Progression into the Junior Honours Year

At the end of the second year of the Medical Sciences degree programme a decision will be made concerning progression into the third, Junior Honours, year of the programme. 

For automatic progression into the Junior Honours year of the Medical Sciences degree programme, students must fulfil the following criteria in the second year of the programme:

• Passes, with a mark of 50% or more, in a minimum of 2 core courses at the first sitting.
• Passes in all three core second year courses with an average mark of at least 50% by the end of the August (second sitting) exam diet.
• A minimum of 100 credit points in their second year and 220 credit points overall for the first two years of the degree programme.

To graduate with an Honours or Ordinary degree in Medical Sciences, students must pass all core courses.

If a student fails to achieve these criteria, then a decision on whether or not they will progress into the Junior Honours year will be made by the Biomedical Teaching Management Executive. They will look for evidence in the students’ academic record of the potential to succeed on an Honours programme. This evidence may include any of the following:

• The profile of performance across all courses in the second year
• The record of passing and failing courses
• The average mark across all second year courses
• Special circumstances that may have affected second year performance.

If you don't gain enough credit points

At the end of the second year of the Medical Sciences degree programme a student could meet progression criteria in core courses but have a deficit of 40 credit points due to fails in elective courses. It is the policy of the BMTO that any student in these circumstances must extend their period of study so that the lost ground can be made up prior to embarking on a Junior Honours year. Since the progression criteria outlined above have been met, the student would be allowed to resume in the Junior Honours year of the Medical Sciences programme once the credit point deficit had been made good. It would be expected that the deficit be made good in a single year of extended study.

Should any credit point deficit at the end of second year be the result of failure in any of the core Medical Sciences courses then the criteria for progression to Junior Honours will not have been met.

Extend your studies

Talk to your Student Adviser to discuss your circumstances.

When progression into the Junior Honours Year isn't approved

What happens if progression into the Junior Honours Year of The Medical Sciences Degree programme isn't approved?