FAQs for Brighton students

Covid remains a part of life, and whilst national and university restrictions have been removed, there are some good habits that we can all continue to observe to help us remain safe on campus:

• Wash or sanitise your hands regularly and ensure workspaces remain well ventilated.
• Respect everyone’s space, looking out for those wearing red wrist bands to indicate they wish to remain socially distant.
• Receive both doses of your COVID-19 vaccine and booster as soon as possible
• Consider wearing a face covering in crowded, enclosed spaces
• Check in on friends and be kind to each other.

Do not come onto campus or travel if you are feeling unwell or have COVID-19 symptoms.

While you’re no longer legally required to stay at home (self-isolate) if you test positive for COVID-19, you should still take steps to help reduce the chance of passing COVID-19 on to others. Guidance remains in place advising people to stay home and avoid contact with other people for at least 5 full days, avoiding contact with those at higher risk from COVID-19 for ten days.

You can read full details here about what to do if you have tested positive for COVID-19.

Please note - You no longer need to report a positive test result to the university. If you are a student and need support, please contact your Student Support and Guidance Tutor (SSGT) or Residential Wellbeing team, if you are living in halls.

It is not mandatory for staff, students, and visitors to wear face coverings in any setting on campus, except where required as part of formal training on specific healthcare courses. However, we recognise that everyone’s personal circumstances will be different. We encourage everyone to continue respecting the comfort and choices of others, by wearing a face covering and observing social distancing in busy settings.

You no longer need to take any COVID-19 tests or fill in a passenger locator form when travelling to the UK from abroad. These changes apply whether you are fully vaccinated or not.

Please check the government website for the most up to date information.

If you require further support on travelling to the UK, you can email our international student advisers internationaladvice@brighton.ac.uk and they can give you advice on your own personal circumstances.

Free testing for Coronavirus has ended for most people in England. You can check if you are still eligible for a free test here. If you still want to get tested and you’re not eligible for a free NHS test you can pay for a COVID-19 test yourself. You can buy a COVID-19 test from some pharmacies and retailers, in person and online.

In line with government guidance to the sector, and alongside all other universities, we continue to strongly encourage all eligible students to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Anyone who gets COVID-19 can become seriously ill or have long-term effects (long COVID). The COVID-19 vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and others. Research has shown the vaccines help to reduce your risk of getting seriously ill or dying from COVID-19 and reduce your risk of catching or spreading COVID-19.

Please check the NHS website for the most up to date information on when you can book. Nationality or immigration status do not affect your eligibility for a COVID-19 vaccination.

Like all universities, we will be following government guidance and will be monitoring the pandemic very closely with our local Director of Public Health. Should a worsening of the situation occur, we have robust plans in place for students to continue their studies.

The government has removed remaining COVID-19 restrictions in England, but COVID-19 remains a fact of life and we know that fears and anxiety are likely to remain for some. If you are anxious about the virus, there are some useful steps you can take:

• Get the facts: Get the latest health guidance from Public Health England.
• Keep things in perspective: take a break from the news and focus on the positive things in your life
• Be mindful of your assumptions about others: Self-awareness is important in not stigmatising others in our community.
• Stay healthy - Adopting healthy hygienic habits such as washing your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitiser, frequently, and certainly after sneezing or before/after touching your face or a sick person. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue (throwing this away after use) or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. Avoid contact with others who are sick and stay home while sick
• Keep connected: Maintaining good social networks helps to reduce stress. If you need to, You can access the remote support network ‘Togetherall’ - just tap in your university email account.
• Seek additional help: Individuals who feel overwhelming worry or anxiety can seek additional professional support. Check out what is available via your Student Support and Guidance Tutors.

Extension to deadline: a process that enables you to request a revised submission deadline. If you experience an unexpected issue that you believe can be rectified quickly so that you are eventually able to submit your work, you can apply for an extension through your course leader, providing supporting documentation.

Late submission: a penalty is applied to work that is submitted after the deadline set and where an extension request has not been submitted. To avoid this, you must request an extension through your course leader, as detailed above.

Additional Consideration: new regulations and procedures which allow the university to take into consideration serious circumstances which are unforeseen and unavoidable, which have prevented you from either demonstrating or acquiring the skills, knowledge, competencies required to meet the learning outcomes associated with an assessment.

Unrepresentative Performance: if you have passed your assessment but feel that the mark is unrepresentative due to serious circumstances which are unforeseen and unavoidable, you should use the Additional Consideration procedures. Please see separate section for more details.

Compensation: an Examination Board may allow credit to be awarded at the end of your stage of study for failed modules (up to 20 credits per 120 credits studied pro rata).

Trailing: an Examination Board may allow you to repeat up to 20 credits in the following stage of study. This is known as conditional progression.

In-Year Module Retrieval (IYMR): participating modules at level 0 and 4 allow retrieval by means of correcting the original failed submission. The IYMR attempt will have the mark capped at 40%.

Intermission: a student led decision to take an official, extended period of absence from studying at the university. You must submit a written application to your course leader which explains your reasons.

