Emergency Academic Regulations for Postgraduate Taught Awards 2019/20
1. Introduction
1.1 These Emergency Academic Regulations were approved by Senate on 14 May 2020 under Force Majeure provisions set out in Addendum 1 of the Standard Regulations. (Regulations 2, and 7)
1.2 Wherever possible, the principles and provisions of the standard Academic Regulations are retained in full and where amendments have been made these are designed to support student achievement while maintaining academic standards and the integrity of the University’s awards.
1.3 In operationalising these Emergency Regulations through the University’s administrative processes and system of academic governance, every effort will be made to enact standard procedures.
2. Application of the Regulations
2.1 Status and Scope
2.1.1 Scope:
These Emergency Regulations will supervise all University of Bradford Taught Postgraduate awards regardless of location or mode of delivery. They will apply in their entirety to all such awards and to all students undertaking those awards, unless formal exemption has been approved by, or on behalf of, Senate.
2.1.2 Awards of the University Offered by Partner Institutions:
Where other institutions deliver awards of the University under partnership or franchise arrangements, those institutions and awards are bound by these Emergency Regulations unless formal exemption has been approved by, or on behalf of, Senate.
2.1.5 Duration and Authority:
Subject to approved exemptions (see Section 2.2), these Regulations will apply to all students studying programmes of the University that have been affected by emergency conditions or the until the Vice-Chancellor (or nominee) formally rescinds their authority and application.
2.2 Exemption from the Regulations
Exemption from these Emergency Assessment Regulations must be sought from and approved by Senate.
2.2.1 Approval: Exemption from these Emergency Regulations will normally only be approved if one or more of the following criteria is met:
- To meet specified requirements or expectations of Professional, Statutory’ and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) or other such external bodies that accredit awards of the University.
- To meet specified requirements of bodies/organisations/agencies that sponsor students to study at the University or otherwise require students to provide particular evidence of engagement/study.
- To enable international exchange students to complete specific requirements of their home university/institution
- Where students are studying specific programmes, and/or studying in specific modes and/or are at a point in their studies where only a small proportion of the overall credit for the target award has been affected.
- To enable specific cohorts of students or individual students to transfer to another University or Higher Education Provider.
Any such exemption must be approved by, or on behalf of, Senate. A list of approved exemptions is maintained and published on the University website.
3. General Provisions
3.1 Recognition of Prior Learning
The standard Regulations and procedures relating to the Recognition of Prior Learning shall apply.
3.2 Academic Integrity
The standard Regulations and procedures relating to Academic Integrity shall apply. This includes,
but is not limited to, the use of the Statement of Authenticity for the submission of work online.
3.3 Academic Misconduct
The standard Regulations and procedures relating to Academic Misconduct shall apply.
3.4 Extensions on Assessed Work
All students will be permitted an automatic 14-day extension for all non-time bound assessments
submitted between 1 March 2020 and 30 June 2020. The University will review this timeframe in
light of the emergency conditions and reserves the right to extend the period if necessary.
3.5 Extenuating Circumstances
3.5.1 Claims for Extenuating Circumstances for assessments with a deadline before 1 March 2020
The standard Regulations and procedures relating to Extenuating Circumstances shall apply to all assessments with a submission deadline between 16 September 2019 and 28 February 2020.
3.5.2 Claims for Extenuating Circumstances assessments with a deadline after 1 March 2020
All students will automatically be granted Extenuating Circumstances from the 1 March 2020 up to 30 June 2020 subject to the following conditions.
3.5.2.1 Award of Extenuating Circumstances where no submission is made
Where a student is unable to make a submission for the stated deadline for assignments up to 30 June 2020 (inclusive of the right to a 14-day extension detailed in Section 3.4), no formal claim needs to be submitted.
Such claims will be approved by way of automatic right and no evidence shall be required to substantiate the case.
The appropriate Assessment Committee or Board of Examiners will defer consideration of the affected module(s) until a subsequent meeting and confirm that the student is entitled to an additional attempt without penalty (i.e. at the same attempt number).
