Your attendance record should not be negatively impacted where there has been industrial action by staff in your academic department. Departments will record any missed monitoring point as 'authorised' with a note to say that this is due to industrial action. You will not receive any warning email for missing the monitoring point, and industrial action will not affect your attendance record or your visa.

UCU defines a marking and assessment boycott as the ceasing of “all marking and assessment processes that contribute to summative assessment decisions for students/learners, whether final (i.e., graduation/completion) or interim (i.e., progression decisions).”

Final-year undergraduates (2022-23)

If you have some missing marks, your department is working towards returning your marks to you as soon as possible. In all but exceptional cases, you will receive information about the Board of Examiner decision from your Department before Christmas 2023. You will only see your degree classification change if it improves as a result of a higher average year mark. Your degree classification will not go down due to missing marks becoming available. A classification will only be lowered following the recommendation of an academic conduct panel or academic integrity committee.

The decision of the Board of Examiners is provisional and must be approved by Senate Sub-Group. You can expect official notification of your Award and classification to be sent by email in mid-January. Your transcripts will be updated by the end of January.

We appreciate your patience while we work to return your marks to you.

Non-final-year undergraduates (2022-23)

If you have some missing marks, your department is working towards returning your marks to you. We intend to return all missing marks for work that has been submitted. In all but exceptional cases, we are working to share assessment marks and feedback before Christmas 2023.

Please be assured that a decision to progress will not be reversed and you will remain in your current year of study. If you have failed any modules for which you were not offered reassessment in September, you will be given a compensated pass for the module, where you are awarded the credits but no numerical mark. Modules with no numerical mark are excluded from year and degree classification averages.

Postgraduate taught students (2022-23)

Please visit FAQ 5e.

Where you have concerns regarding your academic progression, taught students can always seek to speak to your personal tutor in the first instance, or you may also speak to your module tutor or your departmental senior tutor. Research students should speak to supervisors, the Director of Graduate Studies, or the Director of Education in their department. Your department will let you know if an alternative member of staff is nominated as your initial contact if your own tutor or supervisor is unavailable. You may also contact the head of the department or your nominated deputy. If you want to keep a record, please keep notes if you meet with your tutor or supervisor.

Wellbeing and Student Support (WSS) also provide guidance and support on a range of issues. You can find out more and contact them via the Wellbeing and Student Support webpages, or you can contact the Student Advice CentreLink opens in a new window in the Students’ Union. The University’s complaints process can be found on the Student Complaint webpageLink opens in a new window. 

You may also share general feedback with the University via academic dot continuity at warwick dot ac dot uk. 

Following a ballot on industrial action some staff members who are members of the University and College Union (UCU) chose to take industrial action over pay, working conditions and pensions. The latest UCU ballot on taking further industrial action closed on 3 November, and no further industrial action is planned.

Fuller details on these matters can be found on the UCU , UCEA and USS webpages.

We are committed to ensuring Postgraduate Taught students will graduate on time in January 2024. We are on track to share your marks and award decision in line with normal timescales. In all but exceptional cases, module marks will become visible on 7 December and, if you are eligible, you will also receive a communication confirming your Award.

We have committed to ensuring PGT students graduate on time. We are making progress with resolving the marking backlog and are on track to share your full marks profile and award decision in line with normal timescales.

Once you have secured a job offer and received your Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from your employer, the next stage is to apply for a Skilled Worker visa. To be eligible for switching from a Student visa to a Skilled Worker visa, you will be expected to submit a 'course completion letter' confirming that you have either completed your course, or confirming the date you are expected to complete your course. From 17 July 2023, the earliest date you can apply for this visa is 3 months prior to the start date of your job as indicated on your CoS, as long as the start date of your job is later than the official 'course end date' as shown on your CAS. We would advise that you download a Certificate of Status Letter and use it in your Skilled Worker visa application, once you receive your CoS from your employer.

Please explain to your employer if there are delays to the award of your degree, as confirmation of the award is not a visa requirement. The marking and assessment boycott affected universities across the UK and we anticipate employers will be able to show some flexibility.

Strike action can take the form of "any concerted stoppage of work", and action short of a strike (ASOS).

