Uni Grade Calculator

How to use the uni grade calculator

This UK uni grade calculator opens with a sample student already filled in, so you can see a result before typing anything. Replace the sample with your own modules in four steps.

1. Set the year weighting. Your course handbook, programme specification or your university’s academic regulations say how much each year counts. Pick the matching option, or type your own numbers. Percentages and ratios both work, so a 1 : 3 : 5 rule can go straight in.
2. Enter your marks and credits. Give each module its credit value and its mark. Credits are usually 15, 20, 30 or 40, and a full-time year adds up to 120. The quick buttons lay out six 20-credit or eight 15-credit modules for you.
3. Leave a mark blank for anything you haven’t finished. The uni grade calculator treats a blank mark as a module still to come.
4. Read the result. You get your average so far, the class it points to, how far you are from the next class, and the average you need on your remaining credits for a First, a 2:1, a 2:2 or a Third.

The other two tabs answer the questions that usually come next. The Module tab turns coursework and exam weights into a single module mark and tells you what you need in the exam. The Master’s tab gives a Distinction, Merit or Pass, with an optional rule for courses where the dissertation has to reach that level too.

To come back to your marks later, use Copy link. It saves the entries on the tab you’re using into the link itself, so you can bookmark it or send it to someone and pick up where you left off. Nothing is saved on our side.

How UK universities work out your degree class

Your degree class comes from a weighted average of your module marks. Universities build it in three layers, and the calculator follows the same order.

1. Each module’s assessments, say an essay and an exam, are combined by their weights into one percentage mark for the module.
2. The module marks in a year are averaged by credits, so a 40-credit dissertation counts twice as much as a 20-credit module.
3. The year averages are combined using your university’s year weighting, and the class boundaries turn that number into your final degree classification.

A worked example

Take the sample in the calculator. Year 2 is six 20-credit modules marked 62, 66, 68, 71, 59 and 64, which average 65.00. In Year 3 the student has a 40-credit dissertation at 70 and two 20-credit modules at 72 and 64, so far. That is (40 × 70 + 20 × 72 + 20 × 64) ÷ 80 = 69.00.

With Year 3 counting twice as much as Year 2, the degree average so far is (65.00 + 2 × 69.00) ÷ 3 = 67.67. That is a 2:1, 2.33 points short of a First. Two 20-credit options are still unmarked. To finish on 70, the student needs an average of 79.50 on those last 40 credits. To keep the 2:1, they need 34.50, which is less than the 40% pass mark, so passing both modules is enough.

Common mistakes when you work it out yourself

• Taking a simple average of module marks. In the sample, a simple average of 70, 72 and 64 gives 68.67, a third of a point below the credit-weighted 69.00, because it treats the 40-credit dissertation like a 20-credit module.
• Counting first year when your university doesn’t, or leaving it out when it does.
• Averaging every module when your university only counts your best credits.
• Rounding in the wrong places. Some universities round only the final average, Salford rounds module marks as well, and some don’t round at all. Enter the marks exactly as your university records them.

Working it out in Excel or Google Sheets

If you keep your marks in a spreadsheet, put each module’s credits in column B and its mark in column C. One formula then gives the year average, and it works the same in Excel and Google Sheets:

Here F2 and F3 hold your Year 2 and Year 3 averages; for a 25 / 75 split, use =0.25*F2+0.75*F3 instead. Leave out any module you haven’t finished, because SUMPRODUCT would count its blank mark as zero while still adding its credits.

UK degree classification boundaries

UK degree classifications start at 70% for a First, 60% for a 2:1, 50% for a 2:2 and 40% for a Third. These are the boundaries the UK Standing Committee for Quality Assessment lists as the typical ones in its 2020 principles for degree algorithms, and the ones Leeds, UCL, UWE, Manchester Metropolitan and Salford all use.

You’ll see the classes written in different ways. The QAA’s own descriptors use 1st, 2.1, 2.2 and 3rd, and most students say First, 2:1, 2:2 and Third.

The bands jump from 69 to 70, but real averages often land in between, at 69.4 or 69.7. Whether those count as a First depends on your university’s rounding and borderline rules, which are covered further down.

Is 60% a 2:1 at uni?

Yes, 60 is the lowest average that earns a 2:1. A 59.9, though, is a 2:2 unless your university rounds it up or looks at it again as a borderline case.

Is 58 a 2:2 at uni?

Yes, 58 is a 2:2. It sits two points below the 2:1 line, which is the outer edge of the zone some universities look at again before they confirm a class.

What is 67 in uni grade terms?

A 67 is a 2:1, three points short of a First. It’s a strong one, but outside the two-point borderline zone the sector guidance recommends, so it would need a higher final-year average to become a First.

Does first year count? How universities weight each year

At most UK universities first year doesn’t count towards your class. You have to pass it to move on, and the class comes from your second and final years. Some universities do give first year a small weight, so check your university’s regulations before you write it off.

