How will I be graded in uni and questions about employers

I am in my first year of uni doing Biomedical Science. I know first year doesn't count towards my final grade but I still want to do well in case I need to send my grades to anyone for a placement year. I was wondering if I will receive 1 grade back at the end of this year (and the next 2 years) which would be the average of the 4 modules that I am doing or will I get back 4 grades for the 4 modules.

Also, do employers or universities (for a master's) look at the grade or do they want to know the % as well (on that note, do I just receive a grade i.e. 1st, 2:1 etc. or will i get a % mark as well)?

For example, will they care if I have 74% or 84%? Or do they care when they want to know if, for example, I have just about achieved a 2:1 or I'm well past the 60% line?

I understand this post is all over the place and waffle-y but thank you for your replies!

(edited 9 months ago)

Reply 1

wanga_wanga

Grades;

Grades are usually given individually and as an average that actually forms your final award grade, some first years do count but it tends to be weighted towards the end. All modules need to be passed to get a final award, or you may lose hons.

if you get 50% 50% and 80% and 80% in your four modules your average will be 65%

Postgraduate;
Can vary, most request a 2:1 but there are many that have gotten through, some people learn better later dependent on what's going on, the advice Id personally give anyone that's looking at a 2:2 is to make sure your dissertation is a 2:1 minimum if you wish to apply for postgrad. Unless its vastly oversubscribed they want you more to attend after all, they want the fees. Theres a balance between ability, a 51% and 51% dissertation. A 59% and 65% dissertation may tell someone different things.

Employers;

Depends, on the whole not really.

If you are going for a super elite department they have to separate people somehow.

Most professional registered roles care about the registration, little else.

Im not sure if that answered or not but maybe someone will be along with more specific

(edited 9 months ago)

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by zehra895642

Note that at some unis and in some courses first year does count towards your final classification, but it's usually weighted much less than 2nd and 3rd years.

In terms of how your individual module grades combine to form your overall result, this will vary between unis and programmes. Some may only count your best 90 credits in some years for example, some will weight different years of the degree more or less, and overall the individual modules will usually be weighted by their credit value (so a 30 credit module will make more of an impact on your average than a 15 credit one).

Usually in my experience while on the course you'll get the results for each of your modules separately and provided you pass everything you will progress to the next year. Your final degree classification will be worked out according to your uni policy on that which as noted above can vary. Your results across the programme and in each module will be noted on your transcript (but not on your degree diploma itself - sometimes they will indicate your overall class on the diploma and sometimes they won't I think?). Unis will also usually have specific policies around the boundaries between classifications themselves for where e.g. someone gets a 69.5% whether it counts as a 1st or a 2:1.

Generally my impression is employers don't really discriminated between values of 1st class degree - a 70% is the same as 90% average I think for the majority. For 2:1s perhaps some may look for a "good 2:1" i.e. somewhere in the middle of the range or higher, but many will just stipulate a 2:1 so 60% or above will be fine. For continuing in academia to a PhD or similar though then your specific average result is more likely to be a factor.

So basically it all very much depends. You can't make sweeping statements about any of these matters and will need to look at your uni policies and course handbook (and liaise with your personal tutor to understand those) and then what the actual job descriptions state is expected and what they require you to submit (I suspect most graduate jobs don't need you to submit your entire transcript for example).

By way of example, at my uni (UCL) there are actually three (at least?) different schemes for degree classifications depending which course and department you're in, and in some first year is counted towards the final classification (usually with the lowest weighting), while on others it doesn't count and you just need to pass it. Some of them count all credits in all years, some only count the best 90 credits for first and/or second year. Lots of variations and that's just at a single uni!