How difficult is it to get above 70%?

lipidicman

studentphil wrote: »

In a sense writing quality should not really be being marked unless your degree is in English.

Do you really mean the things you write here? I rather doubt we want a world full of scientists with first class degrees who cannot string a sentence together. The youth of today seem to think that the world owes them something and university seems to be a bit of a shock to some of them. You need intelligence, application and initiative. That's how I achieved my first and PhD.

studentphil

lipidicman wrote: »

Do you really mean the things you write here? I rather doubt we want a world full of scientists with first class degrees who cannot string a sentence together. The youth of today seem to think that the world owes them something and university seems to be a bit of a shock to some of them. You need intelligence, application and initiative. That's how I achieved my first and PhD.

But you want Scientists not writers.

chezza262

I can see the arguments in all the above posts are completely valid to some extent and I dont expect that just by going to university I should get the top marks. My argument is that I am willing and able to work hard to achieve a first but there seems to be a ceiling to the marks some lecturers will give.

I have asked for advice but its been somewhat evasive - for example I was told that to get the high marks you have to have some originality in an essay but what is originality? Something that no one else in the group has written?

I think that in some instances even the lecturers cannot say what constitutes a high mark - you just know it when you read it!

[Deleted User]

I got 92% on 3rd year Computer science exam (taken as part of my MSc) titled 'Biologically motivated computing' - to be fair, i loved thge module and revised the exam beyond what was taught on the course (I revised for an IT exam as if it was a genetics exam)

Haha, i rule. Turns out that all the biologists massively out performed the IT students taking the exam (typically 20% higher marks). In most biology exams, you'll only get a 2:2 for regurgitating what you were taught - you've got to go read new papers and learn extra bits.

But you want Scientists not writers.

Professional scientists have to write research grants and papers.. they do need to know how to communicate effectively.

Gingernutmeg

studentphil wrote: »

It is funny you should say that as the number of questions that I see that are asking for defination of theories rather than evaluation, or compare and constrast questions where it is not clear what evaluation the question wants.

I suppose it's about taking the question one step further ... I know when I've been given definition questions I've always done that first alongside evaluating the meaning and context of said definition, but then you take it to the next level by deconstructing the definition, questioning the meanings and looking at alternatives. I actually enjoy doing that, getting to a point where you can pick something apart word by word Also, in academia, there's rarely a single definition of anything, so you generally have so many different perspectives to compare and criticise.

The clarity question is what university is about lol ... that's why I've enjoyed my degree so much more than my A-Levels. I love the freedom I have when writing and researching essays, and knowing that, as long as I can back up my ideas suitably, I'm free to explore my ideas about a subject. I really hated the way we were told exactly what had to be in our A-Level essays to get the good marks, and how there was no room for individuality and freedom. It bored me ... A-Levels might as well be assessed by multiple choice tick boxes for all the individuality you're allowed to show. However, I do think that this is the part of a degree that many people struggle with, particularly if you're used to having 'right' and 'wrong' answers and being told what you need to do to get it 'right'.

anewman

I scraped a first in my Undergrad Psychology degree. One rule of thumb I have heard is when you do your project, just follow what your supervisor recommends you to do, and make a good impression (i.e. turn up to meetings regularly) then you'll do well in that.

I have managed an average mark of 74% in my current Masters course. One of the marks was 80% (5% off as handed in a day late, i.e. 75%). I'm not sure how I managed those marks, and I get the impression from others that the marker who gave me the 80% is a harsh marker, so I'm left wondering how I got the 80%.

I also tend to find that when I feel unsure about the likely grade (convinced it was not even a pass) after handing in the work, due to spending ages on the work reading lots of papers and not feeling like I am having difficulty writing something "good", I get the higher grades. But I think really the work should be mentally challenging to get the good grades. If it was easy then the work is nothing special. I guess this was pointed out by one of my undergraduate lecturers who pointed out to the group that from the choice of essay questions, certain questions were more challenging and they thought that one particular question was relatively easy to answer so they could not give the higher grades for essays to that question.

missk_ensington

I think there is some reluctance to award a 1st, however I kind of agree that there needs to be some kind of classification that only a handful of people can achieve otherwise it'd be like A levels where everyone gets thee A's and its not that sensational anymore.

1sts do happen, I have friends who have achieved first class degrees, however I was told by someone that in a year group of 150 less than 10 will be awarded a 1st at graduation. I don't know if this is true though, or if the real figure is a bit more if anyone can clarify please do!

missk_ensington

chezza262 wrote: »

I can see the arguments in all the above posts are completely valid to some extent and I dont expect that just by going to university I should get the top marks. My argument is that I am willing and able to work hard to achieve a first but there seems to be a ceiling to the marks some lecturers will give.

I have asked for advice but its been somewhat evasive - for example I was told that to get the high marks you have to have some originality in an essay but what is originality? Something that no one else in the group has written?

I think that in some instances even the lecturers cannot say what constitutes a high mark - you just know it when you read it!

Perhaps this will help....my course handbook (English Lit) gives the following marking criteria for awarding a 1st......

"Work within this category should be excellent, it should excel: offering an esxceptionally good grasp of the text and/or issues by means of a cogent, coherent and well expressed arguement. The material under discussion will be rekated to the contexts iof the course and critical opinion; but although aware of these contexts such an essay is likely to extend or modify them, developing an arguement which proceeds from an informed critical engagement. In addition to the contextual awareness, it will be remarkeably pereceptive or illuminating in matters of detail,m and persuasive in relating the small picture to the bigger one. Showing evidence of enthusiasm for the debate, it will display thinking which, even if not exactly 'original' is not simply derivitive but offers a creative synthesis. It will not be routine or mechanical, but provoke thought and even possibly surprise a reader in its command of the subject"

Thats taken me ages to type from my book so I hope its helpful!!

executiverocker

im on a computer course and averaging about 71%. My course depends on knowledge so if you do the research and implement the knowledge you get the mark.

Money_saving_Martyn

3plus1 wrote: »

It depends on your university and on your course.

For mine, for example, you start off with 80 points. For each mistake you make, you lose a point. So if you make 11 mistakes, you end up with 69 points, i.e. 69% and thus a 2:1. Making 10 or fewer mistakes in a foreign language is nigh on impossible when you're writing lengthy pieces of work as a non-native speaker, so I will have the utmost of respect for anyone who finishes my course with a first.

I've always found it unfair that you start with a 20% disadvantage, ie. the highest possible mark is 80%. I've always wanted to get a native speaker to write an essay for me, turn it in, and then see what mark comes back, just to prove how stupid the grading system is.

I too have thought language is marked harshly - although again there does have to be a system to stop everyone getting a first. Interestingly, our modern language work is not marked by natives. With a few "mistakes" I've asked forums on wordreference.com and on occaisions the natives have agreed with me.....