Please note: the following information is intended for TEI Staff and Students who are part of the Common Awards scheme.
These FAQs are specific to the implementation of the ‘No Detriment’ policy for Common Awards programmes, for the academic year 2019/2020.
We recognise that assessments are currently being undertaken in very challenging circumstances. In response, TEIs and Durham University are adopting a range of measures to ensure that students are not disadvantaged. Such measures have included setting alternative assessments, providing extensions, and moving the delivery of teaching online.
The 'No Detriment' policy provides a safety net so that students can take assessments with the confidence that if, despite these measures, their marks are worse than those they gained for work completed before the Covid-19 pandemic, it will not affect their degree classification. The Common Awards approach to ‘No Detriment’ was approved by the University on 17th June and aligns with the University’s policy wherever possible. The Common Awards Team has worked very closely with the National Ministry Team on the ‘No Detriment’ model and on the ways in which Moodle can be used to support TEIs in providing additional information to the University in order to implement the policy.
The policy will work differently for different student groups (for example, continuing and graduating undergraduate students, taught postgraduate students, etc.), but, wherever possible, the key principle behind ‘No Detriment’ will remain the same for all students as long as students pass their modules, assessments undertaken while affected by Covid-19 can only raise (never lower) their AMW (arithmetic mean weighted mark), which is the key figure used in the classification of awards.
Last Updated: 11 February 2021, 12:29
TEI Communication - June 19th 2020
TEI Key Contacts and Principals were sent communication on 19th June 2020 summarising the following information.
At Durham, in common with other universities in the UK, an undergraduate degree is awarded on the basis of credits earned across three years of full-time study (or part-time equivalent), and a graduate or taught postgraduate degree is awarded on the basis of credits earned across one year of full-time study (or part-time equivalent). Students need to pass all of their modules (with a mark of 40% or more at undergraduate level, 50% or more at postgraduate level, though in some circumstances a lower mark can be ‘compensated’ so it still counts as a pass) to earn enough credit for a degree.
Under the Common Awards Framework, degrees are awarded by an Overarching Board of Examiners in a student’s graduating year. The Common Awards Framework has two tiers of examination boards. At the TEI level, TEI Boards of Examiners are made up of academic staff based at TEIs and an External Examiner appointed by Durham but from another university. These TEI Boards confirm module marks, consider students for progression to the next level or year of study, and recommend students to the Overarching Board of Examiners for the conferral of an award. The Overarching Board of Examiners, based at Durham and comprised of academic staff from the University and an External Moderator from another university, is responsible for making the final decisions on students’ awards and, where applicable, classifications.
TEI Boards of Examiners review and confirm all assessment and module marks, which are then shared with the Overarching Board of Examiners. The Overarching Board of Examiners then looks at each student’s anonymised marks in turn, and at the arithmetic mean weighted mark (AMW), which is calculated automatically by the student records system (known as Banner).
For programmes which are classified (e.g. 2:1, 1st) or awarded ‘Merit’ and ‘Distinction’, the AMW is based on all module marks from a student’s second year onwards (or single year for postgraduate programmes), each weighted according to the number of credits the module is worth (so that, for instance, the mark for a 40-credit module has twice as much effect on the average as that for a 20-credit module at the same level), and by the year weighting for the year in which the module is taken:
For undergraduate degrees, students with an AMW of 70 or higher are awarded a First, 60 or higher a 2:1 and so on. The Common Awards Foundation Award, Undergraduate Certificates (120 credits and 180 credits) and Undergraduate Diploma are not classified.
Postgraduate taught degrees are not classified, but can be awarded with Merit or Distinction. In normal circumstances, this happens when the AMW is at least 60 (Merit) or 70 (Distinction) and the mark for the Major Project/Dissertation is similarly at least 60 (Merit) or 70 (Distinction). Other Postgraduate programmes (Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma) and Graduate programmes are also awarded with a Merit or Distinction.
For Classified Undergraduate Programmes (BA)
Under the ‘No Detriment’ policy, the University will produce two separate final degree AMWs, and the Overarching Boards of Examiners will use whichever is higher to determine students’ final degree class.
The first ‘default calculation’ will be calculated in the normal way (as outlined in detail above and in line with the Core Regulations). For a current BA student this means using all marks at Levels 5 and 6, and weighting them by credit value and the year in which they were studied. The second ‘no detriment calculation’ will follow the same rules on weighting according to credits and year, but will exclude assessments affected by Covid-19.
