Academic Affairs

PresentationExamination Liaison Officers

16 February 2015

Catherine McCorry / Angela Douglas

Academic Affairs

Introduction

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

• Code of Practice on Examinations and Assessment

• Study Regulations

• Rounding of Marks

• Degree Weightings, Classifications & Mark Scales

• Predominance Rule

• Discounting a Module

• Discounting and Predominance

• Questions

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

• The CoP on Examinations and Assessment can be found at

http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/AcademicAffairs/ExaminationsandAssessment/

• Outlines Queen’s University Belfast’s procedures for the assessment

and examination of students on undergraduate and taught

postgraduate programmes, including the taught elements of

professional doctorates.

• Complements the Study Regulations for Undergraduate Students and

the Study Regulations for Postgraduate Taught Students. In the event

of any conflict of interpretation between the Code of Practice and the

Regulations, the Regulations prevail.

Code of Practice on Examinations and Assessment

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

The Code of Practice on Examinations and Assessment also provides advice and

guidance on:

•University Assessment Policy

•Guidance on Assessment and Feedback

•The Examinations Process

•The Role of the Exams Liaison Officer

•Exceptional Circumstances and Progression

•Board of Examiners and External Examiners

•Guidelines on Marking the Work of Students with Dyslexia

•Late Submission of Assessed Work

Code of Practice on Examinations and Assessment

Study Regulations

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

• The use of the Conceptual Equivalents (CE) Scale is mandatory for both UG and PGT programmes.

• From 2014-15 the CE Scale was updated to reflect Level 4 undergraduate masters provision, where applicable.

• There is a common pass mark of 50% for all taught postgraduate awards. The pass mark for all undergraduate programmes is 40 % unless an exemption has been granted.

• Failure in a total of two modules or their equivalent above Level 1 shall not of itself preclude the award of a classified Honours degree, except where stricter regulations apply. These will be stated in the relevant programme regulations.

Study Regulations continued

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

• When a failed module is retaken, the overall module mark will be capped at the pass mark (40% or 50%) for degree classification purposes.

• Compensation of level 1 marks is no longer available for students first enrolled on a programme from 2009-10.

• Viva voce examinations cannot be used for degree classification purposes.

Ordinary Degrees

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

• There is no direct entry to the Ordinary degree. Transfer will not be permitted before the student has attempted six modules above Level 1.

• Students first enrolled on an Ordinary degree prior to 2009-10, a minimum of nine modules must be above Level 1.

• Students first enrolled on an Ordinary degree from 2009-10 and thereafter, a minimum of 9 modules must be above Level 1 and a minimum of three at Level 3. For an Ordinary degree to awarded 300 CATS i.e. 15 modules passed, are required.

Rounding of Marks:Students first enrolled on programme prior to 2008/09

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

• Individual module marks must be rounded up or down and must be returned by the Board of Examiners as integers. The integer is the mark that is released to the student and that is used in calculating the final overall mark for classification purposes.

• The overall final mark (i.e. the mark arrived at once all the weighted individual module marks are brought together) should be presented to one decimal place and rounded to an integer before going forward to the Board of Examiners. It must be rounded up to the nearest whole number where it contains a fraction of .5 or more, and rounded down to the nearest whole number where it contains a fraction of less than .5

• The rounded overall final integer mark will be used to determine classification and eligibility for predominance

Rounding of Marks:Students first enrolled on programme prior to 2008/09

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

The following provide examples of rounding:

•a mark of 59.7 is rounded up to 60, giving the student a 2.1

•a mark of 56.7 will be rounded up to 57, bringing the student within the threshold for predominance

•a mark of 59.49 will be presented to one decimal place, becoming 59.4, and will then be rounded down to 59. There will be no automatic 2.1 but the student will be eligible for predominance.

Rounding of Marks:Students first enrolled on programme from 2008/09

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

• Individual module marks must be rounded up or down and returned

by the Board of Examiners as integers.

• The overall final mark (i.e. the mark arrived at once all the weighted

individual module marks are brought together) should be presented to

a decimal place and rounded to an integer for the purpose of

determining degree classification. For example, a weighted

average mark of 59.7 is rounded up to 60, giving the student a 2.1.

• The overall final mark (i.e. the mark arrived at once all the weighted

individual module marks are brought together) should be presented to

a decimal place and the decimal place discarded for the purpose of

determining eligibility for predominance. For example, a weighted

average mark of 56.7 does not qualify for consideration under the

predominance rule as the .7 must be discarded.

Rounding of Marks:Unclassified Undergraduate Programmes and Postgraduate Taught Programmes

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

• Individual module marks must be rounded up or down and must be returned by the Board of Examiners as integers. The integer is the mark that is released to the student.

• The overall final mark (ie the mark arrived at once all the weighted individual module marks are brought together) should be presented to a decimal place and rounded to an integer. For example, a weighted average mark of 59.5 is rounded up to 60.

Weightings & Classification Thresholds:*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

• Honours classifications are determined by the average of the weighted marks for the individual modules which contribute to the classification. Each Board of Examiners must apply the relevant weighting for the programme.

• To take account of exit velocity, the weighting applied to a module depends on the stage in which the module is taken. For example, the relevant Stage 2 weighting would be applied to a L3 module taken in Stage 2. Likewise, a L2 module taken in Stage 3 would be weighted as a Stage 3 module.

