Assessment Boards for Postgraduate Programmes

1 Programme Assessment Boards

The performances of specialist postgraduate programme students are considered at the Programme Assessment Board which has responsibility for their programme.

1.1 Composition of Programme Assessment Boards:

i. Chair: A Senior Manager of the College/Department not involved in the teaching delivery of the programme(s) under consideration. In circumstances where the chair has had involvement in teaching or other engagement with student(s) they should declare an interest and temporarily step down as chair of the Board for that item.

ii. Programme Leader/Academic Lead/Workforce Development Fellow

iii. Module Leaders

iv. External Examiner(s)

v. Independent Research External Examiners¹

vi. Relevant PVC Dean or Director (ex officio)

vii. Quality Manager (ex officio)

viii. Representative(s) from any collaborative partner institution(s) (where appropriate)

ix. Officer to the Assessment Board

The Independent Research External Examiners do not normally attend meetings of the Programme Assessment Board unless there are particular circumstances which they would wish to report or they also have membership in a different capacity.

Standing invitations: The Academic Registrar, Director of Learning Enhancement and other staff teaching on the programme.

Programme Leaders/Academic Leads/Workforce Development Fellows are responsible for nominating external examiners for appointment by the University in accordance with University Regulations.

The External Examiners are asked to advise on the appropriateness of the academic standards being applied at module and the award level. They are also requested to comment on the fairness and the efficacy of the assessment process.

1.2 Responsibilities:

i. To use their academic judgement to ensure that appropriate standards of assessment are maintained.

ii. To ensure that their assessment decisions are fair and consistent, in accordance with the validated regulations of the programme.

iii. To consider and determine the extent to which students have satisfied the learning outcomes of the modules which they have attempted.

iv. To consider the quality of the students' performance, as evidenced by the assessments, and determine the grades to be awarded.

v. To make recommendations with regard to the progression of students and to programme awards, as appropriate. The Assessment Board is entitled to agree means of obtaining further evidence if it is not satisfied that it has sufficient evidence upon which to make a decision.

vi. To act in accordance with the outcome of any Appeals which have been upheld by the University Appeals Panel.

vii. To determine, on the basis of information provided through the procedures for Academic Offences, the penalty which is appropriate in the event of it being established that a student has committed an academic offence.

viii. To oversee assessment procedures operating in the programme within the remit of the Board.

ix. To consider the recommendations of the External and Internal Research Examiners with regard to Independent Research and viva voce performance.

x. To consider the overall performance profile of individual students and to decide on the appropriate outcomes in terms of failure, deferral, referral, progression and award.

1.3 Publication of the Provisional Results Lists:

i. At meetings of Assessment Boards where recommendations for awards have been made, it is a requirement that the Chair of the Assessment Board and the External Examiners present should sign the declaration recording the recommendations for the conferment of programme awards on behalf of Academic Board.

ii. Following the Board, module and award results will be released to students on UDo and the Secretary will produce a pass list, cross-checked to the original board papers, a copy of which will be forwarded to the Programme Leader/Academic Lead/Workforce Development Fellow and to the Student Records and Awards team within 5 days of the meeting.

iii. The deliberations and provisional outcomes of Assessment Boards are strictly confidential to members and to other academic and administrative staff with legitimate access to them, and on no account may the recommended results be conveyed to students prior to formal release by the Secretary of the Board.