Hi Glen: Often grading systems are dictated by college policy or administration. Presumably there is some rationale to thier position. In that case, that's the line that needs to be shared with students and you have to work your best within that system. Oftentimes the setup for a given lab requires a lot of preparation, time and effort. To redo and ready the lab set-up for one or two students is and additional burden on the faculty. That said, there circumstances where it is legitimate to provide a make up lab (family death, illness, accident, or hospitalization). At my school, labs have to be completed regardless of the grade. So a missed lab may earn the student zero points, but they still need to do the lab to demonstrate proficiency. I'm sure there's lots of variations that exist. As educators, we just have to try to provide the best learning experience given the resources and environment we work in. Regards, Barry