University of Southampton Calendar 2015/16


University Calendar 2015/16 Section XII : Academic Regulations - Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering

Academic Unit	Electronics and Computer Science
Final Award	Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) Bachelor of Science (BSc) Master of Computing (MComp) Master of Engineering (MEng) with exit awards of: Certificate of Higher Education Diploma of Higher Education Ordinary Degree
Programme(s)	These regulations apply to all undergraduate programmes in ECS
Last modified	July 2015

Reference should be made to the University's General Regulations found in Section IV and Section V (Higher Degree Regulations) of the University Calendar.

Except where an opt-out has been granted by the University (see below) the following academic regulations apply in addition to the General Regulations.

Admissions

1.1	The specific admissions criteria for each programme are given at http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk.
1.2	Students who are exceptionally well prepared may be admitted into the second year of a programme. This requires approval from the admissions tutor and course leader.

Structure of Programme(s)

2.1	All undergraduate programmes in ECS are full-time degrees.
2.2	Bachelors degrees normally require three years of study. MComp/MEng degrees normally require four years of study.
2.3	Students who transfer from an MComp/MEng programme to a BEng/BSc programme will not normally be permitted to transfer back to the MComp/MEng.
2.4	Transfer from BEng/BSc to MComp/MEng is normally permitted up to the start of the final term of the third year. Transfer is conditional on the student having taken any modules that are compulsory for the MComp/MEng programme, and their prior academic performance; an average of 58% in the previous year of study is normally required. Transfer to an MEng with Industrial Studies programme may also require passing an interview with the placement coordinator who may additionally also take into account a written reference from the student's academic tutor.
2.5	All Part I modules are core. This means they must be taken and passed with a minimum mark of at least 40% before students may progress to Part II.
2.6	The individual third year project, and the fourth year group design project are also core components. These must be taken and passed with a minimum mark of 40% and 50% respectively before any late penalty is applied.
2.7	Students on taught programmes in ECS are required to register for 30 ECTS credits (60 CATS) of modules in each semester except where their programme specification explicitly permits otherwise. Students may attend lectures for additional modules, but only with the permission of the module leader. Students may not participate in the assessment activities of these additional modules.
2.8	The core, compulsory and optional modules for each year of each ECS degree are given in the programme specifications and student courses handbook. Some modules have pre-requisites and some modules are mutually exclusive. These are documented in the ECS module specifications. A printed copy of the latest version of these documents is kept in the Student Office and can also be viewed electronically at http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk.
2.9	Students must select their options for each semester of study before the start of the semester on or before the options deadline as notified by the Student Office.
2.10	It is the responsibility of each student to ensure that the combination of modules they have selected is valid and meets the requirements of their programme of study.
2.11	Students may change their selection up to week three of the semester. Students changing their selection after the options deadline are responsible for checking that there are no timetable clashes.
2.12	Students must submit their project preferences by the end of the semester before the start of the project on or before the deadline as notified by the project coordinator so that a project supervisor can be allocated.

Progression

3.1	MComp/MEng students are required to obtain an average mark of 58% in Part III in order to progress to Part IV.
3.2	Part IV modules in ECS have a pass mark of 50% and a qualifying mark of 35%.

Assessment

4.1	Assessed coursework or project work that is submitted late will be subject to the standard University penalty of 10% of the awarded mark times the number of working days, or part thereof, after the published submission deadline. For the purposes of this regulation, working days are defined to be weekdays during term time, or the summer vacation, or the first week of the Christmas or Easter vacation, but excluding bank holidays. Unless an extension has been granted, work submitted more than 5 working days late will not be marked. In the case of assignments worth less than 10% of a module, work must be submitted on time or it will not be marked unless an extension has been granted.
4.2	A third year project that fails as a result of the application of late penalties will however be awarded the pass mark of 40%. A fourth year project that fails as a result of the application of late penalties will however be awarded the pass mark of 50%.
4.3	A project referral represents an opportunity for a failing student to perform additional work on the original project report, normally without receiving additional supervision or undertaking further experimental work. As the major Part III and IV projects are each worth 22.5 ECTS, students who fail these and no other modules will nonetheless be referred in the project.
4.4	Any student undertaking a project repeat must begin a new project. No work undertaken in pursuit of the original project may be considered during the assessment of the project.
4.5	When students repeat modules externally, it may be impractical for them to undertake the normal assessment activities, for example in the case of a module with assessed laboratories or group work. In such cases, ECS will provide an alternative but equivalent form of assessment.
4.6	Due to requirements for supervision and likely demands on resources, however, students opting to repeat Part III externally will not repeat their project, but will carry forward the original project mark. For this reason an external repeat cannot be used to remedy a failing project mark. The same restriction also applies in Part IV to the group design project, and in Part II to the design exercises and group projects.
4.7	Students who choose to repeat externally will not be asked to repeat coursework if there is also an examination. Instead, for progression purposes, the higher of their examination mark alone, or in combination with their previous coursework mark will be used.

Award of Qualification(s)

5.1	Qualifications are awarded according to the standard University regulations.
5.2	A student wishing to exit with an Ordinary Degree may be compensated for up to 7.5 ECTS (15 CATS) credits of failed modules, provided they have achieved the Qualifying Mark (25%) in these modules.

Laboratory and Field Work

6.1	ECS students are required to demonstrate that they have read and understood the relevant laboratory handbook and computer regulations before they are allowed to work in any ECS teaching laboratory.
6.2	ECS students are required to complete a risk assessment before undertaking as part of their studies any activity that is judged to involve health and safety risks.
6.3	The following module(s) include a field trip: COMP2201 Groups Teams and Leaders. Students are expected to make a contribution to costs, as explained in the module specification.

Other

7.1	Students who are not enrolled on an ECS approved programme of study require written permission from the module leader before they may register for an ECS module.
7.2	Candidates are required to satisfy the academic and attendance requirements of the programme as laid out in the Programme Specification and the Student Handbook for the programme. Those failing to do so may have their course terminated.
7.3	Students resuming their studies after suspension may be asked to attend a return to study panel. Students may resume their studies following a suspension for medical reasons on, at most, two occasions.
7.4	Projects involving human subjects need approval from the Faculty Ethics Committee.
7.5	As a research-led University, we undertake a continuous review of our programmes to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. As a result, these regulations may be revised during a student’s period of registration, however, any revision will be balanced against the requirement that the student should receive the educational service expected. Please read our Disclaimer to see why, when and how changes may be made to a student’s programme.