Message for Postgraduate Taught (PT PGT) Continuing Students who will be progressing in the next academic year from the Pro-Vice Chancellor Education, Professor Kathy Armour.

Emergency Progression 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. 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.

1. Why have we developed an emergency progression framework for continuing Part-time PGT students?

Usually this mark is calculated automatically from your full set of marks from each year of study on your programme, 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.

The framework below is generic, and your School or Department is working on how it applies to 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 PROGRESSION 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 progression calculation cannot be confirmed until this cycle has been completed and the summer exam boards have taken place. _To reiterate, all students will be progressed automatically to the next year of study. _

1. 3. **What are the details of the Emergency Progression Framework for Continuing Part-time PGT Students?**

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 progression mark) will be calculated as follows:

1. A. **Students who are on general degree programmes without additional professional body requirements**
2. For part-time postgraduate taught (PT PGT) degrees, we are requiring the successful completion of the equivalent of at least two-thirds of taught credits for this academic year.
3. For example, for those in the first year of a two year part-time programme, this would usually be the equivalent of 40 out of 60 credits of taught modules - normally what is delivered in the first year - and the second year will count towards the degree as intended and include the 60 credit dissertation/project. In this example, students would not be expected to ‘make up’ the additional 20 taught credits from their first year in the second year.
4. However, if students have not had the opportunity to achieve at least two-thirds of the taught credits they were expected to obtain during this academic year, they will have the opportunity to achieve these credits in their next year of study.
5. If you subsequently fail either full modules or some of the assessments that you have submitted but have not yet had marked, and you then fall below the emergency threshold we have set, you will have the usual opportunity to resit in August (online). We will keep these requirements to an absolute minimum.

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 :

• For part-time postgraduate taught (PT PGT) degrees, we are requiring the successful completion of the equivalent of at least two-thirds of taught credits for this academic year.
• For example, for those in the first year of a two year part-time programme, this would usually be the equivalent of 40 out of 60 credits of taught modules - normally what is delivered in the first year - and the second year will count towards the degree as intended and include the 60 credit dissertation/project. In this example, students would not be expected to ‘make up’ the additional 20 taught credits from their first year in the second year.
• However, if students have not had the opportunity to achieve at least two-thirds of the taught credits they were expected to obtain during this academic year, they will have the opportunity to achieve these credits in their next year of study.
• If you subsequently fail either full modules or some of the assessments that you have submitted but have not yet had marked, and you then fall below the emergency threshold we have set, you will have the usual opportunity to resit in August (online). We will keep these requirements to an absolute minimum.

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. To reiterate, 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.

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 entirely voluntary and more 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)