Examination Results & Progression Rules 23
Each year exam boards meet to consider each student's performance according to University Regulation §8.3. The composition of the boards varies with the year of study and with the degree programme you are following.
This document should be read in conjunction with the University Classification Conventions.
Your end of year results will be made available to you via Tabula. You will receive an email to inform you of their release.
First Year
If you have achieved a mark in excess of 40% overall, passed 90 CATS credits and perform satisfactorily (a mark of at least 40%) in each of the required core modules for the course, the board will allow you to proceed to the second year of your course. If you do not perform at this level the board will identify the papers that you must resit in September.
There is one circumstance where the exam board will require a student to withdraw without the right to a resit, and that is for Physics, Physics with Astrophysics and Physics with Business Studies students who have failed PX152 Physics Laboratory or PX151 Astrophysics Laboratory I.
Once the results have been published your tutor will be able to discuss your performance. If you are required to resit any papers you will receive an email from Registry explaining the procedure and identifying the papers.
Following the September resits the exam board meets again to consider each candidate's performance. The possible outcomes are:
- permitted to proceed to the second year of an honours degree course
- required to withdraw
You should be aware that if you are required to resit the mark you carry forward is the lesser of 40% or the mark you obtained in the resit.
Second Year
These exam boards are composed of members of the physics department and, where other departments contribute a significant amount of teaching, members of these departments as well. Students achieving an overall mark in excess of 40%, passing the IoP core, and having passed at least 90 CATS credits on complete modules at the 40% level will normally be classified according to the normal scheme and be allowed to proceed to the 3rd year. Students not achieving this level will be required to resit some of their examinations either in September or, exceptionally, the following year usually without attending the university. If they are successful in these resits they will be allowed to proceed to the final year of the BSc course. If they are unsuccessful they will be required to withdraw.
MPhys & MMathPhys Progression (Year 2)
To be eligible to continue on an integrated masters degree programme an overall upper 2nd Class Honours performance must be attained in the 2nd Year. Physics students (F303) must also obtain a CATS weighted average mark in examined physics modules in excess of 60%. Maths/Physics (FG31) students must also obtain an average of at least 53% in their Maths-taught core modules. Students not achieving these requirements will be transferred to the 3rd year of the BSc degree programme. Mathematics and Physics students narrowly failing to achieve a 2i classification may be permitted to transfer to the 3rd year of the MPhys Physics programme provided their performance in Physics examination papers is at the 2i level, or above. Students not achieving these requirements will be transferred to the 3rd year of the BSc degree programme.
MPhys and MMathPhys (Year 3)
To be eligible to continue on an integrated masters degree programme an overall 2nd Class Honours performance must be attained in the 3rd Year. Physics students (F303) must also obtain a CATS weighted average mark in examined physics modules in excess of 50%. Students with a third year mark less than this will normally be treated as though they were final year BSc students and, if their marks are sufficient, will be awarded a BSc degree classified according to the normal BSc criteria. They will not be allowed to proceed to the fourth year.
For students starting in 2020/2021 or thereafter, the pass mark for all masters level modules rises to 50%. This refers to modules with a "4-code" e.g. CS4.., MA4.., PX4.., ST4... While any mark below 50% on such modules will count to the overall credit for the year, the module will appear as a fail on your transcript (even if the mark is in the 40's). It does not affect those in the fourth year or current third year students who have taken a year out. This year, it is mostly relevant to PX424/PX450 Group Project, PX428/PX451 Laboratory, PX448 Mathematical Methods III, PX449 Kinetic Theory. (Previously the pass mark was 40% on all modules.)
The Final Year
The final year exam boards have a similar composition to the previous ones, except that there are also external examiners from other universities present. Their job is to audit our procedures and compare your attainment with students at other universities. In addition to being members of the exam board, the external examiners will have approved the examination questions and will have had access to your answer scripts and project reports. It is the final year board that effectively awards your degree, using your cumulative marks and total CATS credits passed to determine the overall classification according to the usual scheme and the University's conventions.
Students who are deemed to have failed at the honours level will be considered for the award of a pass degree for which they will typically need a mark of 35% or more. Students whose marks fall below this level will be deemed to have failed, however they have a right to resit the examination the following year (without attendance at the university). If they are successful in these resits they will be awarded a pass degree (they cannot be awarded an honours degree after resitting the final year examinations). If they are unsuccessful they will be required to withdraw.
Factors Considered by Exam Boards
Exam boards will consider all relevant information that is available to them. Naturally the key pieces of information are the year's examination and assessed work marks, and in the final year the cumulative marks. The classification guidelines for all boards are the same:
- 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
In borderline cases (2% below to 1% above the normal boundary) however they will also consider other information, e.g. the mark distribution. The board may also take into account evidence of mitigating circumstances. It is important that you keep your personal tutor informed of such matters, and provide the department of any evidence you would like to be taken into account.
The MPhys and MMathPhys degrees are only awarded as honours degrees. Students on these programmes obtaining an cumulative mark of less than 40% or otherwise failing to satisfy the requirements for their degree will be considered for the award of a BSc on the basis of their first 3 years' work.
Appeals
A student dissatisfied with the class awarded by the exam board does not normally have the right of appeal. Students required by a board of examiners to withdraw from the University do have a right of appeal against that decision, as described in the University pages on Appeals. You may also appeal against a board of examiners decision if you believe you have information relating to special circumstances, e.g. medical, that the board was unaware of and there is a good reason for your not having brought forward this information earlier. The final grounds for appeal are evidence for malpractice relating to the examination process. Any such appeal must be made in writing within 10 days of the decision to the Appeals Committee of the Board of Science. Students contemplating such an appeal should contact their personal tutor at the earliest opportunity.