3.5.2.2 Award of Extenuating Circumstances where performance has been negatively impacted
Where a student has made a submission for an assignment by the stated deadline for assignments up to 30 June 2020 (inclusive of the right to a 14-day extension detailed in 3.4), but feels that their performance has been compromised, a claim can be submitted to have extenuating circumstances taken into account by the appropriate Assessment Committee or Board of Examiners. Claims must be submitted within ten working days of the date results are released.
Such claims will be approved by way of automatic right and no evidence shall be required to substantiate the case. The appropriate Assessment Committee or Board of Examiners will defer consideration of the affected module(s) until a subsequent meeting and confirm that the student is entitled to an additional attempt without penalty (i.e. at the same attempt number).
3.6 Penalties for the Late Submission of Work
Notwithstanding the provisions set out in Sections 3.4. and 3.5, the standard Regulations and penalties for the late submission of work shall apply.
3.7 Notification of Assessment Results
Notwithstanding the provisions set out in Section 3.7.1 the standard procedures and arrangements for the notification of results shall apply.
3.7.1 Communication of Results to Students
Notwithstanding any changes to the published academic calendar, standard procedures and arrangements for the communication of results to students shall apply. Where changes to the published academic calendar are approved, these shall be communicated to students at the earliest opportunity.
3.8 The Award of Fall Back / Intermediate Awards
The standard Regulations and procedures relating to the conferral of intermediate / Fall Back awards shall apply.
3.9 Suspension of Studies
Where possible, the standard Regulations and procedures relating to the suspension of studies shall apply. In instances where this would unduly disadvantage a student or cohort of students, an additional 1 year of suspension may be granted.
3.10 Student Withdrawal
The standard Regulations and procedures relating to student withdrawal shall apply.
3.11 Maximum Period of Registration
Notwithstanding the provisions described in Section 3.9, Wherever possible, the standard Regulations relating to the maximum period of registration should be applied.
However, a Board of Examiners may exercise its discretion to authorise an extension to the University’s normal Maximum Period of Registration where it deems a student would be treated unfairly or otherwise be unduly disadvantaged if the standard regulations were applied.
3.12 Posthumous Awards
The standard Regulations and procedures relating to the conferral of Posthumous Awards shall apply.
3.13 Aegrotat Awards
The standard Regulations and procedures relating to the conferral of Aegrotat Awards shall apply.
3.14 Revocation of Awards
The standard Regulations and procedures relating to the revocation of awards of the University shall apply.
3.15 Right to Academic Appeal
The standard Regulations and procedures relating to the academic appeal shall apply subject to the following amendment:
Appeals must be submitted within 20 working days of date results are released.
4. The Assessment of Students
4.1 Academic Governance
Subject to the amendments set out in 4.1.1 and 4.1.2, the University’s system of academic governance employed to oversee and determine the outcome of student assessment will be utilised to discharge the Emergency Assessment Regulations.
4.1.1 Operation of Assessment Committees and Boards of Examiners in Exceptional Circumstances.
In recognition of the exceptional circumstances necessitating the implementation of these Emergency Academic Regulations, a revised set of Terms of Reference will supervise decision-making with respect to ratifying marks, approving reassessment opportunities, and conferring awards.
These Terms of Reference are set out in Appendix A.
Each meeting of an Assessment Committee and Board of Examiners will make judgements on student performance within its revised terms of reference and minute the basis on which decisions are made. The outcomes of its deliberations will be recorded in the Student Information System (SITS) using the approved codes.
4.1.2 Operation of Interim Boards of Examiners
An interim Board of Examiners shall be held at the end of the taught component of each programme and normally before the commencement of the dissertation/project. The interim Board will consider performance on taught modules, offer Supplementary Assessment where necessary, and recalculate the Safety Net Baseline in line with Section 6.2.4.1
4.2 Module Assessment
The standard pass criteria for all modules shall apply. Where a waiver has previously been approved detailing non-standard or additional pass criteria, this shall stand.
4.3 Supplementary Assessment
The standard Regulations relating to Supplementary Assessment shall apply.
4.3.1 The Timing of Supplementary Assessment
Standard arrangements for the timing of Supplementary Assessment may be extended or rescheduled due to the prevailing exceptional circumstances.
4.4 Module Failure after Supplementary Assessment
The standard Regulations relating to Supplementary Assessment shall apply.
