No-Detriment policy 2019/20
No-Detriment Policy for the Semester 2, Trimester 2 and 3 Assessment Period - 2019/20 Academic Year
We have reviewed our current policy in line with how best we can support our entire student body to be successful in their studies during a period of uncertainty. Our rationale for this decision includes:
- ensuring you have the best opportunity to undertake and gain appropriate learning and understanding in your subject area.
- ensuring you have the best opportunity for your attainment to be accurately reflected.
- fairness and transparency of process for all students.
- an awareness of the challenging conditions you are facing at this present time and supporting you to mitigate against these.
- providing as much flexibility as possible whilst maintaining degree integrity and the long-term value of each degree.
Our no-detriment policy is based on Bath Spa University and its students. We believe this is the best option for you based on how you learn and are assessed during your time at Bath Spa.
Other universities have implemented similar policies based on grade averages. In order to meet the needs of all our students, we have devised an enhanced no-detriment approach to support those students who may not have a grade average. Our enhanced approach provides a safety net for those with a grade average and enables those without to retake assessments without penalty. We believe this approach is fair and flexible, provides all our students with choice, and accordingly no student will be detrimentally impacted by the current situation.
If you feel you have been impacted during Semester 2 or Trimester 2/3 of your studies, we will be putting in place the following mitigation to allow all students the best opportunity to progress to the next level of their course or to achieve their degree by the end of this academic year.
Alternative Assessments
- All examination periods have been cancelled and replaced by alternative assessments (these will be outlined clearly on individual Virtual Learning Environment module pages).
- Alternative assessments have been arranged for any assessment that requires an in-person or practical element to ensure you still meet the intended learning outcomes from your course (these will be outlined clearly on individual Virtual Learning Environment module pages).
Reassessment Opportunities
- If you do not feel 'fit' to submit your work at this current time, another opportunity will be provided to you during the Summer resit period to submit the work without penalty and without any requirement to put in a claim for Mitigating Circumstances.
- If you attempt a piece of assessment, but then achieve less than 40% (50% for postgraduate modules), you will be able to undertake the work again in the resit period, but this will be treated as a deferral (rather than a referral) and therefore the mark will not be capped.
Progression and Award Safety Net
Undergraduate students
Undergraduate students who had already successfully achieved 60 credits from their current level of study from Semester 1 following the March 2020 Assessment Boards, will already have been provided with a Grade Average. If you are an Undergraduate student who has not yet achieved 60 credits from Semester 1 this academic year at your current level, one of the following options will apply to you.
Option A: Safety Net One - Grade Average
Undergraduate students will now be provided with a grade average as long as they have successfully passed all 60 credits from Semester 1 within the 2019/20 academic year. Grade averages will be confirmed to you along with your official results on either the 10 July 2020 or the 4 September 2020, depending on when you successfully achieve 60 credits from Semester 1.
If you are due to be granted an award, we will calculate your degree award mark and classification as normal (this includes still being able to drop your lowest 20 credit module mark), using the rules explained in the Undergraduate Academic Framework (.pdf). We will also calculate your degree award classification using your grade average. The higher of the two will stand.
Students who have not yet achieved enough credits to gain a Grade Average will be given the option of whether they want to opt out of gaining a Grade Average and instead continue with Safety Net Two (Option B).
You will need to tell us whether you would like to opt-out of the grade average option by 26 May 2020 by completing the Opt-out form.
If we do not receive a completed opt-out form from you by this deadline, we will assume that you wish to proceed with Safety Net One: Grade Average, which you will receive upon successful completion of 60 credits at Semester One at your current level within the 2019-20 academic year. Please note that if you do not opt out of gaining a grade average by the deadline above, you will no longer have the opportunity to request to retake passed assessments in the August resit period.
Option B: Safety Net Two - Retake Passed Modules (summer reassessment period only)
For those students who are unable to obtain a grade average or have opted not to receive a Grade Average, you will still have Safety Net Two (Option B) available to you. If you pass an assessment following submission for the 8 June 2020 deadline, but believe that the mark does not reflect your grade profile due to the impact of the current situation, you can choose to undertake the work again in the resit period without being capped. Whichever mark is higher will be retained.
Postgraduate students
Postgraduate students who had already successfully achieved 90 credits from their current level of study following the March 2020 Assessment Board, will already have been provided with a Grade Average.
If you are a Postgraduate student who has not yet achieved 90 credits, you will be able to take advantage of the opportunity to retake assessments that you pass, following the July Assessment Board, if you believe that the mark you achieve does not reflect your grade profile due to the impact of the current situation. Any retakes during this period will not be capped and whichever mark is higher will be retained.
