Progression guidance

Information for Students and Personal Tutors about progression decisions and what they mean.

All progressions decisions are made by a Progressions Board which meets after the exam boards to consider students' progression status based on their course marks across all courses. This page provides information about how different decisions are arrived at, as well as some advice for students who are missing credits. This page is meant as general guidance only, and if you are concerned about your progression status you should discuss your concerns with your Personal Tutor or the Informatics Student Support Team.

Information for students in all years

Treatment of Special Circumstances

In considering Special Circumstances, the Progression Board follows recommendations of the Special Circumstance Committee. If you believe that your performance has been affected by special circumstances, and these should be taken into account in deciding your progression, you MUST report the circumstances in time for the SCC meeting, which is held BEFORE the Progression Board meeting. If the circumstances are ongoing, your Personal Tutor or the Informatics Student Support Team may be able to give you advice about how to deal with them going forward.

How and when will I find out my progression status?

The UG3, UG4, and MSc Progression Boards meet in early June each year. The UG1 and UG2 Progression Boards meet in late June and early September each year.

After the relevant Board meeting, progression decisions for all students in the year are uploaded to EUCLID, and students are notified via an automated email sent to the student's University email account. This email will contain a link to the page where the progression decision and further information can be viewed.

University deadlines for release of progression decisions can be found on the release of results page.

Release of results

Students who have exhausted all attempts at a required course

The University permits a maximum of four attempts at any Non-Honours (Level 7 or 8) course. However, students on a Tier 4 visa are limited to three attempts by current UKVI regulations. Honours and MSc students are permitted only one attempt at courses at level 9 and above.

If you are missing a required Non-Honours course and have exhausted all of your allowed attempts, it will not be possible for you to progress on your current degree. In some rare cases it may be possible for you to transfer onto another degree, and if so your progression decision will say "no progression: transfer to another degree".

You will still need to obtain permission from the receiving School/College before being allowed to transfer. However, many Schools will not accept students with missing credits. Informatics-internal transfers are sometimes possible.

If no degree transfer is possible, you may have obtained enough credits to leave with an undergraduate diploma or certificate, and if so your progression decision will say so.

Please contact your Personal Tutor or the Informatics Student Support Team if you have any questions about these procedures.

Alternatives to progression

Depending on your situation, you may wish to consider whether continuing on the degree is the right choice for you. Other options may include transferring to a different University whose degree emphasizes different aspects of computing. Our degrees are more mathematical and theoretical than those at some other universities, so if those aspects are giving you the most trouble, another University may offer you a more appropriate programme. You may be able to transfer credits from your degree here.

Note that transferring degree to a different school at the University may require the student to withdraw and reapply to the University. For more information, please discuss this issue with your Personal Tutor or the Informatics Student Support Team as soon as possible.

Progression from UG1 to UG2

UG1 unconditional progression

For unconditional progression to Year 2, the required minimum number of credits is 120 and you must also pass all required Year 1 courses on your degree programme.

UG1 deferred progression after the April exam diet

Any student who is missing credits after the April diet will receive a "deferred" progression decision in June. You must attend the August resit assessment for any course you have failed. After the August diet your progression status will either be changed to "progress" (if you have passed all courses) or will be reconsidered by the progression board (if not).

Please see more details about resitting exams and coursework on the link below.

Assessment page of the UG1 handbook

UG1 progression after the August exam diet (if not progressing unconditionally)

Students who have passed INF1A and INF1B, but who are missing up to 20 credits of other compulsory courses or up to 40 credits of outside courses: you will normally be allowed to progress to Year 2 with a "conditional progression". The progression is conditional on you taking additional courses to make up the missing credits, in addition to your normal Year 2 programme. In order to successfully complete Year 2 and progress to Honours, a student missing a compulsory Year 1 course must pass that course in Year 2 in addition to all other Year 2 requir ements. A student missing outside courses must make up the missing credits by retaking the same or other outside courses, in addition to all other Year 2 requirements.
In all other cases: you will not be allowed to progress to Year 2. If you are permitted to continue at the University, you must repeat Year 1 and make up the missing credits. You will be invited to a meeting with the Senior Tutor or the Progression Officer to discuss whether this programme is right for you, and if so which courses must be repeated.

