Appealing Masters Result

[IndianaJones2021]

Hi my son achieved a merit today in his university degree*. His overall grade was a 69.61 he's gutted he wasn't awarded a distinction.
Has anyone had similar and appealed.
Thanks in advance 😀

*MNHQ removed identifying info at request of OP

I agree it depends on the rules for his course. My daughter was disappointed not to get a distinction in her Masters a couple of years ago.

Her average mark was over 70% but the rule was that she had to get over 70% in a certain number of modules, which she didn’t. She had a few marks of 74% and 75% but she also had quite a few 69%s.

It seemed a bit mean, but she didn’t meet the rules for a distinction so she didn’t get one.

I have done it for a BSc - was on 69% and obviously 70% was the boundary for a first and I didn't get rounded up for whatever reason - but you have to have very clear, tangible reasons why a mark is wrong - and in my case it was clinical placement where there was like a 30% disparity between two markers and I had clear evidence of having hit objectives I'd then been marked down as not having evidenced.

It took a long while and I had to detach and really think clearly and objectively about it - but I did get the module I really disputed re-marked, which moved my grade boundary up and got the degree reclassified as a first.

She would have got one at ours as over 70 average was fine, weighting only came into play at boundary level. However prior to a regulation change, you had to have a distinction in the dissertation as well as an average of 70 plus, but that rule was changed. But everywhere is different, as you say. Tough luck on your daughter, I feel for her.

Its very annoying when you are just on the cusp of a mark.

I still rememeber sitting my English Leaving certificate exam, in Ireland. It was my best subject and I'd got an A in the mock exams.

In the actual exam, I got a B1.

I was 1% off from an A.

As it was so close, Iwanted to get the exam paper rechecked which i was allowed to do. But my teacher talked me out of it.

It is annoying when youre on the cusp of a higher mark.

Great I'll tell him thank you

I think it takes time, to just accept it and move on.

As someone who has worked in a university for many years, you’ll get a lot of incorrect advice as no one will know an individual university’s study regulations unless they work there.

Every year there are students who just miss out on the next classification up which is really harsh, but so long as the regs are applied consistently, it’s just how it will always be, unfortunately. You might need over 70% in a dissertation to get a distinction, for example, regardless of the weighted average of the other modules. This was actually the reason I missed out on a distinction in my own Masters - my total average was actually 70% but I only got 69 in my dissertation. It’s part of life.

By all means your son should check how his degree was calculated against the assessment regulations and ask help from the school/faculty office if unsure, but you can’t appeal if you don’t meet the grounds for doing so - again this information should be available to students. Appeals that are made solely because students are unhappy with their end results will usually be thrown out.

Please let your son deal with it himself - nothing worse than parents getting involved with the uni on behalf of their adult offspring who should be doing it themselves!

Hi,
Thanks for the in depth response. Yes I agree he needs to handle it himself.

This should help: https://myuni.swansea.ac.uk/academic-life/academic-regulations/postgraduate-regulations/pg-assessment-regs/pg-assessment-regs-section-two/

Thank you 😀

Yes, I appealed and mine was successfully rounded up but not because of errors, due to mitigating personal factors. It is worth appealing as it is so close, good luck 👍

Thank you yes worth a go.

https://myuni.swansea.ac.uk/academic-life/academic-regulations/postgraduate-regulations/pg-assessment-regs/pg-assessment-regs-section-two/

These are the Swansea regulations. Look at Section 2.2 paragraph G16 - this has the calculation method for Distinction.

Good luck to your DS

Thank you !

Sorry , forgot to add these regulations are only for a standard Masters degree.

Some Masters degrees have additional requirements, for example if the degree is governed by a professional body. If that's the case for your DS's degree he will need to look at the specific regulations for his degree.

Uni lecturer here. You've already had good advice about checking the specific regulations for calculating marks for his course so I won't rehash that. However, when it comes to applying for PhDs, I'd encourage your DS to list his average mark next to his degree classification on his CV and in any cover letters.

e. g. "I recently completed an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience at Swansea University with Merit (average mark 69.6)".

When recruiting PhD students, the panels I've been on have tended to recognise that a student with a very high merit grade is a different proposition to someone who just squeaked into the merit category with an average of 61.

Agree with this, and also the dissertation/project mark if that's a distinction as it looks good for further research.

This is madness - a Masters with Merit classification is a fabulous result!

DD's Masters gave her a GPA for each module and for her dissertation which was quite useful as she has definitely found most people (especially in academia) are primarily interested in her dissertation.

The academic regulations clearly state no rounding up and up to 69.99 gets you a merit. Rounding up is usually only for undergraduate degrees.

How old is your son ?

This happened to me and my sister for our undergraduate degrees - both slightly below. My university had a policy that it could be rounded up under certain conditions so I got a 2.1. My sister met those conditions but her university’s policy would not round up so she got a 2.2.

Yes I agree, I told him this.

Might not have got as far as exam board yet. Unratified marks are usually published prior to exam board and it is stated that they could be subject to change. No harm in checking the policy and asking for it to be scrutinised. The worst case scenario here is no change and a Merit is still a very good mark. I can only think it was calculated on averages- as not sure how they’d have got such a precise figure otherwise.

If he wants a funded PhD it’s well worth his time looking into whether it could be raised. Of course it’s a good result anyway