Academic Regulations for Taught Programmes 2014/15

Stewart Smith-LangridgeAnnette Cooke

Governance Services 5 November 2014

1

Academic Regulations for Taught Programmes• Updated Regulations approved annually by Senate• Students sign up to each year’s Regulations• Other than approved general or specific exceptions, the

regulations apply to all taught students and are paramount• Supplementary policies and procedures supporting the

regulations (e.g. Assessment and Feedback, Personal Mitigating Circumstances, Boards of Examiners, External Examining) are presented as an online Academic Handbook

2

Assessment• Modules normally have one or two components of

assessment which determine module mark• A student is normally allowed:

a) one initial attempt to take a module (with attendance) and

b) one opportunity to be reassessed in components of failed module(s) and, subject to certain conditions/exceptions,

c) one final opportunity to retake a module (with attendance) without any further reassessment

• Assessments are verified and then set at specified times (e.g. exams in examinations period)

• UG modules at one level must normally be passed before progression to next level

• Modules reassessed or retaken are normally capped at pass mark 3

Assessed Work

• All written examinations at Levels 5, 6 and 7 levels are marked anonymously (Regulation 7.2.2)

• All the above are subject to moderation (Regulation 7.2.3 and Assessment and Feedback for Taught Awards Policy)

• As part of the moderation process, external examiners cannot negotiate individual marks

• There is currently no requirement for coursework to be marked anonymously

4

All elements of assessment are mark out of 100 and recorded as a % mark, unless graded Pass/Fail

Level 7 (pass = 50%) Levels 3-6 (pass = 40%)

outstanding 90% – 100% outstanding

excellent 80% – 89% excellent

very good 70% – 79% very good

Good 60% – 69% good

satisfactory 50% – 59% fair

unsatisfactory40% – 49% adequate

Inadequate 30% – 39% unsatisfactory

Poor 20% – 29% poor

very poor 10% – 19% very poor

extremely poor 0% – 9% extremely poor

Assessment Marking Scales

5

Module Mark CalculationMethod A

•Where the module mark is calculated as the weighted average of the component marks according to the weightings stated in the module specification

• This is the method most commonly used throughout the University

Method B

• Where the module includes one or more graded (pass/fail) component that must be passed in order to pass the module

•Module marks are capped at 39% (UG) or 49% (PGT) if any graded component is failed

•Reassessed module mark can be higher than pass mark (using weighted average of component marks at first attempt)

6

Penalties for Late Submission• Revised penalties for shorter period of late submission

introduced in 2012/13 (after feedback from External Examiners):Up to 1 working day late - penalty of 5 marks (not %)Up to 2 working days late - penalty of 10 marksUp to 3 working days late - penalty of 15 marksUp to 4 working days late - penalty of 20 marks

• More than 4 working days late, assessment becomes a non-submission (and cannot be submitted/marked)

• In the case of late submission, if the original mark awarded was a pass, the penalised mark cannot go below pass mark

• If original mark awarded was a fail, no further penalty is applied for late submission

7

Personal Mitigating Circumstances (PMCs)There are three categories of PMC request that can be considered:

1. Absence

2. Non submission

3. Late submission

PMCs must be submitted within 10 working days of the assessment and are usually considered within 3 working days of submission. The Board of Examiners must decide on the action to implement in the case of an accepted PMC:

1. Absence – offer replacement attempt

2. Non submission - offer replacement attempt

3. Late submission – remove late submission penalties

8

Automatic Compensation• Compensation for failure in one module can be given if, as a

consequence, all credits can be accumulated to complete the level/stage.• Criteria:

› Failed module must be fully eligible for compensation› Failed module must not exceed 20 (Levels 3 to 6) or 30 credits (L7)› Failed module mark must be at least 30% (Levels 3 to 6) or 45% (L7)› A mark of at least 20% has been achieved for the final component› No graded components have been failed in the failed module› Modules worth at least 120 credits have been taken in level/stage› Modules worth at least 100 (Levels 3 to 6) or 90 credits (L7)› have been passed at that level› A level mark of at least 40.00% (Levels 3 to 6) or 50.00% (L7)› has been achieved› No component of failed module(s) has mark of 0% or grade of Fail as a

penalty for academic misconduct9

Degree ClassificationFrom 1 October 2014 standard Honours degree programme mark is derived from:

25% of weighted mean mark for best 100 credits at level 5 + 75% of weighted mean mark for best 100 credits at level 6

Class of degree thresholds:

68.50% First59.00% Upper second49.50% Lower second40.00% Third

No discretion for students close to the next classification boundary.

Non-standard degree programme mark (including top-up degrees) derived from all available credits at levels 5 and 6, i.e. no credits excluded from the calculation.

10

Awards with Merit and DistinctionFoundation Degrees

•Programme mark derived from best 100 credits at each of Levels 4 and 5, weighted 25:75•Mark of at least 68.50% = FD with Distinction•Mark of at least 59.00% = FD with Merit

Postgraduate Diploma•Programme mark derived from best 120 credits at Level 7•Programme mark of at least 70.00% = PgDip with Distinction•Programme mark of at least 60.00% = PgDip with Merit

Masters Degree•Programme mark derived from 180 credits at Level 7•Programme mark AND Project Stage mark of at least 70.00% = Masters with Distinction•Programme mark AND Project Stage mark of at least 60.00% = Masters with Merit

11

Academic MisconductCases are considered by a School Academic Misconduct Panel or, in the most serious cases, the Disciplinary Panel.

All suspected cases will be investigated and, if proven, one of the following penalties will be applied:•A mark of 0 (or grade of fail) is awarded for the component of assessment•A mark of 0 (or grade of fail) is awarded for the module•A mark of 0 (or grade of fail) is awarded for the module and marks for all other modules at that level are kept at minimum pass mark/grade

Additional penalties may be imposed in accordance with relevant Procedure(s)

12

Academic AppealsAn appeal can only be considered valid on one or more of thefollowing grounds:

•that relevant evidence is available which was not submitted in accordance with the personal mitigating circumstances procedure but for which there is reasonable or good cause for that omission;

•that there has been a significant procedural error on the part of the Board of Examiners or a failure to correctly apply the relevant academic regulations;

• that the Board of Examiners has acted in a way which is manifestly unreasonable.

13

Marking

Assessment feedback

Internal moderation of

sample of marked assessments

Moderation of sample of marked

assessments by External Examiner

Results letter

Ratification of marks by Module Board of Examiners (including

External Examiner)

Progression/qualification decision by

Programme Board of Examiners (including

External Examiner)

Academic appeal against decisions of Boards of Examiners

on valid grounds

Assessment design

Internal and external

verification of assessment

Coursework submission or examination

Module design

UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD ASSESSMENT PROCESSES