Continuing UG students - resits and progression mark

The emergency adaptations to assessment and progression as set out in the Emergency Progression framework were based on the principles that, wherever possible, students should not be disadvantaged by the situation in which we all find ourselves, and that the academic standards of everyone’s degree should be maintained.

Further information on progression of 2nd year students on BA/BSc/BEng programmes into the final year 2020/2021

 

What are the arrangements for resits for 2nd year UG students who are progressing into the 3rd year?

Students will be permitted to re-sit completed or partial modules that they have failed in the 2nd year (i.e. where a student had made a first attempt) including the bridging coursework if that contributes to credits, e.g. for programmes with professional body requirements. All assessment resits should normally be completed by the end of October 31 2020 but your School/Dept will inform you of the deadlines.

Which marks from my 2nd year assessments will count towards my final degree classification?

Usually this mark is calculated automatically from a full set of year 2 marks, but in the emergency progression framework we took into account the very different positions in which students found themselves at the point of the national lockdown in March depending on programme, options, exam/coursework split, and professional body requirements. We recognise that every student has been impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, whether that is because of delayed/disrupted coursework or cancelled exams. Our aim is to ensure that you take forward a mark that is a fair and appropriate reflection of your abilities.

Staff have calculated your progression mark at the Exam Boards that have taken place. You do not have to attempt to do this yourself. The mark you will carry forward to the next year (your provisional progression mark) will be calculated as follows for students who are on general degree programmes (for students who are single or joint honours):

We will calculate a weighted average from all your available Year 2 marks:

  • To include all marks from completed year 2 modules.
  • In addition, where modules are incomplete, we will include marks from all individual pieces of completed work from across your year 2 modules; e.g. if a piece of courseworkhas been submitted that was worth 30% of the final module mark, that will be weighted 0.3.
  • The Bridging Coursework undertaken by students on programmes that do not have professional body requirements was intended to prepare you for your next year of study and will not count towards the mark for the 2nd year.
  • The Bridging Coursework undertaken by students on programmes that have professional body requirements prepares you for your next year of study and will count towards the mark for the 2nd year to ensure you meet professional body requirements and to ensure your degree is valid for future employment. Each professional body has different requirements so, in this generic message, we are unable to provide all the individual programme details that you will require. This detail will have been provided from your School.

How will the marks from my 2nd year assessments be used to calculate my final overall degree classification mark?

  • Mitigation (or ‘no detriment’): When we reach the Exam Boards in Summer 2021; i.e. when you have completed your final year and your degree classification is to be determined, we will take the mean of your final year marks first, and only add the mean of the second year marks into the calculation if it confirms or improves your degree classification. This is in line with the no detriment policy outlined in the emergency progression framework.
  • In our degree algorithm, the mean of marks achieved in year 2 normally counts as 25% towards the final degree classification. This year, however, we had to devise a protocol that takes into account the fact that the number of marks/credits available for different students varies considerably, so we need to ensure we are fair to all students while maintaining the integrity of your Birmingham degree.
  • Students with 60 credits or more in their 2nd year will receive a formal progression mark that will be weighted, as normal, at 25% of their overall mark for degree classification, but, as outlined above, this mark will only be used if it improves your result overall (i.e.the final year will be weighted at 75% of the overall mark, as normal and if the year 2 mark is not used, the overall mark will be based on 100% from the final year). The 60 credits is based on completed modules and partial credits for incomplete modules.
  • Students with <60 credits, and at least 20 credits, in their 2nd year will receive a formal progression mark that will be weighted at 12.5% of their overall mark for degree classification but, as outlined above, this mark will only be used if it improves your result overall (the final year will be weighted at 87.5% of the overall mark and if the year 2 mark is not used the overall mark will be based on 100% from the final year). These credits are based on completed modules and partial credits for incomplete modules.
  • Students with <20 credits in their 2nd year will receive a formal progression mark, but it won’t be used for the final degree classification; in this case the overall mark for degree classification will be based on 100% of the final year mark.
  • Note that the bridging coursework will have credit associated with it in some instances e.g. for PSRB programmes and you will already have been informed of this if it applies to you.
  • In order to inform a judgement on degree classification in borderline cases once you have completed your final year (2020/21), a modified profiling system will be used (details to follow) and and individual student’s profile of marks as a whole (including final year as well as second and first year marks) will be considered by Boards of Examiners to ensure the degree outcome is a fair reflection of your achievements.

