(UK) Can you explain to me please how...?

Question

(1) uni exams work? Like do you have modules and stuff like that, or is it all dependent on your course? Would you have exams in December and if so, when do you get the results for those? And when do you get the results for the exams you take in June? What's the pass mark, how does the grading/percentages/passes work? What's a good pass mark to get?

(2) About how many hours/days a week does a person usually go to uni for? How long do lectures normally be? I'm guessing it's dependent on the course but is there an average time/length?

(3) If you're at uni, what course are you doing and how many hours/days do you do a week, or how many did you do when you were at uni?

Thanks so much, I'd like answers to all the questions please, God bless x

Answer 1

i can only really tell you about my experience so here goes:

1) i take a design course and have one to two exams per year, as most of the assessments are practical. these are at the end of the final term of the year (may/june-ish). roughly 40% is a passing grade though there are several tiers (a 3rd, a 2:2, a 2:1, and a 1st are the ones i know of, in ascending order).

2) my weekly lectures last around 2 hours each and i have around 30-35 hours per week, although you're encouraged to work in your free time too. for example for a recent assignment i was working 13hours a day in a workshop building a design, for roughly 3 weeks, 6 days a week...

3) i'm doing a car design course and i'm usually in about 30 hours a week over 5 days, though as i said above, this varies with assignments...

hope that helped!

p.s this is taken from my second year in uni, btw my first year was a little easier, with a couple more hours per week, but a lot less extra required....

Answer 2

I think it depends on the course you take. I'm studying English and therefore because I have to read a lot of books, in my first year I was  only in uni 4 days a week, for a total of 10 hours.Each lecture lasts an hour, then afterwards you have a seminar where you discuss the  lecture, these usually last between 40 mins and an hour.I was never in uni for more than 4 hours at a time, although sometimes there are breaks between lectures.

I had one exam in December, and one in June. Although I go into second year in October and I'm guessing there will be a lot more work this time around. Let me know if you have any more questions :)

Answer 3

Hey JK :)

1) For most Universities, you need to take modules that make up 120 credits. Usually, you can choose which modules you take to make up those credits, or there could be set compulsory ones that everyone has to do.

How it works is that there are half course modules - which are 10 credits, and full course modules - which are 20 credits. In my first year, I had 6 20 credit modules - therefore making up the 120.

As for the exams - this really varies between subjects.. I didn't have any major exams in december, but I know some courses had them (I do Cybernetics - but more essay-based subjects have essays over the 3 terms that count towards the final grade) The exam results usually come out really soon, like after about 3 weeks.

Grading I think differs slightly between some Universities, but I think the general rule is:

70%-100% - 1st  (equivalent to A)

60%-70% - 2:1 (equivalent to B)

50%-60% - 2:2

40%-50% - 3rd

Under 40% - Fail

Obviously the best you can get is a First, but a 2:1 is generally considered to be a fantastic grade. 2:2 is acceptable, Third isn't really.

2) This really varies between courses, as a Cyb student, I have between 15 and 25 hours of lectures a week. My housemates were studying Classics and had 3 hours a week. Some have 8, some have lectures 9-6 most days of the week.  

I think for a business-related course, it's more likely that you'll have around 10-12 hours of lectures/practicals/tutorials a week, but this is just a rough estimate!

3) OK Well I already sort of answered this :) My actual full course name is Biomedical Engineering and Cybernetics - I'll be going into my final year so have considerably few hours a week than I did before (so I can work on my project). I think I have about 10 hours next term!

4) I already answered this as well! I think generally, they decrease as you progress. Some first years have crazy amounts of lectures, but by third year, students have to focus on projects/dissertations, so lecturers are a bit more lenient about lecture hours. Exams correspond to how many modules you take - and will probably be less as the final year project usually makes up 30-40% of your entire grade.

Hope this answers your questions!

Answer 4

It depends on what your studying some people don't go in to uni often and some don't have exams while other are in all week and have tonnes of exams

Answer 5

1. As most people will say it all depends on your modules. There are a certain amount of modules you have to take lets say 4 so some units weight half and some full. e.g. you can take for full modules, or 8 half modules, or 3 full modules and 2 half modules to make up 4 in total (all depending on your timetable of course) and also all depending on some which you have to take which are your "core" modules.

Most unis have their exams in the summer which after a month or so you recieve your results.

70% more = 1st

60%-69 = 2.1 (upper second)

50-59% = 2.2 (lower second)

40-49%= third

2. Lectures are usually 2 hours and tutorials are usually one but again that might vary....depending on your timetable you may be in everyday all day or like me you might just be in a few hours for a few days in the week.

3. Im studying a Linguistics degree going into my final year...i only go in 3 days a way for a minimum of 2 hours as i only have a lecture a day. on occasion i might have 2 lectures on one day.

4. I found that the number of hours stayed the same really although they do tend to decrease in your second and final year as you have more time for study. All exams depend on ur courses because u may have some coursework modules which you then wont have an exam!

Hope that all helped!

Answer 6

You need to clarify your answer.

It depends greatly on which uni you are in, which course is it