How is your grade calculated for a university degree?

[Randomface74]

It's something like:

0%, plus the effort you put in, minus the alcohol you drink.

I put in 100% effort, but drank about 14% apparently. Still a first tho.

 

[IceBus]

Depends on the course and the university. Notts Uni for my course was 0%/40%/60% as we were made to take a load of random courses in first year (film history and Japanese for me).

 

[LeoN88]

I never knew it was so different from uni to uni and subject to subject thought that there would be a general practice as such across the board for all uni's so as to ensure it is fair as it doesn't really seem like it is! So my conclusion from what has been posted here is that i best contact the course director

 

[subbytna]

@OP - the answer to your question varies and is dependent on your uni and your course.



1st year doesn't count at a lot of universities.

A common split is 2:3 or 1:2 2nd year:3rd year

with some 4 year courses something like 2:3:3

it does in Northern Ireland so fair enough...might not in mainland UK

 

[Abraham]

I may has misunderstoof myself, but I thought the OP was asking for how it was calculated from the individual module marks, rather than over years (which does vary massively between courses/unis)

For a years results by far the norm will be for each module to have an amount of credits awarded to it, these credits essentially designate the weighting of each module.
So the result for the year will be (the sum of(module percentage mark * module credits))/total credits available.
While I can see benefits to the way your friend suggested I can't recall ever having heard of it being used, I can't really see how it would work if say you'd all 2:2's and a couple of 1sts, where would the line be to mean you got a 2:1. It's not an accurate system so is unlikely to ever be used.

 

[Duff-Man]

If you do maths at Cambridge, your grade is computed through a convoluted formula of marks, scaled by "alphas" and "betas".

On each exam you will answer up to six questions, each of which is marked out of 20. An answer with 18+ marks is given an alpha, and the marks are multiplied by 3 (IIRC). An answer with 12-17 marks is given a beta, and gets a different multiplier (x2 I think). Any marks less than 12 are left unmultiplied.

Completely answering three questions will be enough for a first in most cases, but half-answering six questions will most likely get you a 2:2.

The questions are generally long and tough, and have various parts that lead on to each other. You can usually get some early marks via "book learning" (deriving formulae, stating proofs), but these invariably lead to more abstract applications that test understanding as well as knowledge. I guess they weight the marks the way they do to reward understanding over sponge-learning, and to limit the "past-papers" effect.

But anyway, it varies from Uni to Uni. At Nottingham we have a simple percentage average system. 70%+ at the end of the year and you get a 1st, etc. At least that's how it is in Engineering, no idea about other departments.