Regulations from September 2015 to September 2017

These regulations take effect from 2015/16 for students entering Qualifying year or Part I from September 2015. Students who entered Qualifying year or Part I before September 2015 and after September 2004 are subject to the former regulations which took effect from 2005/06.Students whose courses started before September 2004 are subject to the Regulations for First Degrees.

For more information about the former regulations, please consult the following:

Undergraduate study regulations

Supplementary and Fitness to practice Regulations

In addition to the study 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. Assessment regulations can be found at online.

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 here:

Extenuating circumstances

Contact details

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

Schools can obtain guidance on these regulations by emailing: ug-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 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 modules worth more than 70 credits in any one semester.

5.   The pass mark for a module is 40%. In order to pass a module and be awarded the credit for that module a student must also satisfy any requirements as specified in paragraph 6.

6.   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.

7.   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. 

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

Recognition of Other Learning

9.   A student who passes all the modules in a given stage of their course (as defined in the University’s Qualifications Framework) will complete that stage and be awarded the total credit for that stage. A student who completes the requirements for a Foundation Certificate or qualifies for an Honours level or Integrated Masters degree through application of the relevant degree classification model and weightings (see Regulations 22 and 23 in the Classification section below) will automatically complete the final stage of their course and be awarded the total credit for that stage, unless the relevant programme specification contains additional requirements for completion of the final stage. For more information about the University's Qualifications Framework, please consult the following:

University of Nottingham Qualifications Framework

10.   A student who fails one or more modules will still complete that stage (subject to Regulation 11 below), and so be awarded the total credit for that stage provided that they have: 

(a)   passed modules worth at least 80 credits and have a weighted average for the stage of at least 40% with no module marks of less than 30%, or 

(b)   passed modules worth at least 100 credits and have a weighted average for the stage of at least 50%, or 

(c)   passed modules worth at least 90 credits, have marks of 30% or more in modules worth at least 110 credits, and have a weighted average for the stage of at least 45%.

11.   Regulation 10 does not apply to the final stage of any degree programme nor to any module which is listed in the relevant programme specification as not compensatable. A student who fails a non-compensatable module will not complete that stage without successfully undertaking re-assessment in that module.

12.   Students registered on the following types of programmes may be required by the relevant programme specification to attain higher marks in individual specified modules and/or higher average marks than indicated in paragraphs 9 and 10 above.

(i)   an Integrated Masters programme

(ii)   certain Honours programmes with a compulsory period away from the University.

Students in categories (i) and (ii) above who fail to satisfy the requirements of such a programme but who nonetheless satisfy the criteria as stated in Regulations 9 or 10 will be eligible to transfer to an alternative course, where one exists, as stated in the Supplementary Regulations.

(iii)   the Foundation Stage of any programme

Students in category (iii) above who fail to meet the specified requirement may be unable to progress but subject to satisfying Regulation 9 above will be awarded the Foundation Certificate.

13.   A student who, at the first attempt, has not satisfactorily completed a stage other than the final stage under Regulations 9-11 (of the previous section) has a right to one re-assessment in each failed module where this might enable a student to satisfy progression requirements. At the discretion of the School delivering the module, the form of the re-assessment may be different from the first attempt, provided that it tests the same learning outcomes and to the same standard. Reassessment marks are considered only in decisions relating to progression to the next stage hence reassessments in the final stage of any programme are not relevant or allowed except in the case of reassessment for a Pass or Ordinary degree or where a student has failed a non-compensatable module and is required to take a reassessment in order to gain the credits and complete the stage.

14.   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 6 of the Award of Credit section above) of the marks from the components passed first time and the components which have been re-assessed.

15.   All re-assessments must be undertaken before the student progresses to the next stage (but see Regulation 20 below). All reassessments will take place in August/September immediately following the first assessment (but see Regulations 16 and 20 below), except:

• where a School agrees to a written request from the student to take the reassessment at a later date (such requests must be made before the August/September reassessment period);
• where a School arranges an earlier reassessment;
• where this is not possible owing to external constraints;
• where different arrangements are made for distance learning or part-time students.

16.   A student may request to be allowed to repeat their enrolment in failed or incomplete modules (which will include attendance at all scheduled classes and submission of all coursework) before taking the reassessment or initial assessments. Requests should be submitted to the student’s School who must consult other relevant Schools when making the decision. A School should (if possible) agree to such a request, but there may be circumstances where this is not possible (e.g. where the module is no longer running). If a student opts to take any one reassessment with attendance, they must then take all due reassessments with attendance (except for modules where a repeat enrolment is not available).  

