If you have any queries about your assessment or submitting your assignment please firstly check the Assessment FAQs section below or you can contact the assessments team on ahpnm-assessments@sheffield.ac.uk
Each module of the programme will be formally assessed. Please see the unit/module handbook for information about this. Students must be successful in the assessment, whether theoretical, clinical/practical or OSCE, to be awarded a pass for the unit.
All students are permitted two attempts at any summative assessment. Please note that all second attempts can only be awarded a maximum of 40 for undergraduate programmes and 50 for postgraduate programmes using the marking scales. However, feedback will be provided in the band in which the grade would have been awarded as well as the maximum permitted grade awarded along with information and advice on your academic progress.
Please see https://feedbackportal.shef.ac.uk/ for the university principles of feedback.
For students undertaking our part-time CPD units
Please note: that all students seeking academic credit will be registered against a Certificate, Diploma or Degree programme. You will have five years to complete a full degree programme. Postgraduate certificates and diplomas are 2 years each when registered on a part-time basis. The start date is the date you register for your first unit. If you are unsure about this please contact your programme leader/ coordinator.
A copy of the module assessment calendar is available on the Blackboard course and the individual handbook so that you can see the dates of submission for all assessed work.
Please see the assignment brief for formatting instructions, if none are listed then use the following guidelines:
Assignments submitted to Turnitin should be one of the following file formats:
MS Word (.doc/.docx), WordPerfect (.wpd), PostScript (.eps), Portable Document Format (.pdf), HTML, Rich text (.rtf), Plain text (.txt), and PowerPoint (.ppt, .ppt, .ppsx, .pps)
Pages should be numbered at the foot of the page
At the top of each page your Student Registration Number should be included
Do not put your name on the assessment as work is marked anonymously.
The font used should not be smaller than 11 pt
Line spacing should be set at 1.5 lines
Referencing should follow the system used on your programme. You should check which system is recommended on this link https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/study/research-skills/departmentalreferencing
A word count should be provided on the the first page.
A library tutorial about referencing is also available at: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/study/research-skills/referencing
The word allowance for written assignments will be stated in the programme/module handbook and on the Blackboard site. The School operates a +/- 10% rule which allows a degree of flexibility for each assignment. For example, a 3,000-word assessment could range from 2,700 – 3,300 and remain within the word limit.
Word count for written assessments include all words (from first to last) and only excludes the reference list and appendices.
There is no direct penalty for submitting under the assessment word allowance (after the -10% rule). The markers would award a grade that reflects the assignment, taking into account the number of issues raised, depth of analysis, organisation and presentation and expectations of the assignment.
For assignments submitted which are over the word limit (after the + 10% rule) then a penalty will be incurred for unfair means as follows:
11-20% above word count - 5% penalty
21-30% above word count - 10% penalty
31-40% above word count - 15% penalty
41-50% above word count - 20% penalty
51-60% above word count - 25% penalty
61-70% above word count - 30% penalty
71-80% above word count - 35% penalty
81-90% above word count - 40% penalty
91-100% above word count - 45% penalty
Students need to include their exact word count on the assignment cover sheet.
It is University policy that assignments are marked anonymously, if this is appropriate. Please therefore ensure that the front page of your assignment does not include your name or personal tutor’s name. Use only your University of Sheffield student Registration number to identify yourself.
The majority of your assessed work will need to be submitted electronically via Blackboard. Guidance on how to do this can be found in every assessment folder within your Blackboard course, alternatively you can find this information on this website on;
You should read this guidance carefully before submitting work. The submission deadline for the School is 12pm noon.
Further information about submission of assessed work and to see your results is available at: https://students.sheffield.ac.uk/assessment/results
In order to enable students to submit the correct assessment to Turnitin the School will:
Ensure that correct module and programme codes are clearly given on the students Blackboard site (Module & programme Leads to check).
Submission instructions will be clearly indicated on Blackboard and visible when students are about to submit electronically. A 'check list' is available for students to use prior to their submission and a warning that Turnitin only accepts 1 document etc.
It is the students responsibility to ensure that you submit the correct assignment, but if you realise you have submitted the wrong/incomplete assessment
Wrong submissions submitted prior to Turnitin deadline are not a problem as the student can submit the correct copy which then over-rides the first.
Wrong submissions close to the deadline means that a correct copy will not be accepted if the deadline has passed. Students who realise their mistake, will need to contact the Assessment Team and Module Co-ordinator as soon as possible for further advice.
Please find below information you should familiarise yourself regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence in your studies:
Using Generative AI in Your Studies
Using Generative AI webpages and guidance
Use of Generative AI
This is the library guide on Generative AI for students https://sheffield.libguides.com/genai/
Also here is the link to the University guidance https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/academic-skills/generative-ai-assessment
Work that is submitted late will incur a 5% penalty per day, but after 5 days a zero is awarded.
So, if work is 1 day late it will incur 5% penalty
Day 2 - 10%
Day 3 -15%
Day 4 - 20%
Day 5 - 25%
Day 6 - Fail to submit
Individuals and institutions should not be named in assignments, neither should data be collected from patients, relatives or staff for assignments unless it is a requirement of the unit and appropriate approval has been granted.
Information that is not in the public domain, that identifies individuals or institutions or that is subject to copyright should not be included in appendices. Should this occur the work will be returned to the student and will be required to re-submit the work with the identified information removed.
In the majority of cases, there is an expectation within the School that links between theory and clinical experience are clear within assessments. However, insufficient care may lead to breaches of confidentiality whereby institutions or individuals are identified, or could be identified from the information given. It is important to comply with the Caldicott Principles; Human Rights Act (1998); Data Protection Act (1998); Common Law Duty of Confidentiality; NMC or HCPC CODE.
