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Exam Board (2019/20 onwards)

Context

The award of degrees is made by the University Senate upon recommendations made by Boards of Examiners, which consists of WMG members of staff and an External Examiner (a senior academic from another institution). The Boards of Examiners meet twice a year, in November and May (with re-sits being considered at the subsequent Exam Board). These Boards will consider the coursework and project performance of all the candidates, together with any other information which is relevant to their decision-making process. They will then make recommendations to the University Senate regarding the following awards:

Conventions for Award of MSc and Sub-qualifications - effective from 20/21

The following regulations apply to candidates who registered for a WMG Postgraduate Taught course from the 2020/21 academic year (i.e. on or after 1 August 2020). Conventions are also published for previous academic years where WMG will still have students who started in those years.

These conventions cover the programme-level requirements for each award. Each course will have its own specific module requirements which can be found on programme websites under 'Operations and Regs’ – ‘Course Regulations'. Note that many courses have core modules which must be passed above 50%; where a course has core modules listed in its regulations, these must be passed in addition to meeting the top-level requirements below, in order for any level of award to be made.

Level of award

Number of credits which must be passed (marks 50% or above)

Number of additional credits which may be failed with marks 40-49%

Project required (see also Project Details below)

Specific average and/or project requirements

MSc with Distinction

180

0

Yes

Project mark of 70% or above and overall average of 70% or above

MSc with Merit

180

0

Yes

Project mark of 60% or above and overall average of 60% or above

MSc

160

20

Yes

None

Postgraduate Diploma with Distinction

120

0

Only where MSc level of course uses 90 credit project

Overall average of 70% or above

Postgraduate Diploma with Merit

120

0

Only where MSc level of course uses 90 credit project

Overall average of 60% or above

Postgraduate Diploma

90

30

Only where MSc level of course uses 90 credit project

None

Postgraduate Certificate with Distinction

60

0

No

Overall average of 70% or above

Postgraduate Certificate with Merit

60

0

No

Overall average of 60% or above

Postgraduate Certificate

60

0

No

None

Postgraduate Award with Distinction

30

0

No

Overall average of 70% or above

Postgraduate Award with Merit

30

0

No

Overall average of 60% or above

Postgraduate Award

30

0

No

None

Conventions for Award of MSc and Sub-qualifications - for students with any registration in 19/20

The following regulations apply to candidates who have had any of their registration period for a WMG Postgraduate Taught course in the 2019/20 academic year (i.e. between 1 August 2019 and 31 July 2020). Conventions are also published for previous academic years where WMG will still have students who started in those years.

These conventions cover the programme-level requirements for each award. Each course will have its own specific module requirements which can be found on programme websites under 'Operations and Regs’ – ‘Course Regulations'. Note that many courses have core modules which must be passed above 50%; where a course has core modules listed in its regulations, these must be passed in addition to meeting the top-level requirements below, in order for any level of award to be made.

Level of award

Number of credits which must be passed (marks 50% or above)

Number of additional credits which may be failed

Project required (see also Project Details below)

Specific average and/or project requirements

MSc with Distinction

180

0

Yes

Overall average of 70% or above

Average is calculated over best 120 credits (see PGT Safety Net FAQs)

MSc with Merit

180

0

Yes

Overall average of 60% or above

Average is calculated over best 120 credits (see PGT Safety Net FAQs)

MSc (accredited)

160

20 credits only if marks are between 40-49

Yes

None

MSc (non-accredited)

160

20 credits with any mark 0-49

Yes

None

Postgraduate Diploma with Distinction

120

0

Only where MSc level of course uses 90 credit project

Overall average of 70% or above

Average is calculated over best 90 credits (see PGT Safety Net FAQs)

Postgraduate Diploma with Merit

120

0

Only where MSc level of course uses 90 credit project

Overall average of 60% or above

Average is calculated over best 90 credits (see PGT Safety Net FAQs)

Postgraduate Diploma

90

30

Only where MSc level of course uses 90 credit project

None

Postgraduate Certificate with Distinction

60

0

No

Overall average of 70% or above

Postgraduate Certificate with Merit

60

0

No

Overall average of 60% or above

Postgraduate Certificate

60

0

No

None

Postgraduate Award with Distinction

30

0

No

Overall average of 70% or above

Postgraduate Award with Merit

30

0

No

Overall average of 60% or above

Postgraduate Award

30

0

No

None

 

Accreditation

For the purposes of the 19/20 safety net rules, the following courses should be considered within the “MSc (accredited)” row, as they are either currently accredited or seeking accreditation:

  • 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.

Project Details

WMG is in a transitional period with regards to projects. The following different projects are currently used across different WMG courses:

  • 90 credit MSc project: a project worth 90 credits
    • Used on the majority of FTMSc courses (except where identified below)
    • Used on the majority of Part Time Open MSc courses (being phased out over time in favour of 60 credit MSc project)
    • Used on all Overseas Programmes MSc courses
  • 60 credit MSc project: a project worth 60 credits
    • Used by some students on Part Time Open MSc courses
    • Used by all custom Part Time Programmes
    • Used on the following FTMSc courses:
      • Healthcare Operational Management
      • Cyber Security Engineering
  • 60 + 30 credit MSc project: a project worth 90 credits split into two effective modules; the 30 credit project focusses on Context and Method, and the 60 credit project focusses on Analysis and Discussion
    • Used on the following FTMSc courses:
          • e-Business Management
          • International Technology Management
  • 60 credit PgDip project: a 90 credit MSc project can be reassessed against PgDip project learning outcomes if it achieves a mark within 40-49%; this would be recoded as a PgDip project pass at 50%
    • Used only on courses which also use the 90 credit MSc project