A module specification may stipulate that in order for a student to be reassessed in that module, the student must repeat their enrolment.  In such circumstances, the student will not be compelled to take all reassessments in attendance and may take all other reassessments either in August/September or during the session when they are attending for the purpose of the module(s) that require attendance.

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

18.   A student who, after re-assessment, has not completed the stage under Regulations 9-11 (of the previous section) above will not be permitted to progress further on that course and will have no further re-assessment opportunities, except in the circumstances set out in Regulation 19 below.

19.   A student who, after re-assessment, has not completed the stage under Regulations 9-11 (of the previous section) above but:  

(a)   has passed at least 80 credits of modules in the stage, and

(b)   has an average of at least 40% across all modules in the stage will be permitted one further re-assessment in the failed modules at the next available opportunity. Alternatively, if permitted by the programme specification, the student may be allowed to enrol on different modules to the same credit value as the failed modules, and the assessment in these modules will be regarded as the one further re-assessment.

If, after this one further re-assessment, the student has still not completed the stage under Regulations 9-11 (of the previous section) above, the student will not be permitted to progress further on the course and will have no further re-assessment opportunities. 

20.   Where a student is permitted to be reassessed under Regulation 13, 16 or 19, and has failed in modules worth no more than 20 credits, they may choose to proceed to the next stage of their programme but cannot be regarded as having completed that stage until the previous stage has been successfully completed.

21.   A student will only receive an award if they have successfully completed each necessary stage of the course leading to that award. Notwithstanding this provision, a student who has successfully completed the Qualifying and Part I stages of an Honours course and does not proceed will be awarded an Undergraduate Diploma. Equally, a student who has successfully completed the Qualifying Stage of an Honours course and does not proceed will be awarded an Undergraduate Certificate.

* University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM)   

Owing to the requirements of the Malaysia Qualifications Agency (MQA), the option to award an Undergraduate Diploma or Undergraduate Certificate to students who do not proceed at University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM) is not available.

22.   The classifications and abbreviations for Honours degrees and Integrated Masters degrees are:

The degree classification model, which can be found below, set out in the Quality Manual specifies the final mark ranges which apply to each class and how these are calculated and make provision for a student successfully completing an Honours degree course after reassessment to receive a Pass degree without an Honours classification. Programme Specifications state is used for each course.

For more information about degree classification, please consult the following section:

Degree classification

23.   Ordinary degrees, Graduate Diplomas, Graduate Certificates, Undergraduate Diplomas, Undergraduate Certificates, and Foundation Certificates may be awarded with Merit or Distinction. The mark ranges which apply for these awards may be found on the Assessment and marking policies page.

For more information about the degree classification model and other marking policies, please consult the following:

Assessment and marking policies

24.   Marks awarded for modules in the foundation or qualifying stage do not contribute to the final mark calculation except in the case of Foundation Certificates and Undergraduate Certificates. Marks awarded on reassessment do not contribute to the final mark calculation in the case of Honours and Integrated Masters degrees and for the purpose of awarding Merits and Distinctions in Regulation 23 above.

25.   The stage marks will be combined to calculate the final mark according to weightings which are given in the Programme Specification, which can be found here:

Programme specification guidance

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

(a)   When a final mark falls within a borderline as defined in Model 1. In such cases the Examiners will apply the University's standardised algorithm as stated in the relevant programme specification to determine if the classification may be raised to the next highest classification. For more information, please consult the following:

Assessment and marking policies 

(b)   When a student has personal extenuating circumstances (which have not been fully 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 Academic Services Division. 

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

28.   Any of the above regulations may be varied as stated in the relevant programme specification e.g. if there is a specific stated stricter requirement by a professional body accrediting the programme, or an exception has been formally approved. If such a variation is applied and results in the termination of a student's registration on that programme, the student must be offered the opportunity to transfer to a non-accredited programme providing that they satisfy the above regulations. Notwithstanding the above, where no suitable non-accredited programme can exist or where local government requirements prohibit the award of a different qualification from that which the student was studying, students will receive the relevant non-accredited qualification equivalent to the number of credits they have already accrued unless local requirements prohibit fallback awards. Where this is the case it must be stated in the relevant programme specification.

Please also see the flow chart of progression, compensation and reassessment for undergraduate honours courses, and the Ordinary Degrees guidance for Schools, which can be found here:

• Flow chart of progression, compensation and reassessment for undergraduate honours courses  

Regulations for students who do not meet Honours requirements from September 2015