If you have a 3rd/2:2 in your degree. What do you do now?

[eggandeggy]

Has it ever held you back?

I've taken a break from studying (psychology) but going back and my second year results are terrible. A 3rd. Realistically I'm unlikely to boost it up to a 2:1 but don't want to throw away the chance to get a degree.

Any advice to start career planning now? Btw, I have no idea what field to go in to or where to start looking. I've been a stay at home mum, so have just got caught up I'm care and domestic stuff.

On references, I am often asked if there's any reason the candidate did not fulfil their academic potential, sometimes there is and I would always mention it if a student got a 2:2 because of home or illness issues, and make it clear if they had the potential to do better (e.g. had quite a lot of high marks, but a few low ones, bringing the average down).

Masters applications also ask you to rank someone in the cohort, though, and I could not in fairness rank someone with a third above a 'bottom 25%' category.

I would try very very hard not to get a third. Like I say, you need to understand why you aren't excelling here- is it that you don't have the time and space to work because of your domestic duties, is it that you lack essay technique, get some more feedback from your tutor, is it stats letting you down (and can you work on this?) Your second year may be worth less than your third year, so it's worth trying to improve at this time point rather than just ploughing on.

TimRigginsHasMyHeart By your Husbands standards he is not fit to do his job.

I got a 2:2 in 2001 and I have to be honest, it’s held me back. I’ve since done a self funded masters to try and bridge the gap. I work in law but have had 8 years out now due to various reasons and to be honest I can’t see myself getting back on track, career wise. Thinking of changing career but not sure to what.

I got a 2:2

Teacher. Mine was all assignment based and I've never written one since. Teaching has many skills but not writing assignments.

TimRigginsHasMyHeart- why is everyone cross at you? Recruiters do bin anything under a 2:1 these days precisely because grade boundaries have changed, and the majority have either a 2:1 or a first. That wasn't true when your husband got his degree- the majority got 2:2's or thirds, and only about a third got 2:1's or above. So a 2:2 was a standard result then whereas now it is not.

Better to be realistic about this, and go for jobs where you get an 'in' from the bottom, than apply endlessly to grad schemes.

I have a 2:2 and don’t feel it has held me back. I went on to do a post graduate degree and got into the career I wanted. I was judged when I started the post graduate degree not because of the grade but because it was from a polytechnic. I had to work hard on that course to prove myself but I definitely don’t feel the 2:2 has been a barrier.

My friend got a 2.2 in Business Studies, now at Exec level in the comms industry. Got natural talent and that gets you a long way with the right work ethic.

I got a 3rd for my physics degree (wasted my last year to be honest), a 2:1 for my next degree and then a distinction in my msc.
I’m now on 6 figures in a healthcare related industry

@Nearlyalmost50

Because the world of work has changed hugely since we graduated (the internet?) - we should still be able to access opportunities to move, develop, change industries.

As you have pointed out, grade boundaries have changed so if you graduated post 2000 I would expect most to have a 2:1 but prior to that it wasn't so normal. Why can't people understand this? Why treat both generations the same when we know the system was different and the skills were different? It is unthinkable to me that someone would have passed a PGCE without any lengthy essay writing - what about dissertations?

My recent housemates are getting on to masters courses without ever having written an essay beyond 1000-2000 words. In fact their current assignments seem to be max 5000 for the 'large project' on the course. I don't think that is comparable to my 20,000 words.

*I got a 2:2

Teacher. Mine was all assignment based and I've never written one since. Teaching has many skills but not writing assignments.*

Exactly this. I hand wrote many double sided A4 reports though in the earlier years before the blessed invention of word processing software.

My friend didn't even get a third, they got a 'pass' (failed a unit due to MH and got naff all support from uni back in the '90s, got 2:1/2:2 grades for every other unit). They still managed to have a very decent civil service career then became a teacher. I assume there was some flexibility re grade applied by the pgce uni given they had relevant industry experience to their subject?

I got a 2:2. Somehow I’ve ended up as a senior university lecturer!

