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Exams and coursework procedures

Understanding the University assessment regulations and processes will help you have a positive learning experience and the best opportunity to progress and succeed.

Your learning is assessed in a number of ways so that you, and the University, can be sure you’re gaining the required skills, knowledge and marks to progress and achieve your award.

All courses and awards are governed by university regulations and processes. They’re designed to ensure that the course is structured, delivered and assessed in a fair, consistent and transparent way.

Important changes to the penalties for late submission of assessments

Following the consultation with students and staff in April 2023, the Academic Board has approved a change to the late submission policy.

From August 2023 the following policy will apply to late submission from the start of a student’s 23-24 academic year.

Please note that some Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRB) have approved special regulations that mean late submission is not allowed.

For further details on what this means and the support available click here.

Your guide to assessment and awards processes

Check your Guide to Assessment and Award Processes for information about different types of assessment and how to ensure your work gets the best possible mark.

The Office for Students (OfS) requires all higher education providers to follow standard assessment criteria with a focus on what has been achieved and an emphasis on standards around spelling, punctuation, grammar and numeracy appropriate to your learning outcomes.  

It is important that you check your Course and Module Handbooks for your assessment criteria which will be included as part of your assessment brief. We take a compassionate approach to learning, providing supportive feedback on assessments that helps students to develop and succeed in their studies.

If you have questions that are specific to your assessment criteria, please contact your personal academic tutor (PAT) or course tutor. For any concerns about how your personal circumstances may impact your ability to successfully undertake your assessment please contact the Student Wellbeing Team.

Learn about approved marking and degree classifications. 

The regulations set out in detail the expectations of candidates at on campus exams.

The following is a summary which you should read carefully, as any breach is likely to result in disciplinary action.

Be Prepared

  • Check your timetable so that you know where and when your exam will be, and how long it will take you to get there. You don’t get extra time if you’re late.
  • Exams are usually held at 9am (09.00) 1pm (13.00) and 4pm (16.00).
  • Make sure you have your Smartcard (Student ID). Contact the i-zone if you have lost it.

Remember

  • Your Smartcard (student ID).
  • Drinks in plastic bottles or cartons only, make sure there are no notes or writing on them.
  • Your glasses, pens and pencils, but not the cases.
  • Written permission if you are allowed to use a translation dictionary.


On the day

  • Arrive on time – at least 15 minutes before the exam.
  • It may sound obvious, but make sure you go to the loo just before the exam! Otherwise you lose time and disturb everyone else too.
  • Remove hats and hoods when entering the exam room.
  • If you do have to leave the exam room, be aware that you will be asked to empty your pockets.
  • Leave all your belongings including all electronic devices (that includes phones, smart watches and programmable calculators etc.) where you are told to, and make sure they are turned off. Better still, leave them at home.

Do

  • Sit at the desk with your name on it.
  • Display your Smartcard (student ID) on your desk throughout the exam.
  • Listen carefully to any instructions given to you.
  • Let staff inspect anything on your desk.
  • Remain silent.
  • Put your hand up to speak to the invigilator or ask to leave the room, the invigilator will come to you.


Don’t

  • Take anything to your desk other than the allowed items.
  • Be late – you won’t be given any extra time.
  • Turn over the exam paper until told to.
  • Write anything until given permission.
  • Leave the exam in either the first or last hour (i.e. you can’t leave a two hour exam).
  • Act in any way that disturbs anyone else in the room.
  • Cheat or do anything that might look like cheating.
  • Take any of the stationery off your desk at the end of the exam, including your notes.

If you have a Learning Support Plan, your adjustment requirements will have been identified and organised. If you do not have a Learning Support Plan in place you need to apply for assessment adjustments by registering with the Disability Team as soon as you can. The more notice you give, the more you can be confident that the adjustments can be put in place in time.

Students who have taken an examination or time-specific assessment, but experienced an issue during or close to that date which affected their performance may request a further chance to take the assessment through an Impaired Performance Request.

If you have been given permission to use a translation dictionary, you must bring a copy of permission with you each time.

Some formal assessments and reassessments will be conducted as take-home online exams.

What is involved in a take-home exam?

Take-home online exams will be similar to the formal exams you would have taken in-person on campus.

A take-home exam involves:

  • the examination paper being made available to students through their module blackboard
  • downloading the examination paper
  • completing the examination on your own computer
  • submitting your completed examination paper through Turnitin

You must complete your exam at the time it is published. If you don’t, this can lead to you failing in that part of the exam unless you’ve been granted an extension or deferral.

How long will I have to complete the take-home exam?

The take-home exam is designed to be completed within the time constraint normally given to exams on campus. Your tutors will not expect you to take longer than the time given to complete it (e.g. two or three hours), and you should not work on your answers for longer than what is advised on the exam paper. In some instances, your tutor will give you an indication of the maximum word count to be written, and you should not go over the limit, otherwise you may incur some penalties.

You are given 24 hours in which to upload your work to Turnitin. This means that when the exam starts at 11am (UK Time), it will finish at 11am (UK Time) 24 hours later.

The 24 hours takes into account that you may experience additional challenges taking the exam remotely or scheduling it around other responsibilities at home. It also allows students who are normally entitled to additional time, rest breaks, an individual room or the use of a computer to manage these arrangements themselves within the 24-hour window.

It is recommended that you attempt your exam as early as you are able to within the 24-hour window to allow yourself time to resolve technical issues if these arise. For courses with specific professional or statutory requirements, you may be given fewer than the standard 24 hours to complete the exam or may be required to do the exam on campus. You will be informed of this during the course of the module.

Where will my take-home exam paper be on Blackboard?

