Summary of changes
2012
2011
2010
2009
December 2009
A new policy specifying deadlines for the return of coursework and associated feedback has been added to the guidance on Feedback to Students, within the Assessment section. In normal circumstances, marked coursework and associated feedback should be returned to students within 28 days of the published submission deadline.
October 2009
A summary of the key principles which govern the operation of quality assurance arrangements for the international campuses has been added to the Quality Assurance Structures section under the title Compliance with the Quality Manual - the International Campuses.
September 2009
The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Fitness to Practise Procedures have been updated to reflect changes in Faculty structures and nomenclature, and:
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to permit disclosures of concern about a student to be made verbally (paragraph 1.2)
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to make explicit the power of the Dean of Head of Studies to exclude a student from clinical placements with immediate effect (paragraph 1.3)
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to clarify the procedure relating to the method by which students are informed of the disclosure (paragraph 2.1)
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to allow students to appeal to the University's Academic Appeals Committee against any decision taken by the FTP Committee (paragraph 8)
Policy on the audio and visual recording of lectures and other interactions by students has been added to the Miscellaneous Policies section.
A flow chart of progression, compensation and reassessment for Postgraduate Taught Courses has been added to the Regulations for Taught Masters Degrees, Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate courses.
Regulation 18 of the Taught Postgraduate Regulations has been amended to allow students a second resit opportunity, at the discretion of individual Schools.
July 2009
Learning & Teaching Committee has agreed revisions to the University of Nottingham Qualifications Framework (UNQF) in light of changes to the QAA Framework for Higher Education Qualifications and the National Credit Framework for HE in England, both of which are effective from September 2009. The following changes have been made:
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An amendment to Appendix B of the UNQF to map our awards on to new QAA levels and new titles of levels: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/quality-manual/QAstructures/UNQF-AppendixB.htm
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An amendment to Appendix A of the UNQF to reflect new QAA qualification descriptors: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/quality-manual/QAstructures/UNQF-AppendixA.htm
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The relocation of Ordinary Degrees from UNQF level 2 to level 3 awards, and a change of the credit requirement for Ordinary Degrees from ‘300 credits with at least 160 credits at level 2 or above' to ‘300 credits with at least 60 credits at level 3 .'
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A change of the credit requirements for the Practitioner Doctorate from ‘540 credits with at least 450 credits at level 4 and above and at least 270 credits at level 5' to ‘540 credits with at least 450 credits at level 4 and above and at least 360 credits at level 5'.
June 2009
Following the acceptance by Learning and Teaching Committee of recommendations made by the Marking and Classification Working Group the Quality Manual has been updated as follows. Full guidance may be viewed in the relevant sections.
1. School Examination Boards
Where programmes are offered at the International Campuses, there should be appropriate involvement of International Campus Staff in the School Examination Board.
2. Code of Practice for External Examiners
Powers of the External Examiner
Point 9.2 relating to the entitlement to meet with students has been extended to include reference to meeting students from the International Campuses.
Point 9.5 has been replaced by a new Point 9.5 and 9.6 relating to the involvement of External Examiners in adjusting marks and the signing of marksheets by External Examiners.
Dealing with the External Examiner's Report
Where programmes are offered at the International Campuses, Schools should ensure that a copy of the External Examiner report is available to the International Campus and that they International Campus is involved in the response submitted to the external examiner and University.
In addition, the External Examiner Report Form has been updated to encourage specific reference to programmes offered at the International Campuses where these are offered.
April 2009
Regulation 12 of the Regulations for Undergraduate Courses, which permits specific programmes more stringent progression requirements than the University norm, has been redrafted to clarify existing practice. Additionally it codifies existing practice for students who fail to meet the progression requirements of the Foundation Stage of any programme.
March 2009
Late Submission of Extenuating Circumstances : revised guidance on the late submission of extenuating circumstances was approved by Learning and Teaching Committee in February, to be effective immediately. The guidance has been revised to state: ‘Schools are entitled to reject automatically and without consideration all extenuating circumstances claims that are submitted after the relevant marks or qualification outcomes have been published to students. The only exception to this provision is where the student provides authoritative evidence (e.g. from a doctor) that they were clinically unable to submit the extenuating circumstances any earlier.'
Updates to the Assessment Section of the Quality Manual
1. The section on Rounding within the Marking and Grading guidance has been amended to provide more clarity.
2. Examples of Marking Schemes are available in the Good Practice Guide. Schools are encouraged to forward copies of marking schemes using the full range of marks (including categories above 70% and below 40%) to Sandra Mienczakowski for inclusion in the Guide.
3. Following the acceptance of recommendations from the Marking and Classification Working Group by Learning and Teaching Committee, the following updates have been made to the Quality Manual to be implemented for students registering on programmes from the 2009/10 academic year onwards:
i) Use of Borderlines :http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/quality-manual/assessment/degree-class.htm
Schools should use a weighted profiling system for determining the degree class of borderline students and this should be made explicit and clear to students at the start of their studies through School Handbooks. Examples of profiling systems are available in the Good Practice Guide and Schools are encouraged to forward copies of profiling systems already in use to Sandra Mienczakowski for inclusion in the Guide.
ii) Approved degree classification weightings : http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/quality-manual/taught-programmes/programme-specificiations.htm
A list of approved degree classification weightings has been added to the Programme Specification Guidance. The use of these weightings in degree calculation should be applied to students commencing their studies in 2009/10 and graduating from 2011/2012.
iii) Use of Vivas : http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/quality-manual/assessment/marking.htm .
