Student Handbook - The School of Language, Linguistics and Film

ecommendation is normally accepted. External Examiners also see all overall fail
performances and a sample of the work by students over which there is no disagreement
internally.
5.3 DEGREE CLASSIFICATION
When you get your degree, it is a classified degree, i.e. it is a First, Upper Second, Lower
Second, Third Class Honours degree, or a Pass degree. What follows is an explanation of
how the marks you get for each of your modules are translated into your final classification.
There is important further information on examinations in the Registry Student Guide with
which you should become familiar.
Award of degree
All students must have passed at least 270 credits to be eligible for a degree. For students
registered for a 4-year degree these 270 credits passed must not include the 120 credit
Year Abroad Assessment module. Students transferring from another university into the
second year of a Queen Mary degree programme must have passed at least 180 credits.
For students who transferred into the second year of a languages degree programme that
includes the compulsory Year Abroad, these 180 credits passed must not include the 120
credit Year Abroad Assessment module. Level 3 modules do not count towards these totals.
In practice, most of you will have passed more than this.
Classification
When all the marks have been agreed, each student’s complete profile is scrutinised at a
meeting of the appropriate departmental Sub-board (Comparative Literature, Film Studies,
French, German, Iberian and Latin American Studies, Linguistics, or Russian). Where a
student has two main subjects within the School, the Chairs of both Sub-boards discuss the
case in detail and the student is then assigned for preliminary classification to one of the two
Sub-boards. Combined Honours language students (a language with a non-language
subject) are always classified by the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film. The Subboards’
recommendations are then considered by the Board of Examiners in the School of
Languages, Linguistics and Film, whose final recommendation is then put to the College
Degree Examination Board for approval.
The School of Languages, Linguistics and Film is the home department for all students
registered in the School except for students registered on the following degree programmes:
English Literature and Linguistics, and Film Studies and History. If you are registered on one
of these degree programmes, you will be classified by the other School. However, this will
be done in consultation with the Chair of the Board of Examiners of the School of
Languages, Linguistics and Film.
Your overall performance is assessed using a calculation to determine your ‘mean’ mark,
which will give you a percentage on the scale with which you are already familiar.
Calculating your final mean
There is a College-wide classification mean for all students who began their studies in or
after 2004. This mean compulsorily includes the marks from all 360 credits (480 credits for
four-year students) taken throughout your studies. If marks for fewer than 120 credits are
recorded in any one year, the computer will make calculations by inserting marks of zero as
appropriate.
The mean for 4-year students is calculated as follows:
(year 1 average x 1) + (year 2 average x 2) + (year abroad average x 1) + (final year
average x 4) / 9
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