Results Day!

[tinyjo]

I have been very restrained and managed to keep my checking of the OU site to twice a day ever since I noticed that my A200 result was due out by the end of this week. I checked just now having got distracted at lunchtime and, lo and behold, I got a distinction! I am so chuffed and its a first step to getting another first overall :)

I actually only got 82% in the exam and I thought I needed 85% (my source questions let me down, as I thought they would - both my essays were in the 85-100% bracket) but the FAQ says that the examiners have discretion to award a higher classification if academically justified. Looking at the overall breakdown, only 22 people were in the 85-100% bracket for the exam so I guess they decided that the boundaries were too high. Still, I'm really happy about it!

Comments

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

I guess it was always likely to happen with a new course - this was the first time A200 had been offerred. What were you taking?

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

I took oceanography (S330). Only 5 out of 313 students were in the 85-100% range - it's a course that is known for being hard and having low scores.

When I did S281 some years ago, I got a distinction then as well, although in that case, I got slightly less than 85% for the coursework (including substitution) and slightly more than 85% in the exam.

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

Ooh, a level three course too! Did you find it a big step up from level 2?

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

Not as much as I thought I might*, but I had studied a fair chunk of what is supposed to be the hardest part of the course beforehand - I spent 50% of the fourth year of my physics degree doing the Physics of Atmospheres and Oceans, and that was way harder than S330 (which had minimal maths). Oceanography is multidisciplinary, so you have to be able to do physics, chemistry, geology and biology, but I reckon A-level standard is plenty good enough as a background. I took S180 concurrently to help me with the biology (I last did it as part of GCSE combined science over a decade ago).

*They have dire and terrible warnings about not doing it without adequate preparation, and I ignored them and took it anyway.