Further guidance on the use of individual vivas for borderline candidates on taught programmes has been added to the section on Viva Voce Examinations. Formal records of all such vivas should be kept.
January 2009
Guidance on minimum levels of assessment necessary to test learning outcomes has been added to the Module Specification guidance. The guidance outlines minimum levels by module credit value. See section 17 of the Module Specification Guidance.
2008
December 2008
The policy and procedures forCollaborative Course Approval have been updated to include revised guidance on preferred types of agreement and the procedures for approval and review.
November 2008
The Procedures for requiring a student to withdraw temporarily or permanently from the University on the Grounds of Health and Safety have been updated. The update includes clarification of the procedures for the Special Committee of Senate.
October 2008
Recent Changes to Research Degree Programmes Section:
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Appointment of Supervisors entry: this has been amended to remove the requirement for members of academic staff eligible to act as supervisors to be full-time and to clarify support arrangements for staff who are new or inexperienced in the supervisory role.
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Role and Appointment of Examiners entry: this has been amended to remove the requirement for members of academic staff eligible to act as Internal Examiner to be full-time; in addition, the cross-reference to eligibility criteria for Supervisors has now been removed.
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Amendments have also been made to the Students Studying in Outside Organisations entry. Schools will normally be required to appoint two supervisors based at the University of Nottingham as well as a supervisor in the outside organisation, (for example for schemes such as the Malaysia-Nottingham Doctoral Programme).
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The University's Regulations for Higher Degrees (in particular Regulations 7 to 15 inclusive) have been amended to include the information set out in more detail in the Annual Review of Research Students entry, on Confirmation and Progression Review.
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Annual Review of Research Students entry: it has been clarified that Schools continue to have the option of putting in place a supportive or corrective plan of action as a result of the Progression Review process, if this is appropriate.
September 2008
Following
consultation with Academic Boards, the regulations for the
Degrees of Master of Research and MA/MSc by Research regulations have now been amended to enable Schools with appropriate marking criteria available for the reference of examiners to be able to recommend these awards with Merit or Distinction if they wish to do so.
The entry on Attendance Procedures has been amended to include a sentence which states: “Permission to register on a second course to be taken concurrently at the University must be sought in advance from the School with which the student is initially registered. Students will not be permitted to register on two full-time courses at the same time.” This is in the Study Regulations section.
The following changes have been made to the Research Degree Programmes section:
1. Changes to Policy on Annual Review of Students
Learning and Teaching Committee considered the issue of the initial registration of research students in November 2007, and endorsed the proposition that students accepted to undertake a PhD should be registered by Schools as PhD from the first year onwards. As a result of this decision, the Quality Manual entry on Annual Research of Research Students has been amended to reinforce this position. A statement has been added that ‘Offers to students who have applied for a PhD programme should be a place on that programme, except where the calibre of the applicant suggests that a place on an MPhil programme would be more appropriate'. Further, PhD students will now be required to undertake a strengthened annual review process at the end of their first year, which provides a robust mechanism for downgrading students at the end of Year 1 if they are clearly unable to perform at the PhD level.
2. Changes to entry entitled
The Thesis-Pending Period
This entry has been amended to clarify that students on MRes and MA/MSc by Research degrees are not entitled to a thesis pending period, but nonetheless are subject to the related extension policy and procedure if they are unable to submit by their deadline. A further sentence has been added to state that for students commencing their research degree as from Session 2009/10 access to facilities in the thesis pending period will only be available if students are registered as ‘thesis pending' students and pay the appropriate tuition fee.
3. Change to the entry
Responsibilities of the Supervisor
This entry has now been amended to make the requirements for the format of supervisions to be more flexible, but to stress that the format should be as close as possible to face-to-face supervision for a proportion of the meetings where it was not possible for meetings to take place.
4. Instructions for
Research Degree examiners
The instructions enclosed for the guidance of examiners when they are sent theses for examination have now been amended to invite them to give feedback if they wish on the quality and content of the University's research degree programmes in their Independent Reports. In addition, examiners for doctoral examinations who wish to recommend the award of a Master of Philosophy qualification after re-examination are asked to consider whether the criteria in the University's Master Level Qualification Descriptor are met.
The following changes have been made to the Assessment section:
1. Following a report from the Joint Honours Working Group, Taught Courses Committee approved the inclusion in the Quality Manual of a policy document clarifying the responsibilities of Schools in relation to Joint Honours Programmes. The document 'Management of Joint Honours Programmes' has been added to the Assessment section.
2. The section on School Examination Boards has been updated to include guidance in the Overview regarding consideration of extenuating circumstances at Board meetings and to update in relation to Board consideration of students on Joint Honours programmes.
3. The information on the Layout of Exam Papers has been amended slightly. The front page of the exam paper should now state that "Candidates may complete the front cover of their answer book and sign their desk card but must NOT write anything else until the start of the examination period is announced"
July 2008
Following consultation with School representatives via Academic Boards in the Spring Semester, the University Regulations for Taught Masters Degrees, Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate courses have been updated as follows:
A new Regulation 5 to state that work submitted for an award must be the result of work done mainly wile the candidate is registered as a student of the University of Nottingham; A change to the Regulation on compensation (now Regulation 11) to state that enable Schools to amend their programme specifications to allow up to 20 credits of module marks below 40% to be compensatable as long as the student is able to satisfy the requirements to have passed 80 credits and have an overall average for the taught stage of at least 50%; A new Regulation 12 stating that progresssion requirements may only be more stringent than those stated in regulation 11 if there is a demonstrable requirement for this from a professional or accrditing external body; An amendment to the Regulation setting out eligibility to receive a Masters award (now Regulation 19) stating that Schools wishing to use the dissertation mark towards the award of a Postgraduate Diploma may only do so if this is specified in their course supplementary regulations.
