Assessment
Details of how a unit is to be assessed and the relative weighting of each component will be given in the first class for each course.
All exercises, papers and other assignments submitted for assessment will be returned to students with a mark or grade. Feedback will also be given on other forms of assessment, such as oral presentations, including an indication of the mark or grade.
In assessing any piece of work, teachers will normally apply as wide a spread of marks as is appropriate. When several teachers are involved in the same assessment task, a marking scheme will be agreed on in advance, and some form of moderation will take place to ensure consistency. In rare cases where marking standards produce significant differences, the department may decide to scale marks in the interests of fairness.
Students are advised that, if necessary, marks will be scaled in accordance with the Faculty of Arts' guidelines for mark distribution and that their raw marks may not reflect their final award grade.
Where a unit is assessed wholly by means of class-work, tutorial papers, essays or other assignments, results, wherever possible, will be communicated to students progressively.
Formal written examinations are not normally returned but students who wish to see their marked paper may do so, although they will not be permitted to take it away. (The Academic Board has recommended that examination papers 'which involve the repeated use of the same material in successive examinations may continue to be kept confidential'.)
The use of Spanish dictionaries is not normally permitted in any examination or class test for the language courses SPAN1601, 1602, 2601, 2602, 3601 or 3602. In some cases you may be told by your tutor that you have permission to use a dictionary in a specific examination but you should not take this as applying to other examinations in the same or other units. When dictionaries are permitted clear instructions will be given but it is your own responsibility to ensure you bring a dictionary to the class concerned.
If you have a mobile phone with you in any class test or examination please ensure that it is switched off and placed in your bag or under your desk. Do not pick up your phone during an examination, even to look at the time, as you may be open to charges of academic misconduct.
In determining overall results, the department reserves the right to take account not only of numerical scores but of attendance, participation in class work and completion of assignments, including class tests and exercises. As a general rule, students should aim to attend 90 per cent of all classes, and to complete all assignments set for assessment purposes.
Applications for special consideration on the grounds of illness or misadventure should be made through the Faculty of Arts office and will be considered sympathetically, but it should be noted that some kinds of work, involving class interaction or a group project, cannot easily be made up. Where such work forms a significant part of the assessment, it may be necessary to repeat the unit.
Special consideration is designed to allow students more time to complete assessed work if this is necessary, and to ensure that they are not penalised for missing tests or examinations if this is because of illness or misadventure. This might mean being given the opportunity to sit an exam on another day, to submit an alternative form of assessment, or to be awarded an average mark so that the total for the course is not affected. It is not normally possible to raise marks, except in the case of marks for participation which will not take into account absences during the period in which special consideration applies.
Special consideration only applies to short-term illness or misadventure. Students who miss substantial parts of a course or its assessment may be advised to withdraw from the unit in accordance with University policy.
Where students know that they require more time to complete assignments because of adverse circumstances they should request an extension from their tutor in the first instance as it may not be necessary to apply formally for special consideration.