The 2020 principles describe four common ways of weighting the years:

What real universities do

These are the rules as each university states them in its own regulations. Use them to see how much the method varies, not as a guide to your own course, which can differ even inside one university.

If your university isn’t listed, search its website for “academic regulations” or “degree classification”. Most publish the rule there, and a few publish their own calculator too.

Two of the universities above need a small adjustment before you use the calculator. For UCL, enter only your best 90 credits in Years 1 and 2 and type the weights as 1, 3 and 5. For UWE, enter your best 100 Level 5 credits as Year 2 and type 100 and 360 as the Year 2 and Year 3 weights. With a standard 120-credit final year, that puts 78% of the weight on Level 6.

Same marks, different classes

The weighting can decide your class on its own. Here is one student, with a Year 2 average of 64 and a Year 3 average of 71, under five different rules:

Only the final-year-only rule gives this student a First. The other four give a 2:1, and at 25 / 75 the average misses by 0.75 of a point. The weighting is the first thing to set in the calculator.

Borderline marks, rounding and the 2-point zone

Is 69.5 a First? At a lot of universities, yes. Leeds and UWE move any average within 0.5 of the next boundary up, so 69.50 becomes a First. Salford rounds the final programme mark to the nearest whole number, which has the same effect, and UCL’s First starts at 69.50. Elsewhere the line sits at exactly 70.00, and a 69.9 stays a 2:1 unless a borderline rule lifts it. Your regulations will say which applies to you.

Many universities also look again at averages a little further below a boundary. The 2020 sector principles recommend that this “zone of consideration” is no wider than two percentage points, so a 68 might be reviewed for a First but a 67.99 would not, and that any decision follows written rules rather than discretion.

Glasgow also stopped exam boards using discretion in borderline cases from 2021-22, so its rules alone now decide. The calculator flags any average within two points of the next class, and the “Round up from .5” switch shows what changes under a 0.5 rule.

Best credits, dropped modules and why the rules are changing

Several universities count only your best credits. UCL uses the best 90 of your 120 credits in Years 1 and 2, UWE the best 100 at Level 5, Salford the best 100 at each of Levels 5 and 6, and the Open University the best 120 at each stage. If your university does this, leave your lowest modules out of the calculator, so it averages the same credits your university will.

Some universities also run a second calculation next to the weighted average. Manchester Metropolitan’s own calculator, for example, shows a weighted-average method and a “profiling” method side by side.

Both practices are now under pressure. In November 2025 the Office for Students said that dropping the lowest-marked credits, and giving students the better result from more than one method, are “inherently inflationary”. It asked universities in England to move away from them and to report to it if they keep using them. Rules often change for new intakes only, as Leeds and UWE already show, and the version that applies to you is the one for the year you started.

What do I need in my final year?

Turn the degree formula around and you get the answer. With a 1 : 2 weighting, the Year 3 average you need is (3 × target − Year 2 average) ÷ 2. For a 25 / 75 split it is (target − 0.25 × Year 2 average) ÷ 0.75.

The table shows the Year 3 average needed for the whole final year. Once some final-year marks are in, the calculator narrows it to the credits you have left. In the sample, the First needs 79.50 on the last 40 credits rather than 72.50 across the whole year, because 80 credits are already marked at 69.00.

How much does the dissertation count?

Usually more than any other single module. A 40-credit dissertation is a third of a 120-credit final year, so under a 1 : 2 weighting it carries 22% of your whole degree average, and under 25 / 75 it carries 25%. Every extra mark on it adds 0.22 points to your degree average at 1 : 2, or 0.25 at 25 / 75. A 60-credit Master’s dissertation is a third of a 180-credit course, so each mark there moves your Master’s average by 0.33.

The table leaves out two things. You still have to pass every module, and a resit mark is usually capped: at Salford, for example, a reassessed component is capped at the 40% pass mark for undergraduate levels.

Working out a single module mark

The Module tab is a module grade calculator for UK courses. A module mark is the weighted average of its assessments. Multiply each mark by its weight, add them up, and divide by the total weight. If the weights don’t reach 100% yet because some work is still to come, divide by the weight you have.

The Module tab starts with an essay worth 30% marked at 64 and a presentation worth 20% marked at 70. That is (30 × 64 + 20 × 70) ÷ 50 = 66.40 on the half of the module that is marked. The exam is worth the other 50%. To finish the module on 70 the student needs 73.60 in the exam, for 60 they need 53.60, and for the 40% pass mark they need 13.60.

Rounding can matter at module level too. Salford, for instance, rounds each module mark to a whole number, with .50 going up, while the 2020 principles suggest rounding only once, at the final degree mark. The calculator shows module marks to two decimal places and leaves any rounding to you.

