Degree Classification

Award of Degree

Your assessed work counts towards your final degree. Each successfully completed module carries designated credits (30 or 15 in the case of most modules, and 60 in the case of your dissertation). Sufficient credits have to be gained over your period of study for the awarding of a degree. The final degree classification is based on your performance in these courses. You need 180 credits for an MA and 120 for a Diploma. The 180 credits for a MA degree consists of 120 credits for taught modules and 60 credits for the dissertation. The 120 credits for a Diploma are taken from taught modules only.


As stated in the University’s General Regulations for Higher Degrees:

  • a candidate who obtains a weighted mean grade of not less than 69.5 in the Examination [i.e. MA] as a whole and a grade of not less than 69.5 in units to the value of not less than 90 credits, including the dissertation, may be recommended for the award of the Degree with distinction; and

  • a candidate who obtains a weighted mean grade of not less than 59.5 in the Examination [i.e. MA] as a whole and a grade of not less than 59.5 in units to the value of not less than 90 credits, including the dissertation, may be recommended for the award of the Degree with merit.

  • a candidate who obtains a weighted mean grade between 50 and 59.5 will obtain a Pass, a considerable achievement at MA level.


Discretionary Cases

As stated in the University’s General Regulations for Higher Degrees:

  • The Examiners may in their discretion recommend that a student who is awarded not fewer than 165 credits be deemed to have passed the Examination for a Master’s Degree, providing that the student has obtained an average grade of not less than 50 and a grade or grades of not less than 40 in the elements of the programme of study in respect of which credits are not awarded, this calculation to include all units.

  • The Examiners may in their discretion recommend that a student who is awarded not fewer than 105 credits be deemed to have passed the Examination for a Postgraduate Diploma, providing that the student has obtained an average grade of not less than 50 and a grade or grades of not less than 40 in the elements of the programme of study in respect of which credits are not awarded. In the case of a student for a Master’s degree who is being considered for the award of a Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate, calculation of the average grade will exclude the dissertation grade.