Frequently Asked Questions

1) What are extenuating circumstances and when do they apply? Extenuating circumstances are described by the University as being ‘something major that has happened to you which has seriously affected your performance in an assessment or caused you to miss an examination or fail to hand in an assignment’ which you want the award board to be aware of when it confirms results. They cover situations such as illness and bereavement but the nature of EC’s means that they are wide in scope so can clearly cover other situations.

If you wish to submit EC’s you MUST make sure that you follow the correct procedures and submit a specific EC’s form which you pick up from your faculty. You need to include as much evidence as possible (if applicable) such as medical evidence. EC’s should be submitted within five working days of the exam or assignment that you wish them to cover.

Submitting EC’s does not guarantee that they will be accepted but you will be notified either way, in writing, of the board’s decision.

You should be aware that even if your EC’s are accepted, the board cannot award you credit for a failed module, change your mark or exempt you from module fees payable for a second or additional attempt but they can allow you additional chances to take a failed module and also have the ability to ‘uncap’ a resit.

If you submit EC’s once in a year and want them to be considered for subsequent pieces of work later in the year – you MUST ensure you resubmit them in the same way as above at all subsequent dates.

2) I have received a mark back that I am unhappy with, can I appeal? Appeals must be submitted within 10 working days of your results being officially published by the faculty. You can only appeal on two grounds:

1) Instances where there has been a material and significant administrative error or other material irregularity, such as the assessment was not conducted in accordance with the approved regulations for the module/award

2) Where your performance was adversely affected by illness or other factors which you were, for valid reasons, unable to divulge before the meeting of the exam board

You cannot appeal simply because you think you worked hard and the mark awarded doesn’t reflect this, unless you have other reasons which do fall into one of the two categories above.

Like EC’s, appeals must be submitted on the correct form but the appeal form is found on-line on the Academic Registry part of the UWE website, go to: http://info.uwe.ac.uk/acreg/aro/aaaac.asp If you would like further advice on the appeals process please contact us in the Advice Centre.

3) I have received a letter accusing me of an alleged assessment offence, and a friend told me this means I’ll be kicked off the course. Is this true? The words assessment offences cover issues such as cheating, collusion and plagiarism which are breaches of University academic regulations. The University take such breaches seriously and are likely to impose a penalty if they do feel an assessment offence has been committed. Once you receive the letter, you must act quickly as you only have a short time scale in which to respond. Your letter should be accompanied by a second page, offering you the opportunity to go and view your work. We recommend all students go to see their work first before accepting or denying the offence and then come to see us in the Advice Centre. We can advise you on whether to accept or deny and the best way to do this as well as potential penalties which are likely to be imposed. These can differ depending upon whether it is your first offence or not so you should come to see us as soon as you have seen your work.

4) I have failed a module, what happens now? If you have taken a standard module at levels 0-3 for the first time and have failed it, you will usually be referred in the component(s) that you failed. This will be the component(s) you achieved 35% or less in, even if your overall mark was over 40%. So for example, 60% in the coursework, 33% in the exam – you need to re-sit just the exam.

The marks for any component(s) passed will be carried forward and your overall module mark will be this mark added to the mark you receive for the component(s) you re-take. You should be aware that any module at levels 2 or 3 which have been retaken will be capped at 40% unless EC’s have been submitted and accepted.

If you fail the referral, you may re-register for the module but will have to retake the whole module as a second attempt – this will mean retaking the components that you passed during the first attempt as well as those that you failed.

We recommend any students who finds themselves in this situation contact their Faculty Student Advisers for clarification to ensure that all the correct policies and procedures are followed. Also, see page 118 onwards of the 2007/2008 student handbook.

You should note that the above does not apply to professional practice modules or Master’s dissertations. In addition, the overall pass mark for Master’s students is 50% not 40%.

5) I am not happy on my course and am considering leaving. Who should I speak to? If you are considering leaving UWE or transferring to another University you should speak to one of your Faculty Student Advisers (FSA) as soon as possible before you make any decisions. They will be able to ensure that you have all the necessary information before you make a final decision and will also be able to give you information on fee liability and other important factors which could affect your decision. Don’t forget, if you do leave UWE and are in receipt of loans and bursaries all of the issuing companies will need to be informed and if you are in UWE managed accommodation, you are likely to still have a rent liability. Leaving University altogether can have numerous implications on your housing situation so come and see us in the SU Advice Centre for more details on this and your FSA’s for all things academic!

6) I love UWE but don’t think the course I am on is for me. I would like to change courses but stay at UWE, who should I talk to? If you are hoping to transfer courses within UWE then again you need to speak to the Faculty Student Advisers. It is wise to speak to the ones in your current faculty AND the advisers in the faculty that you are hoping to transfer in to. The FSA’s in your ‘new’ faculty will be able to tell you entry requirements for the course and give details on the possibility of a transfer. Therefore, you should speak to them before leaving your current course.