NARIC translation and challenge

I received my translation yesterday Less than impressed with what they say my degree is worth here-just wondering if anyone has successfully challenged their assessment?

Basically I want to do my PGCE/GTP and because I don't have an 'honours' degree (does anyone from the US have one of those?!?) I won't get onto any course because the school won't receive any funding. My GPA, if I am correct, is roughly equivalent to a 2:2 here which I know isn't brilliant but still enough to get me onto a course if that was all they looked at.

I just feel like they are taking the piss I am so frustrated and tired of having to jump through hoops to get anywhere here...Any help or information would be great! Thank you

Basically I want to do my PGCE/GTP and because I don't have an 'honours' degree (does anyone from the US have one of those?!?) I won't get onto any course because the school won't receive any funding.

UK honours degrees are just a way of describing anything above a 'pass'. There's a convenient equivalency table here: http://www.fulbright.co.uk/study-in-the-usa/postgraduate-study/applying/transcript#how%20do%20i%20convert

Every US degree where the student had a GPA higher than 2.3 is considered to have honours in the UK equivalency. There's no such thing as a 1st, 2:1, 2:2, or 3rd Class degree without honours.

By this translation (which isn't official, but in my experience is pretty standard), a GPA of 2.2 is equivalent to a 'pass', and therefore doesn't have honours attached.

Oh sorry, my GPA is a 2.9-I meant that it was roughly the equivalent of a British 2:2...
I guess I am just wondering what my options are now that I've had this translation-should I try to appeal it? Especially since the programs I've looked at want the Naric translation.

Thank you for your help!!

Just to update-I spoke to Naric today and the assessor said that my degree was described as such because of the way the US studies versus the UK. Apparently this would be fine to get onto most postgraduate courses. My problem is that the PGCE specifically says Honours degrees so unless I top up (ie, get a new degree) I don't think any University or GTP will look at my application.

I was told I could write a letter to contest it but he also said that he thought it would be highly unlikely due to the reasons why they assessed it the way they did.

It does make me wonder sometimes why I stay here 

I think you would be best calling or e-mailing the places you want to apply to and asking them how they deal with foreign degrees. Most places say something like 'an honours degree or equivalent' and will have a standard in place for how they convert foreign degrees for themselves. I had quick look at the prospectus for the PGCE in York and it just says 'a degree or a degree equivalent relevant to the subject(s) to be taught'. I wouldn't even include the NARIC translation unless they specifically ask for it.

Thanks for your response!

I talked to Leeds Met and they said that I needed to have the honours degree and also said I needed the translation-weren't very helpful, I'm afraid. I also spoke to TDA and apparently it is just the PGCE that requires the honours-the gov't won't fund the school if the student doesn't have it. I think this is all due to over subscription. Unfortunately, it is too late for primary PGCE's and the GTPs I was looking into had the same response in regard to my degree. I guess my next step is to look into Open University 

Its all a bit rubbish in my opinion, but I suppose I would look at it that way    

I am having this exact same problem right now. NARIC has considered my US BA degree as equivalent to a British standard degree (not the Honours degree that is required for most teacher training programs). I also had a 2.9 GPA, but I do not believe NARIC can translate grades (i.e. 2:1, 2:2, etc) so the university/program would have to determine what was a good enough US grade.

You know what they do consider equivalent to a UK honours degree? A first professional degree, which is basically a medical doctor (MD) or dentist (DDS). I have no idea why the standards are so high converting from US to UK!

It is really frustrating and I am considering looking into the legislation/policies behind this because I consider it very unfair and must have political reasons behind it.

You know what they do consider equivalent to a UK honours degree? A first professional degree, which is basically a medical doctor (MD) or dentist (DDS). I have no idea why the standards are so high converting from US to UK!

It's not that the standards are high - a US bachelors degree = a UK bachelors degree.

The trouble comes here because in order for a UK degree to be an honours degree, you need to have written a dissertation as part of your course.

No dissertation = no honours degree.

I've noticed that a lot of US bachelors degrees don't have a thesis component, and therefore even if they are academically exactly the same as a UK bachelors degree, the translation will decide they are not equivalent to an honours degree, when actually they probably should be equivalent.

A medical degree is a completely separate animal - a UK medical degree is a 5-year undergraduate programme (2 years longer than a regular UK bachelors) and it is considered to be equivalent to a US MD degree, even though it is a graduate degree in the US.

In general:

UK BA/BSc = US BA/BS

UK MA/MSc = US MA/MS

UK PhD = US PhD

UK MD = US MD

This was the equivalency table I was going off of:

 http://www.education.gov.uk/ta-assets/~/media/get_into_teaching/resources/subjects_age_groups/overseas_grade_comparison.pdf

According to the table above, a first professional degree is comparable to a British Bachelors (Honours) degree standard. An Honours degree is what is necessary for most teacher training programs I'd like to enter. That would would mean I would need a first professional degree, which I'm sure the average college grad from the US does not have.

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_professional_degree) here is a list of first professional degrees:

Chiropractic Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.)
Dentistry Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (D.M.D.)
Law Doctor of Jurisprudence or Juris Doctor (J.D.)
Medicine Doctor of Medicine (M.D.)
Optometry Doctor of Optometry (O.D.)
Osteopathic Medicine Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.)
Pharmacy Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.)
Physical Therapy Doctor of Physical Therapy (D.P.T.)
Podiatry Doctor of Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.)
Clergy Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Master of Hebrew Letters (M.H.L.) or Rabbinical Ordination (Rav)
Veterinary Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.).