ASOS could take the form of working to contract, not undertaking voluntary activities, not covering for absent colleagues, not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action, and removing uploaded materials related to, and/or not sharing materials related to, lectures or classes that have been cancelled as a result of strike action.

The UCU ballot on taking further industrial action closed on 3 November, and no further industrial action is currently planned.

The UCU announced that from 20 April, action short of a strike (ASOS) would take the form of a marking and assessment boycott (MAB). This meant that staff who chose to take action may not mark formative or summative work or provide feedback on that work.

On 6 September, the UCU announced that the MAB has been withdrawn which means that work to complete outstanding marking and provide feedback is underway. 

Progress is being made with marking and students impacted by the MAB will have received an update including timescales for receiving feedback and marks. You will receive an email to confirm when your finalised results/module marks are available.

We appreciate your continued patience while we work to return your marks to you.

Universities have been collaborating to ensure that progression to planned further study can be facilitated. At Warwick, we will admit offer holders currently studying at UK universities, whose official transcripts and completion of studies documentation indicate they would be likely to achieve the degree outcomes required by their offer. We will use this principle when making decisions about individual circumstances on a case-by-case basis. Our expectation is that this approach will be common to most UK universities.

PGCE offer holders: If you are accepted onto the PGCE course without confirmation of your final award, awarding of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) will remain subject to being awarded graduate status prior to the completion of your PGCE, in line with Department for Education guidance.

Master's awards (merit or distinction) are based on the average mark (a percentage figure) achieved on your degree. The average is calculated from your overall module marks, which are weighted according to their credit value (e.g., 15 credits or 30 credits).

With the current industrial action, you may be wondering how your award will be calculated if marks are missing…

If a mark is missing for one or more of the assessments that contribute to a module, Boards of Examiners can take this into account and still award your degree.

So, where at least half of your marks (50%) needed for a module are available, your department can use this information to agree a final overall module mark.

This overall module mark will then be used, along with your other module marks and dissertation mark from this year, to calculate your average and to work out your award.

The University’s regulation for these circumstances allows for up to 30% of your degree-weighted credits in total to be missing from the taught element of your programme.

Let’s look at a quick example

Your total number of credits for a master’s degree is usually 180 credits.

If there were 50 credits missing in the taught programme, it’s still possible to be awarded because this is within the 30% threshold.

For your master's degree to be awarded with a merit or distinction, all modules must normally be marked.

Note that once you have graduated, your final award will only change if it improves as a result of a higher average year mark, your award would not go down.

If you weren’t able to submit work, or your work was marked and didn’t achieve a pass mark, you may be offered an opportunity to resubmit or resit to pass the module. If this is an option for you, you will see this in results information for the relevant module(s) on Tabula.  

Where marks become available after your graduate, the overall module mark will be reviewed, based on all the work you have submitted for the module. 

Our response is based on the University's Regulation 41.

The Home Office UKVI has advised (see UKCISA - international student advice and guidance) that a concession policy has been introduced for international students whose graduate route application may be disrupted by the marking and assessment boycott. The concession policy is issued directly to the University (as reporting course completion and issuing CAS are part of our Student Visa Sponsor responsibilities) and will not be published on the gov.uk website.

The concession policy includes: 1) the ability for students to extend their Student visa without having to meet the 'academic progression' requirements, and 2) once a graduate route application is submitted, the UKVI may exercise discretion to await confirmation of an award for up to 8 weeks without refusing the application if results are delayed due to the marking and assessment boycott.  

If your degree is awarded with some marks missing, you will still be eligible for the Graduate route visa as long as you are awarded a Bachelor's degree, a Master's degree or a PhD (or other doctoral qualification). 

For final-year undergraduate students - your visa should be valid until the end of October/start of November 2023, please contact the Student Immigration team for personalised advice if you think you will need to rely on the UKVI concession policy. 

For postgraduate taught students - your visa should be valid until January/February 2024, please contact the Student Immigration team for personalised advice if you think you will need to rely on the UKVI concession policy. 

For postgraduate research students - your visa should be valid for 8 months after your original thesis submission deadline for viva and correction. Please contact the Student Immigration team for personalised advice if you think you will need to rely on the UKVI concession policy.   

