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School Policy
Honours Grading
Grading of Honours is finalised after a student has fulfilled all the requirements of the Mining Engineering program or, if enrolled in a double degree after all the requirements of the double degree program have been fulfilled. The minimum requirements for completing the Mining Engineering Program include the following.
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Gain a Pass grade or better (this includes Pass Conceded) for each course specified in the program including General Education courses and completion of the Honours industrial research project.
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Completion of a minimum of 192 Units of Credit (UOC) in the case of the Mining Engineering degree which corresponds to the total of all specified courses in the program or, the specified total UOC in the relevant double degree program.
Any additional course completed by a student that is not specified as part of the Mining Engineering program will be excluded from the calculation of total UOC. This could include for example additional General Education courses completed by the student beyond that required; any preparatory courses in Mathematic and Physics; or, any course in another degree program.
Any course undertaken as a formally agreed substitute for a nominated course in the program will only have included in the calculation of total UOC, the lesser of either the UOC for the nominated course in the program or the UOC for the substituted course.
Honours grading usually takes place after course results are finalised in the ultimate enrolled semester. The degree testamur is usually awarded at a graduation ceremony in the following academic semester.
Weighting factors
Determination of the level of Honours is based on the calculation of an overall Honours Weighted Average Mark (H-WAM) for the program.
The H-WAM differs from the WAM that can be found on a student's academic transcript as special weighting factors are used in the determination of Honours.
As well as accounting for the results of each course (R), two weighting factors are applied in the calculation of H-WAM.
The weighting factors account for the Year and the Units of Credit (UOC) for each course as follows.
The Year Weighting Factor (Y) varies with the Year (or Stage) that the course is scheduled in the program.
The Year weighting factors are:
- all courses in Year 1 courses: x1;
- all courses in Year 2 courses: x2;
- all courses in Year 3 courses: x3; and
- all courses in Year 4 courses: x4.
Note: The Year Weighting Factor corresponds to the Year in which the course is scheduled in the Mining Program to be completed and not the Year (or Stage) in which the course is actually completed.
The Mining Electives are assigned the same Year weighting factor of x4 no matter whether if completed in Year 3 or Year 4.
The UOC Weighting Factor (U) corresponds to the UOC for the course; for example a 6 UOC course has a weighting factor of x6 compared to a 3 UOC course which has a weighting of x3.
Results for General Education courses are included in the calculation of the H-WAM using a constant Year weighting factor of x1 no matter when any of the General Education courses are actually completed in the program. If more than 12 UOC of General Education courses are completed, only the results of courses equivalent to the first 12 UOC attempted are included in the calculation of H-WAM.
If a student fails a course, only the course result attained on the first attempt at completing the course is included in calculation of H-WAM.
While the student is required to re-enrol in the course until they have passed the course, results for second and any subsequent attempt(s) are not included in the calculation of H-WAM.
Only the results of courses completed at UNSW are included in the calculation of H-WAM. While courses completed at other institutions or degree programs may be granted Advanced Standing in the Program and are included in terms of the determination of the total UOC, such courses are not included in the H-WAM calculation; this might would occur if for example a student undertook studies at another institution as part of the International Exchange program or, a student transferred to the Mining Engineering program from another institution.
Students should note that as weightings used in the calculation of H-WAM are not the same as those used in the WAM as reported in the official university transcript of results, there may sometimes be differences between the values of H-WAM and WAM.
Calculation of H-WAM
The calculation of H-WAM is based on the following formulae:
where:
- Yi: Weighting factor - Year (or Stage) for Course i in program
- Ui: Weighting factor - UOC for Course i
- Ri: Result for Course i (%)
H-WAM is reported as a percentage rounded to the first decimal place.
A sample calculation of H-WAM can be viewed in the H-WAM sample spreadsheet - a copy of the spreadsheet that should be completed and submitted can be found in the Notice of Completion section.
Honours levels
The threshold value of H-WAM that has to be attained for each level of Honours is as follows.
- Honours Class I: 75.0%
- Honours Class II, Division I: 70.0%
- Honours Class: II, Division II: 65.0%
From 2008, the criteria for each level of Honours will be as follows:
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Honours Class I: H-WAM greater than or equal to 75.0% and, thesis mark* greater than or equal to 65
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Honours Class II, Division I: H-WAM greater than or equal to 70.0% but less than 75.0% and, thesis mark* greater than or equal to 60
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Honours Class: II, Division II: H-WAM greater than or equal to 65.0% but less than 70.0% and, thesis mark* greater than or equal to 60
* The thesis mark is the average of the course results for Mining Indisutry Project I and Mining Industry Project II in Year 4, that is MINE4440 and MINE4450.
Students achieving a H-WAM of less than 65.0% will be awarded a Pass degree.
University medal
The minimum H-WAM required for award of the University Medal is 85.0%.
Notice of completion
In order to prepare for completion of the program and determination of Honours Grading, a student who expects to fulfil all of the requirements of the program by the end of the semester enrolled should download the Calculation for Honours Grading (H-WAM) spreadsheet and forward a completed copy to the Director - Undergraduate Studies no later than the end of Week 4 in that semester.
Students are advised to confirm with the Undergraduate Co-ordinator no later then in their penultimate semester that they have satisfactorily completed all the requirements of industrial training; that is one or more IT: Employment Record, Part B forms equivalent to at least 80 days have been completed and lodged by the student with the School.
Note: The method of Honours grading outlined above should be viewed as a guide only. The Academic Board of the University and/or various Committees within the University periodically review degree programs and method of assessment including Honours grading and as a result the University reserves the right to make alterations from time-to-time to the assessment system including Honours Grading.
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