Assessing you fairly: your questions answered

Some students were concerned we’re not listening.

Your questions

Q: I'm a course rep and this is the voice of my peers. Can our university please implement a safety net? Every single student is asking for this. Other universities have done it, please will you do this for our own mental health and wellbeing? We wouldn't ask for it if we didn't need it. Please can NTSU push for this because we really need it and please will you make it happen.

Q: Many students at NTU have asked for a no detriment policy, why have NTU not done this?

Our answers

We are listening. We hear that students are worried about their assessments and assignments and have concerns over how the pandemic will impact their grades. We hear that final year students are worried about graduating into an uncertain employment market.

We hear you - that’s why we’ve introduced a range of measures that can be personalised to suit individual student’s need. Not a blanket approach that is unfair to some students or measures that devalue your academic accomplishment. It’s why we’re supporting students to find work placements, secondments and helping teach CV writing and interview skills. Our support doesn’t end when you graduate - we’ll continue to provide careers support for you after you complete your studies.

Students asked why we are not changing the rules of the way degrees are classified or the way that we award grades for assessed work.

Your questions

Q: In regards to overall grade results, how many 1st do we need in order to get a 1st in our overall grade?

Q: Will the exam grading be more lenient given the lack of face-to-face teaching?

Q: Would it not be suitable and easier to change the way the feedback form is utilised by markers? So the specifications which are usually required to meet a 2:2 will instead be requirements to get a 2:1?

Our answers

We use a grade-based system built on criteria. We think it’s important that we assess pieces of work against clear criteria and give that a grade. NTU adopted this system five years ago to make assessment more transparent, reliable and fair. The way that classified awards are made are based on these grades in a simple, transparent, reliable and fair way. Most universities are not changing their grading or classification systems, following advice from the sector’s regulators. We don’t think that classifying our bachelors and masters degrees on a minority of the grades achieved is the right thing to do.

Students asked what we are specifically doing about group work, which is more complicated in lockdown.

Your questions

Q: What could someone do if they are doing group work and one of their team mates do not meet the requirements in time (does not complete it)?

Q: Is there anything the university are doing about group work and the impacts of remote learning on this? On a recent bit of feedback, we were told our grade was impacted by the lack of group collaboration. We set meetings, reminders, tried to get certain members to join and work harder but due to being remote they could get away with doing less which has unfairly impacted the rest of our groups grade.

Our answers

We understand that the current circumstances mean that group work can seem more challenging than usual.  Being able to work in a group or team is sometimes part of the learning outcomes of a course or module so students need to be able to demonstrate this skill in order to pass.  Working in this way online is likely to become a normal and important skill in many employment contexts.

We have processes to deal with situations where some students are prevented from effectively engaging in group work, because it happens in ‘normal’ times, too. The relevant tutor or module leader should be kept informed if a group member cannot participate and this will be explored and addressed as it would be in normal circumstances.

It may be appropriate in some cases to use the NEC policy to give a student more time to make a contribution to a group task.

Students asked about ‘exams’, how they are working this year, are they fair and how are they protected.

Your questions

Q: Will exams be online?

Q: Last year, final year students were given 24 hours to complete each online exam. This year, for some reason, this has been taken away. Other universities have maintained this 24 hour examination period - can NTU explain why they have taken this away?

Q: Will online exams be marked harshly compared to in class exams?

Q: What is being done about students colluding on exams?

Q: How come the exam questions will not be from past papers? This is not fair at all for students since learning online is hard enough.

Our answers

The biggest difference we perceive between ‘last year’ and ‘this year’, and which guides our action, is that the March lockdown came six weeks before students were due to take final examinations. Most NTU students had either formal written or major practical examinations, or both. The courses were designed with this assessment in mind, so emergency replacements had to try and take account of that very quickly. This year we have designed assessments from the outset knowing that formal written examinations were unlikely to take place and alternatives have been designed.  They are different, and will have changes to the assessment criteria. There will be no written examinations in exam halls.

An ‘open book’ assessment, where students can access different learning materials has some differences in its criteria to take account of that. Many assessments have come a long way from the timed, unseen, written examination in a hall. Where there is still a timed element, the format includes a mixture of time we absolutely expect you to spend on it, say with a two hour piece, and others we give a window in which we expect you to complete a task (no task should fill 24 hours).