TEIs will provide the University with a list of all the assessments affected by Covid-19 to be included in the ‘no detriment calculation’.
Students will still need to pass all their modules to graduate from their programme (though the normal regulations for ‘compensation’ still apply).
The ‘No Detriment’ policy will work on the same basis for full and part-time students.
For Graduate Programmes (GradCert/GradDip)
For graduate programmes the University will produce two separate final degree AMWs, and the Overarching Boards of Examiners will use whichever is higher when determining a final award classifications as long as at least half of the credited assessments are included in the ‘no detriment calculation’ (e.g. 60 for a graduate diploma, or 30 for a graduate certificate).
If fewer than half of the credited assessments are included in the ‘no detriment calculation’, then the ‘No Detriment’ AMW will be considered by the Overarching Board of Examiners when making a classification decision, alongside the full spread of marks, to take account of any significant variations between performance across the year, and any individual SAC information as appropriate, as evidence of student performance.
The first ‘default calculation’ will be calculated in the normal way (as outlined in detail above and in line with the Core Regulations). The second ‘no detriment calculation’ will follow the same rules on weighting according to credits, but will exclude assessments affected by Covid-19.
Students will still need to pass all their modules to graduate from their programme (though the normal regulations for ‘compensation’ will still apply).
For Taught Postgraduate Programmes (MA/PgDip/PgCert)
Under the ‘No Detriment’ policy, where a students’ programme has been impacted by Covid-19, instead of requiring both an AMW of at least 60 (Merit) or 70 (Distinction) and a mark in the Major Project/Dissertation of at least 60 (Merit) or 70 (Distinction), the Overarching Board of Examiners will be asked to make Merit or Distinction awards for Masters programmes on the basis of the higher of either the AMW or the Dissertation/Major Project.
For all taught postgraduate programmes the University will produce two separate final degree AMWs, and the Overarching Boards of Examiners will use whichever is higher when determining a final award classification as long as at least half of the credited assessments and the Major Project are included in the ‘no detriment calculation’ (e.g. at least 90 credits for an MA or, 60 for a postgraduate diploma, or 30 for a postgraduate certificate).
If fewer than half of the credited assessments are included in the ‘no detriment calculation’, then the No Detriment AMW will be considered by the Overarching Board of Examiners when making a classification decision, alongside the full spread of marks, to take account of any significant variations between performance across the year, and any individual SAC information as appropriate, as evidence of student performance.
The first ‘default calculation’ will be calculated in the normal way (as outlined in detail above and in line with the Core Regulations). For a current MA student this means using all marks, and weighting them by credit value. The second ‘no detriment calculation’ will follow the same rules on weighting according to credits, but will exclude assessments affected by Covid-19.
TEIs will be asked to indicate the affected assessments via Moodle. TEIs will be responsible for agreeing internally which assessments should be included in the ‘no detriment calculation’ (and providing to the University a brief overview of the process undertaken to determine this). Careful consideration should be given to ensuring consistency of approach across centres, programmes and modes of study.
TEI Boards of Examiners will be required to provide as normal:
TEI Boards of Examiners, for modules taken in 2019/20, will also be required to provide the following (noting that some may be required prior to Exam Boards but ratified during the meeting):
At meetings of the Board of Examiners, TEIs will be required to explicitly confirm:
An updated template agenda for TEI Board of Examiners meetings has been shared with all TEIs.
Guidance notes on how to provide this information from Moodle to the Common Awards Team were communicated to TEIs on 13th August.
For information, for programmes delivered at Durham, assessments due on or before 13th March 2020 will be included in the ‘no detriment calculation’
TEIs have been asked to keep clear records of any and all changes made to delivery or assessment during 2019/20 in response to Covid-19. TEIs will be asked to confirm these actions at meetings of the Board of Examiners. This will ensure that the TEI Board continues to exercise oversight of its assessments and modules. TEIs are asked to submit the records of any all action taken to mitigate for Covid-19 alongside the submission of marks following the meetings of the Board of Examiners. We hope that this will streamline the reporting process for TEIs.
TEIs are normally required to provide confirmed module marks only. For modules taken in 2019/20 TEIs will also be required to provide confirmed assessment marks in order for the University to undertake the ‘no detriment calculation’. The ‘No Detriment’ Policy will be implemented by the Durham Overarching Board of Examiners. The conferring and classifying of awards remains the responsibility of the Overarching Board of Examiners.
