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Assessment Regulations: Students on Single Honours Programmes who commenced in October 2003 or before
1. Examinations and Assessment: General
1.1 Timing of Written Examinations
Unless otherwise agreed by the School Board there will be a formal written examination for each unit at the end of the semester in which it is given.
Double units will normally be examined at the end of semester 2.
1.2 Practical and Coursework Assessments
It is open to Schools and Boards of Studies to examine the practical component of their units either by continuous assessment or by a set practical examination. The latter is held either at the end of the semester or within the time allocated in the timetable to the option concerned.
When the assessment of an option results from both a written examination and marks awarded for practical and/or coursework, the balance between these components is primarily a School matter. With the agreement of the School Board, units may be assessed solely by the marks from practical and/or coursework.
1.3 Length of Examinations
The written examination for a 15 credit point unit normally lasts for two hours, and that for a 30 credit point unit, three hours.
1.4 Marking System
- There shall be common ranges and class boundaries for:
- the marks for individual answers;
- the marks for whole written papers;
- the marks for units where practical or coursework forms part or whole of the assessment.
- The class ranges are to be as follows:
- First Class 70% or above
- Upper Second Class 60% - 69%
- Lower Second Class 50% - 59%
- Third Class 40% - 49%
- Pass 35% - 39%
- Fail 0% - 34%
- Examiners are encouraged to award high marks (of 80% and above) to really good answers.
- For final year students, examining Schools should communicate full information about the marking of individual papers to parent Schools and to Boards of Studies, including marks for individual answers, marks for any practical component and whether or not marks have been scaled (and, if so, how this was done).
1.5 Aggregation of Marks for Assessment
- The marks for each unit are returned separately and may not be combined to secure a pass or fail.
- All marks returned for individual units will be out of 100.
- The maximum mark for a total of 120 credit points is 800, the contribution of the mark for each unit being weighted by x/15, where x is the credit point value.
- When units equivalent to more than 120 credit points are taken during the year, the marks for the best 120 points are used in the assessment. The lowest mark to be counted is identified and an appropriate fraction deducted from the total to give the best aggregate based on 120 credit points. Thus a student could take units equivalent to a total of 126 points - six of 15 points and three of 12 points. If the lowest mark was in a 12-point unit, the mark for 6-points would be discounted (the mark counted would be derived by weighting the percentage mark by 6/15). The only exception is in the third (or fourth) year when marks for compulsory units must always be included.
1.6 The Mean of the Marks
The mean of the marks for each unit taken should normally lie in the following range:
- first year: should normally lie in the range 55 ± 25/Ön
- second year: should normally lie in the range 58 ± 25/Ön
- third year: should normally lie in the range 61 ± 25/Ön
- fourth year: should normally lie in the range 65 ± 25/Ön
Boards of Examiners are required to consider all units in which the average mark falls outside the normal range, and any special factors associated with the cohort of students. Marks should not be scaled simply to bring an average mark to a perceived acceptable value within the normal range; examiners should review the averages for individual questions, and re-mark if there are anomalies. Only if no special factors can be found should scaling be undertaken. Scaling can be applied to the overall results, to the marks for a particular question or section of a paper, or to the coursework components. The decision whether or not to undertake scaling is at the discretion of the examiners. The average mark for each examination should be available on request from the appropriate examinations officer.
1.7 Disclosure of Results and Assessment Procedures
The University adopted the following procedure during the 1999/2000 session:
- Students will be given, as a matter of course, the marks they obtain in each individual unit of study after they have been agreed by the examiners. These marks will be made available according to the agreed procedures. In certain cases, especially for Semester 1 exams, such marks at the time of release may be provisional only and subject to change by a subsequent Board of Examiners. It will be made clear when marks are provisional.
- All marks relating to exam papers will be released within 6 weeks of the exam paper being sat. All marks for continuously assessed work will be made available by the School concerned to students within 5 weeks of the submission deadline, although they will usually be provisional and subject to change by a Board of Examiners.
- Students seeking more detailed information, such as marks for individual components within exam papers, should approach the School concerned. Any such information requested, which is held by the School relating to the student's marks, will be released to the student.