June 2008
The Student Support and Development section has been amended to clarify the personal tutoring expectations for Joint Honours students (see section C1) and the responsibilities of Schools in providing personal tutoring for exchange students (see section D1).
The guidance on Double Counting of Accredited Prior Learning has been amended to clarify that credits gained as part of an undergraduate qualification may not be used towards a postgraduate qualification.
Following approval by Learning & Teaching Committee, it has been clarified that offers to students who have applied for a PhD programme should be a place on that programme, except where the calibre of the applicant suggests that a place on an MPhil programme would be more appropriate. This is in the Recruitment and Admissions section.
May 2008
The Learning Outcomes Working Group (LOWG) of Learning & Teaching Committee has provided guidance to Schools on transferable / key skills learning outcomes for use within programme and module specifications. The LOWG, following consultation with Academic Boards, has identified a range of transferable/key skills that will maximise the employability of Nottingham graduates and provide them with skills to manage their career progression and lifelong learning. This is included in the Learning Outcomes guidance, in the Programme Approval, Monitoring and Review section. There are also example Skills learning outcome statements in the Good Practice Guide.
March 2008
A minor amendment has been made to Model 3 in the Degree Classifications guidance. Previously the First Class threshold the borderline was defined as a score within 12 points of the threshold and for all other thresholds the borderline was defined as a score within 8 points of the threshold. This has been revised so that the threshold for all borderlines is defined as a score within 12 points of the threshold.
The Academic Appeals Policy and Procedure has been revised. The triage approach to appeal submissions continues with various levels of decision making in operation. Vice-Deans now assume responsibility on behalf of Academic Boards for appeals where primae facia grounds may exist and a decision is required on whether a hearing should take place. Where the original decision (against which the student is appealing) was made on by an Academic Board, a representative from Learning and Teaching Committee makes the judgement.
Guidance on the definition and use of learning outcomes has been added to the Programme Approval, Monitoring and Review section. This supersedes guidance previously contained in the Programme Specification and Module Specification guidance.
February 2008
The Programme Specification Guidance has been updated to clarify the relationship between University and Supplementary Regulations.
In section C, part 3 Assessment, it is clarified that "Programme Specifications may incorporate more stringent progression and award hurdles, only if there is a demonstrable requirement from a professional or accrediting body. Students who fail to satisfy the more stringent requirements in programme specifications associated with a professional or accrediting body but who satisfy University regulations should have the opportunity of transferring to a named ‘fall back’ non-accredited degree."
And in section C, part 4 Other Regulations, it is clarified that "The requirements of Programme Specifications should be in addition to, rather than instead of, the University’s regulations."
The University's Bologna Advisory Group has formulated a Statement of Compatibility with the European Higher Education Area. which has been added to the University of Nottingham Qualifications Framework . It provides an explanation of how University of Nottingham qualifications meet the requirements of each cycle of the qualifications framework adopted at the Bergen Summit of the Bologna Process for the creation of a European Higher Education Area (see EHEA ).
A new section has been created called Miscellaneous Policies . It has collated various polices which do not sit easily within the other sections:
Included in the section is new Guidance on Religious Observance .
January 2008
Streamlining of Committees: Various sections of the Quality Manual have been updated to reflect the streamlining of the decision-making and dissemination processes, most notably changes to Teaching Committee (now called Learning & Teaching Committee) and its sub-committees. Revisions of note are to the following:
Research Student Supervision: Clarification has been provided on the composition of the supervisory team appointed to research students, as well as their roles within the team. See section 3.2 in the guidance on the Appointment of Supervisors.
2007
December 2007
Year-Long Modules Guidance has been provided for Schools on the creation and implementation of year-long modules. This includes guidance on assessment and making provision for mobility students. This has been added to section 6 of the Module Specification Guidance.
In anticipation of possible Bologna developments, provision has been made for a 540 credit Extended Integrated Masters degree, which will supplement the existing 480 credit Integrated Masters Degrees. For both the Extended Integrated Masters and the Integrated Masters degrees, 120 credits need to be gained at level 4, not all of which need to be taken in the final year. This is in the University of Nottingham Qualifications Framework
November 2007
The Responsibilites of the School guidance of the Research Degree Programmes section has had a minor amendment to clarify that a School should put in place a system for storing and monitoring supervision records, see section 8.
The External Examiner Report Form has been updated, removing Part II, the confidential report to the University. Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act we are unable to guarantee that reports will remain confidential to the University and external examiners will now be advised to write their whole report on the assumption that it will be accessed by students and may become a public document. External examiners will be able to make a confidential report under separate cover which can be anonymised should the need arise to release the document under an FOI request.
October 2007
The guidance on Invigilation of University Exams in the Assessment section has been updated to reflect the introduction of a central invigilation service for centrally scheduled main University examinations.
