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Exams and Grading

Grading Support, Managing Grades and Grade Approvals Process (GAP)

Overall/Final Module Grades

As outlined in the university’s Academic Regulations in Section 4.14, assessment in the university shall be graded.
The following scale should be used for module grades (Regulation 4.28):

MODULE GRADE GRADE POINT DESCRIPTION
A+ 4.2 Excellent
A 4.0
A- 3.8
B+ 3.6 Very Good
B 3.4
B- 3.2
C+ 3.0 Good
C 2.8
C- 2.6
D+ 2.4 Acceptable
D 2.2
D- 2.0
FM+ 0.0 Fail
FM 0.0
FM- 0.0
NM 0.0 No grade – work submitted did not merit a grade
ABS 0.0 No work was submitted by the student or the student was absent from assessment


Where module outcomes cannot be assessed at this level of detail, the results may be returned as pass/fail, or distinction/pass/fail, and the following scale should be used (Regulation 4.29).

MODULE GRADE GRADE POINT DESCRIPTION
DS Neutral Passed with distinction
PX  Neutral Pass
PXR Neutral Pass of a Repeat/Resit attempt
FX 0.0 Fail
FXR 0.0 Fail of a Repeat/Resit attempt
NM 0.0 No grade – work submitted did not merit a grade
ABS 0.0 No work was submitted by the student or the student was absent from assessment

Other Final/Overall Grades

The following grades may also be approved by the Programme Examination Board to signify particular circumstances or outcomes (Regulation 4.31):

MODULE GRADE GRADE POINT DESCRIPTION
AU Neutral Audit: returned where a student audits the module, and, by prior agreement with the Module Coordinator, does not complete some or all of the assessments and does not wish to be graded. No credit is awarded.
WN Neutral Withdrawn: returned where a student withdraws before the end of week 12 of a trimester, or before the last day of teaching in a trimester, whichever comes sooner. No credit is awarded, and a subsequent attempt at that module is treated as a first attempt. 
IM Incomplete Incomplete Must Pass (temporary): may be returned at the discretion of a School or Board of Studies when the following criteria are met:
  1. the module is a clinical teaching module, a field-based module, or a work placement;
  2. the component is specified in the module descriptor as a must pass component (see section 4.15);
  3. the activities required to satisfactorily complete the module, and the time available to do this are clearly communicated in writing to the student by the School or Board of Studies responsible for the module; and
  4. where a student has passed overall the assessments associated with a module but has not satisfactorily completed a “must pass” component of assessment where an in-module repeat for that component was not available (Regulation 4.15).
  Credit will not be awarded unless these assessments or activities, or equivalent assessments or activities prescribed by the School, are satisfactorily completed, within a set period prescribed by the School but not exceeding two trimesters. The IM grade is resolved with one of the following outcomes:
  1. The student satisfactorily completes the outstanding activities, or their equivalent, within the prescribed time. The credit, final grade and the full grade point associated with that grade are awarded; or
  2. The student does not complete some or all of the required assessments within the prescribed time. The component is graded as a fail (F), and the module grade of FM is recorded.
IA Incomplete Incomplete Assessment (temporary): may be returned at the discretion of a School or Board of Studies when the following criteria are met:
  1. the module is a clinical teaching module, a field-based module, or a work placement; and
  2. where a student has been unable to complete a component due to lack of availability of clinical samples, required facilities, professional staff involved in supervision, or the field-based nature of the component of assessment.
Credit will not be awarded unless these assessments or activities, or equivalent assessments or activities prescribed by the School, are satisfactorily completed, within a set period prescribed by the School but not exceeding two trimesters. The IA grade is resolved with one of the following outcomes:
  1. The student satisfactorily completes the outstanding activities, or their equivalent, within the prescribed time. The credit, final grade and the full grade point associated with that grade are awarded;
  2. The student does not complete some or all of the required assessments within the prescribed time. The component is graded as a fail (F), and the resulting module grade is recorded; or
  3. The student may choose to accept an ABS grade for the assessment component, and the resulting grade is recorded.
IX Neutral Incomplete (extenuating circumstances): returned either (a) on the recommendation of a School and approved by the Programme Examination Board, or (b) on the recommendation of the Programme Examination Board, where:
  1. a student has been unable to satisfactorily complete a component (or components) of assessment; and
  2. the student provides medical or other certification according to a UCD proforma supporting the position that they had an incapacitating illness or circumstance which prevented them from so doing.
The student must complete the component (or components) of assessment or complete some equivalent assessment(s) set by the School, within two trimesters of the initial attempt. Where the assessments set by the School are completed within the prescribed time the final aggregate grade and the full grade point associated with that grade are awarded, along with the associated credit (provided the final grade is a passing grade).  Where the student does not complete some or all of the required assessments within the prescribed time and the Governing Board does not extend the IX grade, the original grade for the component should be reinstated.  Where there was no attempt at the component assessment, a component grade of ABS should be returned. Governing Boards should not repeatedly extend IX grades for students but should consider the application of alternative processes in the interest of the student including Leave of Absence, Fitness to Continue in Study and Continuation and Readmission policies and procedures.

