Regulations for students admitted from September 2006 and before September 2012

These regulations take effect from 2006/07 for students admitted during or after September 2006. Students admitted before September 2006 are subject to the former Regulations for Higher Degrees.

In addition to the regulations below, students will be subject to the supplementary regulations for their individual courses, and some programmes will be subject to Fitness to Practice regulations, details of which are included in relevant course handbooks.

Curriculum Catalogue

Assessment Regulations

Assessment regulations can be found on the following page:

Assessment and marking policies

Extenuating circumstances

Guidance on managing students with extenuating circumstances can be found on the following: 

Extenuating circumstances

Frameworks and Programme specification

For more information about the University's Qualifications Framework or Programme specification guidance, please consult the following:

University of Nottingham Qualifications Framework

Programme specification guidance

Further information

Schools can obtain guidance on these regulations by emailing: pg-regulations@nottingham.ac.uk   

1.   To qualify for an award a student must:

(a)   Pursue an approved course of study as prescribed by a programme specification

(b)   Pass the assessments specified in these Regulations and in the relevant programme specification.

(c)   Successfully complete any additional components that are required as specified in the relevant programme specification.

2.   Students must select their modules in accordance with the relevant programme specification and the University’s Qualifications Framework. This selection should be undertaken in consultation with their academic tutors and shall be subject to the approval of their Head of School. A School offering a module has the right to refuse admission to that module.

For more information about the University's Qualifications Framework, please consult the following:

University of Nottingham Qualifications Framework

3.   In making their selection of modules, students must satisfy any prerequisites, corequisites or other requirements set out in the relevant module or programme specification.

4.   Students may not select taught modules worth more than 75 credits in any one semester.

5.   The work presented for assessment for an award of a taught postgraduate qualification must be the result of work done mainly while the candidate is registered as a student of this University.

6.   The pass mark for a module comprising part of a Masters course is 50%. The pass mark for a module comprising part of a Postgraduate Diploma or Certificate course is 40%.

7.   The module specification states how the components of the module will be combined to form a module mark and whether a particular mark must be gained in individual components of the module in order for the module as a whole to be passed. A student who passes the module will be awarded the credit for that module.

8.   A student who fails to pass a module may nevertheless be awarded the credit for that module in the circumstances set out in Regulations 10 and 11 (in the Completion of a stage section) below.

9.   Credit may also be awarded under the University’s policy on Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) (now known as Recognition of Other Learning (ROL)). For more information, please consult the following:

Recognition of Other Learning

10.   Where Schools require students to pass or to perform at a particular minimum level in the taught stage of a course before progressing to the dissertation/project stage this will be explicitly stated in the programme specification.

11.   A student who fails one or more modules for the taught stage of the course will still complete that stage and so be awarded the total credit for that stage provided that:

• They have passed modules worth at least 80 credits (or 40 credits for students on Postgraduate Certificate courses), and
• Have a weighted average for the taught stage of at least 50% with no module marks of less than 40% (a weighted average of at least 40% with no module marks of less than 30% for Postgraduate Diploma and Certificate students)

Notwithstanding the above, if stated in the programme specifications for Taught Masters Degrees and Postgraduate Diplomas, module marks for up to 20 credits can be below 40% (30% for Postgraduate Diploma) and be compensated if the student has passed modules worth at least 80 credits and has a weighted average of at least 50% (40% for Postgraduate Diploma).

12.   A course may only have progression requirements more stringent than those stated in Regulation 11 above if there is a demonstrable requirement from a professional or accrediting external body. Students who fail to satisfy the requirements of such a course but who nonetheless satisfy the progression criteria as stated in Regulations 10 and 11 will be eligible for the award of a named non-accredited degree.

13.   Regulation 11 will not apply to any module which is listed in the relevant programme specification as not compensatable. A student who fails such a module will not complete that stage without successfully undertaking re-assessment in that module. The Masters dissertation/project stage will always be non-compensatable.

14.   A student who, at the first attempt, has not satisfactorily completed the taught stage or dissertation/project stage of the course has a right to one re-assessment in each failed module at a time to be specified by the admitting School but normally by the end of the following academic year or equivalent for part-time students. At the discretion of the School delivering the module, the form of the re-assessment may be different from the first attempt for taught modules, provided that it tests the same learning outcomes and to the same standard. The full marks gained on re-assessment will be used for determining whether compensation can occur under the provision of Regulation 11 (in the Completion of a stage section) above.

