Recoursing is by far the best way to set you up for your unit. When i went through the college not so long ago, of a course of 30 people, only 8 left the college first time through. the others were either recoursed or failed and were chopped.
However, it is not to say that you should bank on a recourse, if you are female then yes by all means you will be recoursed over and over again until you pass. If you are a bloke, it depends on other factors, but mainly if they believe you were 'nearly' there on the course you failed. Personally, i was very thankful for my recourse, i was hanging on by my fingertips for the course, but on the recourse it all made perfect sense and i could see the 'bigger picture' then it all clicked, and now ive hit my unit, i couldnt be happier.
Dances with Boffins: Would you agree some of the instructors push you much further on a recourse, opening your eyes to new possibilities and different ways to handle traffic because you have that extra capacity? That was by far the best experience, oh yeah an a320 doing 400kts into the hold at TAM! lets see how you deal with that mr.recourse....
hope that helps, any questions, feel free to PM me.