Considerations for Progression
- If you choose not to resubmit in August/September, you can ask to take the modules again in full the next year. You should contact the Student Information Desk via MyServices to check how any deferrals to the next academic year may impact your progression. PLEASE NOTE: undergraduate students can only progress onto the next level of their course with 40 credits in deficit (these are from failed or referred/deferred modules). You cannot progress onto the next level of your course with 60 or more credits outstanding from your current level.
- If you feel you are unable to continue with your studies at this current point you can request to intercalate (take a break) from your studies until the next academic year (2020/21). You can either return in the academic year 2020/21 to restart your current level from the start of the academic year or part-way through. Students who have previously repeated a year of study or are nearing the end of their registration period are advised to contact the Student Information Desk via MyServices to discuss their student record with a member of Student and Registry Services. If you decide to intercalate during this period (Semester Two/Trimester Two or Three) or subsequently decide to retake the year, you will no longer retain any grade average which has been confirmed to you. The grade average will also no longer be retained if a student is required to repeat a module with attendance in the next academic year.
No-Detriment Policy FAQs
Grade Averages will be calculated for you and sent to your student Bath Spa University email.
For undergraduate students, grade averages will be calculated for those students who achieve 60 credits from Semester 1 of their current level of study. These 60 credits from Semester 1 must be achieved either by the 8th June 2020 coursework deadline or the 10th August 2020 resit assessment coursework deadline at the latest.
UG Example 1
BMA4000-20 62 B
BMA4003-20 56 C
BMA4005-20 65 B
The Grade Average would be: 61.00
UG Example 2
FTV6000-40 57 C
FTV6100-20 63 B
The Grade Average would be: 59.00
For Postgraduate Students grade averages will have been calculated for those students who have already achieved 90 credits from their current level of study.
PGT Example
CW7017-30 60
CW7050-30 63
CW7007-30 59
The Grade Average would be: 60.67
For Undergraduate students we are only able to provide a grade average if you have successfully passed 60 credits from Semester 1.
However, in order to meet the needs of all our students, we have devised an enhanced no-detriment approach to support students in this position. If you pass an assessment in Semester 2, or a referred or deferred Semester 1 assessment, but believe that the mark does not reflect your grade profile due to the impact of the current situation, you can choose to undertake the work again in the resit period this academic year. Whichever mark achieved is higher, this is the mark that will be retained.
Further information on how you can notify us that you would like to undertake the work again will be provided nearer the time.
Your module will remain capped (referred) as this result was obtained outside of the affected period.
Students who would rather take a break from their studies at this current time with the intention to either return at the start of the 2020/21 academic year or at the start of either Semester 2 or Trimester 2/3 can request to do this. Any requests will be reviewed taking into account registration periods for your course (see FAQ ‘How long is the registration period for my course’) and/or your funding situation to ensure we provide you with the best options for your personal circumstances. Any requests to Intercalate should be sent to mycourse@bathspa.ac.uk.
Students requesting to restart a level or period of study in the next academic year will be required to pay tuition fees, if you are unsure if you are eligible for additional statutory funding please contact studentwellbeing@bathspa.ac.uk for further advice.
The registration period for courses is outlined on page 6 of our Academic Regulations 2021 (.pdf).
For the remainder of the 2019/20 academic year, we are not requiring students to put in a claim for Mitigating Circumstances, regardless of the reasons for your claim. If you do not feel 'fit' to submit your Semester 2 or Trimester 2/3 work at this current time, another opportunity will be provided to you during the Summer resit period to submit the work without penalty i.e. your resit attempt will not be capped at 40% (undergraduates) or 50% (postgraduates).
If students do however have circumstances with which they feel that they need support and guidance, please contact Student Wellbeing Services at studentwellbeing@bathspa.ac.uk.
For PGCE/PGDE students we are currently waiting for guidance about the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) from the DfE. As soon as we receive this, all PGCE/PGDE students will be contacted.
For students where their course includes accreditation from a professional body, we are currently waiting for further guidance from the relevant professional body. As soon as we receive this, all students affected by this will be contacted.
Yes. However, as we do not yet know which of your modules will have the lowest grade, for any student where we are able to calculate a Grade Average, we will still be using the marks from modules that have been ratified in your current level of study.
When an overall award is made, the standard process for awarding (using the best 100 credits at levels 5 and 6) will take place. Once this has been calculated there will then be an additional check to confirm that this is not lower than your Grade average.
