Scheme for the award of a Diploma

This Classification Scheme is approved by the Graduate School Board of Examiners/the Graduate Studies Sub-Committee.
Last updated: July 2013

This scheme should be read in conjunction with the Regulations for Diplomas, the regulations for the Diploma programme on which the candidate is registered, the relevant online undergraduate course guides, and the Code of Good Practice for Diploma Programmes: Teaching, Learning and Assessment.

1. Responsibilities of Sub-Boards of Examiners
1.1     Each diploma programme shall be the responsibility of a Sub-Board of Examiners. Taking into account all information properly presented to it and by exercising its academic judgement, the Sub-Board shall decide if each candidate has satisfactorily completed all elements of assessment as set out in the programme regulations. Where the Sub-Board recommends that an award should be made, it will also determine the classification of the award in accordance with section 6 below. All Sub-Board decisions about classification require final approval by the School Board of Examiners.
1.2     Each course shall be the responsibility of a Sub-Board of Examiners. The Sub-Board shall confirm a numerical mark for each candidate taking a course falling within its responsibility.

2. External Examiners
2.1     Each Sub-Board of Examiners shall include at least one external examiner competent to judge the candidates concerned.
2.2     All elements of assessment for a course shall be marked by internal examiners and, as appropriate, an external examiner. External examiners may act as final moderators of assessed work, with the power to adjust marks up or down.
2.3     No mark or grade shall be assigned for any course or element of assessment for a course without an external examiner having been able to approve it, whether or not s/he attended a meeting of examiners.

3. Mark and Grade for a Course
3.1     The examiners for each course will decide a numerical mark for each candidate using the following scale:

3.2     Unless they receive written instructions from the Examinations Office to do so, e.g. in the case of dyslexic candidates, examiners shall assess work without referring to medical and/or exceptional circumstances. Such circumstances will be considered by the Sub-Board of Examiners at the meeting where the award of diplomas is considered.

4. Eligibility for Award of Diploma
4.1     In order to be considered for a diploma, a candidate must have completed all elements of assessment for each course as listed in the corresponding programme regulations.
4.2     A candidate who is absent for any element of assessment for a course will be considered not to have completed the course. Moreover, the absence will count as one of the attempts allowed for the course unless it was authorised by the Chair of the Sub-Board of Examiners for the programme.

5. Treatment of Half Units
This Classification Scheme is based on the marks achieved by candidates in all papers¹ taken in fulfilment of the programme regulations. For the purposes of determining classification only, the marks obtained for half-unit courses shall be paired and averaged² according to the appropriate diploma programme regulations.

6. Calculation of the Award of Diploma
6.1     The overall classification of an award shall be calculated as follows:

Pass
6.2      A Pass diploma shall be awarded for the following combination of minimum marks:

Merit
6.3     A diploma with Merit shall be awarded for the following combination of minimum marks:

Distinction
6.4     A diploma with Distinction shall be awarded for the following combination of minimum marks:

7. Failure to Achieve an Award of Diploma
7.1     If a candidate has not been awarded a diploma, s/he shall normally be entitled to re-sit the failed courses only (on one occasion) and at the next normal opportunity. Results obtained at re-sit shall bear their normal value.
7.2     If a candidate has passed courses on a re-sit attempt and has met the requirements for the award of a diploma, s/he can only be recommended for the award of a Pass diploma unless, in the judgement of the examiners, the initial failure(s) was at least in part a direct result of medical and/or exceptional circumstances.

8. Appeals and Offences
Appeals against decisions of Sub-Board of Examiners will be handled according to the Appeals Regulations. Assessment offences will be handled according to Regulations on assessment offences: plagiarism or Regulations on assessment offences: offences other than plagiarism. All School Regulations are published in the School Calendar.

9. General Proviso
It is also open to a Sub-Board of Examiners to recommend to the Graduate School Board of Examiners any departure from this Scheme if, in their judgement, this would be equitable for any individual candidate or group of candidates as a direct result of medical and/or exceptional circumstances. Such circumstances would need to be extraneous to the normal assessment process and would apply to that candidate or group of candidates only. The following conditions also apply:
9.1     the student must be very close to the next higher classification boundary (within 3 marks in a single paper or 5 marks on aggregate);
9.2     the student must have marks in that higher classification range;
9.3     the student must be able to demonstrate that the examination or set of examinations in question were significantly affected by exceptional circumstances that were unforeseen and beyond his/her control;
9.4     the student must also be able to demonstrate that his/her performance in the affected examination(s) was significantly out of line with his/her performance in other, unaffected examinations.

Notes
¹     Under the programme regulations for all of the School's diplomas, candidates have to complete a set number of 'papers'. Each 'paper' represents a full-unit course or two half-unit courses.
²     Where marks are averaged, the resulting average will be rounded to the nearest whole mark.