Student Staff Feedback Committee
It has been agreed that Student Staff Consultative Committees are to be renamed Student Staff Feedback Committees. It has also been agreed that Schools must display clearly on their School website the names and contact details of the student representatives on the LCF. This is in addition to the requirement to display clearly on the School noticeboard details of the LCF membership, terms of reference, dates of meetings for the current session, and a copy of the minutes of the previous meeting.
July 2007
ASSESSMENT SECTION UPDATE
The amendments and additions have been made to the Assessment section in light of revisions to Section 6 of the QAA Code of Practice.
The additions include ane-assessment policy which outlines the minimum requirements that the University expects should be met by Schools when assessing by on-line examination. There is an associated procedure for Schools wishing to assess by e-assessment using QMP.
Amendments include a requirement for Schools to bring policy and guidance to the attention of students, rather than just making it available (see Overview); clarification that the language of assessment is English, unless stated otherwise in the relevant programme or module specification (see Assessment Regulations); that Schools should specify the nature and extent of assessment feedback and whether this is accompanied by the return of assessed work (see Assessment Feedback Policy); that Schools should inform students how and when results will be issued (see Marking and Grading Policy); and that Schools should tell students where anonymity in the assessment process ends (see Anonymous Marking).
In response to revisions to Section 4 of the QAA Code of Practice, the policy on external examiners had also been revised to clarify the duties of the external examiner in regard to the moderation of scripts and to define what would be considered inappropriate reciprocity in external examiner appointment.
RESEARCH DEGREE PROGRAMMES SECTION UPDATE
The following changes have recently been made to the Research Degree Programmes section of the Quality Manual:
• The Notice of Intent to Submit Form
has been updated to amend the wording in the section for the supervisor’s signature and to include a space in which supervisors can add any comments they wish to make
• An
Independent Report Form template has now been attached to the
Procedures for Assessment
entry (the Registry will continue to send out candidate-specific forms to Examiners with theses)
• Updated entry on
Appointment of Examiners
, taking out references to probationary staff as a result of the introduction of the Research and Teaching Job Family
• Updated
Instructions for examiners (a minor change for clarification).
Schools have also been informed that the Quality Manual entry on the supervision of research students has also be changed, following consultation with Academic Boards, to make it a requirement to appoint more than one supervisor to a research student.
In addition, it was agreed at the May 2007 meeting of Research Degrees Committee that the MPhil/PhD Regulations should be amended to state PhD students re-submit for PhD after initial submission, thus removing the option previously available to examiners that PhD candidates should re-submit for either the degree of PhD or MPhil. As a result of this regulatory change, the Procedures for Assessment entry, the guidance to examiners and Joint Report Form have been updated. Please see the attachment entitled “Information for examiners, supervisors and candidates for the degree of PhD
” at the bottom of the entry on Procedures for Assessment.
June 2007
Following a review by Teaching Committee of Personal and Academic Support, this section of the Quality Manual has been substantially revised and re-titled Student Support and Development. The revised section clarifies and develops the personal tutoring function, as well as giving recognition to the role that central support services play in assisting students.
The guidance on ‘Marks and Credit Transfer for Students on Placements’. It has been revised in light of feedback from Schools and students, revisions to the Quality Assurance Agency Code of Practice on Placement Learning, and following discussions between the International Office and the Courses Office.
Revisions to the current policy include:
• Clarification that the policy is aimed at students on educational exchanges (not work exchanges)
• Confirming that responsibility for agreements is at School level, rather than Academic Board level
• Removing a distinction between U21 and non-U21 exchanges
• Confirming that it is mandatory to complete an individual Learning Agreement for each student
• Confirming that School Exchange checklists are advisable, but not mandatory.
The guidance is within the Placement Learning
section of the Quality Manual.
There's been an addition to the guidance on appointing module convenors in the Module Specification Guidance to clarify that where a module is delivered in both the UK and an international campus, a module contact should be appointed at the international campus. The module contact will: undertake the liaison with the UK-based module convenor; have delegated responsibility for the modules delivery at the international campus; be the contact person in regard to that module for students at the international campus.
The Collaborative Course Approval Policy and Procedure has been revised to clarify the types of collaborative provision supported by the University and the approval process.
March 2007
Following approval at Teaching Committee, the following changes have been made with a view to streamlining assessment and taught provision:
Assessment
1. Module/Programme Specification Guidance
• The replacement of all but the first two sentences of the section 17 of the module specification guidance ('Assessment details') with the following statement, 'The assessment for the module should be no more than the minimum necessary to test its learning outcomes. Where it is felt necessary to have more than one component of assessment to cover all the learning outcomes, assessing any given learning outcome more than once should be avoided if possible. There should normally not be more than one timetabled examination for a module, except where it is necessary to have both a written and a practical examination.'
• The addition to section 21 of the module specification guidance ('Learning Outcomes') that 'Only learning outcomes which are being assessed should be listed and these should therefore be few in number, with five learning outcomes being the norm, though this may vary with the credit size of the module.'
• The addition to section D of the programme specification guidance ('Learning Outcomes') that 'The reoccurrence of the same learning outcome in a large number of modules should be avoided. This is with a view to minimising the number of learning outcomes in each module and thus restricting the amount of assessment that needs to take place to test those learning outcomes.'
Modules
2. New Modules
The addition of the following to the policy on approval of new modules, to come into force with regard to modules being submitted for approval from the beginning of 2007/08:
'In submitting a new module for approval, the School should either:
• Indicate the existing module which is being withdrawn and replaced by the new module, or
• Indicate the new programme of which the new module forms an integral part.
