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University credit

Hi all,

I never found the answer for this anywhere on the internet: what happens if you get a 130 or 150 credit at the end of your undergrad university degree? You need 120 to pass so what happens if you go over that? Does it change your grade? Also- you need 360 credits to get a honours, does that mean your first year counts? Many people in my course said first year doesn't count, however if you add all the credits together it's 360? How come it doesn't count? I checked the uni website and folders - nothing.

Reply 1

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by eceblt

A standard three-year undergraduate degree will be comprised of 360 credits (120 credits per year). At most universities, the grade/mark/score you get in your first year doesn't matter - i.e. it doesn't contribute to you final degree classification. However, however, you still need to pass each module. So you still need to gain all the credits from the first year (so you can reach the 360 target over three years), but you don't need to get better than 40%. That's why you've been told that first year doesn't count.

Sometimes you can even fail a non-core module in year 1 or 2, and they'll treat it as if it were a pass as long as you've done well in your other modules. This is called compensation. Also, if you fail a module that can't be compensated, you may be able to carry-forward the credits and try that module again next year. So, for example, you could gain 120 credits in year 1, 100 in year 2 (because you failed a 20-credit module) and then 140 in year 3.

There is no benefit to gaining more than 360 credits over the three years (or more than 120 in each year, unless some of those credits have been carried forward from previous years).

However, the most important thing to remember from all the above is that every university is different and every university has its own rules. So all the above is what applies generally. Which university are you at?