Normally, students should be provided their provisional marks and feedback in the Blackboard gradebook 15 working days after the submission deadline (3 week turnaround). The feedback return date for submissions without extensions is displayed to staff and students in the Module Information tool in Blackboard. See Grade and Feedback Requirements for further details on key requirements related to marking and providing feedback.
Marking Work
The University Grade Descriptors (UGD3) define which task marks should be given for different levels of achievement (e.g. high 1st). Read the staff guidance on using the University Grade Descriptors (DOCX, 66.8KB). Please to talk your course and module leaders for guidance on the agreed approach to using the UGD in your local area.
Extensions
Students are able to apply for up to 4 extensions each year of their course, across all of their first sit coursework assessments and reassessments. These extensions are granted in My Student Record and do not require students to submit evidence. These extensions are for 5 working days, and students can see their new due date/time in My Student Record, however the Blackboard submission point will always show the original class deadline. Students can apply for an extension up to 24 hours after the original deadline, in the event they have submitted up to 24 hours late.
Students with certain learning contracts may also be given extensions of 10 working days without a limit on the number each year.
Note: The change to extensions described above has replaced the practice of capping a mark for work submitted 24 hours late. Work submitted late without an authorised extension should be given a mark of zero.
Identifying students with extensions
To find out which students have extensions and their new deadlines, you can check the Extensions (RESD) Outcomes Report (requires VPN or on campus to access). This link will download a spreadsheet of all students who have extensions and needs to be filtered for your module and the correct academic year. The column New Due Date has the extended due dates for students with 5 day extensions. Extended due dates for students with learning contracts will be shown in the Stage 1 MRA Due Date column (for first sit assessment extensions) and Stage 2 MRA Due Date column (for reassessment extensions).
The report is generated after midnight, reflecting extensions granted in SITS the previous day. You need to wait until two mornings after the due date to be able to see all students who may have an extension granted for that submission in the report.
DTS is working on an integration inside of Blackboard to help academics with identifying students with extensions but it is not ready for use yet.
Providing Feedback
There are a range of ways to provide feedback on coursework to students, including face-to-face or electronically. However a record of feedback should be provided via the Blackboard Gradebook alongside the provisional mark. It is important the approach to feedback is consistent across all module markers so the approach should be discussed and agreed by course and module teams: please check if a whole school/institute approach is agreed as well.
Blackboard has a range of tools which can support feedback such as Bb Annotate (inline feedback comments on the work), Rubrics, Audio/Video Feedback, and a text editor within the Gradebook. Alternatively, student work can be downloaded from Blackboard for annotating offline and re-uploading to the Gradebook. Other types of feedback can be generated offline and upload to the Gradebook including Word- or Excel-based marking grids; audio, video or screencast feedback generated using tools such as Panopto.
Academic Misconduct
If during marking you suspect you may have found a case of academic misconduct, please see the guidance on Academic Misconduct which details the processes you should follow.
Legibility
Students are responsible for ensuring that all assessment is presented in a legible form.
Coursework
Students are normally expected to submit written coursework in a typewritten, word-processed or a legible handwritten format, depending on the assessment brief. If a student submits a piece of coursework which is illegible, they are required to transcribe the work prior to it being marked. 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.
Examination scripts
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 conducted 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.