Action short of a strike is ‘any concerted stoppage of work’ or in other words, a decision by staff not to undertake specific parts of their role on an on-going basis rather than stopping work entirely for a specific period such as an advertised day of strike action.

Marks and results are normally hidden for students during an embargo period in preparation for a results release. If there is an upcoming results release for your cohort then you will not be able to see any previous marks during the embargo period (regardless of whether you are receiving results yourself).

If you are an undergraduate student and cannot currently see marks in Tabula, please note that you can access previously agreed marks in your HEAR transcript (via GradIntel) in the meantime.

Some marks and information may not be visible in Tabula whilst missing marks from the marking and assessment boycott are replaced. In some cases, marks may disappear for a whole module for administration purposes. You may have been given information from your module-delivering department about marks that are not finalised and could change. You will be contacted when revised marks are available and we ask for your patience whilst these marks are considered and processed.

If you progressed to the next year of study and failed a module but were not offered reassessment, you may see a grade of FC or FS but no module mark. The module mark is deliberately blank so that it is excluded from the calculation of your classification average.

If you are feeling worried about your existing marks being changed, please remember that classification decisions will not go down as a result of new marks being taken into account, and progression decisions cannot be withdrawn.

We are committed to ensuring that all work is marked by suitably qualified staff. Please note that the usual 20-day turnaround time may not be observed.  Progress is being made with marking and students impacted by the MAB will have received an update including timescales for receiving feedback and marks. You will receive an email to confirm when your finalised results/module marks are available.

We appreciate your continued patience as we work through this. We know that feedback and marks are important.

You should not use Mitigating Circumstances for modules and assessments affected by industrial action. You should instead speak to your department about Mitigating Circumstances if industrial action has had a specific detrimental impact on you. Here are some examples:  

• You have been significantly and disproportionately affected by small group teaching not being delivered.  

• Your dissertation or project supervisor has not been available to carry out the normal expected activities such as supervision meetings or feedback on drafts due to strike action. 
• You have received a reasonable adjustment recommendation for a support worker, and this has not been available due to industrial action. 

If you find yourself facing unforeseen personal circumstances which are outside of your control and are having a detrimental effect on your studies, you may be eligible to submit Mitigating Circumstances. Find out moreLink opens in a new window about your options, including submitting Mitigating Circumstances, deferral, and self-certification.

Degree classifications are based on your overall degree result (a percentage figure), which is calculated from the year average marks for some or all of your years of study. For example, many of our three-year degrees use the year averages from the second and third years, weighted equally at 50% each, but check your course handbook for information specific to you. Year averages are calculated from your overall module marks, which are weighted according to their credit value (e.g., 15 credits or 30 credits).

With the current industrial action, you may be wondering how your degree classification will be calculated if marks are missing in your final year…

If a mark is missing for one or more of the assessments that contribute to a module, Exam Boards can take this into account and can still classify your degree.

So, where at least half of your marks (50%) needed for a module are available, your department can use this information to agree a final overall module mark.

This overall module mark will then be used, along with your other module marks from this year, to calculate your year average. This will be added to marks from previous years of study to work out your degree classification. The year marks are combined using the existing weightings of each of year of study in published information.

The University’s regulation for these circumstances allows for up to 30% of your degree-weighted credits in total to be missing from the years of study that count towards your final degree.

Let’s look at a quick example

Your total number of credits for a degree is usually 360 credits.

For many courses, first-year results do not count towards your final classification.

So, each year still has 120 credits, but in this example, it’s only second year and third year that count towards the final degree classification.

This means that in total there would be 240 degree-weighted credits used to calculate the final degree classification; 120 credits from second year and 120 credits from final year.

If there were 60 credits missing in the final year, it’s still possible to gain a degree classification because this is within the 30% threshold.

60 credits of 240 credits would mean only 25% of your marks are missing.

Note that if you have already graduated with a classified degree, your final degree classification will only change if it improves as a result of a higher average year mark, your degree classification would not go down.

If you weren’t able to submit work, or your work was marked and didn’t achieve a pass mark, you may be offered an opportunity to resubmit or resit to pass the module. If this is an option for you, you will see this in results information for the relevant module(s) on Tabula.  

