External Examiner Induction Academic Regulations for Taught Programmes 2015/16 Annette Cooke/Alison Jones Quality and Enhancement Office 4 November

Academic Regulations The regulations apply to all programmes (some programme specific requirements) Supplementary policies and procedures support the regulations, providing more detailed information (e.g. Assessment and Feedback, Personal Mitigating Circumstances, Boards of Examiners, External Examining) Key documents are provided for External Examiners on the External Examiner webpage 2

Assessment Modules normally have one or two components of assessment 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 c) one final opportunity to retake a module (with attendance) Assessments are verified and then set at specified times (e.g. exams in examinations period) Modules are normally capped at pass mark if reassessed or retaken UG modules at one level must normally be passed before progression to next level 3

Assessed Work All written examinations at Levels 5, 6 and 7 levels are marked anonymously All the above are subject to moderation however if any Level 4 assessments contribute to classification (e.g. FD), moderation is also required 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%) outstanding90% – 100%outstanding excellent80% – 89%excellent very good70% – 79%very good Good60% – 69%good satisfactory50% – 59%fair unsatisfactory40% – 49%adequate Inadequate30% – 39%unsatisfactory Poor20% – 29%poor very poor10% – 19%very poor extremely poor 0% – 9%extremely poor Assessment Marking Scales 5

Late Submission Penalties Late submission penalties are: Up to 1 working day late - penalty of 5 marks (not %) Up to 2 working days late - penalty of 10 marks Up to 3 working days late - penalty of 15 marks Up 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 6

Personal Mitigating Circumstances 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 By sitting/submitting an assessment, students are deemed to be fit to sit 7

Automatic Compensation Automatic compensation for a ‘narrow failure’ can be awarded in some circumstances for failure in up to 20 credits (Levels 3 to 6) or 30 credits (L7) Automatic compensation gives credit for the module in question, it does not change the module mark 8

Degree Classification Standard Honours degree programme mark is derived from: 25% of weighted mean mark for best 100 credits at level % of weighted mean mark for best 100 credits at level 6 Class of degree thresholds: 68.50%First 59.00%Upper second 49.50%Lower second 40.00%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. 9

Awards with Merit and Distinction Foundation 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 10

Academic Misconduct Cases 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 11

Academic Appeals An appeal can only be considered valid on one or more of the following grounds: personal mitigating circumstances were not notified to the Board of Examiners and there was good reason for this there has been a procedural irregularity in the assessment process that the Board of Examiners has acted in a way which is manifestly unreasonable 12