Where neither of the above circumstances exist, the School will need to make a case for the module to be approved, citing the significant institutional interests served by the module. The relevant Programmes Committee will seek the advice of Teaching Committee in considering any such case.'
3. 5-credit Modules
The addition of the following to section 3 of the module specification guidance ('Number of credits'):
'The minimum credit size of a module is 10 credits and all credit sizes must be divisible by 5. 5-credit modules are only permitted where these place no demands on either the teaching or examinations timetables.'
4. Course Structures
• The removal the section of the University of Nottingham Qualifications Framework requiring Schools to permit their students to take a number of credits (60 for Honours students) from outside their School.
• The addition in the paragraph of Section C2 ('Course Structure') of the Programme Specification guidance relating to restricted modules, of a statement that 'the number of active modules listed in this section can have a total credit value no more than 5 times the total credit value of the modules the students must choose e.g. where students must take modules totalling 30 credits from a list of modules, that list cannot contain active modules totalling over a maximum of 150 credits.'
Programmes
5. New Programmes
The addition of the following statement to the Quality Manual section on approving new courses:
'One of the aims of a new programme should be to increase (or, at least, help maintain) the overall intake of students to the University.'
6. Withdrawing Programmes
The addition of the following statement to the Quality Manual section on Closing or Suspending a Taught Course:
'The University will automatically close any programme which has not had a student registered upon it for three years and for which there are no outstanding applications, unless the School is able to demonstrate likely future recruitment of significant numbers of students onto that programme.'
February 2007
19 February Regulation 12 of the Regulations for Taught Postgraduate Courses has been amended to clarify that a student who, at the first attempt, has not satisfactorily completed the taught stage or research stage of the course has a right to one re-assessment in each failed module at a time to be specified by the admitting School but normally by the end of the following academic year or equivalent for part-time students.
19 February There have been two amendments to the Code of Practice for External Examiners (Undergraduate & Taught Postgraduate Programmes): 1. to include the addition of a requirement for reports to be available to, and considered by, the School's Learning Community Forum(s); 2. To extend the appointment of External Examiners up to a normal maximum of three to five years' service (from the previous three years).
6 February A Form to allow a research student to request to Register for an Additional Year of Study has been added to the Research Student progress and Annual Review section. Where it is agreed that a student's course should be extended into a fourth year of study (for students registered as PhD candidates) or a third year of study (for students registered as MPhil candidates and intending to submit for that degree), the form should be completed and returned to the Registry, E Floor, Portland Building , University Park .
January 2007
26 January A policy on waiving English Language Requirements has been added to the Recruitment and Admissions section. Applicants who are nationals from the listed countries and who have graduated in their countries with a recognised degree and/or who have successfully completed the equivalent of year 12 in high school will automatically satisfy the University English language requirements. Applicants from non-listed countries but who have completed a recognised degree and/or who have successfully completed the equivalent of year 12 in high school in one of the listed countries will automatically have their English language requirement waived if they completed these studies within the last ten years.
16 January An additional requirement has been added to the Information to be provided for students on their programmes of study section. Schools are required to provide details, for each module, of the format of the assessment(s), including, for written examinations, whether it is essay questions, MCQ etc
11 January The Assessment Feedback section has been revised to state:
1. All students should receive a clearly advertised opportunity to receive satisfactory feedback on their examinations. Where no other suitable mechanisms exist for providing feedback the module convenor should supply on the Web a generic feedback report (no more than one side of A4) for each module to the relevant group of students which:
(a) highlights examination questions on which students' performance could be improved,
(b) suggests strategies for improving performance in those questions,
(c) gives general comments about technique.
An optional template is provided at: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/quality-manual/forms/examination-feedback-form.doc
2. All students failing a module should be given feedback on request which, as a minimum (though only where relevant), comprises a breakdown of their marks question-by-question.
Schools are asked to make any necessary changes to their procedures in time for the January 2007 examinations where possible.
2006
December 2006
20 December There have been several changes to regulations governing research degree students:
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Appointment of Supervisors It has been clarified that Special Professors, Special Lecturers, recently retired staff and Emeritus Professors are not permitted to act as sole or principal supervisors but may be involved in a joint supervision arrangement as a second supervisor.
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Internal Examiners Post-doctoral staff, Research Fellows, Special Professors, Special Lecturers, Emeritus Professors and retired academic staff should not be permitted to act as Internal Examiners.
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Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning The AP(E)L policy has been revised to allow a maximum of one-third of the total number of credits for research degrees with a taught component (Professional Doctorates) to be awarded by AP(E)L. This has brought research programmes in line with the University AP(E)L policy for taught courses.
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Suspension of Study Approval must be sought from Research Degrees Committee for suspension of study for students who have already had a suspension of a year. This is on the Voluntary Suspensions of Registration page.
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Role of Vice-Deans Authority to make decisions on behalf of Research Degrees Committee is delegated to all PG Vice-Deans, regardless of whether they are members of the Committee. This is clarified in the section dealing with Compliance with the Quality Manual.
18 December The Policy on Personal and Academic Support has been reformulated and re-presented to explicitly, accurately and clearly inform students and Schools of their respective responsibilities in regard to personal and academic support. There has been no actual change to policy.
