Assessment Policy: 6. Details of examination arrangements will be published by the University Examinations Service to students in advance of the scheduled examination periods.
Assessments that require formal invigilation (exams) normally take place on campus and are usually included as a Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRB) requirement.
Examination location and duration will be communicated to students via timetables and examination cover sheets. Detailed information and guidance on running exams can be found on the University Examination Service site which includes:
- Information regarding the examination process.
- Exam templates.
- Instructions on how to access examination timetables via MyTimetable.
- Important information to consider when advising students about examinations.
- Academic staff responsibilities during examination periods.
- Examination key dates.
The University’s Examination Conduct guidance details information which examination candidates need to be aware of before, during and after an examination.
In Foundation Years (level 0), exams must not be used for summative assessment but can be used for formative assessment by exception where this is to prepare students for exams at level 4. At level 4, use of exams should be limited to where needed to prepare students for exams in levels 5 and 6.
Examination scripts
Where exams require hand-written responses, students are expected to write examination scripts in a legible form. If an examination script is illegible or difficult to read and the student has not already been formally warned about legibility, the student is required to transcribe the script prior to marking. This must be completed under supervision. The student must be formally warned in writing that it is their responsibility to submit work in a legible form and any subsequent pieces of illegible work will receive a zero mark.
Feedback on examinations
Students are requesting a range of feedback options including completed assessment grids and one to one meetings on request. Within the HE sector there are a range of exam feedback practices including generic feedback to class, post-exam open days and individual feedback by the module leader on request.
- Standard Agreed Approach: the University wishes to ensure that students receive adequate preparation for examinations.
- The minimum expectation for exam feedback is: to provide one-to-one examination feedback on request by the student.
Module Leaders are responsible for facilitating one-to-one feedback to students on their request. Students are responsible for contacting their Module Leader to request exam feedback (normally within 3 months of sitting an exam). In exceptional cases or where necessary e.g. whole year re-assessment, feedback could be given up to a year of the exam taking place. In addition to the above, module/course teams will also provide one additional type of examination feedback, as appropriate, to fit with teaching practice. This may be one of the following;
- electronic generic feedback (via Blackboard) to a cohort on strengths and weakness of individual questions or the exam in general.
- drop-in post exam session for feed-forward at the end of a semester or at the start of next semester.
- individual electronic feedback – assessment grid for all students.
- individual electronic feedback – written to all students.
- model answers, where applicable/appropriate.
Examination marks are normally given within 3 working weeks (excluding student vacation periods, i.e. Christmas, Easter and summer breaks).
Provisional examination marks should be included in Blackboard Grade Centre and passed to Academic Administration to be processed in SITS and ratified through the Departmental Assessment Boards (DABs). SITS (via My Student Record) is the only place for students to access their full mark profile across all modules studied. These marks remain provisional until the DABs have taken place and the marks are confirmed.
- Exam scripts cannot be retained by students, but the content of the script and tutor feedback comments can be used to facilitate feedback.
- For final year students in their final semester, only one-to-one feedback will be given on request, with priority being given to those students undertaking resits.
Supporting disabled students with examinations
All reasonable adjustments required for exams are arranged by the Examinations Team.
Alternative forms of assessment are recommended when reasonable adjustments would not make the assessment accessible to the student or where time bound assessments would have a detrimental impact on their health or wellbeing. This recommendation is made in exceptional circumstances only. Examples of alternatives that have been provided previously are assignment-based assessments or presentations. For students who are able to sit a time-bound assessment but would struggle with the length of the test with extra time and rest breaks, a 'split' test taken over two sittings can be considered.
Take a look at LTA > Designing Assessments for guidance on writing alternative assessments. You may also wish to contact Student Equality & Inclusion to confirm whether the alternative assessment is accessible for the student.
If a students' first language is British Sign Language (BSL) or where their acquisition of the language has been severely impaired it will be necessary to modify the language of their exam papers. The aim is to make the English as clear as possible so that the student does not need to spend time decoding what is often their second language.
Where students have language modification recommended, tutors should forward exam papers to the Examinations Team. The Examinations Team will forward these to the Disabled Student Support Team for modification to be arranged.
The Examinations Team should then forward the modified version, with all changes visible, to the author/tutor for checking to ensure the meaning and intent of all questions remain unaltered. When all the modifications have been approved, the papers can then be processed.