Component Grade Scales 

The Academic Regulations state that all assessment at the University shall be graded (Regulation 4.14).

The following scale should be used for module component grades (Regulation 4.24)


COMPONENT GRADE SCALES
COMPONENT GRADE DESCRIPTION
A+ Excellent
A
A-
B+ Very Good
B
B-
C+ Good
C
C-
D+ Acceptable
D
D-
E+ Fail
E
E-
F+ Fail
F
F-
G+ Fail
G
G-
NM No grade – work submitted did not merit a grade
ABS No work was submitted by the student or the student was absent from assessment


In Brightspace, this conversion scale is the default scale and it is entitled (Default) 40% Pass Standard Letter/Numeric. For more information on this, please see Brightspace Help Guides

Where an assessment component cannot be assessed at this level of detail, the results may be returned as pass/fail and the following scale should be used (Regulation 4.25).

MODULE GRADE DESCRIPTION
P Pass
F Fail
NM No grade – work submitted did not merit a grade
ABS No work was submitted by the student or the student was absent from assessment

In Brightspace, this conversion scale is the default scale and it is entitled (Default) Pass/Fail. For more information on this, please see Brightspace Help Guides

Numeric Marks to Component Grade Conversions Component Grade Scales

Download the Mark to Grade Conversion Component Grade Scales


Where assessment components are objective and quantitative, a suitable numerical scale may be used to establish performance in the component. However, if a numerical scale is used to establish performance, marks must be converted to grades before they are entered into Gradebook (Regulation 4.14). The University has approved Mark to Grade Conversion Scales that can be used, however if desired, Module Coordinators can use whatever rubric is appropriate. Students must be informed in advance about the rubric that will be applied, to ensure there is transparency around how grades are arrived at.

The default conversion scale for the university is the Standard Conversion Grade Scale 40% Pass and the calculation points are as follows:

Standard Conversion Grade Scale
40% Pass (70% = A-)

In Brightspace, this conversion scale is the default scale, and it is titled:

"(Default) 40% Pass Standard Letter/Numeric".

For more information, please see Brightspace Help Guides
Grades Lower % Upper %
A+ ≥90 100
A ≥80 <90
A- ≥70 <80
B+ ≥66.67 <70
B ≥63.33 <66.67
B- ≥60 <63.33
C+ ≥56.67 <60
C ≥53.33 <56.67
C- ≥50 <53.33
D+ ≥46.67 <50
D ≥43.33 <46.67
D- ≥40 <43.33
E+ ≥36.67 <40
E ≥33.33 <36.67
E- ≥30 <33.33
F+ ≥26.67 <30
F ≥23.33 <26.67
F- ≥20 <23.33
G+ ≥16.67 <20
G ≥13.33 <16.67
G- ≥0.01 <13.33
NM 0 <0.01
ABS No work was submitted by the student or the student was absent from assessment



In addition to the default standard conversion scale, the following scales are university approved and may be used:

Alternative Linear Conversion Grade Scale
40% Pass (85% = A-)

In Brightspace, this conversion scale is titled: 

"40% Pass Linear Letter/Numeric"

For more information, please see Brightspace Help Guides
Grades Lower % Upper %
A+ ≥95 100
A  ≥90 <95
A-  ≥85 <90
B+  ≥80 <85
B  ≥75 <80
B-  ≥70 <75
C+  ≥65 <70
C  ≥60 <65
C-  ≥55 <60
D+  ≥50 <55
D  ≥45 <50
D-  ≥40 <45
E+  ≥35 <40
E  ≥30 <35
E-  ≥25 <30
F+  ≥20 <25
F  ≥15 <20
F-  ≥10 <15
G+  ≥5 <10
G  ≥0.02 <5
G-  ≥0.01 <0.02
NM 0 <0.01
ABS No work was submitted by the student or the student was absent from assessment



Alternative Non-Linear Conversion Grade Scale 50% Pass (70% = A-)

In Brightspace, this conversion scale is titled:

"50% Pass Standard Letter/Numeric"