November 2006
24 November There has been an amendment to the course approval process to clarify the requirements to seek external advice in programme design. External advice 'should' be sought when developing a new programme, and for any new programmes where more than 25% of taught modules (in credit terms) students will be required to take are new, then external advice 'must' be sought. This is in the Taught Programmes section.
24 November Guidance for Schools on Ordinary Degrees has been added to the Quality Assurance Structures section. The guidance has brought together existing policy in regard to these degrees and includes guidance on the structure of the degrees and programme specifications, transfer and progression.
6 November Following discussion at Recruitment and Admissions Committee, the minimum English Language Entry Requirements for students applying to the University of Nottingham have been streamlined in to five bands. This is in the Recruitment and Admissions section.
September 2006
22 September The Assessment section has been revised to enable staff and students to access information more easily.
There are no changes to existing policy, but the following revisions have been made:
May 2006
31 May An E-Learning and Distance Learning Policy has been published. The policy covers educational provision leading to an award or part of an award which is delivered and/or supported and/or assessed through means which generally do not require the student to attend particular classes or events at particular times and particular locations. The policy outlines the minimum requirements that the University expects should be met by Schools when delivering this provision.
31 May The Academic Appeals Policy and Procedure has been updated to reflect the replacement of Faculty Assessment Committees by the Assessment Group of Taught Courses Committee/Research Degrees Committee.
31 May The policy on Resources and Facilities that should be made available to research degree students has been revised following consultation with Academic Boards. This is within the Research Degree Programmes section.
23 May The University of Nottingham Qualifications Framework has been modified to reduce the number of credits required for Graduate Certificates and Diplomas, and within this to reduce the number of credits that would be required at level 3. This would bring the University into line with general practice in the sector, as highlighted in the Measuring & Recording Student Achievement Steering Group.
23 May A new entry has been added which clarifies current practice for approving changes to module specifications. This is within the Programme Approval, Monitoring and Review section.
10 May An addition has been made to the guidance on Marks and Credit Transfer for Students on Placements, to clarify how the University's study regulations should be applied for students on placements. It clarifies that the student’s Learning Agreement should state the manner in which reassessment will be undertaken if a fail mark is received during a placement. This is within thePlacement Learning section.
8 May New policy and procedures for the Submission and Approval of New Courses have been added to the Programme Approval, Monitoring and Review Section. This policy applies for all courses starting in 2007/08 onwards. For courses starting in 2006/07 please see http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/quality-manual/taught-programmes/sub-app.htm
April 2006
28 April The Assessment Group of Taught Courses/Research Degrees Committee has revised the entry for Extenuating Circumstances. There's no change to existing policy, but the following revisions have been made:
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a clarification of policy
-
the addition of examples of cases that have (and have not) traditionally been seen as 'acceptable' reasons for missing an exam.
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the way in which Schools note extenuating circumstances has been simplified
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the old extenuating circumstances form and the missed exam form have been replaced with one single form for both eventualities.
The extenuating circumstances policy is within the Assessment Section.
March 2006
31 March The Academic Offence Procedures have been revised following approval at the February 2006 meetings of Taught Courses Committee and Research Degrees Committee. The revisions allow Schools to impose a range of penalties which would previously had been the responsibility of Faculty Assessment Committees and include revisions to the powers of the Academic Offences Committee. The procedures are within the Assessment section of the Quality Manual.
31 March Regulations for the Degrees of Master of Arts by Research and Master of Science by Research have been added to the Research Degree Programmes section. These generic regulations were approved by Research Degrees Committee in February 2006 and allow for Schools to award MA/MSc by Research degrees with their own individual titles
27 March The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Fitness to Practise Committee Procedure has been added to the Study Regulations section. The procedures, which were put into effect in 1999-2000, relate to students on any course leading to a professional qualification within the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
24 March Within the Study Regulations section, guidance for students wishing to change a taught course has been revised to include guidance for postgraduate taught course students.
24 March There had been a minor amendment to regulation 12 of the Regulations for Undergraduate Courses to allow supplementary regulations for Integrated Masters courses and certain Honours courses with a compulsory year away from the University to specify a higher progression average across a set of modules within a stage.
24 March The role of a professional proof reader for research theses has been defined in the Research Degree Programmes section.
February 2006
14 February Within the Students with Disabilities section, Guidelines for Schools have been added which outline the minimum requirements that Schools must satisfy to meet the needs of students with disability, as legislated for under the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) 2001. It applies to overseas or EU students as well as to British students, and to those who are only taking part of a course.
10 February Regulations for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Philosophy (MPhil)The revised Section 1 of the QAA Code of Practice for the Assurance of Academic Quality and Standards in Higher Education stated that “Institutional Regulations for postgraduate research degree programmes (PRPs) will be clear and readily available” (Precept 2) and accordingly at its meeting on 9 February 2006 Research Degrees Committee reviewed the clarity and format of its regulations for research students as well as for students on taught courses and approved a recommendation to introduce a new set of combined PhD and MPhil regulations with immediate effect.
