The Student Room Group
This varies wildly per university.
It's usually something like this:

1st class - 70% and above
2:1 - 60 - 69%
2:2 50-59%
Pass - 40%
Pass (no honours) - 35% -39% (I think this is what my uni does)

You will do a collection of modules that add up to a certain amount of credits that are required to achieve a degree, at the discretion of the Board of Examiners for your uni.

For a non-clinical 3 year degree, second year usually 'weighs less'. For example, second year counts towards 30% and third year 70% of the whole degree. First year often does not 'count' to the overall classification but a pass is required to move into the next year, but this varies at each institution.

Your grade will be taken as an average across each module. Using some basic maths and some scaling factors that usually remain unknown to students, that is how your grade is calculated.
Reply 3
Original post by ifmtg
do they only take your best year grades example
if you did well in year 2 they take that as your final grade?


Every uni - and potentially every degree - will have different ways of calculating your final grade. You should be told about this during your introductory lectures.

Many degrees take a weighted average of your second and third year grades, to give your final degree classification. It's common for first year marks to be disregarded, as this is viewed as an "apprentice" year, when you're developing uni study skills. Howver there are some degrees which take first year marks into account. For me, my final grade was determined by my second and third year grades in a 40:60 split.

But no, they definitely won't cherry-pick your best mark.
Original post by ifmtg
do they only take your best year grades example
if you did well in year 2 they take that as your final grade?


Look in your course or student handbook or speak to your dept office or records/registry. Every course has their own rules so noone on tsr can answer your question.
Original post by Klix88

But no, they definitely won't cherry-pick your best mark.


Sometimes they do, I know some will calculate your grade from your top 100 credits in each year rather than the full 120, and some will use your last year average grade if it's higher than your overall grade.
Original post by ifmtg
do they only take your best year grades example
if you did well in year 2 they take that as your final grade?


No first they will count up your cat points that is 360 (for a honours degree) to achieve this you must have passed most units you can fail 1 (but your grade might not be very good and you'll have to have passed some of your failed unit) then you will get a percentage for each unit (40% is a pass).

The uni will then take al your grades and divide them by 100 to get a percent they break down like this

40% overall 3rd class honours( equivalent D from school)
50% overall 2:2 honours (the most common and equivalent C)
60% overall 2:1 honours (equivalent B and what many although not all masters and graduate jobs ask for)
70% overall 1st (equivalent A)

If you fail short of the 360 cat points you can be awarded an ordinary or unverified degree it has no honours but proves you gained some skills from your time at uni if you fail badly and get less than 300 cat points you can still get some kind of qualification called a diploma of higher education for the units you did pass but you won't be able to go to graduation.

a few unis (very few) offer a grade called a referred degree the idea is if you are very close to the higher grade you will be offered a (optional) resit and if you pass you will get the higher grade I think you need to be like 3-4% off for instance if you got award say a 3rd with 49% you'd be offered a resit to get a 2:2 if you pass this however is not done at every uni.

If you have done an HND or foundation degree (not a degree with a foundation year) you can do a top up year the way this works unlike a 3 year degree is you go straight in to the 3rd year and your graded on that year alone son in stead of say 40:60 split over the last 2 years providing you pass your first year the 3rd year counts for 100% of your final grade if you fail you keep your previous qualification but it's only a year.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by jonathanemptage
No first they will count up your cat points that is 360 (for a honours degree) to achieve this you must have passed most units you can fail 1 (but your grade might not be very good and you'll have to have passed some of your failed unit) then you will get a percentage for each unit (40% is a pass).

The uni will then take al your grades and divide them by 100 to get a percent they break down like this

40% overall 3rd class honours( equivalent D from school)
50% overall 2:2 honours (the most common and equivalent C)
60% overall 2:1 honours (equivalent Band what many although not all masters and graduate jobs ask for)
70% overall 1st (equivalent A)

If you fail short of the 360 cat points you can be awarded an ordinary or unverified degree it has no honours but proves you gained some skills from your time at uni if you fail badly and get less than 300 cat points you can still get some kind of qualification called a diploma of higher education for the units you did pass but you won't be able to go to graduation.

a few unis (very few) offer a grade called a referred degree the idea is if you are very close to the higher grade you will be offered a (optional) resit and if you pass you will get the higher grade I think you need to be like 3-4% off for instance if you got award say a 3rd with 49% you'd be offered a resit to get a 2:2 if you pass this however is not done at every uni.


