I've basically got a 2:1 in biology, however my average was 59% will this effect me getting a PhD?

It's either a 2:1 or it isn't. If it is, then there should be no problems.

This should't matter. However, it will depend on the competition for the Ph.D you are applying for. My 2:1 was high but the University did not check what grade average I got - they were just interested on whether I got a 2:1!

I have an ORDINARY BSc degree because all the academics in my University were racists. Only a small number of them acted like there was someone around when I was in the lab or the tutorials. I feel pitty for them.

I thought a 2:1 was 60% and above......surely 59% is a 2:2?

if you are applying for a master then they will look at you grades in details especially those regarding the master course but if you want to do a phd, what matters is your referees and your work during your bsc final project only

Anon, 59% is usually considered a borderline 2:1. At our University that means you might be considered for a 2:1 on the basis of high coursework grades, good Viva, etc.

congratulation. 59% I think it doesenot matter when you apply the Masters degree. but i donot know any about PHD

I personally don't think universities should round up grades. I think it's misleading, unfair to other students and devalues the qualification.

I know someone who got a 2.1 with 58% and someone that got a 1st with 69%. I don't agree with it.

I doubt many academics bother to check the percentage; they are just interested in the classification.

In some unis (including one of mine), people with borderline grades (59, 69) at bachelors or Masters levels can do a viva-voce which if they do well in could end up promoting them to the higher degree. I agree with you it's unfair, then again I've never been in that situation but if I were and my uni didn't do that I'd be frustrated.

Wow, an 11 year old thread. I had no idea the forum was this old. I wonder whether the OP ever did a PhD in the end!

With the viva if you're borderline and if you pass it gets rounded up, that's not too bad. My uni did that actually. But the cases I'm talking about just got rounded up. That's what I don't agree with. I wouldn't want an increased grade that way anyway; if I didn't really achieve it then it's worthless to me. I'd feel like a fraud.

You were borderline 2(i) / 2(ii) and the examiners saw fit to upgrade you. That happens either because the external examiners thought you were worthy of a 2(i) or they thought the marking of the exams was unusually harsh and lowered the 2(i) / 2(ii) boundary.

You have a 2(i) and that's all you have to tell your potential supervisors.

It's sometimes not a good idea to get a breakdown of the marks once your degree is finished as the revelation of some sometimes uncomfortable truths can take the gloss off your achievement of your degree.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

I'm with Ian, the grade boundaries can change. Also what goes in to making up the marks for your degree can be quite complicated using weighted grade credits so what looks like a 2:2 can actually be a 2:1 or as Ian says there are times when grade boundaries are changed because of overly harsh marking hence the need for external examiner checks. Of course the external can change grades up or down.

As someone who got a first with 69% I'd have to disagree with you! That said I wouldn't have been disappointed with a 2.i as that was the grade I was expecting to get.

Having sat in exam board meetings students what have borderline grades are discussed as a whole, looking at where they got the higher marks (getting them in the dissertation can carry more weight) and the number of modules where the grade was in the upper grade category compared to the lower.