Clarification

Hello All,

I am planning to move from Canada to the UK for pursuing better career opportunities. I was wondering if someone can help me understand what this 2:1 educational qualifications are. I have seen these requirements in most of the job adverts and was not sure what it is. It may be a stupid question but knowing this would be helpful so I can prepare myself in advance.

Thank you very much to you all for your time.

S

2:1 is a university grade for degree level qualificaion. The system is as follows:

1st class degree (probably roughly equal to a 70% grade, but very few of these are given out)

2nd class upper degree (AKA 2:1 - roughly equivalent to the 60-70% bracket, and by far the most common grade for grads)

2nd class lower degree (AKA 2:2 - 50-60%, generally considered too low to land a decent graduate role)

3rd class degree (3rd - forget it, off to the job centre)

As ballpark figures I would say:

~10% of students get a First

The next 40% of students get a 2:1

The next 40% of students get a 2:2

The last ~10% of students get a Third

A handful will get an ordinary degree (worse than a third) or fail outright. Pretty unusual though.

On these ballpark figures, most consultancies are interested in candidates with a First or 2:1 from a top university; which means they are interested in the top half of the class from a top university (or only the very best of a class from a lesser university).

Hope that helps with positioning your own qualifications accordingly. Tony

Thanks to Tony and Gorcek for sparing this time and providing details about the UK qualifications. I am indebted to you guys for being so considerate and helpful.

Best wishes.

S