BTEC HND - Mark questions

Hi,

I´m currently studying a 16 module HND in 1 year and I wonder if someone can help me with the questions asked below:

A) Would I be able to achieve a final DDD grade with 1 pass, or does the pass ruin everything :colondollar:

?

B) What are the grade points needed for the DDD, and generally how many distinctions per module does this involve?

Thanks!

Reply 1

mashi778

2

Helo,

BTEC HND's do not have overall grades like "DDD". That scheme of marking (As DDD/DDM/MMM/or PPP) is for BTEC Level 3 National Diploma's! An HND is at Level 5.

Until 2010 HNDs did not have an overall grade. but the Post 2010 specification for BTEC HND's states that there will be calculation of an overall P/M/or D for HND or the HNC (For example; If your overall grade is a merit it isn't called "MMM" like in Level 3 but simply as "Overall Merit"). The way in which the overall score is calculated is stated in BTEC's HN specification: Please Refer the "Calculation of the qualification grade " Section on Page 14 of the following document (Link bellow)
http://www.edexcel.com/migrationdocuments/BTEC%20Higher%20Nationals%20from%202010/BH029073-HNCD-Business-specification-Issue4.pdf

A: The short answer is No; one P grade in the HND does not affect the overall qualification grade of your HND.

Reason: If you read that section in the document above, it states that: For an HNC (8 modules) or an HND (of 16 modules) only 5 Modules can be taken to account for the overall grade of the qualification. (Exactly 75 credits). Which 5 Unis from your 16 modules is selected would be the Units you perform the best in! For example in my case I got 10M's, 3D's and 3P's. According to the calculation of points:

Grades for best 5 Units are: All 3 Distinction grades plus 2 from the Merit grades. Total credit value in my case is around 120. Which is an overall Merit.

>If you get a merit for a Unit then the unit credit value (usually 15) is multiplied by 1. Thus if its an M then its 15 Credits (For that unit).
>if you get a Distinction then the 15 credits are multiplied by 2. which would mean the unit credits are 30
>Likewise; the total credit value from your 5 best Units; is what will determine your overall qualification grade.
Oh and also note that if the Unit grade is a Pass then the 15 credits are multiplied by 0. In other words P grade do NOT contribute towards the final result; only the M's and D's contribute towards it. (Do not exceed more than 4 P grades! Cs if you do your chances for even for an overall M becomes low; D is out of the picture completely!!)

If you want to get an "Overall Distinction" you need at least 5 Distinctions (minimum). The same for an "Overall Merit"; 5 Merits in your HND would mean you get an overall M. The minimum is 5 either way.

Kinda complex system I know! but hope its clear. :smile:

Reply 2

Mcdermott

OP

9

Wow, thank you very much for these answers mate. You certainly explained everything that I wanted to know.

Looking at the grading system you just provided I will, to my relief, probably achieve an overall DDD I guess. I have 5/16 modules left, and at this time I have recieved 7 distinctions, 3 merits 1 pass (although the pass is incorrectly marked).

Is it safe to say that I have a distinction overall looking at my grades at this point?

Again, thank you for the information.

Reply 3

mashi778

2

You should total up the credits of the best 5 Units (In your case all Distinction Units) and evaluate the total mark with the table given in the spec. For most modules the credit value is 15, but for some (Like Research Project) its 20. Anyways, considering you have 7D grades, then it is safe to assume an overall D. However note that this "Overall grading" is not going to be printed on the certificate or your transcript! (In the case of a Level 5 HND). The grading system is just something Universities use to decide whether or not to grant you Year 2 or 3 Entry to a degree program. The transcript should look good with that many Distinctions! :smile:

Reply 4

Mcdermott

OP

9

Original post by mashi778

You should total up the credits of the best 5 Units (In your case all Distinction Units) and evaluate the total mark with the table given in the spec. For most modules the credit value is 15, but for some (Like Research Project) its 20. Anyways, considering you have 7D grades, then it is safe to assume an overall D. However note that this "Overall grading" is not going to be printed on the certificate or your transcript! (In the case of a Level 5 HND). The grading system is just something Universities use to decide whether or not to grant you Year 2 or 3 Entry to a degree program. The transcript should look good with that many Distinctions! :smile:

Thank you Mashi778 for this answer. I will try to add upp the credits and see if I can work out an overall grade at this stage. Do you know if the level of the unit is important/evaluated for the grade? For example, will my HND distinctions only be assessed on level 5 units?