Whilst the pandemic continues to be ongoing, a more stable academic year is predicted for 2021–22 with a planned approach to the blended delivery of learning, teaching and assessment.

As such, the university is transitioning out of our Safety Net approach and returning to our usual assessment regulations and classification calculations, which are detailed in the General Examination and Assessment Regulations, known as GEAR. The Safety Net assessment regulations continue to apply to modules which commenced prior to the 26 September 2021.

We have reviewed and made significant revisions to our mitigating circumstances regulations for 2021–22 onwards. From 2021–22 mitigating circumstances is replaced with a more generous Additional Consideration package, there will no longer be automatic generic mitigation for failed or non-submitted assessment, or a separate process for unrepresentative performance.

The university will continue to monitor and review the impact of the pandemic upon students.

Please do not worry. There are options available.

Requesting an extension enables you to request a revised deadline; an application should normally be made at least one full working day before the published submission deadline.

If you experience an unexpected issue that you believe can be rectified quickly so that you are eventually able to submit your work, you can apply for an extension through your course leader - you will normally be expected to include supporting evidence and must have a valid reason.

Extensions can help you manage the impact of short-term circumstances that occur close to a coursework submission deadline, but you should think about whether delaying one assessment deadline could lead to you having to manage a large workload within a short period of time if other assessments are due.

If you are experiencing difficulties and would like to discuss this further, we encourage you to reach out to one of our support services, such as your Personal Academic Tutor, a Student Support and Guidance Tutor, the Brighton Students' Union, or your Course/ Module Leader. If you have a Learning Support Plan you should seek advice from the Disability and Dyslexia Team. 

Additional Consideration is a set of regulations and procedures for the university to take into consideration serious circumstances which are unforeseen and unavoidable, which have prevented you from either demonstrating or acquiring the skills, knowledge, competencies required to meet the learning outcomes associated with an assessment.

Additional Consideration is a new process which replaces Mitigating Circumstances, generic mitigation and Mitigating Circumstances for Unrepresentative Performance. The new regulations and process have been designed in partnership with the Brighton Students’ Union and follow sector best practice.

A request for Additional Consideration can be submitted for:

• absence from an assessment (including examination);
• failure to submit or undertake assessed work (non-submission);
• failure of an assessment and/or a module (failure);
• unrepresentative performance.

You must submit a request for Additional Consideration if you have extenuating circumstances which have impacted your assessment, otherwise the Examination Board will be unable to take this into account – this could lead to penalties if you have insufficient credit (modules passed). Please do not wait until you’ve received results from the Examination Board to submit a request – the earlier we receive this information, the more effectively you can be supported.

There are two routes for Additional Consideration requests:

• Self-certification for absence from assessment;
• full request for Additional Consideration.

If you are experiencing difficulties and would like to discuss this further, we encourage you to reach out to one of our support services, such as your Personal Academic Tutor, a Student Support and Guidance Tutor, the Brighton Students' Union, or your Course/ Module Leader. If you have a Learning Support Plan you should seek advice from the Disability and Dyslexia Team.

You can submit a request for self-certification for absence from assessment if you have been experiencing exceptional circumstances that have caused you to be absent from a time-bound assessment(s) for a period of up to and including 7 calendar days.

Example of circumstances

An example of these circumstances could be a short-term illness such as norovirus, an accident, or emergency caring responsibilities. You are not required to provide supporting documentation with your request and can include any time-bound assessment(s) that was missed during this time period.

It’s really important that self-certification is only used for unavoidable emergency situations – you may not have another chance to take the assessment until the resit period (normally in the summer break) or the following academic year, which could delay your progression or graduation. Generally, the best time to take assessments is when they are originally planned as part of the module assessment structure, and as close to the teaching and learning activities as possible.

What is a time-bound assessment?

A time-bound assessment is an assessment taken under timed conditions and examples of these include written exams and practical skills assessments such as Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE), laboratory tests, observed practice and practical skills exams which cannot be postponed.

If you are unsure whether your assessment is time-bound and eligible for self-certification you should seek advice from your school office. Some time-bound assessments may not be eligible for self-certification due to the requirements of Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs). In this case you should submit a full request for Additional Consideration, there’s more about this in the next section.

Are there any limits or exclusions to the self-certification process?

You can only submit a maximum of one self-certification request per semester and you must submit your request within 7 calendar days of the date of the last assessment you missed. If your circumstances last more than 7 calendar days, or if you have already used the self-certification process for the number of times as stated above, then you should seek medical advice and submit a full request.

Self-certification does not apply to coursework. If your difficulties are short-term and occur close to a coursework submission deadline you may apply for an extension to deadline.

Some courses have attendance requirements and you may need to submit supporting documents to account for any absences from lectures, tutorials, etc. You need to check your module/course information to make sure you know what the attendance requirements are for your course, particularly if there are placement or professional body requirements.

This process is not available to postgraduate research students, as the university’s regulations for research degrees and the Doctoral College’s code of practice and regulations for research degrees will continue to be followed.

We would encourage you to make contact and access the guidance and request form as soon as you are able to. You must submit your request as close to the circumstances as possible, and no later than 14 calendar days from receipt of Examination Board results.

