how are uni degrees graded in the UK: which modules matter? is it all in the 2nd and 3rd years?

Answer 1

The first year is just to develop your skills, you only need a mark of 40 to pass the year which is extremley easy anyone can do that, the 2nd and 3rd years are the only two which count towards your final degree, the 2nd year is 1/3 of your final mark and the 3rd year is 2/3. if all your marks average in 2nd and 3rd year add up to 70 or above thats a 1st degree, a 60-70 is a 2:1 and a 50-60 is a 2:2 and a 40-50 is a 3rd.hope this helps

Answer 2

This is how is works on my course (Im a 2nd year LLB Law student at Leeds Met)

I wont bore you by going over what has previously been said. But in terms of modules each year is split into 8 modules. 4 in each semester. A semester lasts about 12 weeks, in terms of lectures and seminars you attend.

At the end of each semester you'll have assessments. For example i was given my assignments at the end of November. The deadline date was 10th Jan and i got my results this week. Now i have a further 8 weeks to go (already 4 weeks back into it) before i have my second lot of assessments which can include assignments as well as exams, which i will sit in May.

With regards to lectures and seminars. You'll have 1 lecture and 1 seminar a week for each module. Therefore in a week youll have 4 lectures at an hour each, and 4 seminars at 1 hr 30 mins. Thus 10 hrs a week at uni. and an additional 25 hours at home studying.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Each uni will do it slightly differently - in general, you must pass the first year in order to proceed with the rest of the course, but the marks from your first year won't count towards your final degree classification.

The classifications sadie gives are the same as at my uni, but here the second year counts for 20% of your final mark, and the third year for 80%.

if you're already studying at uni, there should be some sort of handbook (or something on a website) that explains exactly how your uni does things. if you can't find that, ask your tutor or the registry/student programmes department

Answer 4

Hi Amzy,

Further to the excellent answer from Sadie....

There may well be certain compulsory units that you MUST pass to obtain an honours degree. When I read law the Law Society specified certain core units with this status. It all depends on the subject.

These will often be 20 credit units. You normally need to do 120 credits a year over 3 years. To graduate you need 300 credits from 360 but you need all 360 credits to obtain an honours degree. All units in each year must be passed to progress to the next year.

Hope this gives you a little extra information.

Good luck.