International grades - Equivalence

[W5690]

Hi,

Having studied law for five years, which is the norm in my home country, I may have obtained the equivalent to a 2:2 or 2.1 in the UK (the grading system in my home country is known to be quite harsh, as this has also been confirmed by several HR people from law firms in London) on my postgraduate degree, which is a fifth-year degree based on a competitive selection process. I got 61,25% on my postgraduate degree, so it may be a 2.1 as it is above 60% but I am not sure about this and of course I do not want to mislead any recruiter. The issue that I am facing is that I happened to read that students are required to have a 2:2 or above from an undergraduate degree. As far as I am concerned, I got that 2.2 on my postgraduate degree but not on my undergraduate degree. Therefore, I was wondering whether that would be acceptable even though my 2.2 was obtained on my postgraduate degree. @Jessica Booker Would you have any thoughts on this?

Many thanks.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi,

Having studied law for five years, which is the norm in my home country, I may have obtained the equivalent to a 2:2 or 2.1 in the UK (the grading system in my home country is known to be quite harsh, as this has also been confirmed by several HR people from law firms in London) on my postgraduate degree, which is a fifth-year degree based on a competitive selection process. I got 61,25% on my postgraduate degree, so it may be a 2.1 as it is above 60% but I am not sure about this and of course I do not want to mislead any recruiter. The issue that I am facing is that I happened to read that students are required to have a 2:2 or above from an undergraduate degree. As far as I am concerned, I got that 2.2 on my postgraduate degree but not on my undergraduate degree. Therefore, I was wondering whether that would be acceptable even though my 2.2 was obtained on my postgraduate degree. @Jessica Booker Would you have any thoughts on this?

Many thanks.

What country is your degree from?

 

[W5690]

What country is your degree from?

@Jessica Booker My degree is from France. All of my law degrees are from France.

For instance, I found that link: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/abroad/applying/gpa-equivalent-by-country It is mentioned that a UK 2.1 degree means "Overall average of 12 out of 20" for France. I got 147/240 which is 12,25 out of 20 on my postgraduate degree, so it could be a 2.1. However, the grade that I had is "Assez Bien" and this may well be a 2.2 as it is between 12 and 14 out of 20. Indeed, I have already read that "Assez Bien" (= between 12 and 14 out of 20) is a 2.2, "Bien" is a 2.1 (= between 14 and 16 out of 20) and "Très Bien" is a 1 (= between 16 and 18 out of 20). However, it is well known that achieving at least 14 out of 20 is quite harsh in France. Therefore, I get confused.

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker My degree is from France.

Where firms have a 2.1 requirement, they will typically be looking for a grade average of 13 or higher for it to be a 2.1 equivalent or higher.

If a firm has a 2.2 requirement, then it will be 11 or higher.

 

[W5690]

Where firms have a 2.1 requirement, they will typically be looking for a grade average of 13 or higher for it to be a 2.1 equivalent or higher.

If a firm has a 2.2 requirement, then it will be 11 or higher.

@Jessica Booker Many thanks for the clarification. What if I got a 2.2 on my postgraduate degree but not on my undergraduate degree? I was wondering whether that would be acceptable even though my 2.2 was obtained on my postgraduate degree. I understand that as long as I got a 2.2 on a degree that should be fine, but I may be wrong? Many thanks.

 

[W5690]

@Jessica Booker Hello, could you please let me know your thoughts on the two below points? :

- What if I got a 2.2 on my postgraduate law degree but not on my undergraduate law degree? I was wondering whether that would be acceptable even though my 2.2 was obtained on my postgraduate degree. I understand that as long as I got a 2.2 on a law degree that should be fine, but I may be wrong?

- Could a solid legal work experience and other selling points compensate for a 2.2 and would then allow me to submit applications to firms that have a 2.1 requirement or would it be a "waste of time" as they would be intransigent? That is not an easy task for international candidates to position themselves in that regard. Do law firms really take into consideration different grading systems? It is sometimes pretty difficult to explain a grading system as, on the one hand, you do not want to sound condescending and, on the other hand, the reality of your grading system is what it is and you have to "defend your case".

Many thanks again for your help and your time.

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker Hello, could you please let me know your thoughts on the two below points? :

- What if I got a 2.2 on my postgraduate law degree but not on my undergraduate law degree? I was wondering whether that would be acceptable even though my 2.2 was obtained on my postgraduate degree. I understand that as long as I got a 2.2 on a law degree that should be fine, but I may be wrong?

- Could a solid legal work experience and other selling points compensate for a 2.2 and would then allow me to submit applications to firms that have a 2.1 requirement or would it be a "waste of time" as they would be intransigent? That is not an easy task for international candidates to position themselves in that regard. Do law firms really take into consideration different grading systems? It is sometimes pretty difficult to explain a grading system as, on the one hand, you do not want to sound condescending and, on the other hand, the reality of your grading system is what it is and you have to "defend your case".

Many thanks again for your help and your time.

1) the firm will be most interested in your undergraduate degree results as this is what is used from a U.K. qualification perspective.

2) Firms tend to have a strict requirement for university grades, and so in most instances I wouldn’t expect a firm to compensate through work experience. Firms do take into account international grading systems and use information similar to what universities use to compare grades from many different countries to what the equivalent U.K. grades would be. It is not an exact science - you are ultimately not comparing like to like, but there are calculations that give an approximate equivalent grading to help compare to UK grades.

 

[W5690]

1) the firm will be most interested in your undergraduate degree results as this is what is used from a U.K. qualification perspective.

2) Firms tend to have a strict requirement for university grades, and so in most instances I wouldn’t expect a firm to compensate through work experience. Firms do take into account international grading systems and use information similar to what universities use to compare grades from many different countries to what the equivalent U.K. grades would be. It is not an exact science - you are ultimately not comparing like to like, but there are calculations that give an approximate equivalent grading to help compare to UK grades.

@Jessica Booker Hello, many thanks for your clear explanation - that is highly helpful.