Traditional university degree grades to be replaced by new 13-point system

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My university doesn't give percentages as marks. Everything is reported on a non-linear 20 point scale.

Middlesex (the brick uni I attended) had a 20 point scale. Can't remember whether 1 was the higher mark though! We did, I seem to remember, have percentages too.

Reply 21

heybaby

Original post by OU Student

I heard they were going to do this with GCSEs. So you'd get a grade of 1-9 instead.

A*-G and U not convenient enough? I know literacy upon high school graduation is low but still....

Reply 22

Tiger Rag

Original post by heybaby

A*-G and U not convenient enough? I know literacy upon high school graduation is low but still....

Apparently not!

Reply 23

Zerforax

Original post by OU Student

I heard they were going to do this with GCSEs. So you'd get a grade of 1-9 instead.

I don't think there should be any boundaries or grouping - should just show what your percentage mark was (once the marks are moderated for differences in each year etc).

Grades just put an artificial grouping. Why is someone who gets an A with the bare minimum mark the same as someone who got a very high A? Why is there such a difference between someone who gets A with the bare minimum mark compared to someone who gets a B and not an A just due to one mark?

Reply 24

Tiger Rag

Original post by Zerforax

I would prefer this system.

Reply 25

inthevale

Original post by PQ

Nice to see the HE minister completely ignoring the huge amounts of work that have gone into moving to GPA (https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/GPA-report-2013-14.pdf with resources for students, universities and employers here: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/node/11124 ) and decide to reduce it from the recommended 15 point system to 13 points based on.....**** knows what

Very much enjoyed HEFCE's "we're already doing this - but better and based on evidence and feasibility not gut instincts you twerp" response: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/newsarchive/2015/Name,104467,en.html

So they are not moving to a GPA system? Most of the developed world has been using this system for years. Let's just get with the times for goodness sake.

I have personal experience of both the current system being phased out and the GPA method. I think the GPA method is fantastic - it should create greater competition due to a more granular level of information being reported and drive you to achieve more - if you know you are getting a 2:1 and thats all you need for a job etc, then why bother push for a "good 2:1" and improve your grades by a few more percentage points, there is no incentive... But if you get a 3.1 GPA and someone else competing for the same job as you gets a 3.3 GPA, and for the sake of argument both are a 2:1 grade overall, then there is more competition between candidates for a job and it drives the standard up. It also allows you to look into your own performance from semester to semester in more detail and see how you can improve your grades.

Reply 26

Hopple

Just give people their percentiles.

Reply 27

Crosseyed And Painless

Original post by inthevale

So they are not moving to a GPA system? Most of the developed world has been using this system for years. Let's just get with the times for goodness sake.
I have personal experience of both the current system being phased out and the GPA method. I think the GPA method is fantastic - it should create greater competition due to a more granular level of information being reported and drive you to achieve more - if you know you are getting a 2:1 and thats all you need for a job etc, then why bother push for a "good 2:1" and improve your grades by a few more percentage points, there is no incentive... But if you get a 3.1 GPA and someone else competing for the same job as you gets a 3.3 GPA, and for the sake of argument both are a 2:1 grade overall, then there is more competition between candidates for a job and it drives the standard up. It also allows you to look into your own performance from semester to semester in more detail and see how you can improve your grades.

The problem with GPAs as they're used elsewhere (where a percentage from assessment is translated to a letter grade and then a GPA) is that things can get a bit odd - and I don't see the benefit over a percentage grade. Say the grade boundary for a A is 95%. If you get 95% in all your assessment across 8 modules, your average grade would be 95% and you'd have a GPA of 4.0. If you got 100% in 6 modules (or over 100% with extra credit) and 94% in two, your average grade would be 98.6%, but your GPA would be 3.9.

Reply 28

Ambry

Maybe more people are getting firsts and 2.1s because students and universities know that anything under a 2.1 will basically be tossed to the bottom of the pile in graduate jobs. Also, universities are so obsessed with league tables now that they might be making things easier to encourage students to apply and also to make their student body look smarter.

Plus, if the amount of firsts and 2.1s are really so bad then employers could just look to extracurriculars or interviews (like they do already) to find the better candidates. 2.1s nowadays are really just a baseline and if you get below that good luck getting your foot in the door. After an employer sees a 2.1 they should look to other things to choose the best candidates.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 29

fluttershy

I wonder how many graduate employers have been asked about this? Most graduate employers seem mainly bothered in the grade as an initial cutoff (usually 2:1 or above), and beyond that are looking at so much more. A few percent difference in results will matter less to them than what skills and qualities you bring to the business.

Reply 30

yo radical one

What if the course is modular?

Original post by fluttershy

This.

There is a big enough difference between a 2:1 and a 2:2 for the grade difference to be meaningful, but between say 5%, things such as A levels, your personality, how well you network, heck even your appearance matters more.

Reply 31

Roving Fish

My uni has a really strange way of working out grades/classification.

Through the course, lecturers refer to the scale as A+ to D- and fail...

On our results page it seems to be marked /20...

Then we eventually get to a point where we convert it into a 1st/2:1/etc classification.

Seems a bit of a strange way to do things though.

Reply 32

ladybec

Percentages for everything would be so much easier...

Reply 33

BrainDrain

Original post by ladybec

Percentages for everything would be so much easier...

Yes I agree, give the percentages instead of grades, here at Durham University marks are calculated to two decimal places and not rounded up so you can miss any grade by 0.01percent which is silly I feel..........quote from official guide;Note that the University records module marks as integers, but AMW marks are recorded to two decimal places and are not rounded up or down. So, for example, if your final AMW mark works out to be 59.99 then this does not get rounded up to 60.