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Understanding your Undergraduate Degree Award Calculation
Wednesday, 16 August, 2023
How your undergraduate engineering degree award and GPA is calculated:
Your performance across the range of modules you take will be calculated using a Grade-point Average (GPA) system, which is an average of grade-points awarded for each module weighted, according to the credit value of the modules for which the grades were approved – most modules will count for 5 credits. Each stage has 60 credits and you will receive a GPA at the end of each stage. You will also receive a Degree GPA (Degree Award) when you have completed your programme. The classification of your Degree Award will be based on a method of calculation which combines your GPA in stages 2 and 3 or stages 3 and 4(depending on whether you graduate with a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) or a BSc (Bachelor of Engineering Science), per below
Method of Calculation – Rule:
Final and penultimate stages (weighted) - The degree GPA is calculated based on all modules, including elective modules, which the student completed and passed in UCD to satisfy the credit requirements of the final and penultimate stages of the programme where the credit values and grade points of final-stage modules are weighted by a factor of 7 and those of penultimate-stage modules are weighted by a factor of 3.
| BE (Bachelor of Engineering) – 4 Years | Final Stage – Stage 4 Penultimate Stage – Stage 3 |
| BSc (Engineering Science) – 3 Years | Final Stage – Stage 3 Penultimate Stage – Stage 2 |
How your Degree award is calculated if you are studying abroad for one trimester or a full academic year:
The Rule:
Final and penultimate stages (weighted) - The degree GPA is calculated based on all modules, including elective modules, which the student completed and passed to satisfy the credit requirements of the final and penultimate stages of the programme where the credit values and grade points of final-stage modules are weighted by a factor of 7 and those of penultimate-stage modules are weighted by a factor of 3.
How does this apply to me?
The modules that you pass while on study abroad will not be included in the GPA calculation. The weighting factors of the individual UCD modules will remain the same, but as there will be fewer UCD modules, each one will contribute a larger fraction of the degree GPA. One of the following calculations will apply:
Example:
| STUDY ABROAD FOR STAGE 3 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 4 Year Bachelor of Engineering | 3 Year BSc (Engineering Science) | |
| If you are going on study abroad for all of stage 3, and return with the equivalent of 60 credits, and choose to continue with the 4-year BE degree, your degree GPA will be based entirely on your grades in stage 4. | If you choose the 3-year BSc degree, your degree GPA will be based entirely on your grades in stage 2. | Degree GPA for progression to ME: 2.80 |
| STUDY ABROAD FOR ONE TRIMESTER OF STAGE 3 | ||
|---|---|---|
| If you are going on study abroad for one trimester of stage 3, and return with the equivalent of 30 credits, and choose to continue with the 4-year BE degree, your degree GPA will be based on 30 credits from stage 3 and 60 credits from stage 4. The stage-3 modules will have weight 3, so will contribute 90 weighted credits to the total. The stage-4 modules will have weight 7, and contribute 420 weighted credits to the total. | If you are going on study abroad for one trimester of stage 3 and choose the 3- year BSc degree, your degree GPA will be based on 60 credits for Stage 2 and 30 credits for Stage 3. The stage-2 modules will have a weight 3, so will contribute 180 weighted credits in total. The stage-3 modules will have a weight 7, and contribute 210 weighted credits to the total. | Degree GPA for progression to ME: 2.80 |