<p>I know that most UK schools have examinations towards the end of the year (Spring/Summer) and that in many classes exams count for the vast majority of the grade. For people who study abroad in UK for fall semester, how are their grades determined?</p>
<p>Do they take the exams prior to leaving? Or are their grades determined based off of coursework? Or what.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if you’re referring to specific universities in the UK that operate this way, however I’m currently studying in Scotland and the universities here have a similar semester system to the US. The fall term begins in september, has a break at Christmas, and students return for exams in January. Then in February the second term starts with new classes and exams in May/June.</p>
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<p>Ask your study abroad program. It varies and there is no single answer.</p>
<p>Most UK universities do work on the semester system with two lots of exams per year as theveganactress describes. Most are also sympathetic to problems with study abroad students if semester dates between the UK and USA don’t quite fit, and if need be will arrange alternative assessments. I teach at a UK university and quite often arrange for US students to sit my exams on their own campus for example or set a piece of coursework instead of the exam.</p>
<p>Im studying abroad in Scotland right now. I know that for students who are here for the year, like myself, there is a holiday break from Dec. 19 until Jan. 5 and then we have exams from Jan. 11 through Jan. 20th. Those students that are here for the semester, and won’t be coming back for the exam period after Christmas, are usually assessed via an extra essay or set of essays that are due either before they leave, or on the date of the exam (in which case they submit them via the web from the US).</p>
<p>Another thing to note is that the grading system in the UK, which isnt based on a linear scale like the U.S. A-F scale, does not correlate with the grading system in the US that well. Just something to investigate as your home institution will have to adjust for this factor.
[Study</a> Abroad Blog](<a href=“The Study Abroad Blog - Nate Nault”>http://thestudyabroadblog.com/)</p>