UK Degree Classification Calculator
Enter your module credits and marks year by year, choose how your university weights each year, and see your degree average and classification — with options for discounted credits, rounding and the borderline zone. Free, no sign-up.
Your university's rules
0 counts everything. 20 keeps the best 100 of 120 credits.
Result
68.33
Degree average
Upper second (2:1)
Classification
Borderline: 1.67 under the 70 boundary for a First. Many universities review cases in this zone, often by preponderance — how much credit sits in the higher class. Counted credits with marks of 70 or more: 90 of 240 (37.5%).
How the average is built
| Year | Credits counted | Year average | Weight | Share of degree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | — | 0 | Not counted |
| 2 | 120 | 67 | 1 | 33.3% |
| 3 | 120 | 69 | 2 | 66.7% |
How to Use the UK Degree Classification Calculator
- 1. Choose the year weighting. Pick the ratio in your regulations: 0 : 1 : 2 means year 1 does not count and the final year counts twice as much as year 2. For a four-year integrated master's, tick the box and type your programme's weights.
- 2. Enter each year's modules. Switch years with the tabs and type each module's credits and mark. If you only know a year's average, enter it as one module carrying that year's credits — 120 for a full year.
- 3. Match your university's rules. Set the credits to discount if your algorithm drops your weakest credits, tick rounding if 69.5 counts as 70, and choose the borderline zone your regulations use.
- 4. Read the result. You get the weighted degree average, the class, a borderline note when you sit just under a boundary, and a table showing how each year feeds the average.
How UK Degree Classes Are Worked Out
Each year's mark is the credit-weighted average of its modules, so a 30-credit module counts twice as much as a 15-credit one. The degree average then combines the year marks by the year weights, and the class follows from the conventional boundaries:
| Class | Degree average |
|---|---|
| First | 70 and above |
| Upper second (2:1) | 60–69 |
| Lower second (2:2) | 50–59 |
| Third | 40–49 |
| Below honours | below 40 |
Boundaries as modelled by the UK Standing Committee for Quality Assessment (UKSCQA) in Degree Classification: Transparent, Consistent and Fair Academic Standards (Universities UK, GuildHE and QAA, November 2018). Below 40 is a fail or, at some universities, an unclassified pass.
Everything else is each university's own algorithm. The same sector report describes year weightings from an even split up to a 100% final-year mark, models splits between the last two years of 50/50, 40/60, 33/67, 30/70, 25/75 and 20/80, and cites a study of 211 students in which different algorithms awarded anywhere from 17% to 34% of them a First.
Worked Example
Year 2 has four 30-credit modules at 64, 66, 70 and 68, an average of 67. Year 3 has four 30-credit modules at 70, 72, 66 and 68, an average of 69. With a 0 : 1 : 2 weighting the degree average is (67 × 1 + 69 × 2) ÷ 3 = 68.33 — an upper second.
- With 0 : 40 : 60 it is 0.4 × 67 + 0.6 × 69 = 68.2, still a 2:1.
- With the final year alone (0 : 0 : 100) it is 69, a 2:1 one mark short of a First.
- With rounding at 0.5, none of the three reaches 69.5, so none rounds up to 70.
All three sit within 2 marks of 70, the zone where many universities look again. The calculator shows the preponderance figure such reviews often use: here 90 of the 240 counted credits (37.5%) have marks of 70 or more, so under a rule that needs at least half the credits in the higher class, the degree stays a 2:1.
Borderlines, Discounting and Other Rules
- Borderline zones. In a 2017 sector survey, 42% of institutions used an automatic borderline rule, typically considering students within one or two marks of a boundary, often with a preponderance test (UKSCQA, 2018).
- Discounting. Some algorithms count only the best 90 or 100 of a year's 120 credits. Enter the credits to drop and the calculator removes that many of your lowest-marked credits from each counted year.
- Best of two methods. Some universities calculate the class two ways — say, a weighted average and a final-year-only average — and award the better result. Run both weightings here to compare.
- Changing rules. In November 2025 the Office for Students, England's regulator, questioned both discounting and best-of-several-algorithms rules and asked universities intending to keep them from September 2026 to tell it (OfS 2025.74). Check the regulations that apply to your cohort.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What average do I need for a 2:1?
- A degree average from 60 to 69 is an upper second, or 2:1, and 70 or more is a First. The average that counts is the one calculated under your university's regulations, with their year weights, rounding and borderline rules, so set those options to match.
- Does first year count towards my degree?
- At many universities first-year marks must be passed but carry no weight in the classification, which is why 0 : 1 : 2 and 0 : 40 : 60 are common. Some programmes do count them, so check your programme regulations and give year 1 a weight if yours does.
- Is 69.5 a First?
- Only if your university rounds the final average. Many round at 0.5, so 69.5 becomes 70, while others classify the unrounded figure. Tick the rounding option to see both results — and a 69.5 that does not round may still be reviewed as a borderline case.
- What is a borderline degree classification?
- An average just under a boundary — typically within one or two marks — that the exam board looks at again. Common rules check preponderance, such as whether at least half of your credits, or your final-year credits, have marks in the higher class. The calculator shows that share when you are inside the zone you choose.
- How do module credits affect my average?
- Each module counts in proportion to its credits, so a 40-credit dissertation weighs four times as much as a 10-credit module. That is why a strong dissertation can lift a final-year average more than its single mark suggests.
- How are integrated master's degrees classified?
- Integrated master's degrees such as the MEng and MSci are classified with the same First, 2:1, 2:2 and Third classes, usually with the later years weighted most. Weightings vary widely between universities, so tick the integrated master's option and type your programme's weights.