Where marks become available after your graduate, the overall module mark will be reviewed, based on all the work you have submitted for the module. 

Our response is based on the University's Regulation 41Link opens in a new window.

Student visa holders will need to meet the Academic Progress requirementLink opens in a new window in order to apply for a Student visa extension in the UK before starting their postgraduate course. To meet this requirement, your degree will either need to have been awarded (with or without full marks, honours or classification), or your current sponsoring institution will need to be able to confirm that you are 'highly likely to successfully complete your course' based on performance.

More information can be found on the Academic Progress website, and please do contact the Student Immigration team if you require further assistance. Please note, if you are unable to meet the Academic Progress requirement, you may still progress to postgraduate study, however, you might need to apply for your Student visa from your home country.

The University and College Union (UCU) announced in October 2022 that members from around 150 higher education institutions across the UK voted for industrial action, followed by action short of a strike (ASOS), predominantly in the form of a marking and assessment boycott (MAB) from April 2023. The MAB was withdrawn on 6 September.

The focus of the University’s attention during industrial action has been on ensuring the integrity of your progression/graduation and student experience.  The ballot was a national vote and not specific to Warwick, and the University has been working closely with the local UCU branch throughout this period to identify how we can work in a more collaborative way to achieve a positive outcome for all.

Where missing marks become available, the award you are given on your results day will be reviewed and can only go up. Students who have already graduated with an award will only see their award change if it improves as a result of a higher average year mark. Award decisions will not go down as a result of new marks being taken into account.

Access to systems will be available to see your results until January 2024. We will continue to contact you via your Warwick email address if we have any updates, so please continue to check your emails.

Please do not worry if you no longer have access to Tabula and are awaiting missing marks. Where any missing marks become available, we will notify you via your Warwick email first, and your Tabula access will be reinstated so that you can see your updated marks. Please continue to check your Warwick email if you have missing marks.

You will have received an update about the timeline for receiving marks and feedback via email on 19 October and you will receive an email to confirm when your finalised results are available.

You should have completed examinations and assessments for the modules you elected to study at Warwick through planned or alternative means. You should have had your module marks confirmed on 13 July, via Tabula. For final-year students, you will not receive an overall classification from Warwick, as this will come from your home institution.

It is possible, depending on the selection of modules you have studied at Warwick, that some of your assessments have been impacted by the marking and assessment boycott (MAB). Marking is now taking place and marks are being uploaded to your HEAR as soon as they become available.

If you are concerned and have deadlines to meet, please email studyabroad@warwick.ac.uk and we will liaise with your department here at Warwick regarding release dates.

Undergraduate students

We committed to ensuring students graduate on time or progress to the next year of study where they make a reasonable attempt at all assessments and are otherwise in good academic standing, even if some marks were missing because of the marking and assessment boycott.

Postgraduate students

Now that the marking and assessment boycott (MAB) has been withdrawn, we expect all PGT students who have completed their programme successfully to be awarded to the normal timescale.

In practice, this means we are offering extra flexibility for students where:

• All assessments have been submitted and reasonably attempted, except where they have been waived or exempted because of mitigating circumstances.
• Marks that are available for this academic year indicate with reasonable confidence that you would meet the usual requirements for progression or award.
• Core required or PSRB requirements are passed.

• The dissertation or final project has been marked.
• There are no current or pending cases of academic misconduct (plagiarism, cheating, collusion etc.) for this academic year.

Different postgraduate courses have different structures and Boards of Examiners can release provisional results to you after they have met.

Recommendations for Award are provisional until they have been ratified by Senate Sub-Group. If you have been recommended for Award, you will receive an official confirmation email on 7 December. Module marks will also become visible in Tabula on 7 December.

Where missing marks become available, the classification you were awarded on results day in July will be reviewed and can only go up, unless a penalty for academic misconduct or a breach of academic integrity changes the classification. Students who have already graduated with a classified degree will only see their degree classification change if it improves as a result of a higher average year mark. Classifications decisions will not go down as a result of new marks being taken into account.  

