Does anyone know how to work out degree classifications?

[DerbyGull]

I've got 90% of my work back and i think it's a 2:2 but i'm worried a D from the last 10% and it's a 3rd.

This is the scores: 2nd year = 20% @ B-; 3rd year = 80% : module 1 = 10% @ C; module 2 = 10% @ C; module 3 = 10% @ C; module 4= 20% @ C-; module 5 = 20% @ D-; module 6 = 10% @ ??

Anyone know how to calculate these things?

 

[Titanic]

Isn't it likely to be different, based on the course, the academic establishment etc...

 

[bhafc99]

Here's hoping your degree wasn't in maths.

 

[Philzo-93]

From what my cousin tells me, you'e just scraped a 2:2

 

[sten_super]

Blimey, since when did they start giving out grades for university exams? Back in my day (I left university all of 5 years ago!) it was all percentages...

 

[Waynflete]

Blimey, since when did they start giving out grades for university exams? Back in my day (I left university all of 5 years ago!) it was all percentages...

I think it depends entirely on where you're studying and what subject you're doing, as Titanic said.

 

[sten_super]

I think it depends entirely on where you're studying and what subject you're doing, as Titanic said.

True, it just seems to me a very complicated way of doing things; we were told the percentage we got in each module, we knew what weight each module had towards our final degree classification, and we knew what the percentage boundaries were for 1st, 2:1, etc. so it was very straightforward to work out. Having to weight out grades seems rather more difficult!

 

[beorhthelm]

like your plagiarism enquiry, this would really be best directed to your course's administration office or your tutor.

 

[Spun Cuppa]

When the results are out, go and look on the board for the result next to your name

 

[strings]

From someone that used to work in Quality and Standards at a University (me); you need to look at your University's academic regulations. Each University has responsibility for setting their own grade boundaries and for setting the method of working out degree classifications. The university should make this information available to students (this is a QAA requirement), but if you can't find it speak to one of the academics or guidance counsellors, who should be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

If they want to be consistant from one year to the next they'll only decide how to devide the classification when they've come up with the statistical distribution curve of marks vs. no of candidates across the whole year. If you get a 1st it means you're in the top quartile of that distribution curve, regardless of whether the curve was skewed towards high or low scores. It all depends on how everyone else performed as well.

If it was always at a set score, then it wouldn't really be fair, because some examiners might set easier questions now than others from a few years ago ( or vice versa ).

So you could have a lowish score of 60 % but if everyone else did much worse than you then you'd be in 1st territory, but if everyone else did much better than you, you could be in 3rd territory. That way the 'difficulty' of the degree examination is factored into the number of degree's awarded.

 

[Bobby's Gull]

I wouldn't worry too much, the dickhead I had as my personal tutor told me I would be lucky to scrap a pass and I got a 2:1.

 

[strings]

If they want to be consistant from one year to the next they'll only decide how to devide the classification when they've come up with the statistical distribution curve of marks vs. no of candidates across the whole year. If you get a 1st it means you're in the top quartile of that distribution curve, regardless of whether the curve was skewed towards high or low scores. It all depends on how everyone else performed as well.

If it was always at a set score, then it wouldn't really be fair, because some examiners might set easier questions now than others from a few years ago ( or vice versa ).

So you could have a lowish score of 60 % but if everyone else did much worse than you then you'd be in 1st territory, but if everyone else did much better than you, you could be in 3rd territory. That way the 'difficulty' of the degree examination is factored into the number of degree's awarded.

Some Universities do this. The one I worked at didn't. The basic rule is that Universities can set their own method of calculating classifications and it has to be freely available to students. Classifications therefore aren't always consistent across the sector - a 2:2 at one institution isn't always comparable to a 2:2 at another.

The Uni I worked at (one or two on here may know which one it is - so please don't name the institution) was concerned about the lack of 2:1s they were giving out, so they changed their classification calculation system to make it easier.

 

[Waynflete]

True, it just seems to me a very complicated way of doing things; we were told the percentage we got in each module, we knew what weight each module had towards our final degree classification, and we knew what the percentage boundaries were for 1st, 2:1, etc. so it was very straightforward to work out. Having to weight out grades seems rather more difficult!

I know what you mean. For my undergrad degree it was reasonably straightforward - percentage marks that translated into degree class at the end. For my MA, which I'm doing now, it's madness! My coursework essays are marked as A, A-, B+ and so on. This is then converted into a percentage mark (e.g. A- = 85%) and then at the end they award a pass, merit or distinction based on your average grade, but with extra weight placed on your dissertation. Complicated.

 

[SICKASAGULL]

Whatever degree you end up with, regrettably it will not make your chances of securing a decent career any easier,there are many who have been trying unsuccessfully for up to three years and firms are cutting the number they are taking on.

 

[fleet]

When the results are out, go and look on the board for the result next to your name

Those were the days - the Data Protection Act (or something like that) means you can't put up pass lists anymore