Hello all,

I really feel awkward for having this seemingly daft question but I am just hoping that someone could give me an idea that will save me from the restlessness I've been suffering from! I got my dissertation mark which is 75% and I was expecting an overall distinction. I thought that the credits of the dissertation would be higher than other modules so that the weighted average would secure the distinction for me. Yet now, with all my modules and my dissertation mark, my average is 69,8%! I cannot ask the assessment unit as my grade is not official, my supervisor has told me the result which I'm not supposed to know it until the awards board. However I am applying to PhD's and I say that I am expecting a distinction. Can I really miss distinction because of that 0.2% ? Do you think that 69,8% is counted as a 70%? I can't believe I am spending precious time and nerve on this 0.2 points. Postgraduate life couldn't be more stressful. :(
I really appreciate any ideas. Thanks!

leaf.

Hi Leaf,

For my masters, in order to get a distinction, your overall mark in your dissertation had to be at least 70%, and your average mark from your taught modules (exams and assignments etc) had to be 70% at least. They didn't work out an average of the two. If your taught module part was 69% but your disseration was way over 70% you'd still only get a merit. That was how it was calculated at my uni.

Hey! Yeah, it was similar at my uni- to get a distinction you had to get at least 70% for the thesis, and you had to get a minimum of 65% for the taught modules, but the two combined had to average over 70%. So if you got 70 for the thesis but only 67 for the modules then you wouldn't get a distinction, but if you got 78 for the thesis and 67 for the modules it would average over 70 and would be a distinction. Like you, one of my mates was right on the borderline with her modules, with about 64.9 when she needed 65.1 or something to average over 70, but they gave it to her. I would think they will look at each case separately and I would be very surprised if they didn't give you a distinction on the basis of 0.2%. It's not guaranteed but I reckon you'll be okay! Good luck, let us know! KB

At my old uni if you got 69.5 or above that would be rounded up to 70% and you would get a first. At the uni I am at now they have a completely different system and I think you would have to get above 70. It will depend upon your university.

What did your supervisor say? Did he say you got distinction?

You could always try to appeal if it matters to you and get your dissertation mark put up by 1%? They may consider it in your case.

Thanks a lot Superman, Keenbean and Starshine for your replies. Well, it really does seem a bit tricky. My supervisor didn't know how they calculated the weighted average so he couldn't help and I can't ask the assessment unit either as I'm not supposed to know my mark before the awards board.
Unfortunately I couldn't find an adequate explanation in the university website either. My average from my taught modules is only 68,5% but two of them are over 70% and my dissertation is 75%. It sounds quite pathetic to worry over a 0.2 points (which I hope they'll round up) but I am applying for funding and my undergraduate GPA (which is not from a UK uni) is disastrous. Just hoping that the distinction would help. I guess I just have to wait and see.

All the best!

leaf.

Universities have assessment boards where they tweak things anyway and make decisions about grade boundaries. I'm sure I didn't quite get 70% but I got a distinction for my MA. You should stop worying about it!

It depends entirely on the university and what their rules are eg whether the exam board has any discretion - For my MA my average was 69.87 (or something like that) but they gave me the Distinction - in part because of the way I took over the group project (at the expense of my marks on some individual work). Most of my course work was in the 70s but for two pieces. My dissertation only got 69 but I got the Distinction anyway. My suervisor said I was clearly Distincion material and they wanted to refelct that.

Hello again,

I finally got the distinction last friday! The dissertation weighed twice as much as other modules in calculating the average. Thanks everyone for your answers. :)

Best of luck with your studies,

leaf.

Hey, congrats Leaf...I thought you would probably be okay. Great news, well done! Best, KB