Please see below for some key information on the Engineering assessment regulations for 2019-20 taking into the COVID-19 situation. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the Student Information Team.
Also make sure to download and read the decision letter that is contained on your Intranet profile next to your progression/award decision.
In order to progress onto Year 1 of your chosen Engineering degree, you will need to achieve all of the below criteria:
For this academic year only, 20 credits worth of tolerated failures in non-core modules are allowed down to 0%.
In order to progress onto Year 2 of your programme, you must achieve 120 credits at pass level (40%+) or above. All modules in Year 1 are ‘Core’.
This is because Engineering Council rules have been updared meaning that no tolerated failures can be permitted moving forward.
In order to progress onto Year 3 of your chosen Engineering degree, you will need to achieve all of the below criteria:
In order to be awarded an accredited BEng degree, you will need to achieve all of the below criteria in your final year of study:
In order to progress onto the MEng year, you will need to achieve the following:
If the above is not achieved following any supplementary assessments in August, you will be transferred to the BEng and assessed according to Year 3 BEng regulations.
In order to be awarded an accredited MEng degree, you will need to achieve all of the below criteria in your final year of study:
For this academic year, 20 credits worth of tolerated faliures in non-core modules are allowed down to 0%.
In order to progress from Part One onto Part Two of your MSc programme, you will need to achieve all of the below criteria:
Students who are eligible for failure toleration at the first attempt who wish to waive their right to re-sit their failed modules may submit a request for toleration within 10 days of the official notification of their result. Please contact the Student Information Team if you wish to make this request.
The safety-net policy only applies to calculated degree classifications, and as marks for Foundation Year and Year 1 don’t count towards your final degree classification, the safety-net policy will only be applied to Years 2, 3 and 4.
We will use all the modules you have completed this academic year before 14th March 2020.
If this is 60 credits or more, we will take the average mark from these modules.
If this is less than 60 credits, we will make it up to 60 credits using your previous year average to make up the missing credits.
When you come to the end of your programme (in June 2021 or 2022), this average mark will be entered for all the affected modules yet to be completed this year. All other marks, including those for next year will be entered as normal. The normal degree calculation rules will be run on these to give a “protected degree classification”.
We will then enter all the actual marks you achieved this year and your degree classification will be calculated as normal. If this classification is lower than the protected classification, then the higher protected classification will be used.
Your transcript will include your actual marks, with some explanation of the safety-net process.
Some illustrative examples of the protected classification are given below.
Student 1 – Year 2 on a 3-year programme.
Student 2 – Year 2 on a 4-year programme.
Student 3 – Year 2 on a 3-year programme
55 credits completed in Semester 1.
Year 1 average: 74%
Year 2 completed modules:
Safety-net average calculated from the 55 credits completed in Year 2 and 5 credits from the student's Year 1 average and so is 72%. This mark and the 60 credits of modules affected are kept on record until June 2021 when a degree classification is calculated. At that time, a mark of 72% is put in for all Year 2 modules affected and classification rules run as normal (including the Year 3 marks from 2020/21) to calculate protected degree classification. This will be compared to the degree classification with actual marks and the higher will be used if there is a difference.
We will use all the final year modules you have completed before 14th March 2020.
If this is 60 credits or more, we will take the average mark from these modules.
If this is less than 60 credits, we will make it up to 60 credits using your previous year average to make up the missing credits.
This average mark will be entered for all the final-year modules yet to be completed. The normal degree calculation rules will be run on these to give a “protected degree classification”.
When you have completed all the assessments for the year, all the marks will be entered and your degree classification will be calculated as normal. If this classification is lower than the protected classification, then the higher protected classification will be used.
Your transcript will include your actual marks, with some explanation of the safety-net process.
Some illustrative examples of the protected classification are given below.
Student 1 – Year 3 on a 3-year programme.
Student 2 – Year 3 on a 3-year programme.
Student 3 – Year 3 on a 3-year programme.
Student 4 – Year 4 on a 4-year programme.
Please see the 'What is the purpose of the Safety Net for PGT students?' and 'How does the Safety Net ensure that I will not receive a worse degree outcome?' sections of the University's Postgraduate Taught MSc Safety-Net Policy FAQ page for an explanation of how the safety-net policy will be applied to Taught MSc programmes.
Please see below for an explanation of how degree classifications are calculated. For an explanation on how the safety-net policy will be used in calculating your degree classification, please see the 'How is the safety-net policy applied to my year?' section above.
Please see the Classification of Honours Degrees section of the Academic Guide for more in-depth information on this topic and a breakdown of degree classification boundaries below.
| Degree Classification | Weighted Degree Average (%) |
|---|---|
| First Class Honours (1st) | 70+ |
| Second Class Honours, Division I (2:1) | 60-69.99 |
| Second Class Honours, Division II (2:2) | 50-59.99 |
| Third Class Honours (3rd) | 40-49.99 |
| Pass Degree | 35-39.99 |
Your Year 2 average is given a weighting of 1 and your Year 3 average a weighting of 2 to give your overall weighted degree average.
Example:
Your Year 2 average is given a weighting of 1, your Year 3 average a weighting of 2 and your Year 4 average a weighting of 2 to give your overall weighted degree average.
Example:
MSc taught programmes do not follow the same degree award classifications as undergraduate degrees (e.g. 1st, 2:1 etc.).
Please see the 'How does the Safety Net ensure that I will not receive a worse degree outcome?' section of the University's Postgraduate Taught MSc Safety-Net Policy FAQ page for an explanation of how MSc degree classifications are being calculated this year due to the CV-19 situation.
If your weighted degree average comes to within 2% of the next degree classification boundary (called the 'Window of Opportunity'), then the Preponderance and Exit-Velocity principles are applied. This means you could attain a higher degree classification if you satisfy either of these principles.
Preponderance Principle
Half of the credits that count towards your degree must be in a degree classification higher than your weighted degree average.
For a BEng degree, this would mean getting 120 credits at a higher degree classification across Years 2 and 3.
For the MEng, this would mean getting 180 credits across Years 2, 3 and 4 at a higher degree classification.
Example for BEng:
Exit-Velocity Principle
You must achieve an average in your final year (i.e. 3rd Year for BEng; 4th Year for MEng) which is in a higher degree classification than your weighted degree average.
Example:
