Exam Boards
In this section
Academic Progression
Permission to Proceed to Writing a Dissertation
After Term 3 (around mid/late June), when all your taught module coursework has been submitted, an Examination Board (consisting at this stage of internal members) will be held to review all marks and individual student progress. Provided you have achieved a Pass mark (a mark of 50 or above) in 90 CATS’ worth of assessed work (including all core modules) and at least 40 in the remaining module, you will normally be allowed to proceed to writing your dissertation. This is a just formal designation: work on your dissertation should be quite advanced by this stage! If you have not achieved this, you will have the opportunity to resubmit failed assessments worth up to 60 CATS in total.
This Examination Board will also recommend that students following the taught MA part-time should be allowed to proceed to his/her second year, provided that the assessed work submitted so far has reached the required level.
Marking and Examination Conventions
The pass mark is 50. Marks between 60 and 69 will be awarded to work of merit level, and marks of 70 and above to work of distinction standard. Where dissertations have not met the required standard, candidates may be asked by the November Exam Board to resubmit within a specified time limit.
The Postgraduate Diploma
A Postgraduate Diploma may be awarded to:
- Students who have completed all assessed work satisfactorily, but have failed to produce a satisfactory dissertation, as determined by the Final MA Exam Board in November.
- Students unable to proceed to writing a dissertation following completion of coursework, as determined by the Interim MA Exam Board in June.
Graduation
All information regarding the University's degree ceremonies can be found on the Awards and Ceremonies website.
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/academicoffice/congregation/Appeals
The University has agreed on appeals procedures. If you wish to consult them, you should approach the PGT Course Director.
Appeals ProcedureUniversity Progression Conventions can be found on the Teaching Quality website.
https://warwick.ac.uk/services/aro/dar/quality/categories/examinations/conventions/
Difficulties with Progression
You should submit all required work on time and in the correct, acceptable format and using the correct method of submission. If you are experiencing any difficulties which are preventing you from studying and progressing as you would wish, you must inform your Personal Tutor who can offer support to help you deal with the difficulties and advise you on how to proceed.
Deferral of an Examination Period
If you have severe circumstances which mean that you will be unable to take assessments such as examinations during an official University examination period (e.g. June, September examination period) the PGT Course Director may recommend that you defer the entire examinations period to the next available opportunity.
Deferral of an examination period is governed by the University’s Deferral of Examination Policy which was implemented for all undergraduate and taught postgraduate students from April 2020.
Only the PGT Course Director may make a request to defer an examination period on a student’s behalf. This must be made known to the PGT Course Director in advance of the examinations period and you must be experiencing significant difficulties due to your personal circumstances. This may be due to practical limitations such as lack of access to appropriate technology or health problems that are acute in nature.
Students should submit a claim for Mitigating Circumstances via the Mitigating Circumstances Portal in Tabula before discussing with their PGT Course Director whether a deferral of examinations is the right course of action for them.
Deferral of an Examination Period should not be seen as a substitute for seeking Reasonable Adjustments to assessment(s), which are agreed with Disability Services. However, where reasonable adjustments cannot be made due to current circumstances, it may be possible to defer an examination period.
Reassessments
Re-examination
(a) Students on taught postgraduate degrees should normally be allowed one opportunity to remedy failure in initial assessment in all modules. Only one re-examination will be permitted for each module except as set out in (g) below.
The above clause does not apply to professional practice modules. The right to remedy failure on professional practice modules is subject to the decision of the Board of Examiners, taking into account relevant professional standards and requirements.
(b) Students should normally be allowed one opportunity to remedy failure in their dissertation/project module. Students obtaining a mark of 30 or less in the dissertation/project carrying a credit weighting of more than 60 credits will only be permitted to submit a re-worked submission for examination against different learning outcomes, the achievement of which would enable them to be considered for the award of a Postgraduate Diploma, except as set out in (g) below.
(c) Where the failure on an initial assessment in a taught module, dissertation or similar piece of independent project work is the result of penalties for late submission, the student should receive a fail for the assessment. In light of the fail mark, departments will have the discretion to either require:
(i) The student to undertake a new assessment, dissertation or project and the mark awarded to be capped at 50
Or
(ii) in instances where it is impractical for the department to allow the student to undertake a new assessment, the student will not be permitted an opportunity to resubmit their work, but a capped mark of 50 will be awarded at the next meeting of the Board of Examiners.
(d) Where a failure results from a finding of cheating under University regulations, it should be for the Head of the department (or his or her authorised deputy), the University Investigating Committee or the Board of Examiners to determine whether the student should be allowed to remedy that failure.
(e) Where a student has failed to reach the minimum pass mark for a module which contains more than one element of assessment, the student shall normally be required to be re-examined only in the element(s) of the assessment which has(have) not met the minimum pass mark, noting that the appropriate method of reassessment should be determined by the Board of Examiners.
(f) The maximum pass mark which may be awarded for a module on re-examination is 50, irrespective of the mark(s) which have been given for other elements of the assessment for that module, except as set out in (g) below. Departments are however required to keep a record of the uncapped mark, although it would not appear on the student’s transcript.
(g) Where there is evidence of serious medical or personal problems disclosed to, and discussed by, the relevant departmental Special Cases Committee, that committee may make recommendations to the relevant Examination Board as to the extent to which these special circumstances should be taken into account in offering to the student an opportunity to be examined as a first attempt or offered a further opportunity for re-examination. Any discretionary consideration should be clearly minuted by Examination Boards. The Examination Board should not amend a module mark or the mark for any element of assessment as a result of special circumstances being taken into account except that where there are a number of elements to the assessment the Examination Board may recalculate a module mark based on the elements of the assessment which have attained a pass mark and which were not affected by the special circumstances
Degree Classification
Degree Classification Rules
Marking and Examination Conventions
The pass mark is 50. Marks between 60 and 69 will be awarded to work of merit level, and marks of 70 and above to work of distinction standard. Where dissertations have not met the required standard, candidates may be asked by the November Exam Board to resubmit within a specified time limit.
University Requirements for Taught Postgraduate Awards
Exit Awards
‘Exit’ awards have been developed in order to recognise the achievement of postgraduate students where it was not possible to award the highest qualification for which they were registered, this includes students as follows:
- who have not met progression requirements
- who withdraw due to personal or medical reasons
- who are restarting on another degree programme
There is an expectation that Boards of Examiners will make a recommendation to allow a student to remedy failure (e.g. resit, resit without residence as appropriate), wherever possible, to allow students an opportunity to progress, and only recommend an exit qualification where these possibilities have been exhausted (or are not available).
Further information on exit awards may be found here.
The Postgraduate Diploma
A Postgraduate Diploma may be awarded to:
- Students who have completed all assessed work satisfactorily, but have failed to produce a satisfactory dissertation, as determined by the Final MA Exam Board in November.
- Students unable to proceed to writing a dissertation following completion of coursework, as determined by the Interim MA Exam Board in June.
Transcripts/Degree Certificates
Postgraduate students do not receive a Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR). A departmental letter can be requested from the PG History Office via email, alternatively, you can check your marks via Tabula at all times.
When you finish your degree, you will receive a Degree Certificate alongside your transcript. Usually, this is presented at your Graduation Ceremony. If you are not able to attend graduation, or if you need a replacement copy, it can be posted to you. See https://warwick.ac.uk/services/academicoffice/congregation/certificates/.