Dear All,

I hope you and your family and friends are well. This is a follow up to our earlier email, sent on 20^th April.

This email is for first year students for whom PAIS is the home department and for whom PAIS run your Exam Board. Exam Boards decide on progression to year 2 in line with university policy and regulations. It is an important email and so please do read it very carefully.

Please do continue to read the university student newsletters and COVID-19 FAQs – this is essential in order that you keep up-to-date with key policy developments. To ensure consistency and fairness among all students, many decisions continue to be taken by the central university, and not by academic departments. The University will provide further details, via the student newsletters, as soon as it is available.

We have also put together a PAIS Covid-19 webpage, which we hope will also be a useful source of reference for all Department-specific guidance. If your query is not addressed here it will most likely fall under the remit of the University-level newsletters and FAQs above.

1: Warwick Online Learning Certificate

We encourage you all to participate on the Warwick Online Learning Certificate. Successful completion of the module is not a condition for progressing to the second year but engagement will enable you to capitalise on your first year learning and make accelerated progress in Year 2.

You’ll gain useful professional skills – achieving the Certificate of Completion will look great on your HEAR (transcript) and in your CV!

2: Progression to Year 2 

The progression requirements will be as flexible as possible. To quote the University student newsletter, sent on April 28^th.

‘Following the cancellation of summer exams for first-year students, we are relaxing the criteria that must normally be met before progressing into the second year of study. We expect that will this will allow 95% of first-year students to simply progress.

We will, however, still expect to see an improvement where we have serious concern about a students’ attendance, engagement or academic achievement before they progress. This will be the case for a small number of students who will normally already be aware of our concerns’ 

On the same date, the University provided more guidance about progressing to your second year of study, which you should take time to read in full on MyWarwick

As per usual, for the very small number of first year students who do not proceed at the first attempt, there will be the opportunity for re-sit(s) in September. In other words, this will provide a further opportunity to proceed to your second year.

3: PAIS Module Marks

We are awaiting further information from the University on the calculation of individual module marks. So please do continue to look out for University and Departmental level communications. We will let students know as soon as we know more.

To reassure all PAIS first years:

• First year marks do not contribute to your final degree classification

• No first year overall average (or first year degree classification) appears on your Transcript/HEAR when you graduate

• Your CV, covering letters and references can all make clear the unprecedented challenges faced in your studies this year because of COVID-19. Employers and postgraduate course selectors will also be able to take account of this.

• You will receive marks for assessments (e.g. essays) that you sit.

4: Mitigating Circumstances

Mitigating Circumstances are unforeseen circumstances which are outside your control and have a detrimental effect on your studies. They can include but are not limited to:

• Serious physical illness which requires treatment

• Mental health issues for which you are receiving or awaiting support

• Serious illness of someone close

• Sudden change in personal circumstances such as repatriation or travel restrictions

We understand that this is a difficult time and we encourage you to keep in touch with your Personal Tutor or Director of Student Wellbeing in PAIS, Ben Richardson, who are able to support you through the mitigating circumstances process. In terms of the key details:

• Mitigating circumstances are distinct from and a separate process to essay extensions.

• Mitigating circumstances cannot change individual module marks. However, the panel could recommend waiving penalties for late submission of essays or allowing a further first attempt or sit (without a capped mark) at a missed or failed assessment

• They should be reported through the Personal Circumstances tab on your Tabula profile.

• The deadline for applying for mitigating circumstances in PAIS is June 5^th 

• Given the wider situation, the University has relaxed the evidence requirement for both coronavirus and non-coronavirus mitigations. Further information on suggested evidence.

• All mitigating circumstances submitted by the deadline will be considered by the PAIS Mitigating Circumstances Panel (MCP).

• The MCP grades the mitigating circumstances as severe, moderate, weak or rejected. On that basis, a recommendation is passed to the PAIS Exam Board about how to take this into account for the purposes of progression to the next year of study

• The PAIS Director of Student Wellbeing, Ben Richardson, can, on request, provide students with the grading of their mitigating circumstances and the associated recommendation after the Exam Board decision,

• You can find full details in our PAIS UG handbook.

I hope this helps. In due course, we will provide further information on when progression decisions will be released (some initial information has already been provided by the university).

If there are any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Take care and stay safe.

Best wishes

Justin