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British undergraduate degree classifications

British undergraduate degree classifications

Posted Mar 23, 2013 22:02 UTC (Sat) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954)
In reply to: PyCon: Eben Upton on the Raspberry Pi by anselm
Parent article: PyCon: Eben Upton on the Raspberry Pi

Thanks; that was new to me. The context doesn't seem to be talking about grades of undergraduate degrees, though.

"a female got 3+ firsts in mathematics" would have to mean a person received multiple undergraduate degrees in mathematics, which doesn't make sense, and "Most ordinary but not dim males did manage a single first" would similarly mean a student typically receives a large number of these grades.


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British undergraduate degree classifications

Posted Mar 24, 2013 12:14 UTC (Sun) by peter-b (subscriber, #66996) [Link]

At Oxford and Cambridge universities, honours are not awarded to degrees but to examinations. For example, in my Engineering M.Eng course, I got a II.1 class in my Part IA examinations, a I class in Part IB and IIA, and a Distinction in Part IIB (the M.Eng examinations are not awarded honours: you can get a pass, merit or distinction). So I got two firsts and a II.1.

In Maths, the course structure is made up of the BA (three years, Parts IA, IB and II) and, if you do well enough in your BA, the M.Math (a.k.a. Part III --- this used to be called the Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics). You could, in principle, get up to four firsts in Mathematics.

I hope that is as clear as mud. :-)

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