Regulations and weighting

Regulations

In order to pass your Programme, you should complete successfully or be exempted from the relevant core modules and assessments, as well as acquiring the required number of credits (90 ECTS). The Pass mark for each module is 40 per cent. If you fail an assessment component or a module, you may be entitled to compensation if the grade is within 10 percentage points of a passing grade, provided other criteria are met. If you are not entitled to compensation and/or you fail more than one module you will be required to repeat during the resit period in August. You may be allowed to resit before this date at the discretion of the module lecturer / module coordinator. You will normally be offered one resit attempt. If you are successful in the resit, you shall be awarded the credit for that module however your grade will be capped at a pass mark.

If you do not satisfy your resit by the date specified you will not progress and the Assessment Board may require that you withdraw from the Programme.

Credit weightings

Undergraduate programmes we offer run across two semesters of taught modules, per year, for either three (undenominated Arts) or four years (denominated BA programmes such as the BA Global Media). Each semester of study is worth 30 ECTS credits and each year of study is worth 60 ECTS credits. In order to achieve the award of a Bachelor of Arts you must achieve either 180 (three year degrees) or 240 credits (four year degrees) (these are commonly known across Europe as ECTS – European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System). This is a system that gives uniformity all across Europe so that similar systems of workload and assessment are in place. You will be awarded a number of credits for successfully completing each module. In each semester you normally need to complete 30 credits. Undergraduate modules are usually worth 5 ECTS but some year-long and practice-based modules are worth 10 ECTS. Credits are awarded once you achieve a minimum qualifying mark (a pass) in each module. It’s important to note that credits are not the same as grades – credits are awarded for successfully completing a unit of work (for example one module), whereas grades are awarded based on your performance in that unit, or part thereof (for example an assignment as part of a module).

One ECTS is equivalent to about 20 hours of work. That can include class time, private study, assessment, and other learning activities. Hence, you should imagine that your modules will work as follows for a typical academic module (note that practice modules have higher contact hours and practical work, but may involve less independent study):