Yes. The IGNOU marking system is very poor, and you must have a lot of patience if you are pursuing any degree from IGNOU. If you fail to submit your assignment grades, your results will be delayed for several months.

IGNOU is certainly playing with students' careers because they are so unconcerned about their grades and future. They are unconcerned about how and what is written on the answer sheets. They only postpone things and do not address the issue.

Initially, you must avoid studying with the expectation that you will automatically receive an S. This tactic might fail at times. The following are some of the key points:

• Grading of the internal exam:

Highly unexpected. The outcome is unpredictable. You will succeed as long as you are the lecturer's favorite student. You have access to your internal answer sheets, so you can check for errors.

Lecturers can select results from any assignment, unexpected test, or presentation to evaluate their internals. Never offend your lecturer; otherwise, your chances of receiving good internal marks will be greatly reduced.

• Practical examinations.

If you excel at practical work, you may wind up doing all the work in your group and ultimately receive an equal evaluation. In all honesty, nobody really cares how knowledgeable you are. They don't bother as long as your answer sheets, practical book, and reports satisfy their requirements. The e-assignments aren't even examined for plagiarism or other forms of cheating. They may request CDs containing your assignments or reports, but they won't even get to their systems' drives.

• External examinations.

Some professors who excel in their fields generally receive fair evaluations. There are times when it may even seem as though the entire class received the same grade. You are never given access to the actual answer sheet, so there is no way to know for sure how they will score you.

Instead of worrying about how to get good grades, focus on mastering the subject by understanding it in a detailed manner. Although mastering every subject is immensely challenging, it is possible to be an expert in at least two or three of them. It will undoubtedly be beneficial in the long run.

Yes, you can change internal marks if you are writing the back paper in the next semester’s exams. Internal marks are sent to VTU before the results are declared and the college displays the marks allotted to be cross-checked for any errors before sending the finalized marks.

Students can take up the internals and increase the marks before appearing for a second attempt.  

But if you are applying for external revaluation and want some increase in internal marks, that is not possible.

The best way to write an answer sheet in AKTU is to start from the section that covers maximum marks and go in descending order. The proper way to attempt every section that will give you maximum marks is mentioned below.

Section A (50 marks)

This section requires the most attention as it covers the maximum marks. Use the format-

1. Introduction 

2. Main point

3. Diagrams

4. Footnote 

5. Flowcharts

This will get you maximum marks.

Section B (30 marks) – Summarise your answers and write lesser details as compared to the previous section. Follow the same format though. 

Section C (20 marks) – It’s like you now have only 30 minutes left to attempt this section. Try your best to attempt all the questions. Write only 2-3 lines with no details. If you don’t know the answer to a question, make a related flowchart or diagram and you will get marks.

Following this technique will definitely fetch you good marks especially if you have attempted sections A and B fairly well.