Overall assessment

Examinations, coursework and projects are taken into account in assessing each student's performance.

Progression into fourth year, or passing an ordinary degree, is determined by the (credit-point weighted) average of the third year courses. However, the marks for the individual courses are carried through into fourth year, where they are combined with the marks for the fourth year courses to calculate the overall degree class.

The Board of Examiners has the discretion to take into account criteria other than the raw mark in deciding admission to Honours or the award of an Ordinary degree. The criteria used by the third year Board include:

• did the candidate suffer serious medical, psychological or emotional stresses that adversely affected their performance? For this reason, it is most important that you keep your Director of Studies informed of any such circumstances when they happen.
• did the candidate's choice of courses include some with unusually low averages, or that encountered serious problems during delivery?
• does the candidate display particular strengths in some areas that mitigate the overall failure?
• does the candidate have a strongly improved performance compared to the previous year of study?