academic prizes and rankings

i'm curious when i hear people referring to being 1st in their year for law or that they have got academic prizes. what do they mean. at the end of every year are the names students ranked on a wall somewhere. what do you get prizes for and does this happen at all universities

also do people put this sort of information on their cv

Reply 1

Lady Narcissus

14

cloudless

also do people put this sort of information on their cv

Nah, I always leave my prizes off (cheeky)

Reply 2

cloudless

OP

Yorkshire_Laura

Nah, I always leave my prizes off (cheeky)

what sort of prizes do u mean

Reply 3

Lady Narcissus

14

My last university awarded a number of prizes to students who came top of certain modules at their discretion. Some were sponsored by local firms etc and others were unnamed. You just get a certificate and normally some cash, quite a small amount at my last university but at Oxford the prizes are quite valuable. It is the choice of the university but I think most places do them.

Lots were abolished in my final year because the cash fund ran low which I thought was quite mean because I am sure people would have appreciated a certificate to mark the achievement for CV purposes etc.

Reply 4

cloudless

OP

and at the end of each year are the students somehow ranked on a board or something

Reply 5

Lady Narcissus

14

Not in my experience. In my year they sent a list to all prize winners stating who they were for each module and who'd come top overall in that specific year group. To be honest, I think it was quite pissy of them. If you've come top of year 2, worth 50%, you don't necessarily want all to know. The degree is not over and it can get a lot of unwanted attention and, certainly, cause problems. They could have at least asked before mailing that out to people or, at best, explained it would be the case on admission.

It is arguable that the results themselves are actually protected by the Data Protection Act until the specifics of the degree come out, then, I suppose, the classification sort of falls within the public interest when applying for jobs.

Reply 6

Ishtar

9

cloudless

and at the end of each year are the students somehow ranked on a board or something

Yes, at some Universities. Ours were on a board in class order. University academic prizes were also on the board. College academic prizes are distributed later and announced in the University 'magazine'.

If you study mathematics you get the special treat of having your results read out in class order from the Senate House roof.

Reply 7

Lady Narcissus

14

I think ours would have given us a approximate estimate of the place in the year but they did not hand out info about other people until graduation, or rather they did sometimes, but they were not really supposed to.

Feckles appears to be from Cambridge where I believe they always pin up results for people to find although I did not know whether they did it in alphabetical order or by ranking in the year group.

Reply 8

NDGAARONDI

16

Yorkshire_Laura

My last university awarded a number of prizes to students who came top of certain modules at their discretion. Some were sponsored by local firms etc and others were unnamed. You just get a certificate and normally some cash, quite a small amount at my last university but at Oxford the prizes are quite valuable. It is the choice of the university but I think most places do them.

Lots were abolished in my final year because the cash fund ran low which I thought was quite mean because I am sure people would have appreciated a certificate to mark the achievement for CV purposes etc.

Exactly. Oxford didn't even do a certificate for the highest achievers? That sounds harsh. If I were in your position, I'd ask how much the certificates cost to make and pay for it. Shouldn't have to but to achieve the highest marks is an outstanding achievement.

Reply 9

Lady Narcissus

14

Ha, ha not Oxford- Hull. But don't you worry I had words. :wink:

Mainly because such prizes were written down in all the handbooks. Seemed wrong to break a promise and all that.

Reply 10

NDGAARONDI

16

Yorkshire_Laura

Ha, ha not Oxford- Hull. But don't you worry I had words. :wink:

Mainly because such prizes were written down in all the handbooks. Seemed wrong to break a promise and all that.

Oh right. How much did they cost? Didn't think it would cost them too much tbh.

Reply 11

Lady Narcissus

14

I'd guess a certificate could be quite cheap. Definitely worth while awarding one in subjects like Equity and Trusts for which the whole year must participate. Says a lot to an employer to get nominated out of the whole class, I'd say.

Reply 12

Ethereal

19

Hull named the prize winners in the Graduation ceremony booklet thingy.

I don't put mine anywhere - used it once for the :wink:

ap

Reply 13

Lady Narcissus

14

EDIT,

Sorry for not being clear.

I will stop discussing the University of Hull because they make me feel irritated.

Reply 14

Nana_Julia

9

I HATE people knowing my "ranking". I always opt to be off the list if possible. But there's no escape this year really, the BVC list is published IN THE PAPER :eek:

and as apparently about 1/3 of people fail first go (ie before re-sits) I think if I'm not in the list it will look like I've failed something...and I don't want certain pompous idiots with whom I'm acquainted thinking that, not to mention chambers...urrr guess I'll just have to be a big girl and deal with it!