Grading Guide | UCD Registry

Module Grades Scales

Other 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WN	Neutral	Withdrawn: returned where a student withdraws before the end of week 12 of a trimester, or before the last day of teaching in a trimester, whichever comes sooner.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: the module is a clinical teaching module, a field-based module, or a work placement; the component is specified in the module descriptor as a must pass component (see section 4.15); 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 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: 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 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: the module is a clinical teaching module, a field-based module, or a work placement; and 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: 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; 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 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: a student has been unable to satisfactorily complete a component (or components) of assessment; and 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

Mark to Grade Conversion 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

Grade Calculation Points

UCD Module Grade Decriptors

Online Module Calculator

How to Enter Grades

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

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-

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

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

Assessment