The new Regulations cover both degrees of MPhil and PhD, removing the present duplication between the two sets of Regulations. In addition to the existing provisions, new material has now been added, which has the benefit of putting all the most important provisions from entries on Progression and Assessment in the Research Degree Programmes section of the Quality Manual in one place, as follows:
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A specific Regulation (3) on the issue of whether paid employment may be undertaken by full-time research students
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More detailed information in Regulations 6 to 14 about the annual review procedure (currently available in the entry entitled Student Progress and Annual Review)
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Entitlements during the Thesis-Pending Period (Regulations 16 to 18) (including information currently given in the entry entitled The Thesis-Pending Period)
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More detailed information about the submission of the thesis, e.g. the right of a student to obtain limited assistance with proof-reading
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Additional information on the examination process, including the University’s expectations of the roles to be performed by the examiners and the timing and organisation of the viva voce examination (currently contained in entries entitled Procedures for Assessment, Viva Voce Examinations and Role and Appointment of Examiners)
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Clearer instructions on the requirement to give clear and quick feedback to the candidate under the section Outcomes of the Examination; in addition, this section lays out more clearly the recommendations available to the examiners which are currently contained in two separate documents which were formerly available in the withdrawn Research Students and Supervisors Guide.
The effect of the more detailed Regulations is to put the information currently contained in two sets of Regulations and six Quality Manual entries in one six-page document, which has the advantage of ensuring students have all the important information applicable to their course in one place. The regulations are in the Study Regulations section of the Quality Manual.
January 2006
17 January The Code of Practice for Student Complaints has been revised by Student Services Committee. The Code of Practice clearly sets out the procedure to be followed by students to pursue complaints about most matters concerning both teaching & learning (e.g. teaching facilities, supervision arrangements etc) and non-academic issues (e.g. support services, accommodation etc). It includes forms which should be used by students to set out their complaints. There is also a separate procedure for Public Interest Disclosure ("whistleblowing"), to be adopted when staff (and also students and lay members of the University) wish to disclose malpractice. Both procedures can be found in the Complaints and Appeals section.
2005
December 2005
9 December Policy on allowing students to exceptionally Register for Additional Credits has been added to the Study Regulations section. The normal expectation is that registered students of the University enrol for modules in accordance with the appropriate University regulations and programme specification. Exceptionally, however, a student may be allowed to register for a maximum of 20 additional credit-bearing modules in any one academic year.
7 December An addition has been made to the Voluntary Suspensions of Registration entry to clarify the set period after initial registration within which all students are expected to complete their course. This is within the Study Regulations section.
6 December The following changes have been made to the Assessment section:
Re-Appointment of External Examiners
An amendment (highlighted in italics) has been made to the following statement: ‘No External Examiner may be re-appointed
for the same or similar course within three years of finishing their previous appointment’. This modification is to allow for the possibility of an External being used for a quite different course from a previous appointment e.g. for an MSc course largely unrelated to an undergraduate course which they have examined.
Boards of Examiners’ Minutes
A sentence has been added stating: ‘Schools will be expected to use these minutes when requested by students to explain decisions made in regard to them.’ The purpose of this change is to clarify one of the functions of the minutes and to reiterate that students may have access to information about themselves contained in the minutes (as is already made clear in the entry on
data protection in the Quality Manual).
Retention of Scripts
A new statement says that: ‘Schools should retain scripts until at least the end of the academic session following the session in which the examinations occurred.’ This replaces the original retention policy that: ‘Schools should retain scripts for a year after a student has graduated, (eg four years for a student on a three-year course).’ The original retention policy was based on the requirements of QAA Subject Review, which has now been discontinued. The new retention policy is commonplace at other institutions.
Instructions for the Layout and Timing of Examination Question Papers
Instructions have been added that: 'In the case of foreign language examinations the question rubric should clearly indicate which language answers should be given in.'
2 December Guidance on School responsibility for compliance with the Quality Manual, and on the role of the Academic Office in helping to interpret the Quality Manual has been added to the Quality Assurance Structures section.
November 2005
22 November Following consultation with Academic Boards and approval at Taught Courses Committee (see minutes 05/36) a Policy on Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning has been added to the Study Regulations section.
September 2005
28 September The Research Degree Programmes (RDP) section of the Quality Manual has been updated to ensure that the University's guidance complies with Section One: Postgraduate Research Programmes of the Quality Assurance Agency's Code of Practice
, which was revised in late 2004. A working group of Research Degrees Committee met several times during Session 2004/5 to consider these revisions, and its recommendations were signed off by that Committee at its final meeting in 2004/5.
The main changes are:
(1) information on admissions has been taken out of the RDP section and is now included in the
Recruitment and Admissions Section
(2) the Training entry now includes guidance on
Induction
(3) Criteria for award of MPhil and PhD have been replaced by the M Level and D Level Descriptors where appropriate
(4) there is a new guidance on the
viva voce
examination
(5) the
thesis-pending period extension request form
has been updated
(6) references to the "Research Students & Supervisors: a Guide" have now been removed. The Guide was discontinued with effect from the start of the 2005/6 Session and its content incorporated within the Quality Manual.
August 2005
30 August The Extenuating Circumstances procedure and guidance has been updated to cover students who are unable to take examinations on a particular day during the published examination periods for reasons of religious observance (see section 4.8). These students should complete and submit the Religious Observance Form by the published deadlines. The procedure and guidance is within the Assessment section.
2 August Following consultation with Academic Boards and approval at Taught Courses Committee (see minutes 05/18) a revised Programme Specification template and accompanying guidance has been published in the Programme Approval, Monitoring and Review section of the Quality Manual. This template should be used for all new course proposals from September 2005 onwards
Taught Courses Committee (see minutes 05/19) has also approved policy providing clarification of the University policy regarding amending Programme Specifications, including which type of changes require approval by the Academic Board Programme Committees (or equivalent). This is included in the Programme Approval, Monitoring and Review section of the Quality Manual as Policy and procedure for the approval of changes to Programme Specifications.
