Continuous Assessment: Summary

For full details, see the Staff Handbook, 3.3.1 Assessment Procedures.

Principles

Where practicable:

  • Receipts, electronic or paper, should be issued where a piece of work is worth 20% or more of the module mark (this percentage to be reviewed regularly with a view to reduction).
  • Anonymous marking should be employed as far as possible, particularly for pieces of work worth more than 20% of the module mark.
  • Personal identification details (e.g. name, log-in name) and University registration number should never appear together, in order to preserve the confidentiality of registration number.

Classification of Continuous Assessment (CA)

  1. Is the work a Final Year or MSc project?
    YES -- See A below.
    NO -- Go to 2.
  2. Does the work require the identity of the student to be known (e.g. demonstrations or presentations are involved)?
    YES -- See B below.
    NO -- Go to 3.
  3. Does the work carry a mark greater than or equal to 20% of the total mark for the module?
    YES -- See C below but a hand-in box may not be used.
    NO -- You may choose between B and C below; C with hand-in via the School Reception may only be used for the present for a maximum of 3 pieces of work per module.

Processing of CA

CA falls into three categories.

A
 Projects.
These have their own defined procedures. For 'non-advanced' MSc projects, see the Staff Handbook, Section 3.3.2 Project Assessment. Uniquely, Project Reports may contain both registration number and name.
B
 Non-anonymously marked CA, other than projects.
Hand-in may be electronic, direct to lecturers or demonstrators or via a labelled hand-in box. Only name and/or login name may appear on the work; never Registration Number. If hand-in is not electronic, receipts will not be available, so care is needed in designing the hand-in and marking process. Where possible such work should carry a mark less than 20% of the module mark.
C
 Anonymously marked CA
Hand-in may be:
  • electronic
  • via the School Reception, where a receipt will be issued (a maximum of 3 pieces of work per module at present)
  • via a labelled hand-in box, but only where the work carries a mark less than 20% of the mark for the module.
Only the student's Registration Number should appear on the work itself, not name or login name. See below for more details of the procedure for handing-in via School Reception.

When CA falls into Category C and is to be handed in via the School Reception:

  • The hand-in date should be determined after consulting Julie Heathcote, to avoid excessive load on Reception. The hand-in time will always be 12 noon. A timetable of such hand-in dates will be available on the web.
  • Work will be handed in to Reception and a receipt issued via a cover sheet which has multiple copies. The copy retained by the School Office gives both name and Registration Number; the copy attached to the work has only Registration Name.

Required Information in CA Specifications

All CA specifications should make clear:

  1. The contribution of the work to the module mark.
  2. The hand-in date and method.
  3. The principles that will be employed in marking, where these are not obvious. For example, for essay-type CA, indicative descriptions of work corresponding to degree classes could be given.
  4. The penalty for lateness (see Staff Handbook, 3.3.1 Assessment Procedures, §1.1 for three acceptable models).
  5. The target length of time from the hand-in date to return of the marked work (or just the mark where work is not returned). Note that if no such date is given, the default for the School is two weeks (see Staff Handbook, 3.3.1 Assessment Procedures, §1.5).

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