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FAQs: PGT Safety Net (Covid-19)

PGT Safety Net FAQs

Does the safety net apply to me?

The safety net applies to any student who has been registered during the 19/20 academic year. This means any time between August 2019 and July 2020. This could be as little as one month of registration in that time (e.g. end of registration 31 August 2019 or start of registration 1 July 2020). Your registration does not have to fully span the 19/20 academic year.

There is one specific part of the safety net which does not apply to accredited courses: for accredited courses or courses working towards a specific accreditation, a proportion of modules (20 or 30 credits depending on cohort) can be failed for the award of MSc or PgDip but it is still required that the mark for those fails be at 40 or above.

WMG's accredited courses are:

  • In the UK: CSM, CSE, EngBM, HOM, ITM, ITSO, MSEM, PPM, SCLM and SAE. The SCAV course is working towards accreditation and therefore also requires fails to be at 40 or above.
  • Overseas:
    • PPM is accredited by APM in Hong Kong VTC, Beijing City University, Singapore Institute of Management
    • SCLM is accredited by CIPS and CILT in Hong Kong PolyU, CIPS only in North Cyprus and Singapore Institute of Management, and not accredited in Chulalongkorn.

The rest of the safety net (calculations for Merit & Distinction and opportunity to resubmit any failed modules regardless of the proportion of the taught element) still applies to accredited courses.

For non-accredited courses however, the requirement for the proportion of fails to have a mark above 40 has been lifted in the safety net.

How will the best 120 credits be calculated to assess eligibility for Merit or Distinction?

Modules will be listed in order from highest to lowest mark. The weighted average will be calculated over the highest marks for modules (including the project) whose weight adds up to 120 credits or more. This may mean the calculation is done over more than 120 credits, as modules cannot be split.

Note that while the averages leading to MSc with Merit or Distinction will only be calculated over the best 120 credits (or more where beneficial as outlined), a student must still have passed 180 credits in total, including the project, to be eligible for MSc with Distinction or Merit.

For example, the following set of marks would get a calculation over 120 credits:

Module

Credit

Mark

Running total of credits to calculate average over (with safety net)

Weighted average for this example with and without safety net applied

Project

90

76

90

With PGT safety net: 73.4% over 120 credits (Distinction)

 

Without PGT safety net: 66.8% over 180 credits (Merit)

OPSI

10

69

100

LOM

10

66

110

QRM

10

62

120

PDDM

10

58

(stops at line above – we do not include these modules in the average)

PPMC

10

56

OPP

10

54

FACS

10

52

MANT

10

52

IJV

10

50

 

But this slightly different set of marks (with the project mark much lower) would be calculated over 150 credits as the project comes further down the list:

Module

Credit

Mark

Running total of credits to calculate average over (with safety net)

Weighted average for this example with and without safety net applied

OPSI

10

78

10

With PGT safety net: 61.5% over 150 credits (Merit)

 

Without PGT safety net: 59.8% over 180 credits (Pass)

LOM

10

76

20

QRM

10

73

30

PDDM

10

70

40

PPMC

10

70

50

OPP

10

69

60

Project

90

54

150

FACS

10

52

(stops at line above – we do not include these modules in the average)

MANT

10

52

IJV

10

50

 

How will a 90 credit project be factored into the ‘best 120 credits’ calculation?

See above.

Is the project still worth 90 credits?

If your course includes a 90 credit project, then this is still worth 90 credits. There are courses which include a 60 credit project (FTMSc: HOM, CSE; Part Time: AT, SPP, SETL, HOM, CSE, PG Engineer and Senior Leader), and courses which use a combination of a 30 and a 60 credit project (FTMSc: ITM, e-BM), and these are also unchanged.

How does the safety net affect me?

This will of course depend on your individual marks and any decisions made by the Exam Board which may affect these (waiving of penalties, moderation adjustments, etc.) However, for a general picture if you are registered for MSc or PgDip:

  • If you have failed non-core modules with marks below 40 and you are on a non-accredited course*, you would have normally been required to resubmit them. However, you may now have the choice to graduate with MSc (provided there are no more than 20 credits of failed modules for 19/20 cohorts, or 30 credits for earlier cohorts) or to take the resubmissions if you wish to do so. This opportunity will be made available nearer to the end of your registration – details and timeframes are still being determined.
  • If you have failed a module defined as core in your course regulations, you will be required to resubmit, but as above the timing of this is still to be determined and will be clarified nearer to your end of registration.
  • If you have failed modules with marks below 40 and are on an accredited course*, you will be required to resubmit, but as above the timing of this is still to be determined and will be clarified nearer to your end of registration.
  • If you have not failed any modules, you may be eligible for Merit or Distinction depending on your weighted average over the best 120 or more credits of your course. See above re calculations.

With any failed module, will I have the opportunity to write the PMA again?

If you are registered for MSc or PgDip:

  • If you have failed non-core modules with marks below 40 and you are on a non-accredited course*, you would have normally been required to resubmit them. However, you may now have the choice to graduate with MSc (provided there are no more than 20 credits of failed modules for 19/20 cohorts, or 30 credits for earlier cohorts) or to take the resubmissions if you wish to do so. This opportunity will be made available nearer to the end of your registration – details and timeframes are still being determined. However, we can confirm that it will be your choice whether to take the resubmissions.
  • If you have failed a module defined as core in your course regulations, you will be required to resubmit, but as above the timing of this is still to be determined and will be clarified nearer to your end of registration.
  • If you have failed modules with marks below 40 and are on an accredited course*, you will be required to resubmit, but as above the timing of this is still to be determined and will be clarified nearer to your end of registration.

If I have failed a module and do not need to resubmit to gain an MSc, does that mean I do not get the opportunity to resubmit this module to aim for Merit?

If you are registered for MSc or PgDip:

  • If you have failed non-core modules with marks below 40 and you are on a non-accredited course*, you would have normally been required to resubmit them. However, you may now have the choice to graduate with MSc (provided there are no more than 20 credits of failed modules for 19/20 cohorts, or 30 credits for earlier cohorts) or to take the resubmissions if you wish to do so. This opportunity will be made available nearer to the end of your registration – details and timeframes are still being determined. However, we can confirm that it will be your choice whether you want to take the resubmissions, which you can certainly do if you wish to aim for Merit or Distinction (or any other reason).
  • If you have failed a module defined as core in your course regulations, you will be required to resubmit, but as above the timing of this is still to be determined and will be clarified nearer to your end of registration.
  • If you have failed modules with marks below 40 and are on an accredited course*, you will be required to resubmit, but as above the timing of this is still to be determined and will be clarified nearer to your end of registration. If you have failed with marks above 40 and are on an accredited course, and want the opportunity to resubmit those failed modules to aim for Merit/Distinction, this opportunity will also be made available.

*Wherever accreditation is referred to above, WMG's accredited courses are:

  • In the UK: CSM, CSE, EngBM, HOM, ITM, ITSO, MSEM, PPM, SCLM and SAE. The SCAV course is working towards accreditation and therefore also requires fails to be at 40 or above.
  • Overseas:
    • PPM is accredited by APM in Hong Kong VTC, Beijing City University, Singapore Institute of Management
    • SCLM is accredited by CIPS and CILT in Hong Kong PolyU, CIPS only in North Cyprus and Singapore Institute of Management, and not accredited in Chulalongkorn.