If there are concerns over one of your assessments, you may be asked to attend an Academic Conduct Panel to discuss how the assessment was produced. The University takes every step to ensure that your degree is valuable to employers. We take academic integrity seriously and this means we may ask you to discuss your work.

An Academic Conduct Panel, carried out by the department that delivered the module, can impose a sanction to lower an assessment mark and the resulting module mark. However, only a University-level Academic Integrity Committee can retract a classification that has been previously awarded to give a lower classification.

All module marks can go up or down as a result of missing marks becoming available; only classifications are protected.

If you have progressed to the next level of study, and marks become available later showing that you have failed a module for which you were not offered normal reassessment opportunities due to industrial action, then an adjustment will be made. You will be awarded the credit for the module, which will be shown on your HEAR, and the module mark will be excluded from your classification average. Please note that this only affects continuing students and scenarios where reassessment is normally offered.

The University will ensure that all forms of assessment, including examinations, enable students to demonstrate that they have met course-level learning outcomes. Marking is being undertaken by staff with appropriate expertise.  

When some marks are missing, the regulations in place enable the consideration of the available marks to determine whether module and course-level learning outcomes have been met. 

Where marks are not yet available, a ‘zero’ mark will be displayed on your transcript. This zero denotes the temporary absence of a mark; it does not mean that you have not done everything required of you to complete the module. A letter from the Academic Registrar will be made available in the coming months, explaining that for some modules in the academic year 2022/23, marking has not yet taken place. This will also be explained within your transcript, where text will display if marks are missing due to the marking and assessment boycott, and this has resulted in a ‘zero’ being displayed on the transcript. Where missing marks become available, your transcript will be updated as necessary.

Registration is now open for the January 2024 graduation ceremonies. You should register to graduate ahead of the deadline. In many cases, you will have received the invitation to register ahead of knowing your results. This is the normal process, and it is important that you don't wait for your results before registering.

The Boards of Examiners are managed by departments and look at programme-level decisions. They are responsible for ensuring academic standards of courses are maintained, including making sure that assessment, marking, and moderation processes are rigorous and fair. It is also their role to ensure that students are treated equitably.

Boards of Examiners meet to confirm module marks, making decisions in relation to progression; and to make recommendations in relation to non-progression, award and classification decisions. If a student fails a module, the Board of Examiners will also agree actions including resits and withdrawal provisions.

Where there were module marks missing due to the marking and assessment boycott (MAB), the Board of Examiners were still able to make progression decisions and recommendations about award and classification decisions, as long as:

• All assessments have been submitted and reasonably attempted, except where they have been waived or exempted because of mitigating circumstances.
• Marks that are available for this academic year indicate with reasonable confidence that you would meet the usual requirements for progression or award, i.e., they are mainly pass marks or above.
• There are no current or pending cases of academic misconduct (plagiarism, cheating, collusion etc.) for this academic year.

When any missing marks become available, these marks are considered by Boards of Examiners and become finalised marks, before being released to students.

Where marks are not yet available, a ‘zero’ mark will be displayed on your HEAR or, in the case of postgraduate taught students, your transcript. This zero denotes the temporary absence of a mark; it does not mean that you have not done everything required of you to complete the module. You can download a letter from the Academic Registrar explaining that for some modules in the academic year 2022/23, marking has not yet taken place. This is also explained within the HEAR document, where text will display if marks are missing due to the marking and assessment boycott, and this has resulted in a ‘zero’ being displayed on the HEAR statement. Where missing marks become available, your HEAR will be updated as necessary.

We require students to pass all PSRB requirements before the end of their course. Certain courses are subject to external regulations from PSRBs which may have specific requirements. Where this is the case, the University will work with these academic departments and PSRBs to determine the most appropriate approach to meeting these requirements.

We know that final-year students who graduated in July will be planning and taking your next steps .  

The Student Opportunity team has liaised with a number of UK-based employers over the marking and assessment boycott and asked them specifically about the potential impact upon job offers made to finalists who graduated in July 2023. The vast majority of the organisations contacted confirmed that a modest delay in the release of a full mark profile would be unlikely to impact offers made after employers’ own recruitment and selection exercises.

