British undergraduate degree classification

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The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees (bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees) in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variations) in other countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Republic of Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Ghana, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Trinidad and Tobago.[citation needed]






Degree classification[edit]

A degree may be awarded with or without honours, with the class of an honours degree based on a weighted average mark of the assessed work a candidate has completed. The degree classifications are:

  • First class honours (1st)
  • Second class honours, upper division (2:1)
  • Second class honours, lower division (2:2)
  • Third class honours (3rd)
  • Ordinary degree (pass)



When a candidate is awarded a degree with honours, "(Hons)" may be suffixed to their designatory letters—for example, BA (Hons), BSc (Hons), MA (Hons). An MA (Hons) would generally indicate a degree award from certain Scottish universities. However, honours are awarded when 360 tariff points are achieved (typically 6 modules at 20 credits each per year), with a non-honours degree requiring at least 300 tariff points.[citation needed]

At the Universities of Oxford[citation needed] and Cambridge,[11] unlike other universities,[12] honours classes apply to examinations, not degrees. At Oxford, where examinations are split between Prelims for the first part and Honour Moderations for the second part, the results of the Final Honour School are generally applied to the overall degree.[citation needed] At Cambridge, where undergraduates are examined at the end of each part (one- or two-year section) of the Tripos, results receive different classifications for different parts.[11] The BA does not have a formal class;[11]




First-class honours[edit]

First-class honours, referred to as a "first", is the highest honours classification and indicates high academic achievement. Informally, the first-class honours degree is occasionally referred to as a "Geoff", after Geoff Hurst, or a "Damien", after Damien Hirst.[13]

In 2010 and 2011, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) reported that approximately 15% of all degree candidates graduated with first-class honours.[5][14] The percentages of graduates achieving a first vary greatly by university and course studied.[15] For example, students of law are least likely to gain a first, whereas students of mathematical sciences are most likely to gain a first.[6] In 2006–2007 and 2010–2011, 5.8% and 8.1% of law students gained a first, respectively; however, in those years, 28.9% and 30.0% of mathematics students gained a first, respectively.[6]

Variations of first-class honours[edit]

A minority of universities award first-class honours with particular distinction, variously known as a "Starred First" (Cambridge),[citation needed] a "Congratulatory First" (Oxford),[citation needed] and a "First With Distinction" (York).[citation needed] These are seldom awarded, and typically entail the specific examination of eligible candidates. A yet rarer classification, indicating exceptional distinction, exists at Cambridge, in which a "Double-Starred First"[citation needed] or even "Triple-Starred First"[citation needed] may sometimes be awarded. (This should not be confused with "Double first-class honours".)[16]

Second-class honours[edit]

Upper second-class honours[edit]

The upper division is commonly abbreviated to "2:1" or "2.i" (pronounced two-one). The 2:1 is a minimum requirement for entry to many postgraduate courses in the UK. It is also required for the award of a research council postgraduate studentship in the UK, although possession of a master's degree can render a candidate eligible for an award if their first degree was below the 2:1 standard.


Lower second-class honours[edit]

This is the second division of second-class degrees and is abbreviated as "2:2" (pronounced two-two).

The lower second-class honours degree is often referred to as a "Desmond", after Desmond Tutu.[13]

Third-class honours[edit]


Informally, the third-class honours degree is referred to as a "Thora", after Thora Hird, or "Douglas", after Douglas Hurd.[13] It may also be known as a "Vorderman", after Carol Vorderman, the former Countdown assistant who was awarded a third-class degree by the University of Cambridge.[13]

Approximately 7.2% of students graduating in 2006 with an honours degree received a third-class honours.[14][17]

Ordinary degree[edit]

An ordinary, general, or pass degree can be an exit degree without honours.[18][19] It can also be a stand-alone non-honours degree such as the BA/BSc Open degree offered by the Open University (OU).[20] Many universities offer ordinary degree courses to students; however, most students enrol in honours degree courses.[citation needed] Some honours courses permit students who fail the first year by a small margin (around 10%) to transfer to the Ordinary degree. Ordinary degrees are sometimes awarded to honours degree students who do not complete an honours degree course to the very end, but complete enough of it to earn a pass.

Scottish universities offer three-year ordinary degrees as a qualification in their own right, as well as an honours degree over four years. This is in contrast to English universities that have honours degrees with three years of study, though a similar programme in Scotland is not unheard of, provided a student achieves a high entrance grade. An Ordinary degree from a Scottish university (also known as a "designated degree") is often sufficient to study a post-graduate course. An Ordinary degree in Scotland is not, therefore, a failed honours degree, as in certain English universities. Students can decide, usually at the end of their second or third year, whether or not they wish to complete a fourth honours year. Scottish universities may also award their ordinary degrees with "distinction" if a student achieves a particularly good grade average, usually 65% or above. A common example of a Scottish ordinary degree is the Bachelor of Laws course taken by graduates of other subjects, as this is sufficient (without honours) for entry into the legal profession.

