Cardiff University
degree classification calculator
Quick answer: Cardiff specifies one of two classification rules per programme: Level 5 at 30% with Level 6 at 70% (Rule 2), or 40% and 60% (Rule 3). This calculator uses Rule 2. Your final mark is rounded to a whole number, and the Secondary Rule can lift 68 or 69 to a First — but only if you have 120 credits at 70% or more, at least 60 of them at Level 6.
Cardiff degree classification calculator
Rule 2 — Level 5 30% : Level 6 70%Year 1 / Level 4 (does not count)
Level 5 (weight 30%)
Level 6 (weight 70%)
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 | Weighted mark | Uplift rule |
|---|---|---|
| First Class Honours | 70% or above | or 68% with at least 120 credits at 70% or above, including 60 of them in the final year |
| Second Class Honours, Division I (2:1) | 60% or above | or 58% with at least 120 credits at 60% or above, including 60 of them in the final year |
| Second Class Honours, Division II (2:2) | 50% or above | or 48% with at least 120 credits at 50% or above, including 60 of them in the final year |
| Third Class Honours | 40% or above | or 38% with at least 120 credits at 40% or above, including 60 of them in the final year |
What do I need for a First?
The planner under the calculator works backwards from Cardiff’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 year weights 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.
Two rules, and your programme has already chosen
Regulation 4.23 lists a classification rule per programme type. Three-year programmes use either Rule 2 (Level 5 at 30%, Level 6 at 70%) or Rule 3 (40% and 60%). Nothing about the subject tells you which — it is set in your programme information, and the difference is worth roughly a mark either way. This page uses Rule 2.
The mark is a whole number
Module marks are calculated, rounded and recorded as whole numbers, and so is the final mark. The rounding happens before the boundary is applied, so 69.5 becomes 70 and a First is awarded outright.
The Secondary Rule is a volume test, not a proportion
At 68 or 69 you are awarded a First if you have module marks of 70% or more in at least 120 credits at Level 5 or Level 6, and at least 60 of those credits are at Level 6. The same shape applies at 58/59, 48/49 and 38/39 with the matching mark. This is not a “half your credits” test: 120 credits is a fixed volume, so on a 240-credit counting profile it happens to be half, but the Level 6 condition still has to be met separately.
Four- and five-year programmes
A four-year integrated master’s uses 20% at Level 5, 30% at Level 6 and 50% at Level 7. Where a year of Experiential or Professional Learning counts it is weighted 10%; a Year of Study Abroad is weighted 0%. Credits from either year are excluded from the Secondary Rule.
Resits
A module passed after reassessment is credited with the minimum pass mark, and a synoptic reassessment caps the module mark at the pass mark.
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 Cardiff’s own regulations:
- Cardiff University — Academic Regulations and Policies 2026/27 — Regulations for Modular Taught Programmes, read in full: 2.5 module marks as whole numbers, 2.9 reassessment, 4.22 the final mark and its rounding, 4.23 classification Rules 1–13 including the two three-year options, 4.24 the classification bands, and 4.26 the Secondary Rule for bachelor’s and integrated master’s degrees.
Regulations change between intakes. Your own cohort’s handbook is always authoritative.