Assessment, Progression and Awards Information 2023/24

During the 2023/24 academic year, some staff at universities across the UK, including City, University of London – took part in industrial action. Unlike previous years, there was no marking and assessment boycott. Our priority has always been to minimise the disruption to your education and student experience.

In relation to missed teaching sessions, the University has gathered detailed information on how industrial action may have impacted each module and this information was available to Assessment Boards. Each Board had the option to apply additional mitigations where it had been determined that students may have been disadvantaged due to industrial action that we were unable to fully mitigate. This may have included an uncapped additional attempt at an assessment or scaling of marks across the entire cohort, for example. Overall, we expect the impact to be minimal.

There is no need for you to report the disruption through completion of an Extenuating Circumstances form and your School will notify you if you are eligible for any further mitigations.

The next set of graduation ceremonies will take place on Monday 15, Tuesday 16, Wednesday 17, and Thursday 18 July 2024 at the Barbican Centre. If eligible, you will have already received an invite to one of these dates.

For the latest information about the ceremonies, please see the graduation webpages.

Students whose results mean they are eligible for Graduation but wish to appeal the Assessment Board’s decision are usually invited to a later ceremony provided the outcome of their appeal results in a successful award.

Please see our Student Hub Graduation webpage for further details. If you are considering making an appeal, you should refer to the Graduation Terms and Conditions for further information.

We will work towards issuing a response to you within the normal timeframe for responding to appeals (within 28 days).

If an unforeseen circumstance had a direct impact on your capacity to study prior to an assessment, ability to complete an assessment, or performance during an assessment, you may wish to submit an extenuating circumstance (EC) request. Read the full details regarding ECs and how to make a claim.

First, please check the information on this guidance note which may provide the details you need.

If you still need help understanding your results letter or would like more information on how your marks were allocated, you should contact your Course Office.

Your Programme Specification includes details of the pass requirements for your programme. You can find your Programme Handbook on
Moodle.

If you have not achieved enough credit to pass your Programme Stage, details of what you need to do next will be published in your results letter.

If you have any questions about what to do next, please contact your Course Office.

A resit is a second attempt at an initial failed assessment without having to repeat the original period of teaching and learning.

If you are being given an opportunity to resit an assessment, the marks for those resits will be normally capped at 40% for undergraduate modules, or normally at 50% for postgraduate modules.

However, if the Assessment Board has given you the opportunity to resit any assessment(s) as ‘attempt 1’, this means that an Extenuating Circumstances Panel has agreed that you will receive your full marks for those assessments.

You can find FAQs regarding Resits on the Student Hub. Our Academic Skills Team can also support you when preparing for resits or resubmissions.

If you are an international student sponsored on a Student Visa, please see the Visa Advice pages.

If you were not able to participate in an assessment component and you have not submitted an Extenuating Circumstances form, then that component will be considered a fail and no mark or credit will be awarded.

If you are being given an opportunity to resit an assessment or partially repeat a year, marks for those assessment attempts are usually capped at 40% for undergraduate modules and usually at 50% for postgraduate modules. This is noted on your results letter as ‘capped’ under ‘next attempt.

However, if the Assessment Board has given you the opportunity to take your next attempt at the assessment(s) as ‘uncapped,’ it has agreed that you will receive your full marks for those assessments.

Trailing of credit means permitting you to complete a limited number of outstanding assessments (no more than 20 credits) in the following academic year whilst continuing with the next block or stage of the Programme.

Where an Assessment Board has agreed that you may trail credit, you will be provided with full details of any additional costs (if relevant) you would incur.

An official transcript is a statement of your academic performance and progress on your programme of study at City, University of London. It confirms that you are or were a registered student at City.

You can view a copy of your transcript by logging into E:Vision. Your transcript shows a detailed breakdown of the marks and credit you have achieved so far.
Abbreviations in the Marks column of your transcript

• ‘PA’ means Pass.
• ‘LO’ means that you have met the learning outcomes for that assessment component for the Programme Stage.
• ‘PM’ means that you passed the module following academic misconduct.

Find out more about transcripts and who to contact in your School.

If you would like to apply for an accuracy check of any of your marks from this academic year, please contact your Course Office. Clerical checks do not involve remarking; instead your assessment marks would be recounted to ensure they have been calculated correctly. Your request must be submitted within 28 days of the notification of your results.

Detailed information can be found in City’s Senate Regulation 19: Assessment Regulations (see Appendix 4).