4.5 Substitution of Modules
The standard regulations and procedures relating to the substitution of modules shall apply.
5. Eligibility for Award
The Standard regulations relating to award eligibility apply. Students will only be considered for an award of the University if they have satisfied the general credit requirements for the award and have satisfied the specific outcomes of the programme set out in the Programme Specification.
5.1 Eligibility for the Award of Degree of Master
Standard eligibility criteria and credit requirements for the award shall apply.
5.2 Eligibility for the Award of Postgraduate Certificate
Standard eligibility criteria and credit requirements for the award shall apply.
5.3 Eligibility for the Award of Postgraduate Diploma
Standard eligibility criteria and credit requirements for the award shall apply.
5.4 Eligibility for the Award Certificate of Continuing Education
Standard eligibility criteria and credit requirements for the award shall apply.
6. Grading of Awards
6.1 General Provisions
The grading of University of Bradford postgraduate taught awards shall be modified in accordance with the application of the Academic Performance Safety Net as set out in 6.2 and 6.3.
Only credit obtained through study on University of Bradford programmes can be used to calculate overall grades, including calculations that utilise the Safety Net Baseline described below. Credits obtained through study at other higher education providers or through the provisions set out in the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Policy may contribute towards an award of the University but marks and/or grades associated with that credit will not be used for the purposes of grading awards.
6.2 Academic Performance Safety Net
6.2.1 General Principles
The Academic Performance Safety Net establishes a benchmark of student performance/achievement below which the overall results for a postgraduate taught programme cannot fall. This benchmark is called the Safety Net Baseline.
The Academic Safety Net will constitute an average derived from actual performance/achievement in ‘unaffected assessments’ undertaken in the current academic year.
An ‘unaffected assessment’ is defined as any assessment or examination with a submission date before 1 March 2020.
6.2.1.1 Use of Rounding in Calculating Marks, Averages, and Safety Nets
Standard regulations will apply to the use of rounding in component and module marks, and in stage averages, award Averages and the calculation of degree classification. The Safety Net Baseline will be shown to one decimal place. Rounding to the nearest whole number will not apply to the calculation of the Safety Net Baseline, or to the calculation of the difference between the Safety Net Baseline and the award average.
Where the Safety Net Baseline is provisional (as described in Section 6.2.4 and 6.2.6) it will be shown to one decimal point. Rounding to the nearest whole number will not apply to any calculation using the Provisional Safety Net Baseline for the purposes of calculating the Firm Safety Net Baseline.
6.2.2 Reliability Tolerance of the Academic Performance Safety Net
The calculation of the Safety Net Baseline must be based on a mean mark derived from sufficient credit for it to provide a reliable indication of achievement. This is defined as the reliability tolerance of the Safety Net.
For Taught Postgraduate awards, the reliability tolerance will be the equivalent of 50% the total credits comprising the award (normally 90 credits).
6.2.3 Calculation of the Safety Net Baseline
The University will determine the credit value of all the assessments in the 2019/20 academic year with submission dates before 1 March 2020 taking into account both the number of credits for the respective module(s) and the percentage contribution of each assessment to the module.
A total, credit-weighted, average of all these assessments will be calculated.
If the total credit value of the unaffected assessments meets the threshold reliability tolerance (i.e. is ≥ 50% of the total credits comprising the Award), then the credit-weighted average of those assessments will determine the Firm Safety Net Baseline.
If the total credit value of the unaffected assessments in the current academic year does not meet the threshold reliability tolerance (i.e. it is less than 50% of the credits comprising Award), then a Provisional Safety Net Baseline will be established according to the method described in 6.2.4.
6.2.4 Calculation of the Provisional Safety Net Baseline
In instances where the reliability tolerance is not met to establish a Firm Safety Net Baseline from unaffected assessments as described in 6.2.3 a Provisional Safety Net Benchmark will be calculated using the weighted mean average of unaffected assessments.
6.2.4.1 Reviewing the Provisional Safety Net Baseline
Boards of Examiners will meet in June, on an interim basis, to ratify the marks for completed modules and offer any Supplementary Assessment opportunities before dissertations/projects and/or other remaining assessments are completed.
