In my university, "Distinction", "Merit", and "Pass" are the three grades you can get for an Masters degree.

A 2:1 would refer to an undergraduate degree. Again, in my university, it went like this:

1st (equivalent to a mark of 70% or above)
2:1 (between 60% and 69%)
2:2 (50%-59%)
3rd (40%-49%)

Under that was a fail. So by that system, a good 2:1 would be in the upper range of 60-69%.

Congratulations!

I'm on the point of submission so I'd be very interested in your questions if you'd like to share.

I am! Hopefully before the summer. I'm part time and self funded, so it's been a long time coming!

At this point the finishing line seems so close but I can't quite believe it will ever arrive - I'm down to making final amendments and corrections on my thesis and my thoughts are turning to maybe getting some articles out of it.

Good luck everyone. :)

It seemed to be mostly a formality at my institution. I produced a report detailing my research rationale, methodology, chapter discussions, progress to date and timetable of intended future work - no more than about 10 pages in total - sent it in and got the upgrade approved by return. No discussion, presentation or anything.

So, my uni's library has suddenly decided to start charging £10 per article for journals they don't carry!

If anyone has access to either of the following, I would be extremely grateful:

I have been thinking of exactly the same thing! I have quite a bit of ink already so my criteria doesn't necessarily include discreet, but I wanted something that marked the achievement without being something that says I HAVE A PHD. :) No ideas yet though.