Submitted assessments must not include information that could identify individuals and/organisations. This instruction is given to students in class, in Blackboard as part of the checklist prior to submission and in handbooks.
Markers who note issues of confidentiality within a piece of work will inform the module/programme support or the assessments officer, who will contact the student (by email) and ask them to address the issues and provide a ‘clean copy’ within 24 hours.
If the student exceeds 24 hours a late penalty will be applied in accordance with the late submissions policy.
Markers will not continue to mark the original piece of work until a 'clean copy' has been submitted.
Defining Extenuating Circumstances
Extenuating circumstances are usually personal or health problems that we define as: “Exceptional, short-term events which are outside of a student’s control and have a negative impact upon their ability to prepare for or take (sit) an assessment.”
Extenuating Circumstances Criteria
Extenuating circumstances must meet the following criteria:
Non-academic – Problems with the management of the degree programme or with academic staff should be dealt with via the Student Complaints Procedure.
Out of your control – You could not reasonably have done anything to prevent them from happening.
Impact – The circumstances had a negative impact on your ability to prepare for or sit an assessment.
Relevant – Occurred at the time of the assessment or in the period immediately leading up to the assessment.
The following are not normally considered as extenuating circumstances:
Work related issues
Annual Leave
Concurrent assessments
Non-receipt of UCard
Computer problems. You are advised to back up work.
Email your assignment/work to your university account so that you can pick work up on the university system
IMPORTANT
From the 23/24 academic year students can now request one extension per semester for up to 7 calendar days that may not require evidence. This would be made via the google form and indicate that you are using this specific extension request and that you do not request more than 7 calendar days.
Any additional extension requests will be considered by the Extenuating Circumstances Board. If you make a request for an extension, you should continue to work towards the original deadline until you receive a response from the School. Each request will be considered individually and an extension within the range of one to seven working days may be given. Students who regularly request extensions to coursework deadlines will be invited to discuss their circumstances with a member of staff.
Students are required to submit appropriate evidence in a timely manner for all extenuating circumstances requests. If evidence is not submitted, this will delay the processing of the request and may result in the request being declined.
How to apply for extenuating circumstances
If you are absent for over 7 days and/or feel that your assessment may have been impacted you must discuss this with your academic tutor first and then complete the Extenuating circumstances Google form to submit your request. Please be aware that extenuating circumstances can take up to 72 hours to process before you receive a response. If your extenuating circumstances request is granted you will be emailed the new submission deadline.
Agreements cannot be made between students and staff as these would not be regarded as valid by the examinations board.
Medical Evidence
If your circumstances are medical and you’ve registered with the University Health Service, please complete the Extenuating Circumstances Form via the link below.
www.sheffield.ac.uk/health-service
Once you have received any medical evidence from the University Health Service you must submit this to the School of AHPNM at ahpnm-assessments@sheffield.ac.uk.
If you are not registered with the University Health Service then you must submit evidence from your GP to ahpnm-assessments@sheffield.ac.uk.
Conditions the Disability and Dyslexia Support Service can manage/are managing through reasonable adjustments are not included.
To discuss any further queries or difficulties that are affecting your study, please contact your Academic Tutor or Programme Director.
In short, unfair means refers to cheating. It involves any attempt by a student to:
gain unfair advantage over another student in the completion of an assessment or exam; or
assist someone else in gaining an unfair advantage.
You will face disciplinary action if we find you using unfair means.
There are four main types of unfair means:
Plagiarism: when you accidentally or knowingly submit someone else’s work or ideas as your own without proper acknowledgement. This includes submitting your own previously assessed work (self-plagiarism).
Essay buying: when you buy/commission part of, or a whole piece of work written by someone else (e.g. another student or an essay-writing website) and submit it as your own.
Collusion: when you work with someone else, or a group of others, on a piece of assessed work that you are supposed to be completing by yourself.
Fabrication: when you submit made-up/untrue information.
The page below provides a link to our University Regulations and information on preventing the use of unfair means and how to appeal against a charge.
Plagiarism is passing off others’ work as your own, whether intentionally or unintentionally, to your benefit. The University expects its graduates to have acquired certain attributes. (See the Sheffield Graduate) Many of these relate to good academic practice:
a critical, analytical and creative thinker
an independent learner and researcher
information literate and IT literate
a flexible team worker
an accomplished communicator
competent in applying their knowledge and skills
professional and adaptable.
Throughout your programme of studies at the University you will learn how to develop these skills and attributes. Your assessed work is the main way in which you demonstrate that you have acquired and can apply them. Using unfair means in the assessment process is dishonest and also means that you cannot demonstrate that you have acquired these essential academic skills and attributes.
You are advised to complete the plagiarism tutorial that is designed to help you use literature appropriately in academic work and avoid plagiarism occurring.
You can also take the Plagiarism quiz below: https://librarydevelopment.group.shef.ac.uk/storyline/referencing/plagiarism-ref-quiz/story_html5.html
Assignments are initially marked by a member of the module teaching team using the marking criteria. Some modules will utilise specific marking criteria which incorporate the standards identified in the generic marking criteria but also addresses the learning outcomes of each module. Students are encouraged to access the marking criteria when drafting assignment work.
All fails and borderline assignments are internally moderated along with a 20% sample of the remaining work. Work is then sent to an external examiner whose role it is to comment on the quality of both the work and the marking.
Further clarification on this issue is contained within the University of Sheffield Ordinances and Regulations relating to programmes of study in all Faculties https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/calendar
Information about the prizes within the School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing & Midwifery is available here: https://students.sheffield.ac.uk/prizes
You can view a list of Frequently Asked Questions here
Visit the Exams Office website for information about exam rules and regulations, as well as helpful revision tips and do's and don't's.