I’ve started but never finished my masters. Applied for a job which said PhD essential and got it!

It's been 17 years since i graduated with a 2:2 as I coasted all through uni and only applied myself to drinking and meeting boys. Never been asked what degree grade (or A levels and GCSEs) I obtained. Always found it easy to be promoted at work, now a senior operations manager. With a degree in Arts that is no way relevant to anything I've ever done.
I have no idea if degree grade boundaries have changed but I'd be surprised if many employers asked - but as I'm only speaking from my experience I may be wrong on this.

I got a 2:2 when I graduated (16 years ago). I’d had health problems, undiagnosed dyslexia, really struggled so to be honest I was glad to pass! I had a year off then went to a different uni to do a post-grad vocational course (nursing) at a red brick uni, entry requirement was 2:2 in previous health related degree. I passed my nurse training. No-one has asked me what I got in my degree since I applied and no-one ever asks what I got in my nursing course. Actually I now have no idea what my final average was! It’s all just about my experience and skills these days.

Obviously it depends what path you chose but once you have experience it shouldn’t hold you back.

My DH got a 2.2 and has a very successful career as a senior sales manager .... I got a 2.1 and earn just over min wage .

However, we graduated years ago, I would assume it is tougher now to get a decent ‘graduate’ job with less than a 2.1.

@JacobReesMogadishu

I got a 2:2. Somehow I’ve ended up as a senior university lecturer! grin

I’ve started but never finished my masters. Applied for a job which said PhD essential and got it! grin

You are a senior university lecturer with no postgrad qualifications?
May I ask which subject you lecture on?

Lots of people have improved their lot by taking Masters, however, a lot of Masters now ask for a 2:1, or a very high 2:2 (by which they mean 58/59) in exceptional circumstances. That's why my students work very hard to maintain an over 60 average these days.

The fact that 15-20 years ago you could get on a Masters with a 2:2 doesn't mean you can do that now. There are some that will take 2:2s but many won't.

But the OP is talking about getting a third, or presumably a very low 2:2 which would not allow entry onto most Masters courses. Teacher training is usually min 2:2 which is why I am advising the OP to work with her tutors to improve her grades, as getting a 2:2 as opposed to a third would really open quite a lot of doors.

It's not really a comparable results set as 1s and 2:1s are so much more readily handed out these days.

@serenada I’ve sent you a PM.

Graduated in 1986 with a 3rd class Honours, in a tough subject from a really good uni. I have a Chartered Qualification, have in prior jobs earned over a six-fig salary. The grade inflation in degrees but also GCSEs and A levels irritates me enormously.

I wasnt very polite to the TeachFirst recruiter who told me only a few years ago that I wasnt the sort of person they were looking for (think massive shortage of teachers in the particular subject) only due to my 3rd. All of my other qualifications didnt count at all.

So to answer your question I can financially afford to retire early with a very decent pension. I work in a similar role on a low salary because I like the challenge of the job.

My little brother barely scraped through his degree.

He now teaches students doing the course that he did.

TimRigginsHasMyHeart By your Husbands standards he is not fit to do his job.

If you read the other replies lowlandLucky you will see that grade boundaries have moved, and an old 2.2 is the equicalent of a 2.1 today.

Good luck with your studies OP. It must be very difficult to juggle a degree with being a parent. Don't be put off by some of the replies, but the fact is that a 2.2 is not as highly regarded by as many employers these days as it used to be.

Didn't it used to be that Oxbridge degrees were 1st, 2nd, 3rd with no sub-divisions? Handy if you got a 2nd! I could be wrong.

Practically everyone who got a 2:1 has a "I could have got a first if..." story and the ones with a 2:2 have a "I could have got a 2:1 if.." story and so on. You don't hear many saying they couldn't have done any better!

Uni intake and standards have changed. I think it's important to push yourself to get a 2:1 if it's feasible.

All depends on what course you did, the year you went to uni and the uni you went to?

When I graduated a Desmond was a very respected grade, good enough for a PGCE. (1990) Firsts were very very rare. Only 1 on my course.