Students aspiring to move into initial teacher training or social work may wish to contact the organisation from which they hold a job offer as their requirements may be more stringent. However, the Department for Education has confirmed that for this September, initial teacher training providers will be able to recruit students whose degree status has not been confirmed because of the impact of the UCU marking and assessment boycott. Candidates will instead need to have a full Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR)/transcript in order to complete their training.

If a final-year student has marks missing, as a result of the marking and assessment boycott, a letter has been made available by the University to download. Students may wish to use this in discussions with a potential future employer to contextualise their performance this summer. This can be shared with employers alongside final-year students’ HEAR/transcript where needed.   

Students concerned about the impact on graduate job offers may wish to contact the Student Opportunity team via careers@warwick.ac.uk.

If you submitted a mitigating circumstance claim by the deadline, then your circumstances will have been considered by the Board of Examiners.

If you have failed any modules, you are likely to be offered uncapped further first attempts.

If you are going to be considered at a later exam board (because you are a non-finalist or you are a finalist with some missing marks), then your circumstances may have been referred for consideration at the next board.

If you have not failed any modules, your circumstances and grade profile may make it possible to promote you to a higher classification. However, in some cases even though you have accepted mitigating circumstances, there may be no impact on your classification.

We are aware that some students were asked to resit modules where there was not clear evidence available at the time of the decision that the learning outcomes had been demonstrated. With missing marks becoming available, including passes in the first sit for modules where some students were asked to resit, we appreciate that this will have resulted in those students undertaking resits for no additional benefit.

When asking some students to resit, the Board of Examiners had made decisions in students’ best interests at the time based on the information available to them. When weighing up these decisions, resit opportunities were offered to students where there was uncertainty of the final outcome, to ensure that students were not disadvantaged by missing marks or facing a delayed reassessment opportunity.

Where a student has undertaken reassessment, the maximum mark achievable is the pass mark (40% or 50% depending on the level of the module). However, if the original submissions, once marked, give an overall module mark higher than the pass mark, this will be the mark reflected on the student’s record and considered at the Boards of Examiners.

Finalists – now graduated (2022-23)

If you were a finalist in Summer 2023 and have found out you have failed a module after you received missing marks, there is no impact. The failed module mark will appear on your HEAR, but your Award and classification is protected.

Non-finalists (2022-23)

If you were a non-finalist in Summer 2023 and have progressed to the next level of study, then you may be awarded a force majeure compensated pass (which will show as ‘FC’ in your results). Compensated passes can be granted if you have failed a module for which you were not offered reassessment opportunities, due to industrial action. If you have been given a compensated pass, the module mark will be blank, but the credits will show as passes. You will be awarded the credit for the module, which will be shown on your HEAR, and the module mark will be excluded from your classification average. Please note that this only affects continuing students and scenarios where reassessment is normally offered.

Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs)

If you have failed a module that is needed for a professional body that accredits your course, then you cannot be awarded a compensated pass. You will stay in your current year of study, but you will need to take further attempts in this module this academic year. There will be a requirement for you to pass this module in addition to the normal progression / Award requirements for this year.

Mitigating circumstances

If you had mitigation for the module, you may be offered an optional further sit in addition for September 2024 (FS). We strongly recommend that you take the compensated pass which awards you the credit for the module and excludes the mark from your classification average. Further sits will not be offered before the Summer 2024 Board of Examiners, to take place in the September reassessment period, which is designed to prevent you from being overloaded with assessment. Any further sit would be taken at a considerable length of time after you engaged in learning on the module, and we feel that compensated pass is most likely to give you the best outcome.

In addition, please note that;

• Compensated pass is not protected if you choose to take a further sit. If you opt in, you will receive a mark for the module which will be used to calculate your classification average.
• If you are a finalist, the classification recommended by the Board of Examiners in Summer 2024 is not protected. If you opt in for a further sit your classification is recalculated following the September reassessment period and could go down as well as up.
• If you are a finalist in Summer 2024 you will not be able to graduate until after you have taken all outstanding reassessments. If you opt in for a further sit, you will not be able to attend the Summer graduation ceremony.

Support

Additional support is available to you through your module convenor, Personal Tutor, Wellbeing and Student Support and the Library.