'fail an exam' is correct and usable in written English.
You might use it when talking about a student's academic performance. For example: "She was devastated when she failed her exam."
If students fail an exam or a section of an exam, they will have two chances to retake it.
SAN FRANCISCO — Like two straight-A students who uncharacteristically fail an exam, the technology titans Google and Microsoft issued quarterly results on Thursday that disappointed investors.
They're more relaxed about everything, because retakes are normal if you fail an exam, and you might get your degree after four years rather than three.
We sometimes confuse the two: When someone says he is afraid he will fail an exam or get caught stealing or cheating, he should, by the definitions above, be saying he is anxious instead.
Even if they fail an exam, the students typically must move on, because moving on is inherent in the model of monolithic instruction.
In Japanese, the word means both "to fail an exam" and "to fall"; as the serow is known for its sure-footedness on mountain cliffs, students can buy charms marked with a serow hoofprint in the hope it will help them pass exams.
But here, especially at Oxford, when someone fails an exam, the tutors think about kicking them out.
I have never failed an exam but I've never had the top mark, either, nothing that could outshine Katie.
When I was growing up, failure presented itself as something clear and public: you failed an exam, you failed to clear the high-jump bar.
"Go to any school, ask the kids who just failed an exam, and ask them if they know the lyrics to their favorite song," he said.
Ultimately, however, Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln ordered Whittaker discharged from West Point because he had failed an exam he had taken shortly after the attack.