1 August Following approval at Taught Courses Committee (see minutes 05/08) the procedure for Academic Appeals Committee and Academic Offence Committee hearings have been revised to include provision for a student representative on the panel of Academic Appeals / Offences Committees, to run for a trial period in the 2005/06 academic year. The procedures are in the Complaints and Appeals and the Assessment sections of the Quality Manual.
July 2005
27 July Revisions have been made to the procedure for the approval of collaborative provision as a result of a review of previous procedures against the revised QAA Code of Practice Section 2: Collaborative provision and flexible learning (September 2004). The revisions ensure that the requirements of the Code are being met, and also streamline the procedure in order to increase efficiency and to clarify the process. It is anticipated that this should shorten the time taken to gain approval for collaborations while at the same time reducing the administrative burden upon Schools and the Collaborative Courses Committee.
5 July At the request of Teaching Committee (see minutes), the following changes have been made to simplify the structure of the Quality Manual and bring it more into line with the QAA Code of Practice :
- Revised undergraduate and taught postgraduate regulations have been incorporated in the section on ‘Attendance and Progression’. This section has been renamed ‘Study Regulations’. The Regulations for Undergraduate Courses take effect from 2005/06 for students admitted during or after September 2004. The Regulations for Taught Masters Degrees, Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate courses take effect from 2006/07 for students admitted during or after September 2006.
- The section on ‘Student Information, Input and Feedback’ has been removed and relevant parts of it have been placed in the ‘Quality Assurance Structures’ section.
- The section on ‘Graduation’ has been removed and relevant parts of it have been placed in the ‘Assessment’ section.
- The section on ‘Staff Development’ has been removed and relevant parts of it have been placed in the ‘Quality Assurance Structures’ section.
- Material on academic offences has been relocated from ‘Complaints and Appeals’ to ‘Assessment’.
- A new section on ‘Flexible and Distributed Learning’ has been created in line with the new part of the QAA Code of Practice.
June 2005
30 June The award of ‘Practitioner Doctorate’ has been added to the University awards available in the University of Nottingham Qualifications Framework (UNQF).
29 June Minor changes have been made to the Council Grievence Procedure within the Complaints and Appeals section to reflect the role of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education and to introduce a specified time limit of one month from an initial refusal by the Chair of the Panel, within which a student must submit a revised appeal.
March 2005
30 March Several changes have been made to the Research Students section.
The following forms have been added to the Procedures for Assessment page:
Research Students can now hand in their Notification of Intention to Submit Forms to Schools as well as the Registry.
The following forms have been added to the Role and appointment of examiners of research degrees page:
February 2005
28 February A revised suspension form and a revised withdrawal form have been added to the Voluntary Suspensions of Registration page. These forms have been changed to take into account the University's responsibility to let the Home Office know when an international student suspends or withdraws. This is in the Attendance and Progression section.
25 February Two minor changes have been made to the Code of Practice on Recruitment and Admissions: A statement has been added to the Admissions Procedures section stating that applications will not be considered from candidates who have previously registered for and been unsuccessful on the same course at the University of Nottingham for which the application is being made; and a statement has been added to the Intake and Offers section regarding targets for international student intake.
11 February The Code of Research Conduct has been moved from the Guide for Research Students and Supervisors (shortly to be removed from the General Information and Regulations for Students web pages) and is now in the Research Degree Programmes section of the Quality Manual.
10 February The following changes have been made within the Assessment section of the Quality Manual:
External Examiners
The Code of Practice for External Examiners
(Undergraduate & Taught Postgraduate Programmes) and the guidance on the Appointment of External Examiners have been reviewed and minor amendments, clarification and additions made to reflect the revised QAA Code of Practice on External Examiners published in August 2004.
Assessment Policies and Procedures
Minor amendments have been made to the
Assessment Policies and Procedures for Students on Taught Courses section to reflect current policy and practice. Additional guidance relating to 'In-house' examinations and tests and relating to the consideration of Joint-Honours students has been added.
Overseas Resits
A formalization and strengthening of existing policy and practice relating to
Overseas Resit examinations has now been included in the Quality Manual.
10 February The Examination Arrangements for Students who have a Disability, Dyslexia or Long-Term Medical Condition section has been updated to reflect deadlines for 2004/05 and minor amendments to reflect current policy and practice. This is in the Students who have a disability section of the Quality Manual.
8 February Minor revisions have been made to section 12 of the Programme Specifications Template to reflect changes in the structure (and names) of the various units in Student Services. This is in the Taught Programmes: Approval, Monitoring and Review section of the Quality Manual.
January 2005
31 January The guidance for section 15 of the Programme Specifications Template has been amended to ensure that Schools describe, for undergraduate courses, which degree class algorithm is used to convert marks to classes, where the marks boundary for identifying a candidate as borderline falls (in particular for the Upper Second/First boundary) and how the degree class of borderline candidates will be decided. For postgraduate courses Schools should describe how Merits/Distinctions etc are awarded. This is in the Taught Programmes: Approval, Monitoring and Review section of the Quality Manual.
21 January The procedure for Monitoring Research Degree Programmes has been added to the Research Degree Programmes section of the Quality Manual. It outlines the responsibilities of Schools and Research Degrees Committee in considering the Quantitative Data Set (QDS) which will be provided to Schools on an annual basis in regard to their research degree programmes.
2004
2003