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The grading system at the university can change from country to country. International Student Ambassador Zarin explains how it works and shares her top tip for achieving the best grades you can.

4 min read

International students International student stories

Understanding the grading system of the UK can be a daunting task for international students as grading systems vary from country to country. It is also not always explicitly discussed in class or explained in the course material, which makes it more difficult to understand for international students.

When I received the results of my first teaching block, I was so disappointed seeing my scores. Although I achieved 70% in most of my modules, I was still not satisfied. Because as an international student who studied in Bangladesh, I hardly ever scored below 85% during my bachelor. And so, it got me into thinking that 70% is not a good score. But then I discovered that 70% is a first-class grade which gave me a sense of relief.

UK Universities use degree classifications to specify the grades instead of the letter system from A to F. Another notable difference in the grading system of the UK is that it typically uses broader grade bands while other countries, like my home country of Bangladesh, use narrow grade bands. For example: in the Bangladeshi grading system A represents a score of 90%-100%, while in the UK, a first-class degree is awarded for scores of 70% and above. But that doesn’t mean it’s easier in any way to secure a first-class grade in the UK though. In each module, you will get grades that altogether will make up your final degree classification.

Let’s decode the grading system in a simple way:

  • 70%-100% or Distinction
  • 60%-69% or Merit
  • 50%-59% or Pass
  • 40%-49% or Pass

Anything below 40% is usually considered a Fail.

Some tips and tricks that helped me achieve Distinction or Merit

  1. Always choose a topic that genuinely interests you. Firstly and most importantly, the module has to be interesting to you. If the module or the topic doesn’t pull your interest, it can be more difficult to achieve good grades on those modules.
  2. Attend lectures regularly. This may seem obvious but it is essential to keep yourself engaged with classwork if you want to achieve good grades. Also, it helps to navigate the course tutor’s expectations for the assessments so you can work with those in mind.
  3. Check the assessment criteria twice. It’s very important to check the assessment criteria before starting to work on it. But I would suggest, going through the assessment criteria once again when you are done with your work to make sure you hit all the requirements that your tutor is expecting from you.
  4. Seek feedback. Complete your assessments ahead of the deadline and ask for feedback from the teacher. Then you can improve your work based on the feedback.
  5. Take advantage of University resources. The University of Portsmouth offers a range of resources to support students to improve their academic writing by providing extra/optional classes: from in-sessional English and CCI skills, to the library that not only helps with books and material but also, provides support with referencing and citing.
  6. Avoid plagiarism. A lot of students intentionally or unintentionally fall into the trap of plagiarism. But it is not that hard to avoid plagiarism: all you need to do when you are using information from other sources is to give credit to the owner of the source by properly using citations and referencing.

So here you have all my secrets to get good grades. Good luck!