This isn't the case for every university - the rules for degree classifications are HUGELY diverse.

At my undergrad course I could take 140 credits in 2nd and 3rd year and only the best 120 would count (with 1/3 weighting on 2nd year and 2/3 on third year). After I left they changed that to remove the ability to take extra credits and changed the proportions to 35% weghting 2nd yr and 75% third year. Some universities decide on your degree classification based on just your 3rd yr average. Some universities will only give you a 1st if you get a 1st in 1/2 of your final year credits (so you can't get a first by being good in 2nd year and then getting an ok grade in 3rd year). Some universities have boundaries at 68% and 58% or send every student with those percentages for a viva to determine if they can be bumped up. Some universities insist that you get a 1st in every module in your final year in order to get a first overall.

The situation on one course is not going to be the same as the situation for another - the only way the OP will know how their degree classification will be calculated is to look in their course handbook.
Original post by Helloworld_95
Sometimes they do, I know some will calculate your grade from your top 100 credits in each year rather than the full 120, and some will use your last year average grade if it's higher than your overall grade.


but then how will you get the 360 cats I men thats only 300 cats (cat points for a completed unit)
Original post by PQ
This isn't the case for every university - the rules for degree classifications are HUGELY diverse.

At my undergrad course I could take 140 credits in 2nd and 3rd year and only the best 120 would count (with 1/3 weighting on 2nd year and 2/3 on third year). After I left they changed that to remove the ability to take extra credits and changed the proportions to 35% weghting 2nd yr and 75% third year. Some universities decide on your degree classification based on just your 3rd yr average. Some universities will only give you a 1st if you get a 1st in 1/2 of your final year credits (so you can't get a first by being good in 2nd year and then getting an ok grade in 3rd year). Some universities have boundaries at 68% and 58% or send every student with those percentages for a viva to determine if they can be bumped up. Some universities insist that you get a 1st in every module in your final year in order to get a first overall.

The situation on one course is not going to be the same as the situation for another - the only way the OP will know how their degree classification will be calculated is to look in their course handbook.


well yeah I can only give my own experience though can't I.
Original post by jonathanemptage
but then how will you get the 360 cats I men thats only 300 cats (cat points for a completed unit)


Some universities will award compensated credits for failed units.
Original post by ifmtg
do they only take your best year grades example
if you did well in year 2 they take that as your final grade?


Hi OP

It looks from your posting history that you're at UCLAN. In which case http://www.uclan.ac.uk/aqasu/assets/academic-regulations-current.pdf explains the principles behind your final degree classification.

Your second year marks make up 30% of your final grade. Your 3rd year marks make up 70%.

There's some discretion available: you have to get above the amount for a classification in half of your final year modules and be within 2% of the boundary to get bumped up a classification.

So all of your 2nd and 3rd year results will count towards your final grade but there's a lot more weighting and exceptions available for good performance in your final year.
Original post by jonathanemptage
but then how will you get the 360 cats I men thats only 300 cats (cat points for a completed unit)


Well they've still passed the other 60 credits, they just don't contribute towards the final grade.
Reply 13
Original post by Helloworld_95
Sometimes they do, I know some will calculate your grade from your top 100 credits in each year rather than the full 120, and some will use your last year average grade if it's higher than your overall grade.


There are certainly many ways of calculating a final grade. However the OP is asking whether the uni would decide whether to take their second year mark as their final grade if it was higher than the third year mark or their combined overall mark (however that is calculated). I'm sure that wouldn't happen.
Reply 14
Usually over 70% for a first

60-69% for a 2:1
50-59% for a Desmond
Reply 15
Original post by PQ
Hi OP

It looks from your posting history that you're at UCLAN. In which case http://www.uclan.ac.uk/aqasu/assets/academic-regulations-current.pdf explains the principles behind your final degree classification.

Your second year marks make up 30% of your final grade. Your 3rd year marks make up 70%.

There's some discretion available: you have to get above the amount for a classification in half of your final year modules and be within 2% of the boundary to get bumped up a classification.

So all of your 2nd and 3rd year results will count towards your final grade but there's a lot more weighting and exceptions available for good performance in your final year.


Hi,thank you so much for the explanation,i appreciate it for taking time to reply means a lot
Original post by ifmtg
do they only take your best year grades example
if you did well in year 2 they take that as your final grade?


I go to Roehampton university does any one know how many credits are needed to pass first year.
Reply 17
I’m happy I got 2:1 (360 credits)