15.   Where a student has pass marks in one or more components of the module, but has failed the module overall, the School delivering the module may limit the re-assessment to the components which have been failed. The re-assessment mark for the module will then be a combination (on the same basis as in Regulation 7 in the Award of credit section above) of the marks from the components passed first time and the components which have been re-assessed.

16.   At the discretion of a student’s School (and, if different, the School delivering the module), a student may be permitted to repeat their enrolment in failed modules (which will include attendance at all scheduled classes and submission of all coursework) before taking the re-assessments. A module specification may stipulate that, in order for a student to be re-assessed in a particular module, the student must repeat their enrolment in that module.

17.   Students may not be re-assessed in modules they have already passed.

18.   A student who, after re-assessment, has not passed assessments as specified in these regulations and the relevant programme specification will have no further re-assessment opportunities. However, a student may, at the discretion of their School (and, if different, the School delivering the module), be permitted one further re-assessment in up to 40 credits worth of modules provided:

(a)   A mark of at least 40% has been obtained in either first or second sitting, and

(b)   The student has an overall credit-weighted average of 50%.

If, after this one further re-assessment, the student has still not passed assessments as specified in these regulations and the relevant programme specification, they will have no further re-assessment opportunities.

19.   A student will only receive a Masters award if they have successfully completed both the taught and dissertation/project stages of their course. A student who does not successfully complete the dissertation/project stage will be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma or Certificate if they have gained a pass mark of 40% or more in taught modules worth 120 credits (60 credits for the Postgraduate Certificate), or satisfy the requirements of Regulations 10 and 11 (of the Completion of a stage section) above. Schools who wish to count the dissertation mark towards the award of a Postgraduate Diploma must specify this in the course supplementary regulations.

20.   Postgraduate Diplomas or Certificates awarded under Regulation 19 above will have the same subject title as the Masters course on which the student was registered, unless the programme specification states an alternative subject title for those being awarded Diplomas or Certificates.

21.   The provisions of Regulations 19 and 20 above also apply to the award of Postgraduate Certificates to students registered on a Postgraduate Diploma course.

22.   Postgraduate Masters, Diploma and Certificates will be awarded with Merit to students who achieve a final credit-weighted mark of at least 60% and with Distinction to students who achieve a final credit-weighted mark of at least 70%. Programme specifications may, though, additionally state any or all of the following:

(a)   A mark of at least 70% must be gained in the dissertation/project stage for a Distinction to be awarded,

(b)   A credit-weighted mark of at least 70% must be gained in the taught stage for a Distinction to be awarded,

(c)   An award of Merit is not available.

23.   Marks awarded on re-assessment do not contribute to the final mark for the purpose of awarding Merits and Distinctions in Regulation 22 above; instead the mark gained on the first attempt at the module will be used. Marks awarded on re-assessment will, however, count towards attaining a Pass in the course overall.

24.   Boards of Examiners have only two areas where they may apply discretion in determining classification:

(a)   When a final mark falls within a borderline. In such cases the Examiners will take into account other relevant performance metrics (eg balance of paper classifications or the result of a viva voce examination) to determine if the classification may be raised to the next highest classification.

More information on borderlines can be found here:

Assessment and marking policies

(b)   When a student has personal extenuating circumstances (which have not been addressed by a further attempt at the affected assessment(s) under the extenuating circumstances procedure) such that the final mark is deemed to be unrepresentative of their normal performance. In such cases the School Board of Examiners will satisfy itself by appropriate means that an exception should be made to the normal rules of classification and a decision should be reported to the Head of Student Administration. 

For more information about extenuating circumstances procedures, please consult the following:

Extenuating circumstances

25.   There is no discretion to lower the classification below that indicated by the final mark.

• Flow chart of progression, compensation and reassessment for Postgraduate Taught Courses  

Supplementary regulations for UK-based courses: 

For more information about Supplementary Regulations for courses running in the UK, please consult the following:

Curriculum Catalogue

International campuses

For information about courses running at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, please consult the following:

Postgraduate Taught study (UNNC)   

For information about courses running at the University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM), please consult the following:

Postgraduate study (UNM)   

Assessment policies and extenuating circumstances

For more information about assessment policies and extenuating circumstances, please consult the following:

Assessment overview and School responsibilities

Extenuating circumstances

Further information

Students seeking advice on these regulations should contact their School/Department.

Schools can obtain guidance on these regulations by emailing: pg-regulations@nottingham.ac.uk