Progression from UG2 to UG3

Some programmes have progression hurdles (i.e. requirements beyond passing given sets of courses). Currently these programmes are Cognitive Science BSc and Computer Science and Management Science BSc. Where it matters, the section titles below indicate whether the sections apply to just the programmes with hurdles or just to those without.

UG2 unconditional progression

For unconditional progression to Year 3 of an Informatics Honours programme, the required minimum number of credits is 240 and you must also pass all required Year 1 and 2 courses on your degree programme. If the programme has a hurdle, then this has to be passed too.

UG2 deferred progression after the April exam diet (all programmes without a hurdle)

For more information about resitting exams, see the assessment page of the UG2 handbook (see below).

UG2 deferred progression after the April exam diet (all programmes with a hurdle)

Students who have met the Honours hurdle but are missing credits: you will receive a "deferred" progression decision. In order to progress to Honours, you must pass all remaining credits/compulsory courses at the August diet. After the August diet your progression status will either be changed to "progress" (if you have passed all courses) or will be reconsidered by the progression board (if not).

Students who have not met yet met the Honours hurdle, but are sitting some exams in August as a first attempt: this will only occur if you had special circumstances and received a null sit in April. You will receive a "deferred" progression decision and your progression status will be reviewed after the August diet.

Students who have failed the Honours hurdle, but achieved all their credits: although you have passed the year, your performance is insufficient to progress to Year 3 Honours. At the end of Year 3 you will either graduate with an Ordinary degree or must resit exams as necessary to achieve an Ordinary degree (see "Ordinary Degree" below).

Students who have failed the Honours hurdle, and are missing credits: you will receive a "deferred" progression decision. Your performance is insufficient to progress to Year 3 Honours. Your progression status will be reviewed after the August resit diet.

For more information about resitting exams, see the assessment page of the UG2 handbook.

Assessment page of the UG2 handbook

UG2 progression after the August exam diet (all programmes without a hurdle, if not progressing unconditionally)

Students who are missing up to 20 credits of courses: you will normally be allowed to progress to Year 3 with a "conditional progression". The progression is conditional on you taking additional courses to make up the missing credits, in addition to your normal Year 3 programme. In order to successfully complete Year 3 Honours, a student missing a compulsory Year 2 course must pass that course in Year 3 in addition to all other Year 3 requirements. A student missing outside courses must make up the missing credits by retaking the same or other outside courses, in addition to all other Year 3 requirements.
In all other cases: you will not be allowed to progress to Year 3. If you are permitted to continue at the University, you must repeat Year 2 and make up the missing credits. You will be invited to a meeting with the Senior Tutor or the Progression Officer to discuss whether this programme is right for you, and if so which courses must be repeated.

UG2 progression after the August exam diet (all programmes with a hurdle, if not progressing unconditionally)

Students who have failed the Honours hurdle, but achieved all their credits: although you have passed the year, your performance is insufficient to progress to Year 3 Honours. However, you are eligible to transfer to Year 3 Ordinary BSc (see "Ordinary Degree" below).
Students who have failed the Honours hurdle and are missing up to 20 credits: your performance is insufficient to progress to Year 3 Honours. However, you are eligible to transfer to Year 3 Ordinary BSc (see "Ordinary Degree" below). You will also be required to make up the missing credits from Year 2.
Students who have passed the Honours hurdle, but are missing up to 20 credits: you will be given a Conditional Progression to Year 3 Honours. In order to successfully complete Year 3 Honours and progress to Year 4 Honours, a student missing a compulsory Year 2 course must pass that course in Year 3 Honours, in addition to all other Year 3 Honours requirements. A student missing outside courses must make up the missing credits by retaking the same or other outside courses, in addition to all other Year 3 Honours requirements. It is not permitted to enter Year 4 Honours with missing credits.
In all other cases: you will not be allowed to progress to Year 3. If you are permitted to continue at the University, you must repeat Year 2 and make up the missing credits. You will be invited to a meeting with the Senior Tutor or the Progression Officer to discuss whether this programme is right for you, and if so which courses must be repeated.

