We expect students to take all reasonable steps to adhere to University submission arrangements and instructions for individual submissions. However, there could be occasions where there is a technical or user-error issue with a student’s online submission, such as an unreadable file or an incorrect file format being submitted. The general position in these circumstances is to find in favour of the student and aim to have a consistent approach which is not punitive towards the student. A judgement on the appropriate action should be made on the basis of:
- how clear the instructions are which have been provided to the student regarding how to submit.
- whether the student concerned has a disability which may affect their ability to follow written instructions.
- whether the student has been advised previously about incorrect submission attempts.
For guidance on your local approach, it is recommended you discuss with LTA leadership in your school/institute to ensure consistency.
Storage and system issues
The majority of student work generated electronically can be submitted online through Blackboard. However, files that are over 250MB cannot be submitted directly as attachments to Blackboard. There are alternative methods to allow students to submit large or medial files electronically for marking.
It is recommended that you do not store any submissions content to local D drives. Please refer to Digital Technology Service (DTS) guidance on Cloud Storage and staff guidelines on the use of IT Facilities.
If you require additional storage on your personal drive F (all staff get 500mb), a private area on shared N drive or access to the Q drive, contact DTS via the Assyst online portal, who will consider requests for additional space.
System unavailability
If system unavailability prevents the submission of work, an extended period of time equivalent to the duration of system unavailability (up to 48 hours) is to be allowed to complete the submission. A standard message will be placed on Blackboard and College will contact students with further details. If there is to be a delay in allowing students to submit work due to system unavailability, updates will be communicated to students via the Assessment Scheduler.
