Degree without honours

[havsmith]

I recently graduated without honours, despite achieving a 1st overall
in my subject. I have not completed my dissertation due to illness and
complications with my topic and my supervisor has now left my
university. I am unable to complete my dissertation and therefore
unable to gain my honours. Is there anything I can do to officially
qualify for the grade I feel I deserve??

[Matthew Huntbach]

Post by havsmith
I recently graduated without honours, despite achieving a 1st overall
in my subject. I have not completed my dissertation due to illness and
complications with my topic and my supervisor has now left my
university. I am unable to complete my dissertation and therefore
unable to gain my honours. Is there anything I can do to officially
qualify for the grade I feel I deserve??

This will depend on the regulations for your own university. Universities
handle details of awards of degrees and degree classes in their own way,
there is not some standard national policy. There should be some member of
academic staff in your university department who has the role of dealing
with issues like this, possibly with the title "Senior Tutor".

Matthew Huntbach

[Dr A. N. Walker]

Post by havsmith
I recently graduated without honours,

"Without honours" or "with unclassified honours"? The former
is a lower grade of degree caused by doing badly, the latter means
that the univ wants to award you honours but cannot classify it --
eg because of illness [an "aegrotat" degree]. In the latter case,
the assumption would be that when you apply for jobs [etc], your CV
or reference will explain the circumstances, and your transcript will
flesh out how good you are. If you have a job lined up that is
conditional on degree class, then the transcript+reference may well
suffice, and getting your degree classified becomes irrelevant.

Post by havsmith
despite achieving a 1st overall
in my subject. I have not completed my dissertation

So you *didn't* achieve a first overall, but "only" on
average thus far. If the dissertation is a major part of the
assessment [eg, 20%], then it is not surprising that the examiners
couldn't classify the degree.

Post by havsmith
due to illness and
complications with my topic and my supervisor has now left my
university.

Sensible departments have contingency plans for this sort
of circumstance. But of course it "all depends" on when the
various events happened -- we would need a detailed "timeline" in
order to comment fruitfully. For example, a lot could depend on
whether your dissertation is [or easily could be] completed in draft,
or has not really been started; a lot could also depend on when you
were ill, for how long, and what extenuation was allowed for this.

Post by havsmith
I am unable to complete my dissertation and therefore
unable to gain my honours. Is there anything I can do to officially
qualify for the grade I feel I deserve??

As Matthew says, there's nothing "universal" that we can
tell you. You need to look at the regulations for your degree at
your university. There is almost certainly a right of appeal if
you think your case has been mishandled by either your dept or
the univ. You should start with people in your own dept, as MMH
has implied. If they are "on your side", it helps a lot. You
should also get advice from the Students' Union; they know what
levers to pull in order to get information and action.

Depending on your university's regulations and on what
actually happened to you, you may have a *right* to complete the
assessment of your dissertation, or to do something else in lieu;
or it may be negotiable; or you may be completely stuffed. If
things go really pear-shaped, you may need legal advice.