 

Further information on progression of 2nd year students on MSci/MEng programmes into the 3rd year 2020/2021  

What are the arrangements for resits for 2nd year UG students who are progressing into the 3rd year?

Students will be permitted to re-sit completed or partial modules that they have failed in the 2nd year (i.e. where a student had made a first attempt) including the bridging coursework if that contributes to credits, e.g. for programmes with professional body requirements. All assessment resits should normally be completed by the end of October 31 2020 but your School/Dept will inform you of the deadlines.

Which marks from my 2nd year assessments will count towards my final degree classification?

Usually this mark is calculated automatically from a full set of year 2 marks, but in the emergency progression framework we took into account the very different positions in which students found themselves at the point of the national lockdown in March depending on programme, options, exam/coursework split, and professional body requirements. We recognise that every student has been impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, whether that is because of delayed/disrupted coursework or cancelled exams. Our aim is to ensure that you take forward a mark that is a fair and appropriate reflection of your abilities.

Staff have calculated your progression mark at the Exam Boards that have taken place. You do not have to attempt to do this yourself. The mark you will carry forward to the next year(your provisional progression mark) will be calculated as follows for students who are on general degree programmes (for students who are single or joint honours):

We will calculate a weighted average from all your available Year 2 marks:

  • To include all marks from completed year 2 modules.
  • In addition, where modules are incomplete, we will include marks from all individual pieces of completed work from across your year 2 modules; e.g. if a piece of coursework has been submitted that was worth 30% of the final module mark, that will be weighted 0.3.
  • The Bridging Coursework undertaken by students on programmes that do not have professional body requirements was intended to prepare you for your next year of study and will not count towards the mark for the 2nd year.
  • The Bridging Coursework undertaken by students on programmes that have professional body requirements prepares you for your next year of study and will count towards the mark for the 2nd year to ensure you meet professional body requirements and to ensure your degree is valid for future employment. Each professional body has different requirements so, in this generic message, we are unable to provide all the individual programme details that you will require. This detail will have been provided from your Schools.

How will the marks from my 2nd year assessments be used to calculate my final overall degree classification mark

  • Mitigation (or ‘no detriment’): When we reach the Exam Boards in Summer 2022; i.e. when you have completed your final year and your degree classification is to be determined, we will take the mean of your Stage 3 (3rd and 4th year) marks first, and only add the mean of the second year marks into the calculation if it confirms or improves your degree classification. This is in line with the no detriment policy outlined in the emergency progression framework.
  • In our degree algorithm, the mean of marks achieved in year 2 normally counts as 20% towards the final degree classification in an MSci/MEng degree programme. This year, however, we had to devise a protocol that takes into account the fact that the number of marks/credits available for different students varies considerably, so we need to ensure we are fair to all students while maintaining the integrity of your Birmingham degree.
  • Students with 60 credits or more in their 2nd year will receive a formal progression mark that will be weighted, as normal, at 20% of their overall mark for degree classification, but, as outlined above, this mark will only be used if it improves your result overall (i.e. Stage 3 will be weighted at 80% of the overall mark, as normal and if the year 2 mark is not used, the overall mark will be based on 100% from Stage 3). The 60 credits is based on completed modules and partial credits for incomplete modules.
  • Students with <60 credits, and at least 20 credits, in their 2nd year will receive a formal progression mark that will be weighted at 10% of their overall mark for degree classification but, as outlined above, this mark will only be used if it improves your result overall (the final year will be weighted at 90% of the overall mark and if the year 2 mark is not used the overall mark will be based on 100% from Stage 3). These credits are based on completed modules and partial credits for incomplete modules.
  • Students with <20 credits in their 2nd year will receive a formal progression mark, but it won’t be used for the final degree classification; in this case the overall mark for degree classification will be based on 100% from Stage 3.
  • Note that the bridging coursework will have credit associated with it in some instances e.g. for PSRB programmes and you will already have been informed of this if it applies to you.
  • In order to inform a judgement on degree classification in borderline cases once you have completed your final year (2021/22), a modified profiling system will be used (details to follow) and an individual student’s profile of marks as a whole (including Stage 3, as well as second and first year marks) will be considered by Boards of Examiners to ensure the degree outcome is a fair reflection of your achievements.