1.8 Failure to Satisfy Coursework Requirements
Students must be made aware of any requirements relating to attendance at laboratory classes and field courses, and to the submission of assessed work. Failure without good reason to comply with such requirements may result in no marks being awarded for that part of the course. The Board of Examiners may subsequently require the work in question to be undertaken satisfactorily.
Students who fail to achieve a satisfactory standard in practical and/or coursework may be required to undertake additional work and/or an examination to remedy the deficiency.
1.9 Return of Assessed Work
Schools and Boards of Studies may permit the return to students of any work submitted for examination purposes, other than examination scripts, provided that it is clear that the material is required to assist in further studies or employment, and provided that the students concerned accept responsibility for ensuring that, in case of need, it remains available to the University until the end of the session following the announcement of the final examination result for the programme concerned. A detailed record of performance shall in any case be retained by the School or Board of Studies concerned. (See also Calendar: Regulations for Examinations: para 8)
2. Examination Procedures: First and Second Years
2.1 First and Second Year Hurdles
In the first and second year assessment a total mark of 320 out of a maximum of 800 is required for a student to proceed to the subsequent year of study. The total mark of 320 relates to units equivalent to 120 credit points (see section 1.5 above) and the pass mark is set at 40% for each unit.
In addition, a minimum of 35% is required in core units as specified in the regulations for the degree programme.
2.2 Absence from Written Examination
Students who are absent from a written examination are considered as special cases at the end of session meeting of School representatives who make a recommendation to the Board of Examiners on the course of action to be taken (normally involving examinations in the Supplementary Examination period).
2.3 Referral Examinations: First and Second Years
- A student who is not qualified to proceed to the next year of the programme must retake any core unit failed to gain a minimum mark of 35% and may take any other unit again in which less than 40% was achieved to reach the necessary aggregate.
- Referral examinations are normally taken in the Supplementary Examination period. Students may elect to take their referral examinations at the examination times at the end of semester 1 and 2 during the following academic year, but if they elect to take this option they will be registered as an external candidate and will not be in residence until they satisfy the requirements to proceed.
- When a student takes a referral examination, no more than the minimum aggregate pass mark 320 out of 800 is carried forward, unless the candidate achieved more than this when he/she originally sat the examination, in which case the aggregate mark originally recorded is credited.
- If the minimum aggregate pass mark has not been achieved in the year assessment (see 2.1) then for the purposes of checking whether this has been achieved following referral examinations, the higher of the original and referral examination marks will be used.
- When a referral examination involves an option assessed wholly by practical or coursework, special arrangements are made. Details of the re-examination arrangements for the students concerned should be conveyed in writing to the School Office before the Board of Examiners meeting that confirms the results.
- When a referral examination involves an option assessed in part by practical or coursework, the original mark obtained for the practical or coursework will normally be used when determining the result of the re-examination.
- A Board of Examiners may exceptionally recommend that a second-year student who has failed to reach the minimum aggregate (but who is otherwise qualified to proceed) be referred in units equivalent to up to 60 credit points, to include all failed units but not including any unit in which the student has achieved more than 55%.
- A student who fails to satisfy the requirements to proceed following a first referral examination has the right to be referred in the failed units, on one further occasion only. These referrals may be taken at the normal examination times or the subsequent supplementary examination period.
- Students failing to proceed following a second referral will have their programme of study terminated (see regulations relating to Appeals Procedures).
- Students failing the second-year examinations may be eligible for an Ordinary degree programme.
- Exit Awards: A student who meets the progression hurdle for proceeding in year 1 or 2 but chooses not to proceed is eligible for the award of an appropriately named (according to the discipline) certificate in higher education (year 1) or diploma in higher education (year2) provided the School has arranged for such named awards to be created. A student who has not met the progression hurdle but who has achieved at least 90 credit points and an aggregate mark of 320/800 will be eligible for the award of an unnamed certificate in higher education (year 1) or diploma in higher education (year 2).
2.4 Elective Referrals: First and Second Years
(Paragraph deleted following Senate on 22 June 2005. Elective referrals are not permitted.)
