9. Analysis of Marks

There are two parts to the BA examinations: Part A and Part B

9.1 Part A
At the end of the Part A Examination, a candidate will be awarded a University Standardised Mark (USM) for each of the papers taken.  The USMs awarded will be carried forward into a classification as described below.

9.2 Part B
The Board of Examiners for Part B will assign USMs for each paper taken in Part B and may scale the raw marks to arrive at the USMs reported to candidates.

The examiners may choose to scale marks where in their academic judgement:

  • a paper was more difficult or easier than in previous years, and/or
  • a paper has generated a spread of marks which are not a fair reflection of student performance on the University's standard scale for the expression of agreed final marks, i.e. the marks do not reflect the qualitative marks descriptors.

Such scaling is used to ensure that all papers are fairly and equally rewarded.

When scaling the raw marks on a paper the examiners will consider the following:

  • the relative difficulty of the paper compared to the other Part B papers;
  • the report submitted by the assessor who set and marked the paper.

Examiners will use their academic judgement to ensure that appropriate USMs are awarded and may use further statistics to check that the marks assigned fairly reflect the students' performances on a paper.  Examiners may also review a sample of papers either side of the classification borderlines to ensure that the outcome of scaling is consistent with the qualitative marks descriptors.

The USMs awarded to a candidate for papers in Part B will be aggregated with the USMs from Part A to arrive at a classification.

9.3 Aggregation of marks for the award of the classification on the successful completion of Parts A and B

All successful candidates will be awarded a classification after the Part B examination. This classification will be based on the following rules (agreed by the Mathematics Teaching Committee) which include a Strong Paper Rule.

Every candidate must offer

  • 10 units at Part A (counting A2 as a double-unit and, for candidates offering 6 long options, two of the long options papers as half units)
  • 8 units (or equivalent) at Part B.

The relative weightings of the Parts is as follows:

  • The weighting of Part A is 40%.
  • The weighting of Part B is 60%.

This split is equivalent to a weight of 4 per Part A unit (10 x 4 = 40) and a weight of 7.5 per Part B unit (8 x 7.5 = 60). If a candidate has marks for fewer than 10+8 units in Parts A+B, then their weighted average is calculated using 4s and 7.5s as the weights.

Strong Paper Rule

A candidate will have satisfied the First Class, resp., Upper Second Class, resp., Lower Second Class strong paper rule if at least 6 units from Parts A and B lie in that class (or better) and include at least 2 of them in Part B. 

To give an example, a candidate will have satisfied the Upper Second Class strong paper rule if the USMs of at least (the equivalent of) 6 units are at least Upper Second Class marks with (the equivalent of) at least 2 Upper Second Class units at Part B level.

In the following AvUSM = Average weighted USM for Parts A and B together (symmetrically rounded [62.49 will be rounded down and 62.50 will be rounded up]);

  • First Class: AvUSM ≥70 and the First Class Strong Paper Rule satisfied.
  • Upper Second Class: AvUSM ≥ 70 and the First Class Strong Paper Rule not satisfied OR 70 > AvUSM ≥ 60 and the Upper Second Class Strong Paper Rule satisfied.
  • Lower Second Class: 70 > AvUSM ≥ 60 and  the Upper Second Class Strong Paper Rule not satisfied OR 60 > AvUSM ≥ 50 and the Lower Second Class Strong Paper Rule satisfied.
  • Third Class: 60 > AvUSM ≥ 50  and the Lower Second Class Strong Paper Rule not satisfied OR 50 > AvUSM ≥ 40.
  • Pass: 40 > AvUSM ≥ 30.
  • Fail: AvUSM < 30.

BA in Mathematics

Any candidate who satisfies the examiners for Parts A and B (and who does not subsequently enter for and achieve Honours for Part C) may supplicate for the Honours degree of the Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics with the classification as described above, provided that they have fulfilled all the conditions for admission to a degree of the University. 

MMath in Mathematics

In order to proceed to Part C, a candidate must satisfy the progression requirement given in Section 2. Candidates successfully completing Part C will receive a separate classification based on their University Standardised Marks in Part C papers. Note that successful candidates may only supplicate for one degree -- either a BA or an MMath. The MMath has two classifications associated with it but a successful candidate will only be awarded an MMath degree.