You will be assessed by a variety of methods during your time with us: exams, essays, lab reports, presentations, poster presentations...
When you are assessed, you are generally marked on the "100-point scale". This is quite different from percentage marks you may have received at school. These academic norms are universal across UK universities.
First-class grades are above 70, and most first-class work is awarded a mark between 70 and 80. This is considered an excellent piece of work. It is pretty rare to get a grade above 80, and many lecturers go their whole lives without granting a mark of 100.
Upper second class / 2.1 grades are between 60 and 70. About half the marks we award will be in this category. This is a good piece of work that has met most of the marker's expectations.
Lower second class / 2.2 grades are between 50 and 60. This is an adequate piece of work that nevertheless contains some major flaws.
Third class grades are between 45 and 50, and Pass grades are between 40 and 45. This is a piece of work that has many problems, but still enough to pass.
Fail grades are all marks below 40. This is a piece of work that does not meet the required standard.
Some work, for example short-answer exam questions, are marked on a scale of A - F and converted into the 100 point scale:
A work at a first class standard
B work at 2:1 standard
C work at 2:2 standard
D work at third class or pass standard
E work of an insufficient level to pass
F work with no correct statements or no work attempted
The University year is divided into two 15 week semesters each with 12 weeks of teaching followed by 3 weeks of exams.
12 weeks teaching 3 weeks exams
Autumn Semester October-December January-February
Spring Semester February-May May-June
First Year (level 1)
Lecture modules 80 credits (MBB161, MBB162, MBB163, MBB164)
Assessed by two multiple-choice examinations. One in the Autumn semester exam period, covering material from semester 1, and a final exam in the Spring exam period covering material from both semesters.
In addition, 10% of the assessment is for an essay under exam conditions or short answer questions under exam conditions, which will be sat during the normal teaching timetable. These exercises model the style of questions of the second year examinations and give students practice in completing the types of questions set in level 2.
Practical Module 30 credits (MBB165)
There are a number of coursework assessments, all associated with the practical module. These include long essays set by your tutor, the round robin tutorial assignments, and on-line assessments and laboratory reports for the practical classes. 50% of the mark for the practical module is from a multiple-choice examination sat in the Spring exam period, on the material covered in the practical classes in both semesters.
Free Choice Module (10 credits)
The assessment of the free choice module is given in the respective Blackboard page.
Second Year (level 2)
Lecture modules
Semester 1 40 credits (MBB266 and MBB267)
Each exam comprises of a set of compulsory short answer questions and an essay chosen from a list of titles.
Semester 2 40 credits (MBB261, MBB262, MBB263)
Each student choses two lecture modules in semester 2. The examinations for MBB262 and MBB263 are of the same format as the Autumn examination papers (a set of compulsory short answer questions and an essay chosen from a list of titles). MBB261 (Biochemistry) has a paper comprised solely of compulsory short answer questions. Some of the semester two modules may also contain a small coursework component.
Practical Module 30 credits (MBB265)
Coursework – includes a long essay set by your tutor, the round robin tutorial assignments, and on-line assessments for the practical classes. 50% of the mark for the practical module is from an examination sat in the Spring exam period, comprising a set of compulsory short answer questions on the material covered in the practical classes in both semesters.
Free Choice Module (10 credits)
The assessment of the free choice module is given in the respective Blackboard page.
Third Year (level 3)
Lecture Modules (70 credits)
Each student chooses seven lecture modules, each taught in semester 1 or semester 2. Examinations are sat for each module in the exam period for the semester in which the module was taught. In general there are two exam formats:
a) two essay questions chosen from a list or
b) one essay question and four compulsory short answer questions.
Some modules are examined in a different way, including course work - specific details are given on the module Blackboard page.
Project (30 credits)
All assessment by coursework – conduct of project, project report, talk, poster and lay summary. Full details here.
Literature Review (10 credits)
All assessment by coursework – written review. Full details here.
Data handling (10 credits)
Each student chooses one of the three data handling modules, depending on their degree programme. Each module has two examinations. One in the Autumn exam period covering the data handling material covered in semester 1. In addition, each module has the same synoptic paper in the Spring exam period, where a single synoptic essay is chosen from a list of general titles.
Fourth Year (level 4)
All assessment at level 4 is by coursework. The project assessment (80 credits) includes elements of conduct, report, talks, poster, and a viva-voce examination. The assessment of the literature review (20 credits) is by a written review. Full details can be found in the project section of this handbook. The Introduction to Research Methodology module (10 credits) and the Advanced Research Topics module (10 credits) are both assessed by a combination of different types of coursework as detailed in their respective Blackboard pages.