1. Examination Board Briefing 21 March 2012 14.00-16.00, Francis Bancroft 1.15

2. Agenda  Welcome  Notices and updates (Simon Hayter)  Decimal points (Wendy Appleby)  Appeals (Luke Vulpiani)  SEB report processes and the SIS (Lauren Ha)  Questions

3. Notices and updates  Decisions of Senate (08/03/12) Assessment Handbook (approved) Suspension of Regulations (noted) External Examiners’ Summary Report (noted) Exit awards (approved) Discretion (approved) Pass degrees at <40.0 (approved)  Extenuating circumstances  Assessment and Feedback Review  External examiners

4. Decisions of Senate (08/03/12)  Several key papers on assessment.  Full papers at: www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/intranet/Senate/120308 www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/intranet/Senate/120308  New Assessment Handbook approved  External Examiner Summary Report. Review of plagiarism penalties to come.  Suspension of regulations summary (to note – goes to every meeting)

5. Exit awards  Exit awards shall now always be issued where students are eligible (and out of attempts), save in prescribed circumstances.  Previously, practices varied.  Regulations will state that they shall always be made, save where a student has been deregistered.  The nature of deregistration shall be considered; still make the award in most circumstances, but discretion where it is for, e.g. gross misconduct.  SIS reports automatically recommend exit awards where students are eligible, and out of attempts.  More: w ww.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/intranet/Senate/120308/SE2011.42e.pdf

6. Discretion  For UG, the new QM-wide policy remains in place (overarching ‘zones of discretion’ with SEB-specific criteria within those).  This is not automatic raising; the process identifies students to be considered.  UG Arts DEB has harmonised, and all SEBs now use the exact same criteria.  For PG, we recommend not looking at students more than 1% from a border.  Discretion beyond the prescribed limits would require suspension of regulations.

7. Pass degrees at <40.0  Applies to UG only, and 2012/13 intake onwards only.  Students with College Marks of less than 40.0 will no longer receive full degrees, even where they pass minimum credit load.  There will be a hard cut off at 40.0, as it indicates a minimum level of attainment (so no discretion, but pay close attention to the marks for borderline cases).  More: www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/intranet/Senate/120308/SE2011.42d.pdf

8. Extenuating circumstances  Reminder that the policy approved and discussed last year is now ‘live’.  Changes: All SEB’s must have EC Sub-boards. Submissions to be received three working days before the EC sub-board (previously 24 hours); Receipts to be issued for all submissions; Standards of evidence; Monitoring.  Dedicated guidance for students: www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk/documents/leaflets/extcircs/5069.pdf www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk/documents/leaflets/extcircs/5069.pdf  More: www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/intranet/Senate/110316/SE2010.35.pdfwww.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/intranet/Senate/110316/SE2010.35.pdf

9. Extenuating circumstances (ctd.): Late submission  Claims submitted after the deadline should be rejected.  However, where a student attempting late submission would manifestly meet the grounds for appeal, the claim may be accepted and a decision taken by Chair’s action if needed, so long as decisions are in place for the main board. This saves students from being put through the appeal process unnecessarily. Where the situation is not clear-cut, it should be left to an appeal.  “Exceptional circumstances, illness, or other relevant factors were not made known at the time for good reason, or were not properly taken into account.”  “‘Good reason’ requires a student to demonstrate that circumstances beyond their control prevented the disclosure of the relevant factors at the appropriate time. Personal embarrassment or unwillingness to disclose personal circumstances shall not count as ‘good reason’ for the purposes of these regulations.”

10. Assessment and Feedback Review  Reminder: the second round of consultation is underway, and will close on 20 April.  Six recommendations, including double marking/moderation, word counts, cases where students answer too many exam questions, and resolving differences between markers.  Any changes will come in from 2012/13.  More: www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/intranet/Senate/120308/SE2011.42c.pdf www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/intranet/Senate/120308/SE2011.42c.pdf

11. External examiners  The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) has published new guidance on external examiners.  This mainly reflects current practice at QM, and the changes are administrative ones.  Three notable points: “8: Names of all students and staff should be omitted from external examiners’ reports, to maintain appropriate confidentiality.” (reminder of existing practice only) “12: All external examiners’ reports should be made available, in full, to all students, with the sole exception of any confidential report which may be made to the vice-chancellor.” “13:The name, position and institution of all external examiners should be included in programme details provided to students, although it will be open to institutions to clearly state that it is inappropriate for students to contact external examiners directly.”  ARCS will consider how best to take forward the guidance and contact Schools and Institutes in due course, especially in regard to recommendation 13.  More: www.guildhe.ac.uk/download.cfm?docid=D6A20925-AC20-462F-8EBAB11562144F64 www.guildhe.ac.uk/download.cfm?docid=D6A20925-AC20-462F-8EBAB11562144F64