Message for UG Integrated Masters’ Students who will be continuing from Year 3 to 4 in the next academic year from the Pro-Vice Chancellor Education, Professor Kathy Armour.
Emergency Continuation Framework
1. **Introduction**
I hope you and yours are well and everyone is coping in these strange and difficult times. I think we are all desperately keen to return to life-as-we-knew-it, although it seems we are going to have to wait longer than we had initially hoped. In this message, we explain how your progression mark (i.e. the mark that contributes to your future degree classification) will be calculated given that most of you are missing credits, and provide some more generic information on the Bridging Coursework.
As you know, in recent weeks, your lecturers had to prioritise the development of an emergency assessment framework to address the immediate challenges facing our 2020 graduating cohorts. I would like to thank you for your patience while this work was ongoing.
You will recall from our earlier communication that all students are being automatically progressed to the next academic year. The only requirement is that you engage with a formative piece of Bridging Coursework to prepare you for your next year of study (see further details below).
For those students on professional programmes, we have varied the requirement to ensure the Bridging Coursework can also help you to fill any gaps in your professional body requirements, thereby reducing the amount of additional work required next year.
2. **Why have we developed an Emergency Continuation Framework for students who will be progressing from year 3 to year 4?**
You will recall that in our degree algorithm, the mean of marks achieved in years 3 and 4 count for 40% each 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 so we wanted to give you some more information. The framework we have developed has to take into account the very different positions in which students are likely to find themselves depending on programme, options, exam/coursework split, and professional body requirements. (NB: See separate notes to follow for Year/Semester Abroad students.)
The framework below is generic, and your School or Department is working on how it applies for each programme so please continue to be patient. Meanwhile, we know that many of you are completing pieces of coursework and our advice remains the same: the more of any outstanding coursework you are able to complete, the better placed you will be to begin your studies next year. At the same time, we recognise that for some students, personal challenges will make that more difficult. Please refer to the most recent local information from your programmes about deadlines, extensions or any alternative arrangements you may require.
** IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT STAFF WILL CALCULATE YOUR CONTINUATION MARK AT THE EXAM BOARDS THAT WILL TAKE PLACE AT SOME POINT IN THE SUMMER. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ATTEMPT TO DO THIS YOURSELF.** Remember, we are still waiting for a lot of coursework to be submitted and marked, so your marks and your continuation calculation cannot be confirmed until this cycle has been completed and the summer exam boards have taken place.
3. **What are the details of the Emergency Continuation Framework for Continuing Students (Year 3 to Year 4)**
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 reflection of your abilities.
The mark you will carry forward to the next year ( ** your provisional continuation mark** ) will be calculated as follows.
A. **Students who are on general degree programmes without additional professional body requirements**
In order to calculate a provisional continuation mark we will calculate a weighted average from all your available Year 3 marks as follows:
- 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).
Mitigation (or ‘no detriment’): when we reach the Exam Boards in Summer 2021; i.e. when you have completed your third year and you require a mean mark to make up 40% of your final degree classification, we will take the mean of your final year marks first, and only add the mean of the third year marks into the calculation if it confirms or improves your degree classification. This is feasible because in our degree algorithm, the 3rd and 4th year marks take together account for 80% of the final degree classification.
Bridging Coursework: In addition to ensuring we can calculate a provisional continuation mark from this year’s marks, and given all the disruption to your studies this year, we want to ensure that you are as well prepared as possible for next year and that you have covered as many Programme Learning Outcomes as possible for this stage of your programme. Each programme team is, therefore, working on setting a specific piece of Bridging Coursework. We recognise that the situation in which you are trying to complete this coursework is far from ideal – with restricted access to some resources and, in some cases, difficult personal circumstances – so your programme teams will be designing the coursework accordingly. The requirement is that you must simply engage with and submit this coursework in preparation for your studies next year. Completion/submission of the work to the best of your ability will count as meeting the requirement. This requirement is all about preparation for successful study next year, so your personal academic tutors will provide you with personal feedback on your submitted Bridging Coursework, focussing on your readiness for the year ahead.
