Second Class, Upper Division (Also Referred to As Upper Second Or 2.1 )

Mark scale All undergraduate modules are marked using one overall system, which runs from 0- 100. Marks fall into different classes of performance: 70-100 First Class 60-69 Second Class, Upper Division (also referred to as "Upper Second" or "2.1") 50-59 Second Class, Lower Division (also referred to as "Lower Second" or "2.2") 40-49 Third Class 0-39 Fail The department or lecturer running any particular module will be able to tell you what specific marking criteria apply in the department or on the module.

In 2008 the University introduced a new marking scale for undergraduate modules. The standard required to achieve a given class on any piece of work remains the same as before, so the borderlines separating classes lie at the same standard. The following sections apply only to students who first joined Warwick in autumn 2008 or later; these students will have their work marked as set out here throughout their courses.

More information is available from the Teaching Quality website: go.warwick.ac.uk/assessmentconventions/forstudents/

Within the overall system set out above, your assessed work and exams will be marked on one of two scales, depending on certain characteristics of the assessment or exam. The department or lecturer running any particular module will be able to tell you which scale applies to the module.

Numerically based work, work with smaller questions (all points on 0-100 scale) Where an assessment or exam is based on numerical work, or where there are a large number of questions in an exam with small numbers of marks for each question, we can use all of the points from 0 to 100. This is typical of many assessments and exams in Science, some language work, some exams in Economics and the Business School and so on. You can find examples on the Teaching Quality website at go.warwick.ac.uk/assessmentconventions/forstudents/ug08/markscale/examplepapers/

Other work (17-point marking scale) Where an assessment or exam is a single piece of work, or a small number of long exam answers, work is marked using the following scale. This is typical for essay- based subjects, dissertations and many pieces of work where there is no right answer and the quality of your analysis and argument is particularly important. You can find examples on the Teaching Quality website at: go.warwick.ac.uk/assessmentconventions/forstudents/ug08/markscale/examplepapers/

The descriptors in this table are interpreted as appropriate to the subject and the year/level of study, and implicitly cover good academic practice and the avoidance of plagiarism. Faculties and departments publish more detailed marking criteria.

With the exception of Excellent 1st, High Fail and Zero, the descriptors cover a range of marks, with the location within each group dependent on the extent to which the elements in the descriptor and departmental/faculty marking criteria are met.

Class scale descriptor Exceptional work of the highest quality, demonstrating excellent knowledge and understanding, analysis, Excellent organisation, accuracy, relevance, presentation and 1st appropriate skills. At final-year level: work may achieve or be First close to publishable standard. High 1st Very high quality work demonstrating excellent knowledge Mid 1st and understanding, analysis, organisation, accuracy, relevance, presentation and appropriate skills. Work which Low 1st may extend existing debates or interpretations. Upper High 2.1 High quality work demonstrating good knowledge and Second Mid 2.1 understanding, analysis, organisation, accuracy, relevance, (2.1) Low 2.1 presentation and appropriate skills. High 2.2 Competent work, demonstrating reasonable knowledge and Lower Mid 2.2 understanding, some analysis, organisation, accuracy, Second Low 2.2 relevance, presentation and appropriate skills. High 3rd Work of limited quality, demonstrating some relevant Third Mid 3rd knowledge and understanding. Low 3rd Work does not meet standards required for the appropriate High Fail stage of an Honours degree. There may be evidence of (sub some basic understanding of relevant concepts and Honours) Fail techniques Fail Poor quality work well below the standards required for the Low Fail appropriate stage of an Honours degree. Work of no merit OR Absent, work not submitted, penalty in Zero Zero some misconduct cases

For calculating module results, the points on this marking scale have the following numerical equivalents: Point on numerical range of marks for work marked using Class scale equivalent all points on 0-100 scale Excellent 1st 96 93-100 High 1st 89 85-92 First Mid 1st 81 78-84 Low 1st 74 70-77 High 2.1 68 67-69 Upper Mid 2.1 65 64-66 Second Low 2.1 62 60-63 High 2.2 58 57-59 Lower Mid 2.2 55 54-56 Second Low 2.2 52 50-53 High 3rd 48 47-49 Third Mid 3rd 45 44-46 Low 3rd 42 40-43 High Fail 38 35-39 Fail Fail 25 19-34 Low Fail 12 1-18 Zero Zero 0 0 You can see that marks for all work, whether marked using every point on the 0-100 scale (numerically based work and similar) or on the 17-point scale (essays, dissertations etc), fall into the same categories. A piece of work given a mark of 81 has reached the standard for "Mid 1st" whether it is a Mathematics exam or a History essay, an oral language exam or a design project in Engineering.