Student Handbook 2026/27

Postgraduate Degree Classifications

Award requirements for LLM/MA/MSc 

To be eligible for a Master of Law (LLM), Master of Arts (MA) or Master of Science (MSc), a student must meet all of the following requirements:

       i.        take 180 credits, including a minimum 150 credits at level 7. Any credits below level 7 must be at levels 5 or 6; a maximum 15 may be taken at level 5.

      ii.        either:

     iii.        achieve a Classification Mark of 50.0 or higher.

Award requirements for PG Diploma 

To be eligible for a Postgraduate Diploma, a student must meet all of the following requirements:

       i.        take 120 credits, including a minimum 90 credits at level 7. Any credits below level 7 must be at levels 5 or 6; a maximum 15 may be taken at level 5.

      ii.        either:

      iii.        achieve a Classification Mark of 50.0 or higher.

Award requirements for PG Certificate

To be eligible for a Postgraduate Certificate, a student must meet all of the following requirements:

       i.        take 60 credits, including a minimum 45 credits at level 7. Any credits below level 7 must be at levels 5 or 6.

      ii.        either:

iii.            achieve a Classification Mark of 50.0 or higher.

Overall Classification

Postgraduate awards are classified using the Classification Mark, as below. The Classification Mark is the credit-weighted average mark for the full programme of study. 

Classification Mark	Classification
70.0 – 100.0	Distinction
60.0 – 69.9	Merit
50.0 – 59.9	Pass

Borderline Policy

Examination Boards may use the borderline classification policy to recommend a higher award classification than that indicated by a student’s Classification Mark where specified criteria are met and the Subject Examination Board agrees, with collective academic judgement, that the higher classification better reflects the student’s overall performance. 

The borderline classification policy can only be used to recommend a higher classification where the following conditions are met. There is no discretion at the pass/fail border, as this represents a minimum standard of achievement for the award: 

• Each student with a Classification Mark within 1.5 per cent of a borderline (except at the pass/fail border) is determined to fall within the ‘zone of consideration’ and will be considered as a possible case for application of the borderline policy;
  
• A student falling within the zone of consideration and with at least half of their final year credits (half of ‘all’ credits for postgraduate taught awards) with marks at the level of the upper classification (or higher), will be raised to the higher classification.
  
• Where the final year includes advanced standing credits from another institution, only Queen Mary credits will be considered in the borderline policy (i.e. at least half of the ‘Queen Mary’ credits must be at or above the level of the higher classification).
  
• Where a student studies on a part-time basis, all modules comprising the full-time equivalent final year will be used in the borderline policy.
  

The borderline policy is applied after the initial award and classification calculations. Where an award has specific requirements for marks in particular modules (e.g. a minimum dissertation/project mark for Merit or Distinction level), those rules take precedence over the borderline policy (i.e. if a student meets the borderline policy requirements but does not meet the dissertation/project requirement, the classification will not be raised).

To view the award regulations for Queen Mary degrees, please visit the Directorate of Governance and Legal Services webpage at https://www.qmul.ac.uk/governance-and-legal-services/policy/.

For more information on Queen Mary’s award regulations, please visit this webpage: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/policy/.