No supporting documents are required to self-certify your absence from an assessment.

You’ll need to provide supporting documentation to support a full request.

This should be from a professional source and cover the period of time being claimed. Please don’t submit photographic evidence of illness or injury with your request, the types of supporting documents students usually submit are:

• Medical certificate or letter from a medical practitioner e.g. a doctor
• Hospital admission and discharge letter, to confirm time spent in hospital
• Letter or form from an appropriate health professional (i.e. counsellor you’ve been supported by)
• Supporting statement from the Disability and Dyslexia Team
• Police, insurance company or news report

Supporting documents may help you explain your circumstances, but we understand that this can be difficult to obtain - please do not worry – you’ll have the opportunity to tell us about your circumstances and the impact on your assessment on the request form , each claim will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Full guidance, time limits, case studies and a request form is available.

Revised award calculations were put in place during 2020-21 as part of the Safety Net. In considering the ongoing impact of the pandemic in 2021-22, the university has reviewed our methods for calculating awards, and will continue to use a ‘best of’ approach for awards conferred in 2021-22.

The majority of students graduating this year will be covered by the approaches below. If your circumstances are complicated, (for example, you are returning to university after a break, or changing your mode of study) please contact your school office to confirm bespoke arrangements.

As in previous years, you will still need to pass all your modules but in recognition of the impact of the pandemic, some modules where you may not have performed so well will be discounted when calculating your award.

Current Level 6 undergraduate students

Your classification will be made up of:

• Your best 80 out of 120 credits in 20–21 level 5, weighted at 25%. Your lowest performing 40 credits will be excluded from the calculation;
• Your best 80 out of 120 credits in 21–22 level 6 (your final year) weighted at 75%. Your lowest performing 40 credits will be excluded from the calculation.

Masters awards – full-time (MA, MSc, MBA, LLM, MRes, March)

Your classification will be made up of:

• Your best 80 credits out of 120 taught credits. Your lowest performing 40 taught credits will be excluded from the calculation.
• plus your final element module, worth 60 credits

This revised calculation will apply for most courses, however they will be some exceptions and differences for some courses, due to the structure of your course or due to your course being associated with a professional, statutory and regulatory body. Your school will contact you to confirm arrangements for your course where this may differ.

Integrated Masters awards (MEng, MPharm, MDes, MFA, MComp, MChem, MGeog, MGeol, MMath)

A subject-specific classification and algorithm for the award is in place which will follow either the undergraduate or postgraduate scheme as detailed above.

Current Level 5 undergraduate students

In recognition of the impact of the pandemic, the university will use a ‘best of’ approach for the marks you’re awarded this year to calculate your final award. As in previous years, your level 4 results gained last year (2020–21) will not count towards your award and you will still need to pass all your modules.

This revised calculation will apply for most courses, however they will be some exceptions and differences for some courses, due to the structure of your course or due to your course being associated with a professional, statutory and regulatory body. Your school will contact you to confirm arrangements for your course where this may differ.

Current Level 0/3/4 undergraduate students

The award classification calculation detailed in your Course (Programme) Specification and GEAR will apply. The results gained this academic year will not be used to calculate your final award, although you must pass all of your modules.

There are a very small number of students for whom the 2020-21 Safety Net assessment regulations continue to apply, for example, if you started a dissertation module in academic year 2021-22, but the submission date is after 26 September 2021.

This is likely to impact the following categories of module/assessment commenced prior to 26 September 2021:

• Postgraduate taught (PGT) dissertations
• Part-time PGT modules
• Courses with non-standard term dates (e.g. courses starting in February)
• Courses with non-standard lengths (e.g. pre-registration PGT Health courses – Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Podiatry)
• Courses with awards considered at Winter examination boards

Your award classification will be calculated using the regulations which were in effect when you started studying the stage, so for a part-time PGT course started in 2020-21, the Safety Net assessment regulations (including mitigating circumstances for unrepresentative performance) classification rules would be applied when you complete your level 7 credit. Your school office will be able to confirm this information if you are unsure, or have complicated circumstances.

Whatever your reasons for needing some time off, we highly recommend that you keep in touch with course staff. They are a source of support and advice – academic or otherwise – and may be able to grant you an extended deadline or other support for your work if that would help your situation.

You should contact Student Services or your course leader, personal academic tutor or SSGT if you are considering time away from university so that we can provide one-to-one advice and support. It might be helpful to consider the following when you have these discussions:

• the time period for intermission
• when any outstanding assessment will be taken
• whether the Safety Net benefits will apply on your return
• whether the curriculum and assessment will be different on your return
• fee and student finance implications
• visa implications if you’re an international student

If you eventually decide to spend time away from the university, you must submit a written application to your course leader that explains your reasons for intermitting. If they accept your application and allow you to intermit, the school office will work with Academic Registry to ensure that your student record and transcripts are prepared, and you will be free to leave the university.

The dates of intermission will vary according to your individual needs, course and stage of study, but they usually begin at an appropriate stage in the academic calendar, for example at the end of a module, term or semester.

Further information is available.