What is UCD Professional Academy's grading system?

All assessments are designed to gauge the extent to which the desired Learning Outcomes of each particular course have been achieved by the Learner. Learning Outcomes for the course will be made clear to you early on, and assignment guidance and feedback will make explicit reference to them.

Individual assessments will receive a grade on the following scale:

• Distinction
• Merit
• Pass
• Fail
• Clear fail 

When grading, rather than assigning a numerical score, assessors grade according to the rubric and choose a descriptor on the scale for each of the Learning Outcomes. Our system is designed to generate the appropriate overall outcome based on the combination of sub-scores assigned by the assessor. The overall outcome for every possible combination of sub-scores has been reviewed and approved by our Academic team and Academic board.

The overall effect is, we hope, much more informative for learners and has the added advantage of focusing assessors on the stated grading criteria and the need to evidence them. 

Professional Academy Diploma learners with overall passing grades are emailed their digital certificates approximately 7 working days after their final results have been released (please check your spam folder).