Because assessments have changed in format from previous years ‘past papers’ are likely to be of limited use and may give the wrong impression of the format of your assessment. Course teams will explain the format in advance and will be clear about expectations.

We know that students have access to different resources, and that could include resources that could be used to submit the work of others as your own.  Our assessment is designed around our courses – cutting and pasting an essay from the internet, or asking someone who hasn’t taken the course to write it, really shows up – both in the IT systems such as Turnitin but also with the assessor.

Students have asked what is happening to practical assessment, especially with the lockdown.

Your questions

Q: How can courses with a large practical element (such as education degrees) continue to be assessed fairly when the government restrictions prevent attending placements?

Q: What is NTU doing, along with NTSU working with them, to help provide students who are in courses which rely on practical work,(i.e music courses) with more time on campus (like in Metronome), given all the lockdown measures? As some of the summative's require on-site campus studio work, that can't be done. This also can't be done at home for the majority for the students too.

Q: How can you make sure that students will be marked fairly if they don't have access to the same facilities and resources that others on the course might have?

Our answers

This is an area where we are going to see more change. It was on the last day that NTU was open before Christmas, in the evening, that the Government announced there would be a staggered return to university. Then, on the last day of the Christmas vacation it announced that there wouldn’t be that staggered return. In the last week of January they announced a further delay, to be confirmed in the last week of February. For many assessments we have a strong practical element and we are looking at how these can be done. It may be that we need to use alternatives or it may be that we need to reschedule.  Each course needs to decide the balance and we will announce our plans as soon as we can.

Assessment criteria could be shifted to reflect the access that students can been expected to have – that needs to be looking at on an individual course basis.

Students asked about the operation of the NEC system and whether these should be granted automatically.

Your questions

Q: The NEC process is slow and cumbersome, this is causing considerable additional stress for students under considerable stress from studying alone. I would imagine this is down to increased admin pressures of processing many. Can there automatically be a buffer of two weeks with being penalised rather than go through the stresses of the NEC process?

Q: How do you ensure NECs are fair? Some people are getting extensions and some not. Assessing individuals circumstances is not equitable as it is subjective by thinking the impact of one persons situation is more valid than another.

Q: Will NEC's be taken into consideration when marking work, as although we have been given an extension, personal reasons etc. could still impact our grade - will this be taken into consideration by those who are marking our work?

Our answers

The NEC process is about making an individual assessment of the impact of a circumstance on a student’s ability to take an assessment. We were asked whether we should move all assessments, but that doesn’t give the individual consideration and can create problems for students’ assessment schedules.  Granting automatic NECs just moves the deadline to a new point.

We share practice between the schools on NECs and provide guidance about this.  It is important that we give consideration to the issue actually raised in connection to the assessment rather than work to a fixed tariff system.

The NEC process is designed to enable students to take the assessment when they are ready, it’s not a way to try and estimate how a student might have performed – so the grade received does not take any circumstances into account.

Students asked questions outside of assessment. We are putting up as much information as we can on other areas such as hardship funds or accommodation but we will try and answer some general questions about teaching here.

Q: When will we be told whether there will be in person teaching or not for the next academic year? Will this be compulsory or will teams still be in place? Most students have lost a lot of money in rent and utility bills and do not want to commit to another housing contract and risk losing money again if not absolutely necessary.

A: We are working on our plan for next academic year and expect that it will have in-person teaching which we would expect you to be able to attend.  This year since last February has taught us all that things change, but we believe we will be running at least covid-secure teaching in the autumn.

Q: I believe international students have been completely ignored

A: We are aware of two very particular circumstances that might be affecting you. We know that there are international students here in Nottingham who have been unable to travel home.  We have a range of facilities available and a dedicated International Support Services Team to support you. We also know that some international students have started their courses from their home countries.  While the majority of courses remain online, we will continue to support you and we will look to support you coming to the UK when that is possible. You should particularly ensure that you talk to us about your immigration status.

Q: I am a mature student I have to do home schooling and I am really struggling to manage my deadline, attendances, part-time job and home schooling. What support can I get from the university?

A: Assessment deadlines can be considered through the NEC process. You should talk to your course leader for them to get a holistic sense of the challenges you face; your school student support co-ordinator can point you at various resources in the university. The Government has said that only students on placements on health courses can get ‘critical worker’ status for children to go back into schools.