GUIDELINES FOR CREDIT AND GRADE TRANSFER
Credits and Grades
A student’s studies towards a taught degree are structured in terms of modules, each of which is assigned a credit value, reflecting the proportion of a
student’s time devoted to that module; so, for example, First or 1000 level modules in a particular school might be worth 20 credits. Each module is a
self-contained unit of teaching, learning and assessment. For the majority of modules the teaching takes place in one 12-week teaching block, usually
broken by a reading week, and in most cases followed by an examination. Others are concentrated into a shorter period, and some are taught over the
whole year. A student’s performance in the examination, together with grades for pieces of work submitted during the module, determine whether he or
she passes the assessment for the module and, therefore, whether he or she is awarded the credits attached to it. Thus a student who passes the module
will have gained both credits, reflecting the workload of the module, and a grade, reflecting the quality of a student’s work.
Credit Load
Normally a full-time undergraduate student takes modules worth 120 credits during the course of each year, ie 60 credits in each semester. Circumstances
may require a student to exceed this load, but the total credits for the year can never exceed 160. Part-time students must take at least 40 credits and no
more than 80 credits each year. Postgraduate students on taught programmes may take up to 180 credits in one year.
European Credit Transfer System
All modules in the Course Catalogue have an accreditation in the ECTS scheme. Since St Andrews operates on an annual load of 120 credits and ECTS
one of 60 credits, credits transferred to the other institution will be exactly half of the credits shown for each module. The grade for each module will be
calculated according to established ECTS procedures and, therefore, it will not necessarily be the same as a grade for the module awarded by this
University.
Guidelines of equivalence of outcome – NOTE: Each mark in the N American scale is the top of its band, so A+ runs from 4.01-4.33,
A from 3.68-4.00 etc.
St Andrews Grading System
Scale
Points
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
SubHonours
Distinction
Honours
High Merit
2I
First
Low Merit
2ii
Pass
Third
Marginal
Pass
Pass
Fail
Fail
D
D
E
E
S
S
X
N
North
America
Europe
A+
4.33
A
4.00
AB+
B
BC+
C
3.67
3.33
3.00
2.67
2.33
2.00
C-
1.67
D+
D
F
1.33
1.00
ECTS
Grade
A
ECTS Definition
B
VERY GOOD – above the average standard but with some errors
C
GOOD – generally sound work with a number of notable errors
D
SATISFACTORY – fair but with significant shortcomings
E
SUFFICIENT – performance meets the minimum criteria
X
F
FAIL – some more work required before credit can be awarded
FAIL – considerable further work is required
EXCELLENT – outstanding performance with only minor errors
Did not complete the required work for the assessment but did not
forfeit the right of re-assessment
E is an optional code to indicate that the module was entirely studied
abroad.
Applies to a student's module, which was affected by special
circumstances.
Did not complete the required work for the assessment and forfeited
the right of assessment
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ST ANDREWS - CANADA
North American Grades
St Andrews
% Grades
St Andrews
Degree Class
20 point
scale
GRADE RELATED CRITERA
95 +
92-94
80 +
77-79
1*
1+
20
19
88-91
73-76
1
18
85-87
70-72
1-
17
Excellent answer characterised by:
Originality/ critical judgement & logical argument
Thorough understanding of topic
Sound knowledge of relevant and wider literature
Excellent use of examples / illustrations
Excellent organisation & presentation
82-84
66-69
2i +
16
78-81
63-65
2i
15
75-77
60-62
2i -
14
73-74
56-59
2ii +
13
71-72
53-55
2ii
12
70
50-52
2ii -
11
66-69
46-49
3+
10
63-65
43-49
3
9
60-62
40-42
3-
8
56-59
36-39
Pass
7
53-55
33-35
Pass
6
50-52
30-32
Pass
5
40-49
30-39
20-29
0-19
25-29
20-24
10-19
0-9
Fail no PP
Fail no PP
Fail no PP
Fail no PP
4
3
2
1
Highly satisfactory answer characterised by:
Critical judgement and sound argument
Solid understanding of the topic
Sound knowledge of relevant literature/
evidence of reading beyond lectures
Good use of examples / illustrations
Good organisation & presentation
Satisfactory answer characterised by:
Some critical awareness and consistent argument
Reasonable understanding of topic
Knowledge of relevant literature/
evidence of reading beyond lectures
Use of relevant examples / illustrations
Reasonable organisation and presentation
Adequate answer as above, but flawed by one or more of
the following:
Overly descriptive/ lack of critical understanding
Incomplete understanding of the topic
Little knowledge of relevant literature
Poor use of examples / illustrations
Poor organisation and presentation
Pass (not honours standard): some knowledge of the
topic, but seriously flawed by one or more of the
following:
Absence of critical awareness
Superficial understanding of the topic
Major misconceptions
Some irrelevant material
Poor organisation and presentation
Fail:
Inadequate understanding of topic
Lacking in substantive content
Largely irrelevant material
NB PP = permission to proceed – ie to go forward in the module to the next assessment or exam.
The language of instruction for all modules is English, except where the module is intended to develop competence in another language. Details of the
content, method of delivery, learning outcomes and assessment patterns of individual modules are available from the University’s published Course
Catalogue for the year in question.
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