Uncommon degree classifications[edit]

Double first-class honours[edit]


It is (usually) no longer possible for undergraduates to read two subjects concurrently at Cambridge. The expression is used at Cambridge to describe first-class honours "in two sets of examinations corresponding to two different (sic) Parts of Triposes".[21] The two parts of a Tripos come at different points in an undergraduate's career.

At Oxford, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the term "double first" can signify that a candidate has achieved First Class Honours in both subjects of a Joint Honours degree, or in both sets of examinations of a doubly classified degree. It can also be used to describe first-class honours in both the Honour Moderations and the Final Honour School, usually in the same subject.


An aegrotat (/ˈɡrtæt/; from Latin aegrotat, meaning "he/she is ill")[22] degree is an honours degree without classification or a pass degree without classification, awarded under the presumption that, had a candidate who is unable to undertake his or her exams due to illness or even death, he or she would have satisfied the standard required for that degree.[23][24][25][26][27] Aegrotat degrees are often qualified with an appended "(aegrotat)".


International comparisons[edit]

An approximate mapping between British classifications and US Grade Point Averages can be inferred from the University College London (UCL) graduate admissions criteria.[29] Canadian GPAs differ. The British Graduate Admissions Fact Sheet from McGill University states that, in their system, where standings are reported in lieu of an average, a CGPA (cumulative grade point average) is determined.[30] However, different universities convert grades differently. UCL's system is at odds with London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) which, for example, considers a GPA (U.S.) of 3.5 as equivalent to a 2.1.[31] Also, most Oxbridge departments consider a 3.75 the equivalent of a First. (See, for instance, English Language and Literature postgraduate requirements at Oxford.)[32]

Grade equivalents given by World Education Services (WES),[33] which provide qualification conversion services to many universities, also convert British degrees to higher GPAs than the conversion used by UCL, if the guidelines for converting grades to GPA given by Duke University[34] are used. Interestingly, this conversion is very similar to that given by WES and Duke, and that used by LSE and Oxbridge. Furthermore, the grade conversion from Fulbright Commission states that the equivalent of 70+ in the United Kingdom is a 4.0 U.S. GPA.[35]


British Class American GPA Secured Marks Level
First 3.68–4.00 70+
Upper Second 3.33–3.67 60–69
Lower Second 3.00–3.32 50–59
Third 2.50–2.99 45–49
Ordinary Pass 2.00–2.49 40–44
US GPA equivalent from The Fulbright Commission[35]

BA (Hons) degrees attained in the UK are at the level of National Qualifications Framework (NQF) 6 – where the BA and Honours degrees exist. MA degrees are at NQF 7 and PhD degrees are at level NQF 8. Other countries, specifically South Africa, equate different NQF levels to degrees. For instance, a master's degree in South Africa is at NQF 9, while a doctoral degree is at NQF 10. The reason for this difference in NQF levels is that South Africa requires students to undertake a fourth year, or an honours degree, between their bachelor's and master's degrees.


Progression to postgraduate study[edit]




International degrees[edit]


Some universities, such as those in Australia, offer ordinary or pass degrees, (for instance, as a three-year B.A. or a three-year BSc) by default. High-achieving students may be recognised with an honours classification without further coursework or research, as is often the case in engineering, which often contains a research and thesis component,[38][39] or law.[40] However, other courses (such as humanities, arts, social sciences, and sciences) and other universities may recognise high-achieving students with an honours classification with further coursework or research, undertaken either concurrently with, and as part of or in addition to, a bachelor's course,[41] or after completion of a bachelor's course requirements and attaining adequately competitive grades.[42][43] Some graduate degrees have been or are classified;[44] however, under the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), no graduate-level degrees (i.e., master's by coursework, master's by research, or higher research degrees) may be classified. To comply with this standard, some institutions have commenced, or will commence, offering high-achieving graduates with "distinction".[45] Notably, this is consistent with British graduate degree classification.[46]

British medical and dental degrees[edit]




  13. ^ a b c d Henley, Jon (5 July 2012). "Don't judge a job applicant by their degree". The Guardian. 
  20. ^
  23. ^ "Aegrotat Degrees". Swansea University. 
  24. ^ "Aegrotat Awards". Aberystwyth University. 1 December 2005. 
  25. ^ "Glossary of Cambridge jargon". University of Cambridge. 
  28. ^ "Aegrotat Awards". Oxford Brookes University. 
  29. ^ General entrance requirements, University College London Archived 27 June 2012 at WebCite
  30. ^ Future graduate students: European Fact Sheets – UK, McGill University
  31. ^ International entrance requirementLSE
  32. ^ Oxford Prospectus 2010/2011Oxford University
  33. ^ WES GPA conversion [WES]
  34. ^ Calculation of GPA using Grades, Duke University
  40. ^ "Honours". UNSW Faculty of Law. Retrieved 31 July 2013. 
  44. ^ "Award of Honours in the Juris Doctor (JD) Degree". UNSW Faculty of Law. 
  45. ^ "Law JD Honours as of 2015". UNSW Faculty of Law. 