3. Assessment of Final Degrees
The following notes apply to all degrees, whether for single, combined or double honours, undergraduate Masters, or Ordinary degrees. Special arrangements are dealt with in section 4.
3.1 Responsibility for determining Degree Classification
The marks for each unit are to be submitted to the appropriate Board of Examiners, which is responsible for determining the degree classification to be recommended in accordance with the regulations below. There is a Board of Examiners (including at least one external examiner) for each Honours School. Each Board of Examiners appoints its own chairman as required by Ordinance 7.3.7.
3.2 Determination of Degree Classifications
- The marks for each unit taken in the final year must be aggregated so that the maximum mark obtainable is 800. When units equivalent to more than 120 credit points have been examined, the performance in the best 120 credit points is used in the assessment. (see section 1.5.4)
- The aggregate mark for each year of study is combined to obtain the overall aggregate mark for degree assessment with the following weightings:
- Year 1 0
- Year 2 35%
- Year 3 65%
- The overall aggregate marks used to determine the degree classifications are considered in accordance with the following:
- 70% or above First Class
- 60% - 69% Upper Second Class
- 50% - 59% Lower Second Class
- 40% - 49% Third Class
- 35% - 39% Pass
- 0 - 34% Fail
- Boards of Examiners are asked to give particularly careful consideration to 'marginal' candidates. A marginal candidate is defined as one whose aggregate mark is within 2% of the next higher degree classification. For combined honours and interdisciplinary programmes the margin is increased to 3%, although this practice is under University review.
If a Board of Examiners wishes to recommend a higher classification to a candidate or candidates whose aggregate marks fall outside the marginal boundaries, the Board minutes should clearly record the reasons for this variation and the agreement of the External Examiner(s).
- A final year candidate should not be penalised for failing to take or complete an examination for adequate (e.g. medical) reasons.
If a finalist is absent from examinations in units worth up to 30 credits, there are two options available:
- Wherever possible, the candidate should be given the option of completing the examination before the end of the examination period through the use of an oral examination. Such oral examinations should utilise internal examiners who are chosen according to the examinations missed. Any student examined in this way must be brought to the attention of the External Examiner(s) at the Board of Examiners. The External Examiner(s) may exercise discretion in considering whether or not such a student should be required to have a further oral examination with both the External Examiner(s) and an Internal Examiner(s) present.
- If it is not possible to conduct an oral examination the relevant Board of Examiners will be provided with a full profile of marks for the student (including all component examination and coursework marks) and a statement explaining why an oral examination was not possible.
Candidates who have missed examinations worth more than 30 credits may be assessed during the Supplementary Examination period, or in January/June of the following session. However, special papers will not normally be set. Alternatively, the candidate may be considered for the award of an Aegrotat Degree under the conditions prescribed by Ordinance.
If any candidate having completed the whole or a substantial part of his or her course is prevented by illness or other sufficient cause from completing sufficient part of an examination (leading directly to a degree, diploma or certificate) to satisfy the examiners in accordance with the relevant Regulations that candidate may be awarded an Aegrotat degree, diploma or certificate. Such award may be made upon the recommendation of the Board of Examiners concerned or other authorised body and upon such other conditions as the Senate may decide provided that the candidate shall not be exempted from presenting a thesis or dissertation where such is prescribed and further provided that the candidate shall not be given honours or placed in a class or division. Applications for the award of an Aegrotat degree, diploma or certificate must be made in writing by the candidate or by the Tutor or Supervisor concerned, and must normally be received in the relevant office not later than eight days after the end of the written examinations for the degree programme concerned. Any application based on ill-health must be accompanied by a report from a qualified medical practitioner.
- Each Board of Examiners shall attempt to reach its decisions by consensus, according due weight to the views of the external examiners.
- Candidates who do not achieve a sufficient aggregate for the award of a degree have an automatic right to resit the whole examination provided that this right has not previously been used. Such resits of final year examinations are permitted only at the normal examination times in the following year.
- In considering the examination results of successful resit candidates the Board of Examiners decides whether or not to recommend the award of Honours.
