There are two situations where students will be doing Reassessment.
Referral
Where a student has not passed an assessment task they will normally be referred. Following referral, the reassessment task will be capped at the minimum pass mark. Referral is on a ‘task for task’ basis.
- Referral work would be for each individual assessment task where there is a mark of below the minimum pass mark, and where the overall module mark is below the minimum pass mark.
- Where a module is not passed, the student should retake all assessment tasks that have a mark below the minimum pass mark.
- Where reassessment is taken, the best mark is used to calculate the overall module result.
- Where reassessment is not taken, a mark of zero will be recorded but the previous mark will be used to calculate the overall module result.
- Academics should mark the work in Blackboard on the basis of full marks, but the assessment task will be capped at the minimum pass mark in SITS.
Students should submit referral tasks to the Reassessment submission points on Blackboard - and marks must be inputted there for mark transfer of referrals.
Deferral
If a student has applied for having Exceptional Circumstances (EC) and an Exceptional Circumstances Panel agrees that a student's circumstances are valid and acceptable, then the student will be given a deferral in the assessment task, providing that they have not already passed the module. If they have passed the module but wish to undertake the deferral attempt to improve their overall degree outcome, they are allowed to do so at levels 6 and 7 subject to meeting specified criteria.
Deferred assessment is always 'task-for-task'. Students can be deferred against a referred attempt which can lead to continued reassessment.
Where a student is unable to submit an assessment task due to exceptional circumstances and only needs a short period of additional time, then the student should request an extension.
Students should submit deferral tasks to the Reassessment submission points on Blackboard - and marks must be inputted there for mark transfer of deferrals.
Format and content of Reassessment tasks
For both types of Reassessment:
- The reassessment task should normally be the same format as the initial assessment task (e.g. if the initial task was an exam, the reassessment will normally be an exam).
- Typically it should be a re-work of the original task, or where this is not appropriate (i.e. in a multiple choice test where answers have been revealed), a new task will be required.
- An alternative format of the task may be set up if it is not appropriate to use the same method as at the initial attempt, for example group work or a task during a field trip. The alternative assessment must be of the same rigour and standard as the original assessment.
Reassessment area on Blackboard
Each Blackboard module site should have a Reassessment area already set up which is hidden to students by default. If you have students who are referred or deferred, you should make the Reassessment area available at the appropriate time and ensure proper guidance is added to the folder about the reassessment task.
A reassessment submission point or column should already be set up in each Blackboard site; which one is dependent on the data in SITS about the assessment task. That will be unavailable by default and you will need to make it available to students.