TEIs will need to provide details of assessments affected by Covid-19, including module assessment patterns and assessment weightings. This information will be collected and reported via Moodle. Moodle downloads displaying the necessary information will need to be provided to the Common Awards Team. The University will require this information for all students – those recommended for an award and those continuing.
For 2019/20 only, TEIs will be required to provide continuing students’ marks at the same time as completing students’ marks.
Assessment marks are not currently held within Banner (the University student records system) for Common Awards programmes. In order for the ‘no detriment calculation’ to be calculated, the University will be collecting this data. The collection, storage and retention of this information will be maintained in line with the Common Awards GDPR Privacy Notice.
Yes, to ensure students meet the learning outcomes for their programme, students will still need to meet normal requirements for passing modules (the existing rules for compensating modules will still apply; where there are individual SACs, TEI Boards and the Overarching Board of Examiners can take them into account when making progression and award decisions – see our FAQs on SACs below).
The No Detriment calculation will only include marks which would ordinarily be included in a degree classification. This means that marks for formative work, or for modules taken during Level 4 of an undergraduate BA programme for instance will not be included.
The University is committed to ensuring that marks are presented in a way which recognises the impact of the global pandemic on students at all levels, and we collected information on all affected assessments to facilitate this. Students will receive two versions of the same transcript. The first version will include a statement to confirm that students completed modules in 2019/20 which were affected by the Coronavirus global pandemic. The second version is identical but does not include this statement. Students can chose which transcript to use for their particular needs.
TEIs will need to keep records of any changes made to the delivery of teaching, and the implementation of any in-year mitigations, made in response to Covid-19. We are advising that these be recorded on the Module Overview Tables (T4s) currently being used for 2019/20 delivery – but this is not required. We are asking that TEI Boards of Examiners confirm the actions taken in response to Covid-19. Please provide the records alongside the marks submitted following the TEI Board of Examiners meetings.
Records of Covid-19 affected assessments and modules should be reflected in Moodle. Affected assessments and modules should be recorded for all students (completing and continuing students).
Records of SACs should be kept (and submitted to the Common Awards Team) as normal.
Students currently studying Level 4:
The ‘No Detriment’ policy does not affect Level 4 assessments because, while first year assessments play a critical role in enabling students to learn from their programme and demonstrate their ability to progress in the degree, they do not contribute to the classification of degrees.
Students currently studying Level 5:
For students in the second year of a three-year undergraduate programme (or part-time equivalent), the No Detriment AMW will not be calculated until they are due to graduate.
However, the calculation will work on the same principle as the calculation for current finalists: No Detriment will work as per the standard degree classification – with assessments weighted by level and credit, as outlined in the Core Regulations – but with assessments completed during 2019/20 excluded if they were affected by Covid-19.
The Overarching Board of Examiners will receive both the default AMW, and the No Detriment AMW, and will use whichever is higher to determine the degree classification. In practice, this means that a student’s performance in Covid-19-affected assessments can only improve their overall degree classification.
Progression to the next year, but same academic level of study
For students progressing to the next year of study but continuing on the same academic level of study, the No Detriment AMW will not be calculated until they are due to graduate.
However, the calculation will work on the same principle as the calculation for current finalists: No Detriment will work as per the standard degree classification – with assessments weighted by level and credit, as outlined in the relevant Core Regulations – but with assessments completed during 2019/20 excluded if they were affected by Covid-19. The implementation of the No Detriment policy will depend on their programme of study (and will be applied as described above).
Please continue to follow the existing guidance. Please note that some TEI Board of Examiners meetings have been rescheduled in light of Covid-19. Please refer to the Common Awards website or contact TEIs directly. Please ensure that documents are shared securely (e.g password protected).
What are SACs?
Serious adverse circumstances (SACs) are defined as exceptional personal circumstances, outside of a student’s control, that have prevented them from either acquiring or demonstrating the skills, knowledge or competencies required to meet the learning outcomes associated with an assessment that contributes to the qualification for which they are studying, notwithstanding their best efforts, in consultation with the TEI, to mitigate those circumstances.
How to take account of the impact of Covid-19?
