Is a Joint Honours Degree Better Than a Standard Degree

When you are deciding which course you want to take, you may be confused about choosing the courses. You may either want to take one single subject or more than that. Therefore you may be confused about choosing either the joint honours degree or the standard degree. 

Quick Takeaways

• There is no fixed answer for if the joint degree is better than the normal degree or not. 
• It all depends upon your preferences and abilities – whether you want to study multiple subjects or specialize single subject. 

However, I will recommend you to read till the end to know what exactly both degrees are and not to miss any of the crucial information.

Is a joint honours degree better than a standard degree?

Many believe that a joint degree is much better than a standard degree but in actuality, this is not true. It all depends upon the person itself. So which one is better for you will depend upon what are your choices and preferences. If you want to study multiple subjects then you may take up a joint degree which may also be known as Advanced Degree.

On the other hand, if you are a person who really wants to focus on one particular subject and is looking for making a career out of it then you can go for the standard degree. Here we will help you to know the various advantages and disadvantages which will help you to find out which one is better for you.

What is a joint honour degree?

A joint honour degree is one with which you can study multiple subjects at a single time. This means that you will be studying more modules of different subjects. These types of degrees are urgently found in the UK, Canada, Ireland, Malda, and Australia. You will have to study two or more subjects during one honour degree time.

As you will be studying more models than the other students you will have less flexibility and will require to choose fewer option models. There are generally 3 types of join degrees which are mentioned below.

Types of joint degrees

Following are the three different types of joint degrees-

1. And Degree

In this type of degree, they have to study two subjects each at the honours level. Both of the degrees are usually 50% each. For example biology and English, in which both have the same focus level.

2. With degree

With this type of degree, you can take two different degrees with more concentration on one specialization. For example Economics with French, in this type of degree, your main focus will be on economics and you will be studying French during your final 2 years.

3. Triple modern languages degrees

In this type of language degree, you can take three modern languages alone at a single time. The three options of different languages that you can take are – French, Spanish, and Italian . If you do not want to take three subjects then you can choose two languages along with one additional subject.

What is a standard degree?

In a standard degree, you will only be starting one subject or sometimes it may refer to the join with a degree. This is different from your normal honour degree. It is that degree in which you will be taking a specialization in one stream.

This is a higher level of degree than the ordinary bachelor’s degree. When you are taking on an honour degree you will get it according to three different levels. The three different levels are – First class, Second class, third class, and ordinary level. 

First class honour degree will be given to you if you have scored more than 70%. Similarly, a second-class honour degree will be given to you if you have scored between 50 to 70%. However, there are two different types of second-class honours i.e lower (50-60%) and upper (60-70%) honour degrees. 

Next is your third class owner in which you will have received 40 to 50% in your honour degree. The last one is the ordinary degree which is only given to you if you were not able to make it to the 3rd class honour degree by a few marks. 

Benefits and drawbacks of joint degree

Following are the benefits and drawbacks of joint degree-

Benefits

• You can explore new subjects if you are taking a joint honour degree. This means that you will have the choice to study both the subject that you love and the subject that you are curious to study. 
• It will help you to expand your skills as you will study two different subjects at a single time. 
• When you are doing a joint honour you will be getting the chance of connecting with more people around you. You can increase your professional network as well as your social network. 
• You will also get the freedom for studying the courses. As you will be studying two courses, you will need to study the first course along with the second course.  

Drawbacks

• Taking up a joint degree will make you study more than one subject. Therefore you will have to spend more time studying.
• As you will have to study two different subjects you will feel more stressed and will have no time for social gatherings.
• Buying books or any resources that you will need to study both degrees will increase.

Benefits and drawbacks of standard degree

Following are the benefits and drawbacks of standard degree-

Advantages 

• Studying the standard degree will help you in increasing your skill set which will help you in the future.
• Will have to pay for only a single degree. This means to start that it is much cheaper than a joint degree.

Disadvantages 

• It will limit your options for studying. If you want to study more than one subject then it may be not very useful for you.
• It will not give you more options in your career. You will most likely get into a career field that is related to a standard degree.

Conclusion

The joint honours degree is different from the standard degree. As the name suggests joint honour degree means that you will be studying two or more two degrees at a time. Whereas in a standard degree, you will only be studying one or sometimes two degrees at a single time. However, choosing which one is better will depend on yourself and your future goals. If you can manage the workload of two degrees and want to learn more than one subject then choosing a joint honour degree will be the better option for you.