You had not completed enough of your assessments for the university to calculate a grade average for you in March 2020.
However, for undergraduate students, provided you successfully pass 60 credits of Semester 1 by the September 2020 Assessment Board, a grade average can be calculated for you.
As students who studied on an Erasmus placement you will have only achieved credit rather than grades for your semester one studies, therefore without grades we are unable to provide you with a grade average.
We are governed by our academic framework which states that final award classification can only be made from marks obtained at Bath Spa University and it is for this reason that students returning from an Erasmus placement receive only credit from their awarding University rather than grades. However, you will still be covered by the policy in other ways:
- If you are unable to complete a piece of work during the remainder of your level or think a mark has been impacted by the current situation, you can choose to undertake (or retake) the work in the resit period. Whichever mark is higher will be retained.
- If you fail an assessment, you will then need to undertake the work again in the resit period, but the mark will not be capped.
No decision has been made yet on when ceremonies that were due to take place in July 2020 will be rescheduled to. This is still being considered and any decision is unlikely to take place until after the current situation has stabilised. However, Graduation ceremonies will definitely not take place before October 2020. For students that were due to attend a Graduation Ceremony in July 2020 it is our intention to ensure that wherever possible cohorts of students will be able to graduate together.
For students who are due to complete their studies at the end of the 2019/20 academic year, please be reassured that on successful completion of your course you will still be able to graduate and will receive a degree certificate and transcript. It is only the Graduation Ceremony that has been postponed.
If you have failed to pass a piece of assessment work and need to resubmit it for either the 8 June or 10 August 2020 deadlines, then wherever possible students should try to improve their existing assessment by incorporating already submitted material, rather than starting a completely new assignment.
If you are still unsure of how you should complete your reassessment please contact your module leader to discuss.
At the end of your degree, we will calculate your degree award mark and classification as normal (this includes still being able to drop your lowest 20 credit module mark), using the rules explained in the Undergraduate Academic Framework (.pdf) / Taught Postgraduate Framework (.pdf). We will also calculate your degree award mark using your grade average. The higher of the two will stand.
Your degree award mark and individual module marks will not be changed on your academic transcript but a statement will be added to the transcript referencing the No-Detriment Policy.
Examples
If you are currently an Undergraduate level 5 student:
Your degree award mark uses 30% of the averaged highest 100 credits level 5, and 70% of the averaged highest 100 credits at level 6.
If in 2019/20, your level 5 module results were as follows:
- Semester 1:
- GCO5000-40: 71 A
- GCO5001-20: 68 B
- Semester 2:
- GCO5001-20: 60 B
- GCO5002-20: 60 B
- GCO5003-20: 58 C
Your Level 5 Grade Average would be 70.00
Your Level 5 Actual Year Average would be 66.00
Hypothetically, if, upon completion of Level 6, you achieve an Actual Year Average of 70%, then using the 30/70 ratio between level 5/6, this would give you an actual degree mark across levels 5 and 6 of 68.80%.
However, if we calculate your award using your Grade Average from level 5 instead of your Actual Year Average in level 5, you would obtain an overall degree mark of 70.00.
Therefore, using your grade average safety net, you would be given a 1st as your award classification.
If you are currently an Undergraduate level 6 student:
Your degree award mark uses 30% of the averaged highest 100 credits level 5, and 70% of the averaged highest 100 credits at level 6.
If your level 6 module results were as follows:
- Semester 1:
- FTV6000-40: 52 C
- FTV6002-20: 46 D
- Semester 2:
- FTV6001-20: 48 D
- FTV6003-20: 45 D
- FTV6101-20: 43 D
Your Level 6 Grade Average would be 50.00
Your Level 6 Actual Average would be 48.60.
Hypothetically, if you had achieved an average of 52.00 across your highest 100 credits at level 5 then, using the 30/70 ratio between level 5/6, this would give you an actual degree mark of 49.62.
However, if we calculate your award using your Grade Average instead of your Actual Year Average, you would obtain an overall degree mark of 50.60.
Therefore, using your grade average safety net, you would be given a 2.2 as your award classification.
If you are currently a Postgraduate student:
Your degree is calculated from an average of all your modules.
If your module results were as follows:
- Previous years/trimesters:
- PS7004-30: 69
- PS7007-30: 75
- PS7003-30: 68
- Trimesters 2 &3 of 2019/20:
- PS7006-30: 67
- PS7010-60: 66
Grade Average for First 90 Credits of your Course would be 70.67
Actual Course Average would be 68.50.
Therefore, using your grade average safety net, you would be given a Distinction as your award classification.