Loughborough Undergraduate Student Safety Net 2021/22

We have already committed to:

• ensuring nothing that we do disadvantages a student in respect of their degree outcome;
• giving students the opportunity to undertake online and/or in-person assessments as appropriate to demonstrate their learning, progress to the next year of study with confidence (if applicable) and graduate with a degree which they can be proud of;
• upholding the standards of Loughborough University, as required by our regulatory bodies, and ensure that employers will continue to recognise the quality of your degrees.

The Loughborough Safety Net is designed to help all students, in a consistent way, ensuring everyone is treated fairly this academic year.

The Loughborough Safety Nets were used successfully during the 2019/20 and 2020/21 academic years and were able to support students appropriately. Therefore, we have decided to roll the Safety Nets forwards for 2021/22 to ensure that we continue to do all we can to support our students to succeed.

Some minor changes have been made to reflect the higher levels of disruption in previous years and the adjustments to teaching and assessment design that we have been able to put in place in advance this year. We have been able to plan for a mixture of online and in-person exams and the University’s campuses have been open.

Our absolute priorities are two-fold. First, to ensure students can meet the learning outcomes of their programmes and either progress to the next year of their studies, or for finalists to graduate within broadly a similar timeframe this academic year. Second, to maintain standards so that your qualification is a true reflection of your ability and continues to be recognised by employers and others for its academic credibility and value.

We will keep the Safety Nets under review during the academic year and, if needed, will make further modifications in response to the national situation.

Safety Net 4 commits us to looking at the degree outcome for each individual student extremely carefully to ensure that everyone is supported as a result of the pandemic. We will do this.

Safety Net 1

Marks for every module will be reviewed and adjusted if necessary

We will examine the marks for every module this year (all parts – not just finalists) and adjust them if necessary to ensure they are consistent with the typical variation expected when comparing to the performance of previous cohorts. In doing this, we will take account of the national standards for the discipline and ensure that pass marks reflect the fact that students have achieved the module learning outcomes being assessed.

Note – Where modules are new or have significant changes this year, they will be considered in the light of performance on similar types of modules at the same level.

Safety Net 2

Students who claim mitigating circumstances can have these taken into account

Any student can continue to claim Mitigating Circumstances in the usual way if their situation presents particular difficulties which we have not been able to adequately address in advance working with them. All claims will be viewed fairly and sympathetically.

You need to explain the impact of the circumstances on your studies in as much detail as you can. You should provide supporting evidence if you are able to, but we recognise this might not be possible in some cases – please do submit the claim anyway. Please check out the further details for examples and support.

Safety Net 3

Overall grades for cohorts this year will be consistent with previous cohorts

We will examine the overall outcome for the cohort of students in every year on every programme and ensure that the marks are consistent with the typical variation expected when comparing to the performance of previous cohorts.

Note – Where degree programmes are new or have significant changes this year, they will be considered in the light of performance on similar types of programmes at the same level.

Safety Net 4

Safety Net 4 commits us to looking at the degree outcome for each individual student extremely carefully. We will do this.

There is an additional process in place to take account of the disruption from the 2019/20 academic year when determining degree classifications – we applied this the last two years and agreed that we would follow it through so that continuing students who completed modules in Semester 2 of 2019/20 would be treated fairly compared to previous cohorts who graduated earlier in the pandemic.

In our reviews we have also considered the effects on students who were on Part I (placement and/or exchange) during 2019/20 whose studies on campus were not directly impacted in Semester 2.

Degree outcomes for finalists will take into account disruption to studies in Semester 2 of 2019/20

We will calculate two potential degree marks. The first mark will be based on credit obtained from all Part B, C and D modules* except those completed in Semester 2 2019/20, and relevant weightings for each Part of the programme. The second mark will be calculated in the standard way and will include Semester 2 2019/20 results. The student will receive whichever degree mark results in the higher degree classification. The marks obtained will show on the degree transcript.

For Safety Net 4 to kick in, please note that all students must satisfy the University’s General Regulations (Regulation XX) for the award of undergraduate degrees and any additional requirements in their Programme Specifications.

If a student does not satisfy the University’s General Regulations (Regulation XX) for the award of undergraduate degrees after consideration through Safety Nets 1-3, then opportunities for reassessment will be provided in line with our normal procedures to enable them to gain the necessary credit.

*Only modules taken in Parts B, C and D are considered because these are the Parts which contribute to a student’s degree outcome. Modules taken in Parts F, A and I do not contribute to degree outcomes and are therefore already not included in degree mark calculations.

For Part A students, marks obtained this year are not used in degree calculations and therefore Safety Net 4 does not apply. This year, Safety Nets 1-3 and the normal progression requirements for your programme apply.

For students who took Part A in 2019/20, the marks obtained in Part A are not used in degree calculations and therefore Safety Net 4 does not apply. Likewise, for students who took Part I in 2019/20, activity undertaken in Part I does not impact upon degree calculations. This year, Safety Nets 1-3 and the normal progression requirements for your programme apply.

For those students currently in Part I or Part C of an undergraduate Masters programme where marks from Semester 2 2019/20 count towards final degrees (or students continuing in Part B who also took Part B modules in Semester 2 2019/20), this year Safety Nets 1-3 and the normal progression requirements for your programme apply. However, the disruption to studies in Semester 2 2019/2020 will be further considered at final exam boards in future years in the same quantitative way as above.

I am on the Foundation Studies programme. What do I need to do to progress?

Please note that this section does not apply to students on the Art and Design Foundation Studies programme, which is a separate programme. Students on the Art and Design Foundation Studies programme will receive separate direct communications from their programme team.

This year Safety Nets 1-3 and the normal progression requirements apply. If needed, additional flexibility may be applied at the Programme Board to support students’ progress to degree programmes this year.