Pass/Fail Versus Tiered Grades and Academic Performance in Undergraduate Medical Education: Crossover Study
Contrary to our expectation, Pass/Fail exams exhibited a higher fail rate compared to Tiered grade exams without lowering the final academic performance. These results suggest that a shift from Tiered grades to Pass/Fail assessment redirects the focus from rewarding high performance to ensuring standards are maintained among underperforming students.
Authors
- Jeppe Emmersen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6244-1280)
- Jette Kolding Kristensen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2648-5750)
- Stig Andersen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3632-5213)
- Karina Frahm Kirk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7603-8422)
- Carsten Reidies Bjarkam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0164-9595)
- Boris Modrau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4331-4491)
- Lone Sunde (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8479-165X)
- Mike Bundgaard Astorp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4062-6027)
- Jacob Bodilsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7398-814X)
- S Said (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1230-5007)
- Jakob Dal
Institutions
- Aalborg University Hospital (DK)
- Aalborg University (DK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- JMIR Medical Education
- Published
- 2025-10-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.2196/74975
- Primary Topic
- Innovations in Medical Education
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00