Assessment

To pass the Postgraduate Certificate in Transferable Skills in Science (PGCTSS) you need to successfully pass 6 modules. The modules should be made up of usually three Doctoral Skills modules and three others.

To pass the Postgraduate Award in Transferable Skills in Science you need to pass three modules. Usually two of those should be Doctoral Skills modules.

All modules are pass/fail only and to pass a module requires a pass on each component part of the module as summarised in the handbooks for each module.

At the end of the Programme you need to submit a completed Portfolio, made up of the modules you have passed, to the Transferable Skills Office, MOAC Centre, Top Floor, Senate House; or if you have uploaded your modules into SkillsForge, complete a portfolio submission cover sheet, and send to transferable.skills@warwick.ac.uk to let the administrator know you wish to be considered at the next External Exam Board.

The External Exam Board normally takes place in November each year; and completed portfolios need to be submitted at least six weeks before that date to be considered at that Exam Board.

Coursework deadlines, Penalties and Extensions

There are no official deadlines for any of the modules on the PGCTSS. The PGCTSS Programme is designed for you to decide, based on your work commitments, when to submit handbooks/assignments/tasks for assessment.

Submission is via SkillsForge, the Doctoral Skills Tab and by selecting the correct form.

There are no penalties for late submission on the PGCTSS Programme.

You have up until 3 months after the date of your PhD submission to submit a completed portfolio for examination at the External Exam Board.

Mitigating Circumstances

Mitigating circumstances are defined as:

Situations that the student could not have predicted and had no control over (e.g. serious illness, death of someone close, being the victim of crime, family difficulties and financial hardship); situations with negative impact on the student’s ability to undertake assessments/examinations which are independently evidenced in a timely fashion; (e.g. doctor’s note during illness showing duration and level of negative impact); situations that are acute or short term, the timing of which are relevant to the impact on study (normally within three weeks of the relevant assessment event deadline).

NOTE: Long term chronic conditions (normally greater than a term in duration and that are likely to continue) and disabilities are dealt with under the reasonable adjustments (RA’s) policy which can be found at: (https://warwick.ac.uk/services/disability/howwecanhelp)

The University is aware that in some cultures it is considered shameful or embarrassing to disclose the details of these kinds of circumstances to those outside one’s family. This is not the case in the prevailing UK culture and you should be aware that your department and the University are fully supportive of students in difficult circumstances and want to assist if at all possible.

There is a comprehensive network of support and welfare services available to students to support you in times of difficulty. There is often more than one service which may be able to help, and services work together to ensure that any problems are dealt with swiftly and effectively. More details of the above services, along with others available to students can be found at www.warwick.ac.uk/services/student-support-services

Our programme has been designed with flexibility in mind, allowing you to submit your work within your own time frame, for up to a maximum three months after completing your PhD. However, if any mitigating circumstances have affected your study and you have not been able to complete any of the work within the allocated time frame please come to discuss your circumstances confidentially with the programme director (Daniel.Franklin@warwick.ac.uk) or the programme administrator (transferable.skills@warwick.ac.uk).

For further information on mitigating circumstances please go to www.warwick.ac.uk/mitigatingcircumstances

Course Codes

TCHA-F1PC – PG Certificate in Transferable Skills in Science

TCHA-F1PD – PG Award in Transferable Skills in Science

TCHA-F1PH - PG Certificate in Transferable Skills in Science for Postdoctoral Researchers

TCHA-F1PJ – PG Award in Transferable Skills in Science for Postdoctoral Researchers.