 

Further information on progression of 3rd year students on MSci/MEng programmes into the final year 2020/2021

What are the arrangements for resits for 3rd year UG students who are progressing into the 4th year?

Students will be permitted to re-sit completed or partial modules that they have failed in the 3rd year (i.e. where a student had made a first attempt) including the bridging coursework if that contributes to credits, e.g. for programmes with professional body requirements. All assessment resits should normally be completed by the end of October 31 2020 but your School/Dept will inform you of the deadlines.

How will the progression mark from my 3rd year be calculated?

Usually this mark is calculated automatically from a full set of year 3 marks, but the emergency progression framework we took into account the very different positions in which students found themselves at the point of the national lockdown in March depending on programme, options, exam/coursework split, and professional body requirements. We recognise that every student has been impacted by the Covid-19 crisis,whether that is because of delayed/disrupted coursework or cancelled exams. Our aim is to ensure that you take forward a mark that is a fair and appropriate reflection of your abilities.

Staff have calculated your progression mark at the Exam Boards that have taken place. You do not have to attempt to do this yourself. The mark you will carry forward to the next year (your provisional progression mark) will be calculated as follows:

We will calculate a weighted average from all your available Year 3 marks:

  • To include all marks from completed year 3 modules.
  • In addition, where modules are incomplete, we will include marks from all individual pieces of completed work from across your year 3 modules (e.g. if a piece of coursework has been submitted that was worth 30% of the final module mark, that will be weighted 0.3).
  • The Bridging Coursework undertaken by students on programmes that do not have professional body requirements was intended to prepare you for your next year of study and will not count towards the mark for the 3rd year.
  • The Bridging Coursework undertaken by students on programmes that have professional body requirements prepares you for your next year of study and will count towards the mark for the 3rd year to ensure you meet professional body requirements and to ensure your degree is valid for future employment. Each professional body has different requirements so, in this generic message, we are unable to provide all the individual programme details that you will require. This detail will have been provided from your Schools.

How will the marks from my 3rd year be used to calculate my final degree classification mark?

  • Mitigation (or ‘no detriment’): When we reach the Exam Boards in Summer 2021 i.e. when you have completed your final year and your degree classification is to be determined, we will take the mean of your final year marks first, and only add the mean of the 3rd year marks into the calculation if it confirms or improves your degree classification. This is in line with the no detriment policy outlined in the emergency progression framework.
  • In our degree algorithm, the mean of marks achieved in years 3 and 4 (together known as Stage 3) normally count for 80% towards the final degree classification. Usually this mark is calculated automatically from your full set of Year 3 marks, but clearly this year is different and we had to devise a protocol that takes into account the fact that the number of marks/credits available for different students varies considerably, so we need to ensure we are fair to all students while maintaining the integrity of your Birmingham degree. The following protocol will be adopted:
  • For the degree classification after the final year next session, the marks for the credits achieved in this 3rd year of the MSci/MEng will be used to calculate an overall mark for the degree classification based on Stage 3 (i.e. years 3 and 4) counting, as normal, 80% of the overall mark (Stage 2 counts 20%). The credits in year 3 will be based on completed modules and partial credits for incomplete modules. However, the marks for year 3 will only be used if they improve the overall mark for degree classification;.if not, the final year marks will count 80% of the overall mark and Stage 2 will count 20%.
  • Note that the bridging coursework will have credit associated with it in some instances e.g. for programmes with professional body requirements and you will already have been informed of this if it applies to you.
  • In order to inform a judgement on degree classification in borderline cases once you have completed your final year (2021/22), a modified profiling system will be used (to be confirmed); and an individual student’s profile of marks as a whole (including second and first year marks) will be considered by Boards of Examiners. to ensure the degree outcome is a fair reflection of your achievements

 

Further information on progression of students on BA and BSc Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences programmes

 

This will follow shortly.

 

Colleges

Professional Services