Interim Boards of Examiners will recalculate the credit-weighted mean using all results on the programme up to that point and compare it with the Provisional Safety Net Baseline. The Board shall then establish a revised Safety Net Baseline in confirming one of the following outcomes:
- The Baseline remains provisional since insufficient assessment has been completed to meet the reliability tolerance and the provisions described in 6.2.6 will be used for the purposes of determining overall grades.
- Where the recalculated credit-weighted mean meets the reliability tolerance and exceeds the Provisional Safety Net Baseline then this shall stand the Firm Safety Net Baseline and will be used for the purposes of determining overall grades as described in Section 6.2.5.
- Where the recalculated credit-weighted mean meets the reliability tolerance and is not more 5 percentage points below the Provisional Safety Net Baseline then the Board of Examiners shall ratify Provisional Safety Net Baseline as the Firm Safety Net Baseline and it will be used for the purposes of determining overall grades as described in Section 6.2.5.
- Where the recalculated credit-weighted mean meets the reliability tolerance but is more than 5 percentage points below the Provisional Safety Net Baseline then the Committee shall determine that the Firm Safety Net Baseline will be the weighted mean of affected and unaffected assessments and it will used for the purposes of determining overall grades as described in Section 6.2.5
6.2.5 Use of the Safety Net Baseline in determining overall grades
6.2.5.1 If the Award Average exceeds the Firm Safety Net Baseline
If the credit-weighted mean of ratified marks for all assessments that contribute to the Award exceeds the Firm Safety Net Baseline, then this shall stand as the overall result and be used for the purposes of determining overall grades in accordance with the boundaries defined in Section 6.3-7.6.
6.2.5.2 If the Safety Net Baseline exceeds the Award Average
If the credit-weighted mean of ratified marks for all assessments that contribute to the Award is lower than the Firm Safety Net Baseline, then the Baseline shall stand as the overall result and be used for the purposes of determining overall grades in accordance with the boundaries defined in Section 6.3-6.6.
6.2.6 Use of the Provisional Safety Net Baseline in determining overall grades
Following the completion of the programme, Boards of Examiners will compare the Provisional Safety Net Baseline with the credit-weighted mean of all relevant modules.
6.2.6.1 If the Award Average exceeds the Provisional Safety Net Baseline
If the credit-weighted mean of ratified marks for all assessments that contribute to the Award exceeds the Provisional Safety Net Baseline, then this shall stand as the overall result and be used for the purposes of determining overall grades in accordance with the boundaries defined in Section 6.3-6.6.
6.2.6.2 If the Provisional Safety Net Baseline exceeds the Award Average by no more than 5p.p
If the Provisional Safety Net Baseline exceeds the credit-weighted mean of ratified marks for all assessments that contribute to the Award by no more than 5 percentage points, then the Baseline shall stand as the overall result and be used for the purposes of determining overall grades in accordance with the boundaries defined in Section 6.3-6.6.
6.2.6.3 If the Provisional Safety Net Baseline exceeds the Award Average by more than 5p.p
If the Provisional Safety Net Baseline exceeds the credit-weighted mean of ratified marks for all assessments that contribute to the Award by more than 5 percentage points, then Board shall determine that the overall result will be the weighted mean of affected and unaffected assessments and be used for the purposes of determining overall grades in accordance with the boundaries defined in Section 6.3-6.6.
6.3 Grading of the Award of Degree of Master
| Overall Result / Award Average | Grade |
|---|---|
| 68-100 | Distinction |
| 58-67 | Merit |
| 40-66 | Pass |
| <40 | Fail |
6.4 Grading of the Award of Postgraduate Diploma
| Overall Result / Award Average | Grade |
|---|---|
| 68-100 | Distinction |
| 58-67 | Merit |
| 40-66 | Pass |
| <40 | Fail |
6.5 Grading of the Award of Postgraduate Certificate
| Overall Result / Award Average | Grade |
|---|---|
| 68-100 | Distinction |
| 58-67 | Merit |
| 40-66 | Pass |
| <40 | Fail |
6.6 Grading of Certificates of Continuing Education
The University’s award of Certificate of Higher Education is awarded without grades.