Assessment Boards are held by each School as soon as possible after the completion of the final assessment for each Programme for that academic year. Their primary purpose is to ensure the Assessment Regulations are applied consistently and fairly. Following the Assessment Boards the agreed results are verified, signed-off and released.

Where appropriate Assessment Boards may also have the power to:

• request the investigation of assessment or exam irregularities
• request the investigation of conflicting grades of an individual student or cohort of students
• moderate grades where necessary
• request the investigation of any suspected academic misconduct
• request the re-sit of assessments or exams with material irregularities
• or those which are suspected to have been compromised
• review the marks for any assessment which has been proven to be compromised or where material irregularities have been identified. This can result in the Assessment Board:
  • scaling marks up
  • scaling marks down
  • removing the assessment from calculations

A material irregularity is an error made by the University, or some other issue that has been identified with the conduct of the assessment, that has affected the results.

Whatever action the Board takes will be proportional to the material irregularity or offence detected in order to ensure the academic integrity and value of all City awards.

For help and advice on academic integrity and misconduct please see available resources and services on the Student Hub.

City Students’ Union will also be running their Study Well campaign, where they work with University departments to provide information and activities to support your academic experience and overall wellbeing. You can find further information about this on the SU’s website.

The Academic Learning Support Team has put together lots of helpful tips and information for studying online. You can also find further information about study skills and revision on their Student Hub page.

Library Services have created some guidance for citing and referencing your work correctly, which you can access via their website.

If you would like to request a review of a decision made by the Assessment Board (known as an appeal), you must make it within 28 days of the release of your current academic year results, following the Assessment Board.

Please note that appeals are only considered on permissible grounds, which are set out in Senate Regulations 20 – 21b on student appeals.

Before you appeal, please note that eligible students may be entitled to an additional attempt at assessments. Please check the relevant section in this guidance to see whether this could apply to you.

You can find details on how to appeal and further information on the Student Hub.

A full repeat year may be permitted where you have approved Extenuating Circumstances affecting multiple assessments or if other criteria in Senate Regulations 19 are met. Please see the Extenuating Circumstances section for how to submit a claim.

A full repeat year may also be permitted where you have been suspended in accordance with the Support for Study Regulation (subject to any PSRB requirements where applicable).

Where Assessment Boards permit you to repeat a Programme Stage in the following academic year, you will be informed and provided with full details of any additional fees and costs you would incur, if you choose to take up that option.

Partially repeating the programme stage with attendance allows you to return in the next academic year to attend classes and attempt only your failed assessments again.

If you are partially repeating, you will only be charged for the modules you are repeating. Fees are based on module credits – you can find an example below:

Representative example

We start by calculating how much of your year you will be repeating. In this example, let’s assume the total number of credits for the year is 120. You are repeating one 15 credit module and one 30 credit module. With this, we can work out how much of the year you are repeating:

• (15 + 30) / 120 = 37.5%

This is the sum of credits being repeated / total credits = % of year being repeated

We use this percentage to calculate the exact amount you are due, ensuring you are not charged for modules you passed.

In this example, let’s assume your course fee for the new academic year is £9250. Note that fees the calculation is based on the new academic year fee, which may be slightly higher than last year to account for inflation. To work out how much you need to pay, we use the percentage calculated above:

• £9250 x 37.5% = £3468.75

This is the base fee for new academic year x % of full course fee = Total fees due.

The Union Advice Team in the Students’ Union can provide support if you are considering making an appeal. If you have been withdrawn from your studies, they can also provide information on other options that may be available.

Each Programme is subject to a maximum period of registration as set out in Senate Regulations 19.

In exceptional circumstances, and where you have a limited volume of credit to complete, the University may consider an extension to your maximum period of registration. This is only in cases where you have been impacted by disability, illness or other condition and it is in your interest to permit an extension, i.e., where there is a reasonable prospect that you will successfully complete your programme.

Where you are reaching your maximum period of registration, your Course Office will notify you. It is, however, your responsibility to request an extension if you think you are eligible.

Here at City, there are lots of services available to support you throughout your studies. If there’s anything which is worrying you or disrupting your normal work, study or personal life, you can contact the relevant service who can provide help. Some of the services you may want to speak to are:

• International Student Advice
• Careers, Student Development and Outreach service
• Student Counselling and Mental Health Service
• Chaplaincy and Faith Advisory team
• Academic Learning Support

If you would like to learn more about what help and support City offers, refer to the Help and Support section of the Student Hub.

Additionally you can also access key student-facing Regulations, Policies and Guidance documents which will help support you in a range of situations and provide you with details regarding other City processes via the Student Policies and Regulations Webpage.