British undergraduate degree classification
In the United Kingdom, medicine is usually taught as an undergraduate course, with graduates being awarded a master's level qualification: normally the conjoined degrees of Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, BM BCh, MB ChB, etc.) although at Queen's University Belfast (and universities in Ireland) Bachelor in the Art of Obstetrics (BAO) is added, and at some universities only the Bachelor of Medicine is awarded - all of these have equal standing. Unlike most undergraduate degrees, the MBBS is not normally considered an honours degree, and thus is not classified into first class honours, etc. Students may be awarded "Merits" and "Distinctions" for parts of the course or the whole course (depending on the institution) and "Honours" may be awarded at some institutions for exceptional performance throughout the course (as a grade above Distinction).
Undergraduate degree
Entry to any of the available programmes of study in the university is open to anyone with a secondary school degree; in most cases, students who have successfully completed high school must pass a first year called CBC, which stands for "Ciclo Básico Común" (Common Basic Cycle). Only upon completion of this first year may the student enter the chosen school; until then, they must attend courses in different buildings, and have up to 3 years to finish the 6 or 7 subjects (which vary depending on the programme of study chosen) assigned in two groups of 3 or 4. Each subject is of one semester duration (March–July or August–November). If someone passes all 6 subjects in their respective semester, the CBC will take only one year. Potential students of economics, instead, take a 2-year common cycle, the "CBG" (General Basic Cycle), comprising 12 subjects.