04.6 Assessment – Overview

Study Groups

Study groups can be a beneficial way to interact with colleagues in sharing ideas and preparing for assessments. However, care should be taken when using material so produced (such as sample answers to exam or essay questions). Particularly in exams, simply amplifying outlines and summaries developed in study groups risks not answering the actual question set, or providing a stereotyped response when a more careful and thoughtful answer is required. Care should also be taken avoid academic integrity issues by copying another student’s work or ideas.

2. Examinations

Examinations are based on syllabi approved by the Academic Board and made available on the LSS to students at the start of each year. Prior notice will be given of any changes to the structure of an examination. Each year one unit is externally examined for the purposes of quality assurance. Topics (but not identical questions) may appear both on lists of essay topics and in examination questions. The principle of not letting a piece of work count twice towards the final result means that work that has contributed to a student’s final mark will not crop up again in end-of-semester exams – essay questions will not be repeated, and specific texts will not be re-examined. However, there is no reason formative mid-term assessments cannot feature in exams. On the contrary, formative assessment is a type of exam preparation. Similarly, there is no guarantee that exam questions will be drawn evenly from across the unit content or set texts. The entire syllabus is examinable and students “form-guide” at their own risk.

3. All Unit Requirements Must Be Met

In order to pass a unit in any course, a student must fulfil all requirements of the unit (as laid out in the Progression Statement of the syllabus of each unit). Students are expected to attend all timetabled lectures plus any scheduled replacement lectures for all units of the course in which they are enrolled in order to meet the attendance requirements.

4. Results are Provisional Until Moderation

Marks awarded during the year for all assessment items are provisional. They are subject to adjustment arising from the moderation process of the Academic Board. In this process anomalies between markers are removed. Students may experience a delay between the release of feedback from the marker and the release of grade results.

5. Electronic Submission

Essays and other written assignments are normally submitted electronically on the Learning Support System (LSS).