Course Credit
CATS
You will notice that individual lecture modules etc. are assigned what are called CATS credits. CATS stands for Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme which is a scheme used throughout the UK higher education system and you might like to note that each CAT is deemed to require 10 hours of student work, to include attendance at lectures, work out of lectures and revision. The normal load for one year of full time study in higher education is 120 CATS. In the first year a 15 lecture module is worth 6 CATS, whilst a 30 lecture one is worth 12 CATS. In the second year most modules consist of about 18 lectures and are worth 7.5 CATS. In subsequent years 15 lecture modules are worth 7.5 CATS (30 lecture ones are worth 15 CATS) reflecting the greater difficulty of these modules.
Credit Accumulation
All courses based in the physics department operate on a credit accumulation system whereby your performance in each year of your course counts towards your final degree classification. However, in recognition of the fact that each year builds on the previous one, and that to a large extent a good performance in the later years requires a sound knowledge of the material covered in earlier years, your marks in the later years contribute more to your final mark than those obtained earlier. The actual weighting varies with the degree programme you are following. For the BSc degree programmes in physics, and mathematics and physics, the three years' marks are weighted in the ratio 10:30:60. For the MPhys and MMathPhys degree programmes in physics, and mathematics and physics respectively the four years' marks are weighted in the ratio 10:20:30:40. For the BSc degree in physics and business studies the ratio is 10:40:50.
Marking Schemes
When marking any assessed and examined work we use the following guidelines when classifying your performance:
- 70% and over
- A 1st class performance
- 60.0% - 69.9%
- A 2(i) performance
- 50.0% - 59.9%
- A 2(ii) performance
- 40.0% - 49.9%
- A 3rd class performance
- Less than 40%
- A failure at the honours level