Academic Services Policy

Assessment

Definitions

These are working definitions that may be changed to ensure consistency with terminology employed in the Student System.

Forms of assessment:

Assessment components
Discrete tasks or elements of assessment within a particular subject. A component may be a single task (e.g. examination; essay) or a set of tasks (e.g. laboratory reports; weekly exercises).
Examination
Includes only assessment held during the examination period. For example, formally supervised written examinations; written or online tests; oral tests; performances; aural tests.
Longer Assignment
substantial piece of work to be submitted by a student for assessment, completed outside class time, by a pre-determined due date. This includes 'essay', 'dissertation', 'research project', 'take-home examination', 'portfolio', 'report', or other longer written project, design or programming task. In general, an individual task worth more than 25% of the subject points, and/or of more than 1000 words is considered a 'longer assignment'.
Shorter assignment
work to be submitted by a student for assessment, completed outside class time and by a pre-determined due date. Includes 'short essay', 'take-home test', 'problem set', 'short report', or other written project, design or programming task, usually submitted to teaching staff in class. Shorter assignments are often weekly tasks (e.g. laboratory reports; weekly tutorial exercises) and may be grouped together as a single component of assessment.
In-class task
includes all assessment undertaken and completed during a class. For example, written or online tests; oral tests or presentations; practical work, including reports and problems solving exercises; performances; aural tests; and, class participation.
Prescribed (Hurdle) requirement
An assessment requirement that must be satisfactorily completed in order for the student to pass a subject, irrespective of the marks achieved by completion of other components of assessment in that subject.
Additional Assessment
Component(s) of assessment administered (subject to strict criteria) to some students in addition to or (in the case of special assessment) instead of the advertised requirements.
Alternative Assessment
Component(s) of assessment administered in a different form or under different conditions to students assessed as experiencing academic disadvantage or as a result of Special Consideration, instead of the advertised requirements.
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Results:

Marking
the act of assessing individual assessment components, generating a score and/or grade, and feedback, as appropriate.
Score or raw score
the provisional result of an assessment component, prior to compilation and conversion to percentage mark & grade according to the University grading scheme.
Mark
The numeric figure (e.g. 75%) expressing the result for each subject in percentage terms.
Grade
A notation (e.g. H1, P) that describes a student's performance in each subject, derived from the mark, with the exception of WD or incomplete grades.
Final result
The mark and grade determined by the Board of Examiners as a student's result for the subject as a whole.
Return of Results
The day by which results have to be submitted within the Student System by teaching departments.
Due Date
The date by which an assessment task must be submitted to avoid incurring a penalty for late submission.
Expected return date
The date that completed assessment, together with feedback from Examiners, is expected to be available for collection/review by students.
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Roles and responsibilities:

Subject Coordinator
An individual academic staff member designated to be responsible for the teaching and administration of the subject.
Examiners
The Examiners are persons designated by the chairperson of the examination board from those teaching the subject as the Examiners (under statute 12.1).
Assistant markers
persons assisting Examiners assess student's work; for example, tutors and demonstrators.
Examination Board
Name given to the group of Examiners responsible for assessment in each subject.
Departmental Assessment Coordinator
The Head of Department or their nominee with responsibility for coordinating assessment within a teaching department.
Course Progress Committee
A committee chaired by the custodial dean or their nominee (often a relevant faculty Associate Dean) which makes recommendations to boards of Examiners on re-assessment after borderline failure or for additional assessment for the last subject of a student's degree1.
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Subject and course details:

Class
A set instruction or learning time held at a specified time during a teaching period, which may be a lecture, tutorial, seminar, laboratory, or practical.
Assessment period
Each teaching period is followed by an assessment period, during which the final assessment component (examination or assignment) falls due. The assessment period for semester subjects is four weeks (one week for the summer term). An assessment period of one or more weeks must be defined for non-standard subjects.
Swot Vac
a period of time between the teaching and the assessment period during which teaching and assessment is suspended to allow preparation by students.
Standard teaching semester
the usual teaching semesters, approved by Academic Board annually, comprising semester 1, 2 and a summer semester of 6 weeks.
Fixed, full-time course
A course where a student must successfully complete all subjects of the course during a particular academic year and maintain a full-time enrolment. A student who fails a subject is not permitted to progress to the next year of the course without repeating the failed subject.
Subject Guide
A publication, authorised by the subject coordinator, which contains subject specific information, including assessment information, subject information such as the class schedule and weekly topics, and readings and resources assembled for the student.
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1 Not the Unsatisfactory Progress Committee, established by the Academic Board (see the Unsatisfactory Progress Policy), though common membership may be advantageous.

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