Ordinary degree

Students who are on a degree with an Honours hurdle but do not pass it in Year 2 will be given a Conditional Progression to Year 3. You will still officially be registered on the Honours degree but will only be permitted to progress from Year 3 to Year 4 if you meet the stated conditions, i.e: you must achieve a Year 3 average of 55% or better at the first attempt, with passes in at least 80 credits of level 9/10 courses. In addition, you must not be missing any credits from Years 1 and 2. If you pass at least 80 credits at level 9/10, you will receive "credits on aggregate" for the remaining level 9/10 courses. You will therefore have a total of 360 credits. Note that Year 3 is considerably more challenging than Year 2, so it is likely you will not meet these conditions and will not end up with an Honours degree.

If you fulfill all of the conditions above except that your overall average in Year 2 is between 40% and 55%, you will receive credits on aggregage but will not be permitted to progress into Year 4 bHonours. Instead you will exit with an Ordinary degree.

If you do not pass at least 80 credits of level 9/10 courses at the first attempt, or your average is below 40%, or you are missing credits, you will not receive credits on aggregate. You may be permitted to resit failed exams but will need to eventually pass all 120 credits of level 9/10 courses, and 360 credits in total, to achieve the Ordinary degree. If you are a Tier 4 visa holder, your ability to resit exams will depend on UKVI regulations, which can change at any time. As of June 2016, UKVI regulations do not permit us to switch you to the Ordinary degree on your original visa. You will need to return to your home country to re-apply for a new visa to return and resit for Ordinary. You cannot transfer back onto an Honours degree if you have taken resits to pass your courses.

Most students who do not pass the Honours hurdle do not end up with an Honours degree. Before choosing to continue into Year 3 with a Conditional Progression decision, you should discuss your options with your Personal Tutor. If you choose to withdraw, you may still be able to transfer into an Honours degree at another University.

Progression from UG3 to UG4

To progress from Year 3 to Year 4 of the Bachelor's Honours degrees, you must achieve an overall mark in third year of 40 or more and pass at least 80 credits of courses at level 9 or 10 at the first attempt.

If you meet these criteria, but fail some courses, you will receive the credits for the failed courses (called "credits on aggregate").

If you fail these criteria, you will be allowed to take re-sit exams to try to achieve an Ordinary degree.

Certain professional accreditations require passes in specific courses. If you progress to fourth year, but have failed these courses, your degree will not be accredited by the relevant organisation (typically the British Computer Society).

To progress from the third to fourth year of the MInf degree, you must in addition achieve an overall mark of 55 or more on third year. If you do not, you will be required to switch to a suitable Bachelor's degree before progressing to fourth year.

Completing a four-year degree

To graduate with a Bachelor's Honours degree, you must achieve an overall mark in fourth year of 40 or more and pass at least 80 credits of courses at level 10 or 11 at the first attempt.

If you meet these criteria, but fail some courses, you will receive the credits for the failed courses (called "credits on aggregate").

If you fail to meet these criteria, you will receive an Ordinary degree.

For information on how your degree classification is calculated, please see the UG4 handbook.

UG4 handbook

Progression from UG4 to UG5

To progress from the fourth to fifth year of the MInf degree, you must achieve an overall mark in fourth year of 40 or more and pass at least 80 credits of courses at level 10 or 11 at the first attempt. You must also achieve a pass in the MInf Project (Part 1).

If you meet these criteria, but fail some courses, you will receive the credits for the failed courses (called "credits on aggregate").

If you fail to meet these criteria, you will receive an Ordinary degree.

Completing a five-year degree

To graduate with an MInf degree, you must achieve an overall mark in fifth year of 40 or more and pass at least 80 credits of courses at level 11 at the first attempt.

If you meet these criteria, but fail some courses, you will receive the credits for the failed courses (called "credits on aggregate").

If you fail to meet these criteria, you will receive an appropriate Bachelor's Honours degree, with an Honours classification assessed as usual for that degree, i.e. on the basis of UG3 and UG4 marks.

For information on how your degree classification is calculated, please see the UG5 handbook.

UG5 handbook

MSc students

Decisions about progression to the project phase of the MSc are made according to the assessment regulations described in the Assessment section of the taught MSc handbook.

This article was published on 14 Oct, 2022