How are third and pass degrees regarded these days?

studentphil

A 2.2 does to get on a Masters if you do not want to go to the top top unis.

studentphil

Is there such a thing as a degree with Unclassified Honours? I would assume you get Unclassified Honours if you average in the near fail of 38 or 39 , is that correct?

Rosie75

studentphil wrote:

Is there such a thing as a degree with Unclassified Honours? I would assume you get Unclassified Honours if you average in the near fail of 38 or 39 , is that correct?

I don't think so, not in my uni at least. 38 or 39 would simply be a pass degree.

Rosie75

studentphil wrote:

Is there such a thing as a degree with Unclassified Honours? I would assume you get Unclassified Honours if you average in the near fail of 38 or 39 , is that correct?

I don't think so, not in my uni at least. 38 or 39 would simply be a pass degree.

studentphil

39 or 38 are a grwy area some places accept they are pass if you are on an ordinary degree and some say they are fail regardless of if you are on a pass or HONS degree.

Barcode

melancholly wrote:

like i said earlier - for me a first was 67%, but people decide whether something is a first, 2:1, 2:2 and 3rd - then they give the relevent percentage. with external examiners, there *should* be some consistency in the standard required for top marks.

I should have gone to Cambridge then hehe. My final unrounded average was 67.75%. The rounded mark was 68%. The way my university did it was if you had an unrounded average of 68 and 40% of marks at 70 or above, a 1:1 was signalled, or you could have 66% and 50% of marks at 70 or above.

So, it is quite possible to have an average of 66 and for your final classification to be a 1:1 (what they call a borderline first I think). I don't think anybody scored mostly 70's. More common was my situation, getting about a 50/50 split between 2:1's and 1:1's. It was a bit frustrating to discover I had missed a 1:1 by 0.25%, but there you go. There were likely one or two people with a lower overall average than me, but with 1:1's.

A 2:2 will get you onto an MA, sometimes at a good university (although this is not publicised). My requirement was a 2:1, but I suspect if I had gotten an average of 59, I would have been given some leeway. A 2:2 is going to make funding very, very, very difficult though, and I would not bother applying to the AHRC with that classification (I'm not being mean, it's the truth if you look at their distribution of awards). I'd try to shine at the MA, and apply for PhD funding which is a bit more likely. Best of luck.

studentphil

1:1 - is that an oxford term? Most places just say 1st

melancholly

Barcode wrote:

I should have gone to Cambridge then hehe. My final unrounded average was 67.75%.

i think a lot of courses had a 70% cutoff - how they get away with different percentages meaning different results within the same uni is beyond me. but they've been doing it that way for years and they're not that good at seeing faults and changing them! since i came off the better for it, i'm not going to question it!!

phil - any word from your tutor yet? keeping fingers crossed that they start to be useful!

studentphil

No word yet! So he must be having to have a think first.

talksalot81

melancholly wrote:

i think a lot of courses had a 70% cutoff - how they get away with different percentages meaning different results within the same uni is beyond me. but they've been doing it that way for years and they're not that good at seeing faults and changing them! since i came off the better for it, i'm not going to question it!!

phil - any word from your tutor yet? keeping fingers crossed that they start to be useful!

It may be because your course was hard. They undobtedly normalise somehow, but they may have settled with having a harder course and lower grade cutoffs... makes sense to me at least!