Can't let it go

As mentioned here I've already worked out the best and worst case scenarios for my degree. Unless there is some miracle or I've completely misunderstood a question I am getting a 2:1. (I should probably point out that they don't scale our papers. Last year the mean for one paper dropped by 10%, and they said that since it wasn't clear whether it was a hard paper, a bad year of students or bad teaching, they weren't prepared to compensate).

Yet still I am obsessing.

Some of my friends are in the habit of trying to think of e.g. 20 people who will do worse than them, as a way of "proving" their 2:1 is safe. I've been labouring under the misapprehension that only 8 2:2s were given out in my subject last year. Except I neglected to count people who'd had their name removed from the pass list: which is naturally most likely to be those who know they might do badly. Upon reading the examiners' report I discovered that in the last 3 years a total of 42 1sts and 3rds have been given out (i.e. an average of 14 a year) - not 8.

Not that I'd been playing this game - but 14% is a bit bigger than 8 no?

But then on the other hand the highest 2:2 bracket is numerously described (in the various papers) as:

• Just satisfactory
• Covering most of the major points
• A weakish argument
• Small omissions or incorrectnesses

I think that if I'd done that I'd know wouldn't I?

And equally a 1st class paper (the lowest mark for it, obviously, not the highest marks) is described as simply being good and having "adequate" extra material included not from the lectures.

I'm not even sure I trust my own judgement anymore :-S