Students on the BSc and MSci Physics undergraduate courses have been left in anticipation, after their course has held back provisional exam results from January. This is the only course yet to release provisional results.
Some students have been issued broad alphabetical grades, for example A = 70-100, while others have not received any indication of their result.
There are 291 students enrolled in the BSc Physics course while others are enrolled in the MSci route.
There is no college policy that requires the University to publish exams before they are ratified in the summer. However it is usual to receive provisional grades between one to two months after the assessment, pending ratification in the summer.
Students from other courses and departments told Roar they had received their provisional grades in the expected time period.
“I think it’s detrimental to our preparation for our summer exams to have very little to no indication of our current progress in the exams we’ve already taken, so that we have no idea what level we’re working and whether we’re on track,” one third year MSci Physics student told Roar.
The student also told Roar they are “feeling that all study for May exams is currently like a shot in the dark, especially as much of the content from modules from our first semester directly follows on and is required in second semester modules.”
The physics course leaders initially informed students they would receive provisional grades in February, or March at the latest, but this was then pushed back to mid-April. No reason was given for the delay.
One second-year physics student told Roar, “It’s nerve-wracking not knowing what I’ve got and having to wait in anticipation for it for months.”
While students noted limited delays occurred last year, this follows on from an issue in July 2024 when the department was forced to issue an apology for the “additional pressure” to physics students after their summer results were released late. This caused students to have limited time to prepare and book flights for August resits.
When the issue occurred, the department pointed to the “labour intensive” process of marking and recording results with “the College [recognising] that these systems need to be upgraded and is in the process of doing so.”
A King’s College London spokesperson said:
“These provisional grades are not used to determine final outcomes or whether a student will be required to resit exams in August.”
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