4. Special Arrangements for Combined and Double Honours Programmes, Interdisciplinary, Undergraduate Masters and Ordinary Degrees
4.1 Interdisciplinary and Combined Honours Programmes: Final Degree Results
The procedure for determining the final degree result for students reading for interdisciplinary degrees, or combined honours degrees, is identical to that outlined above, with the following exceptions:
- To allow some compensation to candidates not taking a single honours degree, the boundaries of the aggregate mark scales may, at the discretion of the Board of Examiners, be reduced by not more than 3% in each case. (NB This practice is under University review)
- Combined honours (X with Y programmes): The Board of Examiners for School X is responsible for the results of students taking named degrees of this type. At least one internal examiner from School Y, familiar with the work of the candidate(s), must be invited to the Board of Examiners of the candidates' School when the final degree classification is considered. A pass in the second subject in the final year is required to qualify for an X with Y degree. Examination Boards do not have the discretion to award a single honours degree to combined honours candidates unless they have met the requirements specified for the single honours degree.
4.2 Double Honours Degrees
For the purposes of section 3 both third and fourth years should be regarded as 'final' years.
- At the end of third year the Board of Examiners for the subject first named in the degree title will determine the classification in the usual way, as if the candidate were registered for a combined honours degree. The result is recorded but not published.
- The normal qualification to be allowed to continue into the fourth year is for the student to have qualified for the award of a degree after three years, had he/she been registered for a three-year degree programme. Candidates failing to satisfy this requirement are subject to the same resit regulation as detailed above (3.2.7).
- A candidate can be referred at the end of year 3, but only in core units. A satisfactory performance in such a unit will be required before allowing the candidate to proceed to year 4.
- Failure in either one or two of the designated subjects at the end of year 4 is redeemable only by a full resit as defined in 3.2.7.
- At the end of the fourth year the honours classification in each subject will be determined by the Board of Examiners for the appropriate School. The Boards will use the best marks for units equivalent to 120 credit points from units taken in each of the designated subjects over years 3 and 4 as the 'final year' marks, see 3.2.1.
4.3 Undergraduate Masters Programmes
- To proceed from the second to the third year, a candidate must have achieved an overall mark of at least 55% in addition to the normal unit pass and core unit requirements. In order to increase their aggregate to 55%, candidates may elect to be referred in units in which they initially achieved less than 65%.
- The minimum qualification to be allowed to continue into the fourth year is for a candidate to have qualified for the award of a degree if he/she had been registered for the corresponding three year degree programme.
- When a Masters degree student takes a referral examination to qualify for the third year, the maximum overall year mark which can be carried forward for the determination of the degree class is the higher of the 40% or the overall year mark originally obtained.
- The aggregate mark for each year of study is combined to obtain the overall aggregate mark for degree assessment (as described in 3.2 item [3]) with the following weightings*:
- Year 1 0
- Year 2 20%
- Year 3 40%
- Year 4 40%
* This represents a change from the 35/65/65 weightings used up to and including the 1999/2000 session.
4.4 Ordinary Degree Programme
- Second-year students who fail to pass the second-year hurdle (see section 2.1) may be permitted to follow a restricted course for an Ordinary degree. The minimum standard for entry to an Ordinary degree programme is passes in units equivalent to 60 credit points and a minimum aggregate mark of 240/800 in the second-year examinations.
- Students following an Ordinary degree programme:
- are not permitted to take level 3 units equivalent to more than 60 credit points;
- are not permitted to take level 1 units equivalent to more than 30 credit points in their third year;
- may be required to repeat failed level 2 units equivalent to no more than 30 credit points.
- The School in which a student is registered is responsible, on the advice of the tutor, for approving the scheme of study to be taken by an Ordinary degree student. Normally, no subject is specified when an Ordinary degree is awarded, but a subject may be specified on the recommendation of the Board of Examiners concerned.. The award of a 'merit' class is no longer allowed.
- The minimum aggregate mark for the award of an Ordinary Degree is 35%, calculated as described in section 3.2 item [2]. The second-year aggregate mark used is the higher of (a) the original mark or (b) the mark obtained following a referral examination, up to a maximum of 320/800 (140/350).
