Undergraduate degree
In the United Kingdom, a bachelor's degree is the most common type of "undergraduate degree". Some master's degrees can be undertaken immediately after finishing secondary education; however, these courses are usually extended versions of bachelor's degree programs, taking an additional year to complete. Most bachelor's degrees take three years to complete, with some notable exceptions, such as Medicine taking five years. Often students can initially enroll in a 4-year program then leave after three years and be awarded a bachelor's degree.
Honours degree
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Bachelor's degrees are normally awarded "with Honours" after three years of study. The bachelor's degree with Honours meets the requirements for a higher education qualification at level 6 of the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in full, and is a first cycle, end-of-cycle award on the Qualifications Framework of the European Higher Education Area established by the Bologna process.
Students can be awarded an "Ordinary" degree if they achieve the required learning outcomes over a smaller volume of studies than is required for an honours degree, e.g. only passing 300 credits rather than the 360 usually required for an honours degree. In addition to bachelor's degrees, four year integrated master's degrees, which combine study at bachelor's and master's level, are also awarded with honours.