Definition

Noun: - An honours degree of the highest class: A first-class honours degree is the top classification awarded for an undergraduate bachelor's degree in many countries, indicating outstanding academic achievement.

Usage

• This term is used specifically in the context of higher education to denote the highest level of academic performance in an undergraduate programme.
• It is typically awarded based on a student's final grade average or dissertation marks.

Examples

Advanced Usage

• The term is often abbreviated in speech and writing as a "first".
  • He got a first in Law from Oxford.

Variants and Related Words

• First (n): The common abbreviated form of 'first-class honours degree'.
• First-class degree (n): A synonymous, slightly less formal term.
• Upper second-class honours degree (n): The classification level immediately below a first, often called a "2:1".
• Honours degree (n): A degree programme that requires a higher standard of work, often involving a final-year dissertation or project, which is then classified.

Synonyms

• First (informal abbreviation)
• First-class degree

Related Phrases

• To graduate with first-class honours: The phrase describing the action of receiving this degree classification.
  • She aims to graduate with first-class honours.
• A first-class mind: An idiomatic expression (not directly related to the degree) used to describe someone of exceptional intelligence.
  • The novelist was known for her first-class mind.

Noun

1. an honours degree of the highest class