** _All students will receive details of their Bridging Coursework from their School by the 15 th May at the latest. The deadline for submission of the completed work will be up to 31st August 2020, although you can submit as soon as you are ready, and some programmes will set earlier recommended submission dates (i.e. 30th June). NB: we are setting long, flexible submission deadlines in recognition that you may be facing a range of challenges in the place where you are attempting to study, not because this will be a large piece of work that will take a long time to complete. Your School will provide further detailed guidance shortly. _**
If there are students who will struggle to complete by the end of August, an extension can be granted for completion/submission during the autumn term .
- B. **Students who are on programmes with professional body requirements who may require additional evidence/credits to meet specific professional requirements.**
Although all students on professional programmes are able to progress into the next year of study, we also have to ensure you meet professional body requirements 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 follow from your Schools.
As in section A above, in order to calculate a provisional progression mark we will calculate a weighted average from all your available Year 3 marks as follows:
- 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).
Mitigation (or ‘no detriment’) for the provisional continuation mark: when we reach the Exam Boards in Summer 2021; i.e. when your final degree classification will be determined - we will take the mean of your 4th year marks first, and only add the mean of the 3rd year marks into the calculation if it confirms or improves your degree classification. Professional body requirements will also have been met by the additional actions that we are taking.
Professional Body requirements: It is likely that where students on professional programmes are lacking completed module marks (for example in Engineering and Physical Sciences, Medicine/related and Law) they will have failed to meet all professional body requirements.
In these cases, Programmes will ensure that the gaps are made up either by the Bridging Coursework (see below), or by setting some additional tests in the autumn term once you return to campus, or a combination of both. Note, that by using the Bridging Coursework (where feasible) to fill professional body gaps, we are reducing the amount of additional work that students will be required to do next year.
The Bridging Coursework: In addition to ensuring we can calculate a provisional continuation mark from this year’s marks, and you have met essential programme learning outcomes and professional body requirements, we want to ensure you are as well prepared as possible for next year. Each programme team is, therefore, working on setting a specific piece of Bridging Coursework that will meet a range of requirements. We recognise that the situation in which you are trying to complete this coursework is far from ideal – with restricted access to some resources and, in some cases, difficult personal circumstances – so your programme teams will be designing the coursework accordingly. Your personal academic tutors will provide you with personal feedback on your submitted Bridging Coursework, focussing on your readiness for the year ahead. _ _ __
** _The Bridging Coursework for professional programmes will be set by your School by the 15 th May at the latest. The deadline for submission of the completed work will be up to 31st August 2020, although you can submit as soon as you are ready, and some programmes will set earlier recommended submission dates (i.e. 30th June). NB: we are setting long, flexible submission deadlines in recognition that you may be facing a range of challenges in the place where you are attempting to study, not because this will be a large piece of work that will take a long time to complete. Your School will provide further detailed guidance shortly. _**
If there are students who will struggle to complete by the end of August, an extension can be granted for completion/submission during the autumn term .
If any student on a professional programme fails the Bridging Coursework, they will be offered tutorial support and then a further opportunity to complete next term. Marking criteria will be set to ensure you have the evidence you need to meet your professional requirements. This means that the requirements for successfully completing the Bridging Coursework are different for students on professional programmes . On those programmes where additional tests are required, lecturers will be building these in to the first semester of the next academic year. _ _
__ 4. **Birmingham Blogs: A Big Conversation about our Post Covid-19 World**
Later in May, we are going to open an online space for students (and staff and alumni) to submit Blogs about the world post Covid-19, and views on how different disciplines can help us to find a way forward. Participation will be voluntary, and further details will follow.
**Finally, what about the next academic year? **
At the beginning of this crisis I think many of us hoped that we would be back on campus by the summer, and ready for business as usual in the new academic year. As each week goes by and more information becomes available, that looks increasingly unlikely. We don’t have all the answers at this stage, but I just wanted to let you know that we are already working on the development of a resilience model for education in the autumn term. We are modelling a range of different scenarios and as soon as things become clearer, we will be able to communicate further.
Meanwhile, look after yourselves. Your Schools will be in contact as detailed above and if you have any queries, you should contact them in the usual ways.
Best Wishes
Professor Kathy Armour, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education)