Jargon buster – find out what all those educational terms mean!

Undergraduate
A student applying or studying for a first degree

Graduate
A student who has successfully completed a first degree

Postgraduate

A graduate student who is undertaking a second or further degree

British Degree Classifications:

Undergraduate Pass degree
40% or above for a pass degree

Undergraduate Honours degree
depending upon the institution, an Honours award can either be integrated into a three year degree or alternatively taken after a three year pass degree to upgrade to Honours level degree

Undergraduate First Class
Usually 70% or above – roughly equivalent to a 3.7 – 4.0 US GPA

Undergraduate Upper Second Class or 2:1
60% - 70% - roughly equivalent to a US GPA of 3.4 – 3.6

Undergraduate Lower Second Class or 2:2
50% - 60% - roughly equivalent to a US GPA of 3.0 – 3.3

Undergraduate Third Class or 3rd
40% - 50% - roughly equivalent to a US GPA of 2.6 – 2.9 US GPA

Single Honours degree
Majoring in one subject at degree level

Joint Honours degree
Two subjects studied to degree level

Combined Honours degree
Several related subjects studied to degree level

Masters Degree
Master’s degrees are usually graded as a Pass (50% or over)
Or Distinction awarded over 70%

Core courses
Usually compulsory modules students have to pass

RAE
Research Assessment Exercise – conducted by Government bodies for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to assess quality research profiles for individual university departments and institutions www.rae.ac.uk

The RAE score determines government funding awards, so from a student’s point of view a high scoring department will be well funded

UCAS
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service – a ‘one-stop shop’ application system for undergraduate students. www.ucas.com

UCAS tariff
UCAS allocated points to rationalise grades and qualification from A and AS levels, Scottish Highers and International Baccalaureate.

Specific Admissions Tests
Some subjects have added Admissions Tests such as LNAT (National Admissions Tests for Law), STEP (Sixth Term Examination Papers) for Maths, TSA (Thinking Skills Assessment) or UKCAT (UK Clinical Aptitude Test) or GAMSAT (Graduate Medical School Admissions Test) for some medical and dentistry schools.

ECTS
European Credit Transfer System – I ECTS equates to 2 CATS points. For example an undergraduate degree will be at least 180 ECTS.

CATS
Credit Accumulated Transfer Scheme – ICAT equates to 10 hours of study.