Throughout your academic career, how you are marked changes drastically. Only in the last few years have GCSEs gone from letters and numbers, and anyone over 18 is still trying to work out what it means. Well, it changes all over again at degree level and it can be tricky to understand. How to calculate your university grades doesn’t need to be as stressful as doing the assignments. Here’s some help working out what your marks mean and what percentages make a 2:2. 2:1 and a first.
Going from GCSE to A-level and then university is jarring, regardless of the fact that how you’re graded each time changes. Whilst the first two are pretty self-explanatory, hearing about 2:2s and above when getting started at university is confusing. If you’re not sure what any of it means, you’re definitely not alone and we can help.
Understanding The University Grading System
Before we explain what the different boundaries mean and how to calculate your university grade, there are a couple of things to explain first.
Firstly, unlike secondary or high school, it’s very unlikely you will be assigned a 2:2 etc for each assignment you hand in. What’s a lot more common is to just be given a mark where you’ll work out the percentage. That’s easy enough if your exam or assignment is out of 100, but the maths gets a little trickier otherwise.
A handy tip if you’re unsure, divide the mark you got by the total marks on the paper, and then times that by 100.
For example, if you scored 29 out of 37, then you would divide 29 by 37 and times it by 100. If you’ve just tried that and got any different to 78.4 per cent rounded up, then it may be time to revisit maths again.
Eitherway, whether you got a first, 2:2 or something else won’t actually be calculated until you’ve completed your degree. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t keep track of how you’re doing.
What Does A 2:2 Mean At University?
A 2:2 is a Lower-Second-Class Honours and is a grade above third-class honours. It means that overall, you achieved between 50-60 per cent when completing your degree.
This is a great achievement, even if you think it sounds quite low. It’s not uncommon for students to get 90 per cent and above at GSCE or A-level, however, it’s fairly uncommon at university. Lots of employers would be impressed with a 2:2 and it still offers great opportunities.
Throughout your time at university, you can work out how to calculate your university grade for each assignment by using the formula above. If you’re sitting between 50-60 per cent, particularly in your first year of university then you’re doing really well. With anything, it’s highly likely you’ll improve over time.
What Does A 2:1 Mean At University?
This is a boundary above a 2:2 and is an Upper-Second-Class Honours. You would be given this if you achieved between 60-70 per cent overall in your degree. Getting this is pretty normal and shows you’ve put a lot of hard work and thought into your degree.
Like above, you can work out if you’re achieving 2:1s at university well before you graduate.
What Does A First Mean At University?
A First-Class-Degree is the highest award you can be given when completing an undergraduate degree. This means you throughout the course you achieved 70 per cent and above. At university, there’s no differentiation between 70 per cent, 80 per cent and so on and it’s very rare to get into the 90s. You should be very proud of yourself if you get a first at any point during university.
How To Calculate Your University Grade
At any point at university, you can use the above formula to work out what percentage you got in any assignment and figure out what boundary you’re sitting on. However, it can be tricky to keep track of all the numbers, particularly across the entirety of your degree.
On your university student hub, there should be a record of the marks that you achieve and it may even give you an average for the year. However, lots of assignments have different weights, meaning that some grades contribute more to your final grade than others. This is where it can really confuse you and it feels impossible to work it out for yourself.
Luckily, you don’t have to.
There are websites that do it for you, where you enter your mark as a percentage and how much it’s worth. You add all your marks for the year and it will tell you your percentage overall. Once you have that, you’ll be able to calculate your university grade. It will give you room for assignments, modules and years to make it super easy for you.
Don’t go through your university experience guessing your university grade when there are easy ways to figure it out. Knowing how you’re doing makes it easier to achieve the target grades that you’ve set for yourself. Plus, you can organise chats with your lecturers and more to get extra support. They’ll be able to give you feedback if you want help boosting your grades.