apricot_pebble_84231 Aug 2026
All I have is my nephew's experience at a different university, so please treat this as one example. He was told that condonation applied only to a small shortfall and needed supporting documents; it was not automatic. I would ask your son to get the rule from the college handbook or the exam cell himself, in writing, rather than from other committee members.