I'm about to start my last semester of an undergraduate course. I need to know how to work out whether i'm heading towards a first, 2:1 or a 2:2 and what grades I need in the remaining modules to get a worthwhile grade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_undergraduate_degree_classification

This doesn't explain how i can work it out. I'm given grades for my modules in A-D grades followed by a number (e.g. C9 = C, C10 = C+, B11 = B- etc). I need to know how to calculate what class honours I'll get from my grades.

I've asked my personal tutor. She said that this should be covered in my "student handbook". I have no idea what this is and neither does she. I've asked numerous people and no one knows how to work this out or what this mysterious student handbook is. Tried google and I can only find the information that's shown on the wiki link.

I'm guessing this might end up being locked but if someone can help me out I'd appreciate it. Sorry for the useless thread.

For me:

70%-100% = A
60%-70% = B
50%-60% = C
40%-50% = D
30%-40% = E
0%-30% = Fail.

70% to 100% average = First class.
60% to 70% average = Upper second class.
50% to 60% average = Lower second class.
40% to 50% average = Third class.
30% to 40% average = Pass.
0% to 30% average = Fail.

I'm in a British uni, but the grading system is different (0/100 to 100/100) and the degree classification is made by calculating half the sum of Year 2 modules + the sum of Year 3 modules, and you must reach a certain aggregate for each class.

Also remember the actual marks for papers/assignments are usually out of 90. The percentage is calculated from that. I dunno if that's relevant but I thought I'd say.

Which university are you going to?

I'm at Wolverhampton.

I need to get some A's in my last semester.

This is essentially what it was for me (I'm now postgrad, which is slightly different). However, I've found that if you're doing an Arts or Humanities course, the tutors take 70/100 as being exceptional, and 75-85 as the best you can possibly get, which seems a bit ludicrous to me. Why bother having 85-100 on the scale?!

Ah Wolverhampton. I'm sure it's a good university but the city is one of those cities I only hear bad things about.

It's apparently a bad uni. My ex showed me a list of uni's in order of how well people do there. I think Wolvo was 104 out of 124. It's everything you need though. I don't think it matters too much.

It's a nice town/city(?) but a bit boring. I always go to Birmingham for a night out which seems to have a very bad reputation but it's fine really.

Ok, I'm just working it out now. I think I heard that they don't count ALL modules you do, they just count the best 180 credits to form your degree value. Can anyone confirm this? I've always presumed this was the case but can't remember why.

Glad I've got this sorted now. I was so worried that I was going to end up with something worthless but I'm fine. They really do give degree's to any idiot it seems.

At least they don't give degrees out as easily as US universities.

That depends on the institution of higher learning. Stop pigeon-holing all American colleges. I don't think Harvard or Yale hand out degrees as easily as Lamar University or North Carolina A&T.

I'd presume it's the same grading system. The difference is that it's harder to get into Harvard or Yale, isn't it?

A lot of the hand-out degrees are due to social engineering by the government. So they can claim that people have equal opportunities when in fact, university is not for everyone and I was hoping when I went to university that it'd be more the intellectual elite than it actually was.

Agree 100%, I felt exactly the same way. The University of Southampton is pretty good in that respect, but Solent University is a fucking joke, with comedy degrees, hairdressing degrees etc etc. It's not the students faults, the government are engineering a system whereby they get into an enormous amount of debt to end up with a meaningless qualification that gives them skills that they would learn quicker, cheaper and more effectively by doing the actual job.

I've always wondered what the mark is out of ... If it is 90 then WOOHOO! I'm apparently on the verge of hitting a first. I'd take a 2:1, its respectable enough for me.

Agreed. I've always thought that way, which is why I opted out of a full-time course, where I'd eventually have to pay, and decided to do a part-time course because its free. I'd like to consider it a smart decision. Besides, the University lifestyle doesn't suit me and I'm not about to be conned by the government into thinking University is the be all and end all.

Wow, what a farce. You can get a student handbook from your Student Union, seeing as the tutors (whose wages YOU now pay, not the government) clearly think it is more than their job's worth.

The whole marking mess basically proves that the final grade means much less than the place where you are rewarded your certificate. A 3rd class from Oxbridge will still be worth more than a 1st or Upper second from any of the old polys.

Yeah, I was hoping I'd meet people who were just like me - powerfully intelligent yet at the same time, face-achingly lazy. As it was, I just met people who were mind-blowingly stupid and face-achingly lazy, which made my incessant lack of effort look good by comparison.

Parasite, you say you go to Brum a bit? I take it you're familiar with Scruffy's, yes?

Calculating degree class can vary from faculty to faculty and subject to subject at a university. I know that for my degree (BSc Maths from Bristol University) it was calculated to be the best 180 credit points of 2nd and 3rd year work, just like you mentioned. But people I know doing engineering degrees, have it calculated a totally different way.

I'm surprised your tutor couldn't explain the situation to you, the lazy bastard that she is.

I've been there once. Awesome place, it's full of these "characters", which is cool.

You've got a real problem here so if you really need to know what you are heading for you need to speak to someone with some authority in your department. Maybe your personal tutor is not from your department, I hope so because her attitude is shoddy at best. It should be straight forward to discover which academic is in overall charge of running your degree course (departmental website or secretarial staff can tell you). Make an appointment to see that person and get all the info you need.

No, it rings a bell though. Where is it? Am I missing much?

I tend to keep going to the same few places so don't know a great deal about Brum.



I'm going to ask a few more lecturers next week. I need to focus on coursework until Monday.

I've attempted to calculate it based on my understanding of the marking system and I'll double check this with some member of staff. It seems I'll get a 2:1 but a first is impossible even if I got A's from now on. I think I do have the ability to get a first if I could start the third year again. I wasted a lot of time. I suppose that's worse than just not having the ability to do it but I suppose what I do Postgrad will be more important.

Is it okay that I have no desire to understand much of this thread? Honestly, I've been at uni for 3 months and none of this makes any sense! Blissful ignorance.

Although that said, I can relate to personal tutors and seminar tutors being idiots. My seminar tutor was constantly in hiding from the head of department which was quite amusing.

I'm very similar to you in this sense. I just don't care. My lack of knowledge isn't harming my potential, oddly, so why bother learning the ins and outs of a degree? I'm too lazy for that.

So far, in 4 months of being at Uni, I've learned nothing new. Woohoo!

Slightly off-topic, but I found out yesterday that I've gotten a Distinction for my Master of Arts degree. Satan loves a cleverclogs.

I'm not a fan of the place, and the accents do my head in, though there are a few good places. Despite being a Wetherspoons, The Square Peg is pretty nifty. Saramoons is about 50 yards away from the academy, and is a hole, great place. Costers is alright, but I've only been in there once or twice when drunk, so I'm not too sure about it, aside from I nearly fell down the stairs on the way in before a Motorhead gig.

You planning to attend any gigs that way any time soon?

No. Only gig I've got coming up is the Ting Tings in Wolvo.

WHAT THE FUCK?

Since someone started a thread about British university students. I have a question, since, I'm planing to do my degree in a commonwealth country as I plan to do a degree in Quantity Surveying, can a non-citizen join UOTC?

To be more specific, can international students join UOTC? I still do not know what university I might be joining or even which country I will be pursuing my degree in. I'll have to graduate from diploma first, lol. I just like to think light years ahead.

I'm not sure what UOTC is, but our universities accepts students from anywhere.