Aberystwyth University
degree classification calculator
Quick answer: Aberystwyth does not weight your years. It runs a cascade: your best 80 Level Three credits carry weight 3, the next best 80 Level Three and Level Two credits carry weight 2, and everything left carries weight 1. A module’s weight depends on how it ranks, not on which year it is in — but no Level Two mark may sit in a higher band than a Level Three mark, so leftover Level Three credits fill Band 2 first however weak they are. The average is shown to one decimal place and rounded to a whole number; land within 1% of a boundary and you shall be raised if half your Part Two credits, or 80 of your final 120, are in the higher class.
Aberystwyth degree classification calculator
Cascade: best 80 Level Three credits at weight 3, next best 80 at 2, the rest at 1Level One credits taken in Part Two — Band 1 only
Level Two — second year
Level Three — final year
What do I need for a First?
Enter the marks you already have above. These boxes are the credits still to come in each year: a year with no marks yet is counted as all still to come. Change them if that is not right for you.
| Class | Mark needed in every remaining module |
|---|
Class boundaries
| Class | Cascade average | Uplift rule |
|---|---|---|
| Class I (First) | 70% or above | or 69% with at least either half of counting credits at 70% or above, or 80 credits in the final year at 70% or above |
| Class II(1) (2:1) | 60% or above | or 59% with at least either half of counting credits at 60% or above, or 80 credits in the final year at 60% or above |
| Class II(2) (2:2) | 50% or above | or 49% with at least either half of counting credits at 50% or above, or 80 credits in the final year at 50% or above |
| Class III (Third) | 40% or above | or 39% with at least either half of counting credits at 40% or above, or 80 credits in the final year at 40% or above |
What do I need for a First?
The planner under the calculator works backwards from Aberystwyth’s own algorithm. Enter the marks you have so far, leave the years you have not finished empty (or set how many credits are still to come), and it shows the lowest mark you would need in every remaining module to reach each class. It runs the same calculation as the calculator, using the weighting bands and the secondary rules in the table above, so a class reached through one of those routes shows the lower figure.
The answer is a single mark repeated across every remaining module. Real marks vary, and where only some credits count or a class can be reached through a share of high marks, an uneven spread can sometimes get there with a slightly lower average. “Already secured” means the algorithm gives that class even at 0 in what is left, but you still have to pass those modules.
The cascade weights marks by rank, not by year
Most universities on this site multiply a whole year by a number. Aberystwyth does something else. Convention 4.13 sorts your credits into three bands: Band 3 is your best 80 Level Three credits at weighting 3; Band 2 is the next best 80 Level Three and Level Two credits at weighting 2; Band 1 is the remainder of Levels Three and Two, plus any Level One credits taken in Part Two, at weighting 1. Two students with identical year averages can finish with different cascade averages, because what matters is how the individual marks rank. Marks are weighted by credit value within each band (4.13(4)), and a module that straddles a band boundary is split by credit rather than falling wholly on one side.
No Level Two mark may sit above a Level Three mark
This is the clause that makes Aberystwyth’s cascade different from Swansea’s banding system, and it can cost you a class. Paragraph 10 says “no Level Two mark may appear in a Band higher than that in which a Level Three mark appears”. So Band 2 is not simply your next best 80 credits: your leftover Level Three credits go in first, however weak they are, and only then is the band topped up with your best Level Two credits. A weak 40 credits at Level Three cannot be pushed down into Band 1 by strong Level Two marks. The calculator applies the constraint for you.
Your average is shown to one decimal place and classified as a whole number
The footnote to 4.14 is explicit: cascade averages are shown to one decimal point for the information of examination boards and rounded up at 0.5 and above, or down below it, to the nearest whole number. So 69.5 is a First and 69.4 is not. This page shows you both figures, because only one of them decides the class.
The Window of Opportunity is 1%, and it says shall
Where your cascade average falls within 1% of any borderline you shall be raised to the higher class — not “may be considered” — provided you meet one of two criteria: either at least 50% of your credits over Part Two as a whole, excluding any Sandwich Year or Year Abroad, are in the upper class or above, or at least 80 credits out of your final 120 Part Two credits are. One percent is a narrow window: at 68.4 you are outside it for a First even if every other condition is met. A wider 2% discretionary window, raised by the Examining Board on grounds of illness or compassionate circumstances, applies only to students who started before September 2024, so it is historic for current finalists and this page does not model it.
The Sandwich Year band is set by your scheme, not by you
A four-year scheme adds Band S — 120 credits from the Sandwich Year or Year Abroad. Its weighting is zero for an Integrated Year Studying Abroad, and 0, 0.25 or 0.5 for an Integrated Year in Industry, set at scheme level (4.13(5)). It is not a student choice, and your scheme’s regulations state which applies. This calculator covers the three-year Bachelor’s scheme, where Band S does not arise; if your scheme weights a sandwich year, your Board’s figure will differ from the one here.
Integrated Master’s students from September 2016 cannot be given a Third
Table 1 carries an exclusion no other university on this site has: the Third (Class III) does not apply to students who entered Part Two of an Integrated Master’s scheme from September 2016. A whole class is removed for that cohort. The Integrated Master’s cascade also differs — Band 4 is the best 90 Level M credits at weighting 4, Band 3 the next best 90 Level M and Level Three credits at weighting 3, and so on down — so this page’s three-year calculator is not the right tool for it.
Transferred credit and marks from elsewhere
Paragraph 11 computes the cascade on Aberystwyth marks only, filled from the top band down — best 80 credits at the highest level first — which leaves the lowest band partially filled or empty rather than substituting marks from another institution. If you transferred in with credit, enter only the modules Aberystwyth marked.
What this calculator does not do
It applies the published algorithm to the marks you enter. It cannot know your programme’s approved variances, any extenuating circumstances, capped resit marks, or how a Board of Examiners will use its discretion. Where a rule is a judgement rather than a formula, the page says so rather than guessing.
Sources
Every figure on this page is read from Aberystwyth’s own regulations:
- Aberystwyth University — Examination Conventions 4.13, Conventions for the classification of modular degrees — read in full: Table 1 and the class boundaries, including the withdrawal of the Third for Integrated Master’s entrants from September 2016; 4.13(2) classification on the cascade average over all contributing modules; (4) credit weighting within a band; (5) the scheme-level Band S weightings; the three-year and four-year band tables verbatim; (10) the level-ordering constraint; and (11) transferred credit.
- Aberystwyth University — Examination Conventions 4.14, The Window of Opportunity — the 1% window and its two alternative criteria quoted in full, the “shall be raised” wording, the one-decimal and whole-number rounding footnote, and the pre-September-2024 cohort limit on the discretionary 2% window.
Regulations change between intakes. Your own cohort’s handbook is always authoritative.