Degree Weightings:Students first enrolled on programme prior to 2009/10

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

• For a three-year undergraduate honours degree, the weighting will be either 25:75 or 40:60 for Stages 2 and 3.

• For students enrolled through the School of Education’s part-time undergraduate degree provision prior to 2003-2004, all modules that count towards the degree classification are weighted equally.

• For the MSci and MEng extended undergraduate honours degrees, the weighting will be 12.5/37.5/50 for Stages 2, 3 and 4.

• For the MPharm extended undergraduate honours degree, the weighting will be 10:45:45 for Stages 2, 3 and 4.

Degree Weightings:Students first enrolled on programme from 2009/10

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

• For a three-year undergraduate honours degree the weighting will be 10% 30% 60% for Stages 1, 2 and 3 respectively.

• For MSci and MEng degrees the weighting will be 5% 15% 30% 50% for Stages 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively.

• For the MPharm extended undergraduate honours degree, the weighting will be 5% 5% 45% 45% for Stages 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively.

• For four-year honours degrees in the School of Modern Languages prior to 2012-13 where the third year is spent on placement abroad, the module weightings used will be 10% 20% 10% 60% for Stages 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. For students enrolled in 2012-13 and thereafter revert to the current single classification of 10%, 30% 60%.

Degree Weightings:Advanced Entry / Change of Programme

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

Students who entered a programme in Stage 2 or Stage 3 / Final Year

•Schools should classify students using weightings that reflect the relative proportions of the years studied in the normal scheme.

•For example, 2nd and 3rd year normally count for 30% and 60% in a 3 year programme, so a student admitted into second year will have his or her results weighted at 33 1/3% and 66 2/3% for the two years.

•Anyone admitted into final year would be classified on that year alone.

A student first enrolled on a programme prior to 2009/10, who subsequently transfers to another programme of study carrying some or all of the previous credit obtained, should have degree classifications calculated using the weightings in force prior to and after 2009/10 and the better result should be awarded.

Classification Thresholds:Undergraduate Honours Degrees

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

The classification thresholds for honours degrees are as follows:

70+ First Class

60+ Second Class, First Division

50+ Second Class, Second Division

40+ Third Class

Below 40 Fail

Mark Scales:Graduate Certificates and Diplomas

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

For Graduate Certificate and Diploma results there shall be a common

mark scale as follows:

70+ Pass with distinction

60+ Pass with commendation

40+ Pass

Below 40 Fail

Mark Scales:Postgraduate Certificates, Diplomas and Master’s

*Note: Schools are required to notify the Director of Academic and Student Affairs of the date of submission of papers to External Examiners.

For Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma and Master’s

Degree* results there shall be a common mark scale as follows:

70+ Pass with distinction

60+ Pass with commendation

50+ Pass

Below 50 Fail

*For Master’s Degrees, a pass with distinction will be awarded only when the following three conditions have been satisfied: an overall average of 70+ is achieved and a mark of 70+ is achieved in the dissertation module and an average of 65+ is achieved in the other modules.

Predominance Rule

The Study Regulations for Undergraduate Programmes, regulations 1.4.26-1.4.30 outlines the University regulations concerning Honours Classification and the Predominance Rule.

The thresholds for eligibility to be considered for a higher class of degree under the predominance rule are as follows:

- 67+ for consideration for First Class

- 57+ for consideration for Second Class, First Division

- 47+ for consideration for Second Class, Second Division

- 37+ for consideration for Third Class For a higher classification to be awarded under predominance, the following must apply:(a) the overall weighted percentage mark (see above) must be at or above one of the thresholds set out above; and (b) at least half the contributing weighted module marks must be in the higher classification.

Predominance Rule

The following formula for the predominance rule must be applied except

where an exemption has been granted:

  - Let n1, n2, n3, and n4 be the number of modules at Stages 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively in which the mark is above the relevant borderline.

- Let p1, p2, p3, and p4 be the percentage weights at Stages 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively (for example, if Stage 3 is weighted at 30%, then p3 = 30).

The higher classification is awarded if:

  Three year Bachelor’s degrees: n1 x p1 + n2 x p2 + n3 x p3 ≥ 300

  MEng/Msci degrees: n1 x p1 + n2 x p2 + n3 x p3 + n4 x p4 ≥ 300

Predominance Rule

For four-year honours degrees in the School of Modern Languages, where the third year is spent on placement abroad:

If the result of the placement is in the higher classification then

n3 = 6 and p3 = 10.

The higher classification is awarded if:

  n1 x p1 + n2 x p2 + n3 x p3 + n4 x p4 ≥ 300

Discounting a Module

• Boards of Examiners have the discretion to discount the lowest module mark for classification purposes.

• The decision will be based on evidence that the module mark does not reflect the student’s normal level of performance.

• The lowest module mark may be discounted only if it is a pass mark at first attempt.

Discounting and Predominance

The actual mark for a module that has been discounted is not

included in the predominance calculation. Instead, the average

of the remaining marks for the Stage in which the discounted

module was taken is calculated. The discounted mark is then

replaced for predominance purposes with this average mark.

For example, if the discounted mark is 51 and the average of

the five remaining modules in the Stage is 67, the

predominance calculation will use the mark of 67 in place of the

actual mark of 51. Predominance will therefore still be based on

18 modules (for a three year degree with first enrolment in

2009-10 or thereafter). The actual mark, will however, be

published in the normal way, and will appear on the student’s

transcript. The mark will be identified as “discounted” (dtd)

Any Questions?