A new section of your module blackboard will be created, where you will be able to:

  • access the examination paper
  • read university guidance on the examination
  • access any additional resources if these are relevant to your examination
  • submit your take-home exam answers through Turnitin

You should include your Student ID and Module Title in your answer document. You should format your take-home examination answers as instructed in the exam cover sheet. If there are no specific instructions, you should format it in the same way as you format your coursework essays or assignments. If you are unsure about formatting, contact your module leader.

You should submit them through Turnitin in this take-home exams area. You will be able to resubmit your examination up until the deadline if you notice an error in the file you have uploaded.

What will I need to be able to complete take-home exams?

You will require a personal computer, a reliable stable internet connection and access to your module blackboard.

We strongly advise that you do not use a Wi-Fi hotspot when downloading materials or uploading your completed exam to Turnitin. Please note that should you be unable to upload your exam before the deadline, a reason of ‘poor internet connection’ will not be accepted in any claim for exceptional circumstances.

PC’s at any of our campuses can be used for take-home examinations.

Please note: By taking the exam you are declaring that it is entirely your own work. Be aware that the usual checks for authenticity will be carried out, using Turnitin and other means, and you will face the same penalties as usual if it has been proven that you have plagiarised or colluded with others.

In your Course Handbook you’ll find information about when and how to submit coursework. This can help you plan and manage your assessment workload.

It’s important that you complete all your assessments on time. There are penalties for late submission of work, unless you’ve been granted an extension or deferral.

You’ll normally submit your coursework assessment activities through Turnitin. This online service lets you upload draft versions of your assessments, so you and your tutors can check your work for originality and guard against plagiarism.

For a variety of reasons (illness, dyslexia, disability, English not your first language, etc.) you may be entitled to have adjustments made for your exams to help you achieve your best.

To apply for an adjustment, please register with the Disability Team at least three months before your exam(s) or as soon as you know you’ll need an adjustment.

We understand that sometimes things happen outside of your control – illness, for example – and that affects your ability to meet your assessment deadlines. We offer different support for problems affecting your study in the short, medium or long term.

Anonymous marking

Anonymous marking is a practice which ensures that the identity of students remains unknown to staff who mark their assessments.

Following a series of pilots during 2021/22 and 2022/23, and the resulting feedback from staff and students, the University has committed to using anonymous marking as much as possible for the 2023/24 academic year and beyond.

Anonymous marking doesn’t change what is taught on your course, or the criteria by which you are assessed. It simply means that your identity is hidden from staff who mark your assessment or re-assessment. Anonymous marking is widely used across UK universities and provides additional reassurance to students that their work is marked fairly and impartially.

Not all forms of assessments are marked anonymously – for example, if you have group practical's, clinical skills or oral assessments, they will be exempt.

Assessments that will be marked anonymously include coursework, essays, exams and other written work submitted via Turnitin. For these, you will use your numerical student ID rather than your name when submitting your work. This will hide your identity from the person marking your work, but means you can still be identified by authorised staff if there is a legitimate reason (e.g. the assessment was wrongly submitted).

For more information about the purpose of anonymous marking and a checklist of which types of assessments are exempt, please see the Anonymous Marking Policy.

 

Anonymous marking - Frequently Asked Questions

Anonymous marking doesn’t change what is taught as part of your course, so you will only notice a change when you come to submit an assessment that it is to be marked anonymously, e.g. an essay or an exam.

For assessments that are to be marked anonymously, you will use the numbers from your Student ID rather than your name in the assessment submission. Your student ID can be found on your student Smartcard. If you cannot find your student ID, please ask the i-zone.

Full instructions will be given to you before you are expected to submit an assessment.

If you accidentally insert your name on your assessment, the only consequence is that the marker will be aware of your identity. They will still use their professionalism to ensure that this does not affect their academic judgement.

For further guidance on submitting to Turnitin if your assignment is anonymous marked, please see the section 'Submitting work to Turnitin if you are part of the Anonymous Marking Pilot' on the Submitting work to Turnitin pages.

If you submit your work in the wrong place, or forget to insert your Student ID, the University has put safeguards in place to ensure that you can be linked to work you have submitted. You will, however, need to show evidence that you submitted the work. We still recommend that you save your work in various places and do not delete it until after you have completed your studies.

Every effort will be made to ensure you remain anonymous; however, there may be compelling reasons why a student's identity needs to be revealed. For example:

  • If the student has submitted their work to an incorrect submission point.
  • For Boards of Examiners, Extenuating Circumstances, Complaints, Appeals, Academic Misconduct cases and other panels where the student's identity is necessary for action to be taken in line with the university's polices and procedures.

There may also be instances where students can be identified by a process of elimination, e.g. the cohort on a module or course is small or a student submits their work in a unique format due to reasonable adjustments.

During the 2021/22 and 2022/23 academic years, the following courses - representing all three Faculties and undergraduate levels of study - took part in a series of anonymous marking pilots:

  • BA (Hons) Archaeology (Levels 0, 4, 5, 6)
  • (MMus) Master of Music
  • BA (Hons) Primary Education (Level 4 full-time)
  • BSc (Hons) Public Health and Health Promotion (Level 4)
  • BSc (Hons) Mental Health, and Wellbeing and Society (Level 4)
  • BSc (Hons) Child Nursing (Level 4)
  • MSc Forensic and Investigative Psychology
  • MSc Foundation in Clinical Psychology
  • BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science (Foundation Year)
  • BSc (Hons) Sport Coaching Science (Foundation Year)
  • BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy & Rehabilitation (Foundation Year)
  • BSc (Hons) Physical Education and Sport & Exercise Science (Foundation Year)