We understand that Covid-19 has resulted in unexpected circumstances for all students currently preparing for and taking assessments. SACs should not be used by students to highlight the general disruption caused by Covid-19. We hope that such circumstances have been successfully mitigated by TEI-level action (e.g. extensions or changes to assessment). The University’s ‘no detriment’ policy also offers an additional safety net and will ensure that students are not disadvantaged by these unusual circumstances: as long as students pass their modules, assessments undertaken while affected by Covid-19 can only raise (never lower) their AMW (arithmetic mean weighted mark) and classification. We hope that these actions take account of the extraordinary circumstances facing all students.
However, we also understand that some students might be affected over and above the general disruption caused by Covid-19 and faced by all students. Students who have also experienced specific personal circumstances which relate to Covid-19 which have seriously and/or adversely impacted upon the preparation or completion of an assessment due to be submitted/taken can be considered for an SAC via the normal processes.
It is not possible to provide an exhaustive list of what significant circumstances might include; however examples might involve: a bereavement, an extended period of poor mental health, a family separation, an unexpected negative change to your financial circumstances.
What about SACs that are not related to Covid-19?
Specific personal circumstances (unrelated to Covid-19) which have seriously and/or adversely impacted upon the preparation or completion of an assessment due to be submitted/taken can also be considered for an SAC. These should be processed in the usual way by TEIs, remembering to submit details to the University.
SACs and TEI progression decisions
Although the University does not permit TEIs to amend student marks in light of SACs, such circumstances can be taken into account by Boards of Examiners when making decisions on a student's progression to the next year or level of their studies, or on the award of their final qualification and classification.
Prior to the Board of Examiners, TEIs are required to hold a SAC committee, which scrutinises the details of student circumstances, and makes a judgment about whether particular assessments can reasonably be assumed to have been adversely affected by those circumstances. The SAC committee grades the likely impact – from 0 (no effect) to 3 (very significant adverse effect).
Under the Common Awards regulations, where there is evidence of SACs (as determined by the SAC committee), TEI Board of Examiners are permitted to allow a student to progress who does not meet the normal progression criteria. This is an academic judgement.
In effect, the Board of Examiners is asked to consider whether it has good reason to think that, had the student not suffered the adverse circumstances signalled by the SACs, to the extent indicated by the SAC impact grades, their performance would have been acceptable to allow them to progress by the normal rules. That involves both a judgment about the student’s normal performance in the relevant area, and a judgment about the size of the gap between that and the performance the student actually managed.
The Board of Examiners can look at the student’s general performance in unaffected assessments – particularly unaffected assessments in a similar subject area, or that required similar skills; it can look at how severe the SAC grade is; it can look at how much an assessment mark would have needed to improve in order to change the outcome, in order to make this academic judgement.
Consideration of SACs at the Board of Examiners is done on an anonymous basis: the Board of Examiners should see their mark sheet (i.e., the marks for all their assessments in all their modules), complete with a note of which assessments have SACs against them and the grades of those SACs.
Where any failed module has SACs marked against it, TEI Boards of Examiners should make an academic judgement on whether or not it is likely that the circumstances prevented the student from meeting the learning outcomes for the module and therefore:
Boards of Examiners should discuss all students with SAC grades, and the minutes should state clearly any recommended action in light of those SACs. This is important to refer to when students are considered by the Overarching Board of Examiners for their final award – particularly if students have been permitted to progress with fewer credits than would normally be expected.
SACs and award and classification decisions
The Overarching Board of Examiners is also responsible for making an academic judgement - using the same information available to TEI Board of Examiners - but in relation to the award of a final qualification, and classification where applicable. When considering the classification of a student, the Overarching Board will take into account any SAC grades. Where a decision to allow progression in the light of SACs has been made by a TEI, the Overarching Board will take that decision into account in making awards and determining classifications.
TEIs must remember to record SACs in Moodle and submit the notes from the SAC committee to the Common Awards Team as soon as possible.
The Common Awards Team is working on the guidance and advice for progression and this will be issued as soon as possible.
University Liaison Officers and members of the Common Awards Team will be attending all Boards of Examiners this year to provide additional support. ULOs are also offering pre-meetings, a few days prior to scheduled Boards of Examiners meetings, in order to give TEIs the opportunity to raise with the University any complex queries or ask any questions regarding the responsibilities of the TEI Board of Examiners. TEIs will be contacted individually for these meetings to be arranged. Similarly, meetings post-Board of Examiners will be scheduled to ensure the streamlining of follow-up processes, given the additional complexities involved in preparing for the Overarching Board of Examiners.
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