Let’s say that Joe and Bob are in their senior year of high-school. For reasons unknown (the reasons don’t really matter for this discussion), Bob’s academic performance is significantly greater than Joe’s In fact, the performance difference is so great Joe is ultimately prevented from receiving his diploma and has to repeat the year. Bob on the other hand receives his diploma and starts college the next year.
What happens now?
Independent of anything else going on in Joe’s life, he is now faced with a significant burden - a failure that not only prevents him from moving to the next phase of his development, but requires he “re-do” an experience he has just “completed”. Psychologically this is very powerful. Joe is automatically an “outcast” - not necessarily to other students who may not know Joe - but to himself. Joe now believes less in himself and his overall ability. If not identified and managed appropriately, Joe’s performance during the year has real potential to degrade even further. In fact, Joe’s performance may be reduced to a level below his (new) peers.
One could argue that Joe needs to “step up” and make the necessary corrections to ensure he doesn’t repeat the same mistakes.