Coursework/Academic year at University of Edinburgh
concernedauntie
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Concernered aunt and former St. Andrian here. My nephew was accepted at the University of Edinburgh, and attended a meet-and-greet w/ current students in DC a few weeks ago. He spoke (very briefly) to an American student who gave him the impression that coursework basically consisted of 1 or 2 lectures a week, to an audience of 100 or more; little to no student-professor interaction; no papers/essays/quizzes etc., and that grades are based solely on the outcome of a cumulative exam at the end of the year. I suspect some braggadocio on the kids part. Based on my own albeit ancient experiences at St. Andrews (weekly tutorials, several essays per term) I cannot imagine this is true. Would anyone be able to give me a brief summary of how the academic year plays out?
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Replies to: Coursework/Academic year at University of Edinburgh
=> tutorials do exist for many classes
=> there are varying forms of continuing assessment for many classes
=> there are classes that have continuing assessment (such as essays or problem sets) but those only provide indicative marks- your actual grade is your result on the year end cumulative exam. For one of my collegekids (in an English, not Scottish, university) even though she had weekly essays and interim exams, all of her on-the-record marks were based on cumulative exams at the end of years 1 & 3,
=> in most UK unis student-professor interaction outside of tutorials is not really a thing, esp in the early years. I know some Edi students who developed more of a relationship with their supervisor during summer internships
My guess is that the student your nephew heard speaking is reflecting the realities of a course or (more likely) a module (class) or two- and is trying to impress on applicants how different the system is. Most of the regular UK posters on CC have seen posts from students with really romanticized ideas about what it will be like- this student may be trying to balance that out with a perspective as to how different it can be.
I don't know how long ago you were at StAs, and I've only paid attention for the last 8 years or so, but at least these days there is more emphasis on continuing assessment at StAs than at most UK universities.
I looked up one required Univ of Edin first-year History class, for example: it has 4 lectures and 2 tutorials per week. Assessment for the course is based on 3 total marks: 2 papers plus an in-class, 1-hour final. It does not indicate how many students are in a typical lecture or tutorial, but I guess one could e-mail the Department, to find out. It also gives the breakdown of what each assessment is worth for the total mark.
For comparison, currently in a first or second year required history class at St Andrews, I think lectures are either 3 or 4 times per week (depending), with 1 tutorial per week. Tutorials there are less then 10 students, I think usually about 5. There are about 3 papers (1 shorter, 2 longer) plus a 2-hour final. Students are also responsible for presenting material in at least one tutorial, but I don't think it's part of the final mark.
I think it depends on the major/course, and science courses, for example, are significantly different, with labs and a different assessment system. I suppose there could be some classes where a final is the total of a student's mark.
Mark for the 2,500-word essay, submitted semester 1, week 11 15%
Mark for the 1,500-word close reading exercise, submitted semester 2, week 5 10%
Mark for the 2,500-word essay, submitted in semester 2, week 10 15%
Tutorial Assessment mark for the first semester 10%
Tutorial Assessment mark for the second semester 10%
A three-hour examination at the end of Semester Two 40%
Lectures are 3 hours a week, tutorials are 1 hour.
You must pass both the final exam and the coursework independent of the other grade to pass. (This has been true of all the modules my daughter has taken at St. Andrews as well, you can't fail the lab/coursework and ace the final or vice versa)