As communicated last week, some staff may take part in a marking boycott as part of action short of a strike. While many of our students will be unaffected by this action, some may be, and we understand that you might be concerned about how this could affect your marks, progression to your next year of study, or graduation.

Please be reassured that we expect your examinations and assessments to take place as currently planned. Your papers are prepared well in advance of the exam period. Please continue to revise and prepare to do your very best in your assessments. If you don’t complete your assessments you will get a mark of zero.

Maintaining the integrity of our awards and supporting you to achieve the assessment outcome you have worked for continue to be our absolute priorities. The university has existing regulations which mean that, despite the circumstances, we are not expecting unreasonable delays to occur and we are confident that appropriate decisions will be made regarding your progression or graduation this summer. We are doing everything we can to ensure you can progress or graduate, knowing that you have met the learning outcomes and have confidence in the value of your degree.

Where marking is completed

If all the marking for your module is completed, we will use the completed module mark as usual. If you meet the required pass marks for your programme, your progression or graduation will be unaffected by the marking boycott.

‘Part-for-whole’ marking

If you have already received marks for the module that are - according to the module guide - worth at least 40% of the module, then we will use your mark for that assessment as the whole mark for the module, on a ‘part-for-whole’ basis. The way that we do that will be described in full on our Quality Manual webpages – the updates will be live by the end of Wednesday 25 May at the latest.

To qualify for a ‘part-for-whole' mark in an assessment that we're not able to mark this semester, you must have completed that assessment. If you don’t complete it, you’ll receive a mark of zero for that assessment.

If the marking boycott affects your module and part-for-whole marking is used to generate your mark then you can accept this as your final mark. It will appear on your transcript, and can be used to help schools make progression and classification decisions according to the normal schedule.

Derived mark

If, because of the marking boycott, we have not been able to mark assessments worth at least 40% of a module, then we will derive a mark for you based on past performance and give you that mark for the elements that are unmarked. The way that we do that will be described in full on our Quality Manual webpages. Updates will be live by the end Wednesday 25 May at the latest.

To qualify for a derived mark in an assessment that we're not able to mark this semester, you must have completed that assessment. If you don’t complete it, you’ll receive a mark of zero for that assessment.

If the marking boycott affects your module and derived marking is used to generate your mark then you can accept this as your final mark. It will appear on your transcript, and can be used to help schools make progression and classification decisions according to the normal schedule.

Most students will be unaffected by the marking boycott. We expect either the part-for-whole or the derived mark regulations to apply to those students impacted. In the unlikely event that your school can’t determine whether you have met these requirements for your programme, they will contact you direct via your university email.

Option for first sit

If the marking boycott affects one of more of your modules and you do not want to accept a part-for-whole or derived mark in those assessments, you can choose one of two first sit options.

1. Waiting until your original assessment can be marked
2. Taking the assessment again at the first opportunity and waiting for it to be marked

If you choose a first sit option, we cannot at this point give you a firm date by which your assessments will be marked. This means that we cannot guarantee you will be able to progress to your next year of study, or graduate, to the expected timetable.

For finalists, if you choose either of the first sit options, your derived or part-for-whole marks no longer apply. Your first sit mark will be entered on to your transcript, whether it is lower or higher than your derived or part-for-whole mark.

For non-finalists, we will base current progression decisions on the marks available now, and future classification decisions on derived or part-for-whole mark, or actual mark, whichever is higher.

Programmes with PSRB requirements

Some programmes or individual modules carry an extra professional accreditation element. This may mean there are additional standards or requirements around the assessment or marking process.

If your programme or module carries these requirements, and you are likely to be affected by the marking boycott, your module/programme convenor will contact you individually via your university email to discuss your options.

Graduation

Graduation ceremonies will take place through July and August. Our Registry and Academic Affairs team have sent finalists an invitation to register for the ceremonies to their university email addresses. Please continue to plan for your summer graduation ceremonies.

We understand that you may have questions regarding the boycott and your marks. Your schools are currently working through the detail of the regulations and how the marking boycott will affect them. If you have further queries, please check our FAQs. We will be updating these FAQs over the coming days. If they do not answer your query, your School will provide a contact who should be able to help you. They will respond to you as soon as possible, but please do be patient as they work through the detail of your query.

For information on your assessments – including revision aids, welfare support and links to your timetables – visit our exam support webpages.