I am really sorry if this post seems silly, but I would like to have the grades cleared in my head. I have a fist degree (BA) with a 75% from a Greek university. Which scale does it belong in? Thank you very much!

I think (although I'm not 100% sure, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong!) that 75% would count as a first here. I think you need over 70% to get a first.

squiggles is right - 70% and above is rated as a first. However, that scale applies to degrees awarded by UK universities so you should check how things compare with the Greek system.

Thank you very much!!!!

I don't think it would necessarily be accurate to transfer a percentile mark over from a marking system overseas because the course may not reflect the same work - may be harder or easier to get the 75%. The English academic system is known for being much harder than many overseas unis. I would stick to saying what you got in Greek terms. If 75% is excellent then fine, go ahead and say you got a first, but some places 75% is like a C grade... I know because we have a very international department at my uni...

Just to be a pain... x

"The English academic system is known for being much harder than many overseas unis"

That's one hell of a generalisation. Id like to see the evidence for that!!

I've sometimes wondered how the UK compares with other countries. We have a lot of American students who tell us that in the US, an exam passmark is 70% - and that's considered a poor result. I think at most UK universities the passmark is 40%.

Hence lots of Americans coming here to get "easy" (in their opinion) pass grades.

I've found it much easier in the UK then in France

I finished my undergrad degree with a 14/20, which, although it is not the best one can do, is a h*** of a good result. What made it harder was not to be able to choose any modules, and having many more of them to take per term.

However, there is one thing that maybe made it a bit easier: you do not need, in general, to pass all your modules. They are grouped in bigger units, for which you need a pass. So for instance I didn't care about getting a 9/20 in linguistics (a pass is 10) as I got 18 in grammar and they were in the same unit, and so on.

I don't know, but it seems to be me the English system as a whole is much nicer to pupils and students (money matters left aside).

Rule in France seems to be, mean average grade of students is between 10 and 11/20 - which means that a significant proportion fail their year each year, get to do it all over again, and if they fail again, they're out...

Grr, sorry for all the typos...

in some ways, i've found it much easier in the UK than in Switzerland. in other ways, harder. my education was much more about learning to think for yourself, and learning how to do research (yes, at undergraduate level). so sometimes i wonder when fellow PhDers here are completely new to the research process and find it hard to think for themselves.
what people who went through the UK system have in advantage over me is the amount of reading they have done and all the details they are able to give by heart, where i know more about the general ideas but would have to look up stuff if details were wanted, and have significant holes in my reading background.

For the US, a GPA of around 3.3 to 3.7 is the equivalent to a 2.1. A 3.7 to 4.0 is a first. In Canada, a 3.25 or sometimes a B+/A- is equivalent to a 2.1. These equivalencies (sp) do seems to vary by British university.


Emmaki, it is unlikely your mark will equate exactly to a UK mark. I thought Greek students were marked in points eg. a 8.0 equals a 2.1.

There are number companies, the names escape me, which for a fee will translate your grades into other country standards. Lots of uni's use these companies.

With respect to the UK being a harder system, this is debatable.

The UK system is certainly harder than Canada and the US where marks are often given on a bell-curve, open book exams are commmon, passes are be achieved just by turning up to the seminars/lectures etc. I know a few people who are taking graduate courses in Canada/US, and rank the standards as not much higher than British undergrad standards. Obviously, this is just anecdotal evidence.

In comparison, some continental European countries seem to have much higher standards for their students, particularly at undergrad level. Although it's much easier to get a doctorate from continental Europe :)

In the UK, I have seen students look in horror when they get a 60% in an essay - then I have to explain...in your country this is more like an 80.

Calm down guys. I did say that it may be easier or HARDER to get the 75%!! My generalisation comes from the fact that I have a VERY international department and lots of people aren't up to scratch at all in the first year, but are very good at home. But this is not generally from EU countries...

so take that one and roll with it!

J x

I tend to agree. I've come across a number of European students ( French and German for example ) at undergraduate level who really impressed me. Also they do 5 year undergraduate degrees with about 40 hours of lectures and labs a week!!! and PhD lengths tends to be longer in western european countries than in the UK

I suppose its easy enough to make direct comparision between the third level education systems of two different countries but it's a rather silly statement to say that the british education system is known to be harder than many overseas universities.