Assessment
Assessments enable students to demonstrate they have fulfilled the learning objectives of their course, and achieved the standard required for the award they seek.
Please download the document:
Assessment and Feedback Policy
The Assessment and Feedback Policy provides details of the University’s policies and procedures relating to:
- Principles of Assessment and Feedback
- Operational Expectations
- Assessment tariffs
- Assessment limits
- Assessment submission
- Reassessment
- Marking and moderation processes
- The role of External Examiners.
See also:
Students’ marks, grades and awards are officially ratified through the University’s Assessment Board processes.
Assessment Boards take the form of a two-step process*. The first step is a Subject Board, which is based within the Schools. A Subject Board is a meeting of module tutors and course leaders to check and discuss marks and the moderating process for sets of modules within their subjects and to consult with External Examiners and carry out performance and enhancement discussions.
*Subject Boards are not held in advance of Reassessment Boards
Once Subject Boards have taken place, the marks and grades for each student are taken to a Central Assessment Board, during which the marks and grade and awards, where applicable, are officially ratified. During the Central Assessment Board processes, Chief External Examiners are consulted and invited to give their feedback.
Following the conclusion of the Central Assessment Board processes, official results are published to students.
The Central Assessment Board schedules provide the following information:
- Reassessment coursework submission deadlines (for assessments which have been postponed from an earlier Assessment period, via approved Exceptional Circumstances, as an example)
- Marks deadlines for tutors (the date by which tutors should submit all due marks for their modules to the central Assessments team)
- School Subject Boards (the range of dates in which Schools are expected to arrange their Subject Board meetings)
- Central Assessment Board (the date on which the Central Assessment Board takes place and marks, grades and awards are officially ratified)
- Official results publication - the date on which marks are officially published to students (any marks or grades provided by tutors prior to the official results publication dates should be considered as being provisional and advisory).
The Central Assessments Board schedules are available in the Central Assessments Board Schedule section of the Policies page.
- Undergraduate Agenda Template
- Postgraduate Agenda Template
- Undergraduate Minutes Template
- Postgraduate Minutes Template
- Central Assessment Board membership, purpose and terms of reference
Further information for staff can be found on the internal Sulis page.
Following the receipt of their official results communications, students may submit a Stage One: Formal Appeal to the University.
Details of the University’s Appeals Policy and Procedures are available on the Appeals Policy and Procedures page.
Bath Spa University is clear that all students will be judged on their own ability and that all assessment work submitted must be original. Academic Misconduct is defined as any activity used by a student which provides them with an unfair academic advantage over others.
Further information regarding the University’s Academic Misconduct procedures are available on the Academic Misconduct page.
The Guide to Students on the Undergraduate Framework provides details regarding a wide range of processes and services that the University provides, including course registration periods and award classification details.
The University offers a range of student support services and opportunities to enable students to manage the challenges and demands of academic study. Students are encouraged to seek support from personal tutors, module and course leaders, ASk (Academic Skills), Student Wellbeing Services, Students’ Union Advice Centre or to use other mechanisms, such as a study break, as appropriate.
Students are encouraged to use the University's Assessment Action Plan Template to help to map out their assessments and reassessments, where appropriate, throughout the academic year.