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I'm looking for one word which describes what a student who missed classes needs to do in order to complete his missing.

For example if he missed biology class he needs to seat with the teacher and study this missed class together with her and then he get the mark for this missed class. Someone -who isn't native English speaker- told me that it's called "rework". But I looked for it in some dictionaries (such as Merriem-webster) and I didn't find such definition.

A Ukrainian university that uses this term: "SCHEDULE of reworks of missed classes"

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    I don't think there's a recognized term for this sort of thing in English, because in practice it simply wouldn't happen. A biology teacher is highly unlikely to be able or willing to devote that much time to a single student (that's why they teach a whole class at once in the first place). Maybe "catch-up lesson", or "extra tuition" would be appropriate. But the context would be relevant, since as I said, the exact thing being referenced here isn't "normal, common" in relation to standard school practices. Jul 19, 2016 at 17:32
  • He's making up for lost time.
    – Khan
    Jul 19, 2016 at 19:11
  • For the same purpose I found a sentence which may also be used: "Did you work-off the missed class yesterday?" (100 theme -English textbook for Ukrainian learners. p.11) Dec 3, 2018 at 13:55
  • Work-off: to pay or fulfill by working: He worked off his debt by doing odd jobs. dictionary.com/browse/work--off Dec 3, 2018 at 13:58

1 Answer 1

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That a student needs to sit with the teacher and study does not mean it will happen.

I think you are interested in

  1. catch up
    1. do something that should have been done before
  2. make up (verb)
    1. b : to do or take in order to correct an omission
      <make up a history exam>
  3. makeup (noun)
    1. : something that makes up for a previous postponement, omission, failure, or deficiency <a makeup exam>

Since this student missed classes (or whatever), he needs to catch up. He can do his makeup (or makeup work) at home by himself, with the teacher at school (if she is available), or whatever was arranged between the two.

If the student missed something mandatory, like an exam, and he has to take it outside of the original time, then he has to make it up. You could also say he has to make up his exam. He can also take a makeup exam, but I feel like this usually implies that this exam is different from the one taken by others at the original time.

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  • Makeup exam, makeup classes...
    – Peter
    Jul 19, 2016 at 19:47
  • in the dictionary you refer to, and others I consult "makeup" as a singe word does not have this meaning (the meanings refer to cosmetics and composition) rather we use the two word combination "make up" in the sense of making up for lost time.
    – djna
    Jul 19, 2016 at 20:33
  • This Ngram shows that makeup exam is well documented with this meaning: if you fail an exam, you have to resit the exam or do a makeup exam. But makeup class seems to show only classes about applying cosmetics. I have certainly never heard of anybody providing makeup classes: if a student misses a class, they are expected to catch up on their own. books.google.com/ngrams/…
    – JavaLatte
    Jul 19, 2016 at 22:45
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    Catch up is pretty clear. Make up works best as a split phrasal verb. "If you miss this class you have to make it up next week". Resit for exams
    – James K
    Jul 27, 2016 at 11:12
  • What about "cover" or "covering classes"? Dec 27, 2017 at 15:13

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