Note: All of the above is changed only:
- with renumbering of sections resulting from the deletion of the previous preamble (Gold Book sections 1-7);
- to take account of the new structures and the absence of a Faculty Board; and
- to take account of the changes made with respect to exit awards and elective referrals.
APPEAL PROCEDURES
The following text is extracted from the current (July 2003) University "Regulations Governing Reviews and Appeals by Undergraduate and Postgraduate Instructional Students". The full text is available for consultation in School Offices.
1. Informal Discussions
Students wishing to request a review and who have evidence of either extenuating circumstances unknown to the Board of Examiners or School Board when it made its recommendation, or of allegations of error or irregularity as in paragraph 2 below, should in the first instance discuss the matter with their Tutor or Head of School. It is hoped that in many cases these informal discussions will be able to resolve a student's concerns and may lead, if appropriate, to a Board of Examiners or School Board agreeing to amend a recommendation without the necessity of convening a Review Panel. The student and those members of academic staff who have been consulted are strongly advised to keep written records of all such discussions and of their outcome.
2. Informal Discussions and Reviews
Students on award-bearing programmes leading to certificates, diplomas, first degrees or postgraduate instructional degrees have the right to request a review by a School Review Panel of any recommendation of a Board of Examiners or School Board that relates to their studies, or of a decision by Senate to terminate their programme of study, if they produce evidence of one or more of the following:
2.1 |
that their performance has been adversely affected by illness or by other factors which, in exceptional circumstances, they were unable or, for valid reason, unwilling to divulge to the Board of Examiners or School Board before it reached its decision; |
2.2 |
that there had been a material administrative error in the conduct of the examination; |
2.3 |
that the examination had not been conducted in accordance with the appropriate regulations for that degree programme; |
2.4 |
that some other material irregularity had occurred; |
2.5 |
that, in reaching its decision, the Board of Examiners or School Board had erroneously concluded that they had cheated or plagiarised or attempted to gain an unfair advantage in an element of work submitted for a degree; |
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that the supervision of their project or external placement was unsatisfactory to the point that their performance was seriously affected. |
Students may not question the classification of their award or the marks awarded for an individual component of a programme of study unless evidence is submitted under one of the grounds at 2.1/2.6, above. Under no circumstances may students question the academic judgement of the examiners and any request based on such grounds will be dismissed.
3. Formal Review
If discussion with the Tutor or Head of Department/School fails to resolve the issue, students should write to the Faculty Executive Officer of the Faculty in which they are registered, setting out the grounds for the review and the revised decision they seek. Students should include in their letter a statement of the preceding informal discussions and of their outcome. If the review is based on extenuating circumstances written evidence (such as a medical certificate) must be produced. If the request for a review is based on evidence that the student had been previously unwilling to divulge to the Board of Examiners or School Board, the letter should set out the reasons why the student was unwilling to produce such evidence at an earlier stage. A request for a review should normally reach the Faculty Executive Officer within 21 days of the announcement of the recommendation of the Board of Examiners or School Board, or of the announcement of the decision of Senate; or within 7 days of the announcement of the results of supplementary examinations.
GENERAL DEGREE PROGRAMME REGULATIONS
The complete Regulations are published in the University Calendar, Section IV. This section of the Calendar shows the University and School entrance requirements; Section VI of the University Calendar includes details of the core and compulsory units for each degree programme. These sometimes include references to 'approved' units; it is for individual Schools to make known to students when they register which units are 'approved'.
Before admission to any programme leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science candidates must:
- satisfy the general entrance requirements specified in the Regulations for Admission to Degree Programmes; (see Calendar, Section IV);
- pass the General Certificate in Education, or equivalent examination, in Mathematics;
- satisfy the relevant degree programme requirements.
All candidates must satisfy the examiners that adequate practical work appropriate to the chosen units has been completed to a satisfactory standard.
(17 August 2005)
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Assessment Regulations : Faculty of Engineering, Science & Maths |
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Institute of Sound and Vibration Research |
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School of Chemistry |
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School of Civil Engineering and the Environment |
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School of Electronics and Computer Science |
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School of Engineering Sciences |
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School of Geography |
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School of Mathematics |
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School of Ocean and Earth Science |
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School of Physics and Astronomy |
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