Reply 5

Mcdermott

OP

9

Original post by mashi778

You should total up the credits of the best 5 Units (In your case all Distinction Units) and evaluate the total mark with the table given in the spec. For most modules the credit value is 15, but for some (Like Research Project) its 20. Anyways, considering you have 7D grades, then it is safe to assume an overall D. However note that this "Overall grading" is not going to be printed on the certificate or your transcript! (In the case of a Level 5 HND). The grading system is just something Universities use to decide whether or not to grant you Year 2 or 3 Entry to a degree program. The transcript should look good with that many Distinctions! :smile:

Oh, I forgot something. If the overall distinction grade won´t show up directly on the certificate, will I have to present my "own" calculated avarage grade for UCAS and Universities?

Reply 6

mashi778

2

1. When applying on UCAS all you have to do is enter ALL your modules with the grade you received under the HND. The University will do the needful of calculating the overall grade from that point onwards and consider you for whatever your point of entry.

2. hmmm, not particularly; Distinctions can distributed among Level 4 or 5 Units.but some universities may specify if they want a specific overall grade depending on what year of the Uni course you apply for.

This depends on what year of Uni you are applying for, and the Uni itself (If its a high rank or low rank)! IF you want to go into a "Top up" straight away (ONLY the 3rd year) then they would most probably ask you for a Distinction profile from the complete HND. IF its for Year 2 Entry; then they only ask for a Merit Profile from the Level 4 of the HND. (Since Level 5 will be accounted for from the Y2 of the Uni degree)

An example: http://www.coventry.ac.uk/Global/PDF%20Documents/Edexcel%20Progression%20Routes.pdf

Reply 7

AnneML

I also was under the impression I needed 6 Distinctions to get an overall distinction in my business HND.
I finally received 10 Distinctions, 1 merit and 5 passes...overall grade? Merit!!
How?? Can someone explain this to me...it is obviously not that simple as it seems!

Reply 8

Kat78

Hi AnneML, a similar thing has happened to me. I got 6 distinctions in my course and came out with an overall merit. Did you get it remarked or anything?
Just wondering if there is anything I can do about it.
Thanks

Reply 9

sifa141

i have a question, i study in Coventry University i transferred to final year top up i had distinction in HND will my HND result be included in the final year result or not ?

Reply 10

Eidarous

I just have a general question I'm in my last semester of my HND and managed to achieve so far 7 distinctions 5merits and 3 passes now the thing is what mostly disturbed me is the fact that I got an extra pass I expected to get a minimum of 2 anyways would this still affect my chances of getting a distinction or overall of a merit profile ?
thank you would appreciate your help

Reply 11

Mcdermott

OP

9

Original post by Eidarous

I just have a general question I'm in my last semester of my HND and managed to achieve so far 7 distinctions 5merits and 3 passes now the thing is what mostly disturbed me is the fact that I got an extra pass I expected to get a minimum of 2 anyways would this still affect my chances of getting a distinction or overall of a merit profile ?
thank you would appreciate your help

For an overall distinction in the HND it largely depends on how many of the level 5 modules you have completed at distinction level. It is the level 5 modules that count towards the overall grade.

Reply 12

Rheandia2018

5

I feel so dumb compared to u guys, i am on first year and on organisations and behaviour assignment - unit 3 and so far all i done is get passes nothing else.

Reply 13

Eidarous

Well I got a pass in research project and advertising and promotion and business decision making are passes rest are 9 distinctions and four merits the question is if I get a pass in research project would there be chances of getting a pass profile or is its all distinctions what would the profile be thanks

Reply 14

Mcdermott

OP

9

Original post by Eidarous

Well I got a pass in research project and advertising and promotion and business decision making are passes rest are 9 distinctions and four merits the question is if I get a pass in research project would there be chances of getting a pass profile or is its all distinctions what would the profile be thanks

Depends on which modules you achieved distinction in. They must be level 5.

Reply 15

tlite4real

3

@rakinder1980, if u need any help I could help with the little knowledge I have.

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Reply 16

Eidarous

Well on my level five subjects I managed to get 5 distinctions and the rest merit and 2 passes but overall my whole course has 9distinctions 5 merits and 2 passes

Reply 17

puchitsuki

Hi there, this may be a long shot but I was wondering, in the BTEC grades, it said the best 75 units. My college seems to have not posted the rules of combination with the grades, and my best 5 modules equal 85 credits. (and adds up to exactly 150, all level 5) so is this not valid? Does it have to be exactly 75 credits? (I'm studying in Ireland, and this is the college's first time at BTEC so I wanted to get as much information as possible. They don't seem to understand it either for me, and I'm going in next week to fix the paper (they made typos and my teachers said my grades were marked wrong , argh. It's so unorganized it seems :frown: