School of Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences
Student Safety & Study Skills
Handbook 11/12

• Absences
• Assessment of work
• Mitigating circumstances
• Appeals Process

Assessment of Work

Coursework

Student self-certification of absence through illness

Application for an extension to deadline

Submission of late work

 

Coursework

Coursework exercises are marked and contribute to your overall academic performance. You are required to submit all work for assessments in the manner and by the date indicated in your module handbooks. It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with the submission dates for appropriate coursework exercises.

Student self-certification of absence through illness - Form A

If you miss an assessment through illness you are normally required to produce independent documentary evidence from a doctor and submit a claim for mitigating circumstances.

Please note that if a certificate requires payment, you have to pay. The self-certification system is intended to deal with situations which arise when medical practitioners are unwilling to issue medical certificates to students who are absent for a short period through minor illness, such as seasonal colds. Its intention is to deal with absences which affect attendance at laboratory classes, mid-semester tests, or which might otherwise compromise the learning contract for a module.

It is not intended to deal with absence from end of semester written examinations, phase tests or presentations. You will normally be allowed to provide self-certification of sickness, using standard forms available from the School Office, subject to the following guidelines:

• self-certification will cover an absence of no more than 5 continuous days.
  
  
• self-certification will normally be allowed for one days assessment in any module.
  
  
• the assessment should normally be worth no more than 10% of the total assessment for the module.
  
  
• absence slip(s) should be completed within 5 days of returning to university, indicating the nature of the illness (e.g. flu, etc) and handed in at the School Office. Copies of the form will be sent to the personal tutor, module leader, class supervisor and Courses Office.
  
  
• a separate absence slip should be completed for each module in which an assessment is missed, showing clearly the session missed, the module title and code, module leader and individual staff member responsible for the class.
  
  
• in cases where there are repeated short absences related to a chronic condition, or there is otherwise more than one absence during the course of a module, independent evidence will normally be required to support the absence slip(s).
  
  
• absences related to clinical visits or other activities approved by the School are also to be dealt with using this system.
  
  
• a mark of zero will be recorded in cases where no absence slip is completed.
  
  
• abuse of the system will be dealt with through appropriate disciplinary procedures.

Application for an extension to deadline - Form B

If you are unable to submit your coursework exercise by the due date you may apply for an extension to the deadline. Such applications should be made to the Course Leader using the appropriate form which can be obtained from the school office (Room H608). Applications should normally be submitted at least one full working day, sooner if possible, before the published deadline. You should be aware that failure to submit your application by the due time may result in your case being considered less sympathetically. On rare occasions, late applications may be made by telephone and approved provisional on the subsequent production of documentary evidence in support of the claim.

Normally, supporting evidence will be required when you make application for an extension to a deadline. This should be evidence from an independent source such as a doctor or counsellor. In instances where you are unable to provide such evidence in advance, you should do so as soon as it is available. There may be some occasions when documentary evidence will be deemed unnecessary. If in doubt you should discuss this matter with the course leader before submitting your application. Any supporting evidence which you submit will be copied and returned to you so that, if appropriate, you may use it in support of any subsequent claim that your academic performance was affected by mitigating circumstances.

The single 'Application for extension to deadline' form generates three carbon copies i.e. four copies in total. Before submitting the form, you are required to complete Part A. You should ensure that all copies are legible. On submission, the Course Leader will complete Part C of the form and return the bottom (green) copy to you. Your application will then be considered.

If your request for an extension is refused, the third copy (white) will be retained and the top two copies (yellow and pink) will be returned to you.

If your request for an extension is granted, the top copy (yellow) will be sent to the member of staff responsible for marking the exercise for information and the third copy (white) will be retained. The second copy (pink) will be returned to you. You must staple this copy of the form to your work when it is submitted. This form will be returned to you when your work is returned.

Submission of late work - Form C

Work which is submitted late i.e. after the deadline including any extension granted, will, in accordance with the General Examination and Assessment Regulations of the university be awarded zero marks. However, this work will still be marked by the appropriate member of staff. Feedback to the student will indicate the “raw mark” for the work as well as indicating that the work was submitted late and therefore scored zero.

Any work which is submitted late must be accompanied by the form ‘Identification of assignment submitted after the deadline' which can be obtained from the school office (Room H608). This form generates three carbon copies i.e. four copies in total. Before submitting the form, along with the assignment, you are required to complete Part A. You should ensure that all copies are legible. On submission, the Course Leader will complete Part B of the form and return the bottom (white) copy to you. The assignment will then be passed to the appropriate member of staff for marking who will complete Part C of the form. After marking, the second copy (yellow) will be returned to you along with the assignment. The remaining copies of the form (green and pink) will be retained.