Feedback on learning and assessment

Feedback at a University level can be understood as any part of the learning process which is designed to guide your progress through your degree programme by providing commentary on your work to date. We aim to help you to reflect on your own learning and help you feel clearer about your progress through clarifying what is expected of you in both formative and summative assessments.

University policy on assessment, examiners, marking and feedback can be found in University Assessment policies and procedures.

For summative pieces of work submitted to the VLE via Turnitin Feedback Studio, feedback will usually be made available through this alongside your raw mark. Please be aware that, on occasion, if you submit your work late it may not be available to the usual timeframes due to markers having to fit adjusted marking deadlines around previously scheduled responsibilities.

Departmental statement on feedback

The purpose of providing feedback to you on your progress in relation to formative and summative assessments is to facilitate improvement through reflection and promote learning. Feedback can also be a means of helping you to understand why you have been awarded a particular grade, especially in relation to summative assessment.

Feedback could be the provision of either constructive comments or a model solution. Feedback, where possible and appropriate, should link explicitly with the Assessment Guideline and the Marking Criteria.

Feedback should demonstrate the following characteristics:

• be clear and unambiguous

• strike a balance between being constructive, encouraging and motivating, and providing explicit comment on where there are failings and how improvements can be made

• be specific and focussed to the content and context in which it is given

• be actionable – feedback that you can act upon

• be tailored to the needs of the individual student

• reflect/support the mark/grade awarded.
  
  

Communication of marks and feedback

Marks and written feedback will be released to you within twenty working days of the date of submission or examination. Full details of dates are found on your programme Assessment Schedule.

For work submitted through Turnitin, your raw mark (subject to the ratification process) and associated feedback will be made available to students on the deadline release date through your submission on Turnitin. Please be aware that this raw mark will not reflect any associated late submission penalties. Your final mark (subject to ratification) with any associated deductions or penalties will be the mark visible through your eVision ‘view my results’ section.

The eVision result is the mark that will contribute to your progression and award calculation.

Assessment marks for work not submitted to Turnitin will be released to you through your e:Vision account. In addition to the marks, individual written feedback will be provided to you for every piece of summatively assessed work, with the exception of examinations and practice modules.

To provide a consistent approach, the Department has standard feedback forms relevant to your programme.

For written pieces of work the opportunity to submit a formative submission for feedback may be given. Upon receipt of your formative feedback, you will have a 2 week window to make contact with your formative marker to seek clarity with regards to the feedback given, prior to submission of your summative work. Clarity can be achieved through face-to-face contact, telephone contact or via email.

In such cases, it may be unavoidable that your anonymity is not maintained in order to identify your formative submission feedback.

For examinations you will be provided with general cohort feedback, giving details of how the cohort performed as a whole in the exam.

For practice-focused modules:

The feedback is contained within the Electronic Ongoing Achievement Record and completed by the practice assessor. 

If there was an unavoidable delay in releasing your marks by the date indicated on the Assessment Schedule you will be notified, by email to your University email account, regarding the delay and when the marks will be available.

All marks are provisional until after ratification by the Board of Examiners. This may either be at a meeting or they may be approved on Chair’s Action.

In addition, your feedback may be provided verbally. Verbal feedback can be on a one-to-one basis with an academic member of staff or delivered to you on a group basis.

The Department does not consider requests from individual students or groups of students for the early marking and/or early release of marks.

Results for modules with multiple assessments

For modules with more than one assessed component you need to check your mark for each part of the assessment via your e:Vision account. You may have failed one component but the overall mark may still show as a pass mark. It is therefore vital that you check you have passed each part of the assessment, where this is a requirement.

Access to marked exam scripts

You may request to view your marked examination script. You can initiate this request through your personal supervisor who would negotiate a time for you both to review this together.

The script may not be copied or taken away with you, and can only be viewed with a member of academic staff present.

Further information can be found on the Exams webpages.

Annotation of submitted assignments

During your programme submitted summative work (with the exception of closed examination scripts) will normally be electronically annotated directly onto your submission through the Turnitin Feedback Studio. Annotation refers to the marker adding notes and comments on electronically submitted assignments. The purpose of annotating work is to support you to identify the chief strengths and weaknesses in the work and to better understand why you received the mark you got and how you might develop your work. You should read the annotations carefully and consider how these can be used to improve future work.