For more information, please see Brightspace Help Guides
Grades Lower % Upper %
A+  ≥90 100
A  ≥80 <90
A-  ≥70 <80
B+  ≥67.78 <70
B  ≥65.56 <67.78
B-  ≥63.33 <65.56
C+  ≥61.12 <63.33
C  ≥58.89 <61.12
C-  ≥56.67 <58.89
D+  ≥54.43 <56.67
D  ≥52.22 <54.43
D-  ≥50 <52.22
E+  ≥45 <50
E  ≥40 <45
E-  ≥35 <40
F+  ≥30 <35
F  ≥25 <30
F-  ≥20 <25
G+  ≥15 <20
G  ≥10 <15
G-  ≥0.01 <10
NM 0 <0.01
ABS No work was submitted by the student or the student was absent from assessment



Alternative Linear Conversion Grade Scale
60% Pass (70% = A-)
(to be used for modules held in China only)

In Brightspace, this conversion scale is titled:

"60% Pass Standard Letter/Numeric (China only)"

For more information, please see Brightspace Help Guides
Grades Lower % Upper %
A+  ≥96.67 100
A  ≥93.33 <96.67
A-  ≥90 <93.33
B+  ≥86.67 <90
B  ≥83.34 <86.67
B-  ≥80 <83.34
C+  ≥76.67 <80
C  ≥73.34 <76.67
C-  ≥70 <73.34
D+  ≥66.67 <70
D  ≥63.34 <66.67
D-  ≥60 <63.34
E+  ≥53.34 <60
E  ≥46.67 <53.34
E-  ≥40 <46.67
F+  ≥33.34 <40
F  ≥26.67 <33.34
F-  ≥20 <26.67
G+  ≥13.34 <20
G  ≥6.67 <13.34 <
G-  ≥0.01 <6.67
NM 0 <0.01
ABS 0 0

There is a new 21-point linear grade scale to calculate and convert component grades to module grades, as approved by the University Programme Board in November 2018. This is a change from the previously used percentage-based calculation point scale. Component grades will be aggregated to module grades in Gradebook using the new 21-point linear scale. This change has no effect on how stage and award GPAs are calculated in Banner.

Calculation Points 
for aggregating component grades 		 Module Scale
for deriving module grade and grade points
Grade Calculation point   Lower Upper Grade Grade Point
A+ 20.5   ≥20 21 A+ 4.20
A 19.5   ≥19 <20 A 4.00
A- 18.5   ≥18 <19 A- 3.80
B+ 17.5   ≥17 <18 B+ 3.60
B 16.5   ≥16 <17 B 3.40
B- 15.5   ≥15 <16 B- 3.20
C+ 14.5   ≥14 <15 C+ 3.00
C 13.5   ≥13 <14 C 2.80
C- 12.5   ≥12 <13 C- 2.60
D+ 11.5   ≥11 <12 D+ 2.40
D 10.5   ≥10 <11 D 2.20
D- 9.5   ≥9 <10 D- 2.00
E+ 8.5   ≥6 <9 FM+ 0.00
E 7.5   ≥3 <6 FM 0.00
E- 6.5   ≥0 <3 FM- 0.00
F+ 5.5   0 0 NM 0.00
F 4.5   0 0 ABS 0.00
F- 3.5    
G+ 2.5    
G 1.5    
G- 0.5    
NM 0    
ABS 0    
       
Pass/Fail Components:    

PX (Pass)

 20.5    
FX (Fail) 0    


Calculation Example:


Component		 Grade Weighting Calculation Point Calculation Point X Weighting Module Grade
Assignment B+ 0.2 17.5 3.50  
Continuous Assessment C- 0.3 12.5 3.75  
Exam D 0.5 10.5 5.25  
      Total 12.5 C-

Grade Entry guidebook and videos can be found here

The Online Module Grade Calculator is available to assist module coordinators in calculating the impact potential component grade changes would have on an overall grade. 

Please note that module coordinators should no longer use any previous Excel versions of the Module Grade Calculator, as their accuracy is not guaranteed. The Online Module Grade Calculator should be used for any such calculations.

To access the Grade Calculator

  • From InfoHub go to Assessment and Grading and select (opens in a new window)My Module Grades
  • Navigate to the Grade Information report of the module for which you wish to check 
  • Click on Grade Calculator icon on the line of any particular student you wish to calculate an overall module grade for
  • Enter the new component grade(s) and Recalculate Final Grade

Note: The calculator does not make any change to the grading record of the student; it is purely a calculation tool.

Contact UCD Registry

University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
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