Master’s degrees: Distinction, Merit and Pass

A postgraduate taught Master’s (MA, MSc) is usually 180 credits, often made up of taught modules and a 60-credit dissertation. It isn’t classified like a bachelor’s degree. Instead it is awarded with Distinction, with Merit, or as a Pass.

Some universities add a condition on the dissertation. At UCL a Distinction needs a weighted mark of 69.50 or more and at least 70 on the dissertation, and a Merit needs 59.50 or more and at least 60 on the dissertation. Tick “The dissertation must reach the same level” in the Master’s tab to apply a rule like this.

In the Master’s sample, four 30-credit modules average 67.00 and the 60-credit dissertation is still to come. A Distinction needs 76.00 on the dissertation. A Merit needs only 46.00 on the weighted average, but under a dissertation rule the dissertation itself must reach 60.

Integrated Master’s degrees such as the MEng or MChem are different again: they are classified like a bachelor’s degree, usually with the final years weighted most. Leeds weights Years 2, 3 and 4 at 1 : 2 : 2, and Salford weights Levels 5, 6 and 7 at 15%, 35% and 50%.

Scotland, the Open University and other scales

Scottish honours degrees

An honours degree in Scotland usually takes four years and 480 credits, and at many Scottish universities the class comes from the two honours years. At Glasgow, only Junior Honours (Year 3) and Senior Honours (Year 4) count, and courses are graded on a 22-point scale from A1 (22) down to H (0) rather than in percentages:

For a percentage-marked Scottish degree, pick “Scotland: Years 3 and 4” in the calculator. For Glasgow’s grade points, the calculator still works out the credit-weighted average correctly if you type points instead of marks, but ignore the class it prints and read your average against the table above.

The Open University

An Open Uni grade calculator needs a different method, because the Open University doesn’t average percentages. Each module counts as its credits multiplied by its grade, from 1 (Distinction) to 4, and Level 3 scores are doubled. With 120 credits at each level, the total runs from 360 to 1,440, and lower is better:

A student with grade 2 on all 120 Level 2 credits and all 120 Level 3 credits scores 120 × 2 + 120 × 2 × 2 = 720, a 2:1. If your score is within 60 points of the band above, you get the higher class when at least 60 of your Level 3 credits are at that grade or better. The calculator above works in percentages and doesn’t model this, but the OU score is quick to work out by hand.

UK university credits explained

Credits tell you how much study a module involves. One credit stands for about 10 hours of learning, so a 20-credit module is about 200 hours, and a full-time year is 120 credits. The QAA’s credit framework sets these totals for qualifications in England:

Levels 4, 5 and 6 are the first, second and third years of a typical degree in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and Level 7 is Master’s level. Two UK credits equal one ECTS credit, the unit used across Europe, so a 120-credit year is 60 ECTS.

Words you’ll see in your handbook

How many students get a First?

In 2023-24, 28.8% of students were awarded a First, according to the Office for Students, which regulates universities in England. That was down from a peak of 37.7% in 2020-21, but still far above the 15.8% of 2010-11. That rise is why the regulator is now looking hard at degree algorithms, including the borderline and best-credit rules inside them.

How this calculator works

This degree classification calculator makes a few fixed choices:

• Each year’s average is weighted by credits, and the year averages are combined into an overall average using the weights you set. Weights that don’t add up to 100 are treated as a ratio.
• Results use your raw marks to two decimal places. Nothing is rounded unless you switch on “Round up from .5”.
• The amount you need assumes the same average on every remaining credit. Any mix that reaches that average gets you there.
• It can’t know your university’s best-credit, profiling, compensation or resit rules, or any extra rules your professional body sets. Enter only the modules your university counts, and the marks it records.

Everything runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent or stored. The result is an estimate: your exam board confirms your class.

Sources

• UK Standing Committee for Quality Assessment, Principles for effective degree algorithm design (July 2020)
• Office for Students, Bachelors’ degree classification algorithms (November 2025)
• QAA, Higher Education Credit Framework for England (2021) and Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications (2024)
• Universities’ own rules: Leeds, UCL Academic Manual 2026-27, UWE Bristol, Salford regulations 2025/26, Glasgow Guide to the Code of Assessment 2025-26, Open University class of honours and Manchester Metropolitan’s classification calculator

Built and maintained by Mahmudul, the creator of Calculate Your Grade. Classification rules checked against each university’s published regulations and the UK sector guidance listed above. Last reviewed October 2026.

Related calculators

• The grade calculator with weights works out a weighted average for any set of assessments, if your course doesn’t fit the module and credit layout above.
• For a single exam, the final grade needed calculator shows the mark you need for a target grade, with more options than the Module tab.
• If a mark comes back as a raw score, such as 34 out of 50, the test grade percentage calculator turns it into a percentage you can enter here.
• UK university offers to IB students usually name a points total, such as 36 out of 45. The IB score calculator adds up your six subject grades and core points so you can check a predicted total against the offer.

Frequently asked questions