Are application requirements for Master degrees in UK unfair towards Swiss students ?

Hello everyone,

Behind this kind of clickbait title i have actually a real question.

I have recently graduated from a swiss university and I desire(ed) to apply for a graduate program in UK.
However, it seems to be eligbile for this master I need to have an average mark of 5 (i have 4.83) what would according to them be equivalent to a 2.1.

However, what bothers me is that in UK a 2.1= 60% but in Switzerland an 5=80 %

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_grading_in_Switzerland

https://www.hotcoursesabroad.com/study-in-the-uk/applying-to-university/understanding-undergraduate-grading-system-in-uk/

Plus, I read that in average 50% of UK student obtain a 2.1 degree although in Switzerland there's no way 50% of students have an average mark of 5. Actually, the best two students i know have around 5.3. I have never even heard about anyone having a 6.It doesn't seem so rare to have A in UK.

So am I missing something. Is there a kind of grade inflation in UK or does Swiss student have bad rep in the academic world ?

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 1

Moments

It may be due to differences in what is deemed to be a "top student". The UK seems to have a very broad definition, meaning getting 71-100%, while in most other countries only someone getting >90% would be considered top. That bloated high end means the lower grades are all compressed into narrow bands.

Now perhaps it's the arrogance of the British to assume that their educational standards are far higher to begin with, but personally
It's not something I believe, you average Imperial student going to MIT would be made to look stupid.

If you have grade percentages to show to the applications department, along with examples of your best work, it might be worth mentioning them.

Reply 2

Mortage12314

Thank you guys for those replies :smile:

Yes, I actually know that 2.1. The thing most UK universities just accept students with a grade of 5 as a minimum. This seems quite high, especially for some universities which aren't as well-known as Oxford, Cambridge, LSE... Honestly, having 5 in Switzerland places you probably between the 20%-30% best students of your faculty. Anything above 5.5 is really, really, really rare and I don't know anyone with such grades. Actually, I heard of the newspaper of a high school graduate who obtain an average of 6 but I've never heard of something similar for a college graduate student.

In the meantime, I have talked about this with an assistant and fellow students and the issue seems to come from Swiss universities and their conversion table. It's a nonsense. To give you an example

At the university of Fribourg

https://www3.unifr.ch/studies/fr/mobilite/incoming/infos-pratiques/etudes/systeme-de-notation.html

Geneva

https://www.unige.ch/dife/enseigner-apprendre/programme/ects-charge-de-travail/notation-ects

As a matter of fact the equivalent of a B would be almost impossible to obtain in Fribourg.

I also found an article of a guy talking about similar issues (however, it was for a bachelor program)

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/opinion_what-i-learned-when-applying-to-a-british-uni/43480892

Anyway, I think I will focus more on my application for Science Po Paris because the minimum grade required is 4.5 (for my bachelor) and 4.7 for swiss bachelors. Plus one of my referees told me he has a good network there. I could also go to Madrid, Lisbon or Germany. I don't know the only thing I am sure is that I really want to study abroad haha

Nonetheless, that's a shame, I really loved UK when I spent 8 months there. You guys have a beautiful country and a lot of nice people :smile:

Reply 3

harrysbar

Glad to see you haven't changed

Reply 4

1Person

I had some issues as well applying for UG admission last year. Without all the boring details, I went from being one of the best students of my class (in science at least) to studying a foundation year in the UK. At least I had this opportunity, don’t think you could do the same for a Master.

Are application requirements for Master degrees in UK unfair towards Swiss students ?

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