Updates to version 3.7, October 2020, relate just to referring to the new Procedures for the Award of Posthumous and Aegrotat Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught Degrees.

• Disclaimer printed in the footnote of all pages: an addition has been made to state that Degree Regulations variances may be in place in order to comply with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), in cases relating to Degree Apprenticeships. This addition has also been included in other areas of the UG and PGT Degree Regulations which reference Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PRSBs).

“Where the Postgraduate Certificate is a standalone programme, AP(E)L will be permitted up to a maximum of 15 credits if the award is based on a 15 credit structure, and a maximum of 20 credits if the award is based on a 20 credit structure.  Where the Postgraduate Diploma is a standalone programme, AP(E)L will be permitted for up to a maximum of 45 credits.  For a Masters award, the maximum amount of credits which can be permitted for AP(E)L is 60.”

• Maximum credits for AP(E)L for 20 credit units for UMW programmes: to tie in with the move towards 20 credit PGT units for UMW programmes, an additional line has been added to paragraph C6 (underlined below):

“Where the Postgraduate Certificate is a standalone programme, AP(E)L will be permitted up to a maximum of 15 credits if the award is based on a 15 credit structure, and a maximum of 20 credits if the award is based on a 20 credit structure.  Where the Postgraduate Diploma is a standalone programme, AP(E)L will be permitted for up to a maximum of 45 credits.  For a Masters award, the maximum amount of credits which can be permitted for AP(E)L is 60.”

• Additional section entitled “E Compensation and Reassessment maximums”: a new section has been inserted before the sections on Compensation and Reassessment to pull together details of the maximum number of credits that can be used for compensation and reassessment, rather than these being included and duplicated in both sections. The new section E, which also includes a new final paragraph to clarify the maximum credit allowances for compensation and reassessment on MRes programmes.
  
  
• Consideration of postgraduate masters students within the boundary zone by mark distribution:
  a. As with the Undergraduate Degree Regulations, above, a new footnote has been added to Appendix A: Postgraduate Degree Classification Scheme to state:
  “Excluding AP(E)L and non-numeric pass/fail units; where there are AP(E)L or non-numeric pass/fail courses, mark distribution should be calculated based on 2/3 of the remaining credits.”
• b. The wording “120 out of 180 credits” has been replaced with “2/3 of the credits” in relation to the criteria for awarding the higher classification.     

• Refusing assessment/referred assessment, paragraphs D11 and F22
  As per the UG Degree Regulations, clarification has been provided that Examination Boards can refuse assessment, as well as referred assessment, on the grounds of a student’s work and attendance.  The addition of the word ‘engagement’ to clarify that students whose engagement with their programme has been unsatisfactory, can also be refused assessment or referred assessment.
• Use of 20 credit units, paragraph E15
  Original Paragraph E14 has been amended to confirm that the maximum number of credits which can be compensated is up to 40 credits at Masters level (rather than up to 30 credits) and up to 20 credits for a PG Certificate.
• Posthumous awards, section I
  Section I on Aegrotat Degrees has been updated to reference both ‘Aegrotat’ and ‘posthumous’ degrees.

• The insertion of a new paragraph (F25) in the Postgraduate Taught Degree Regulations to specify that a student achieving a mark of less than 30 for a dissertation should not be permitted to resubmit. Such students will be considered for an exit award as appropriate. This amendment will apply to new students only from September 2016. Current PGT student will remain on the set of Degree Regulations on which they registered

• The changing of the term ‘mark review’ to ‘classification review’, for clarity.

• The insertion of additional rulings relating to rescinding of awards (in a renamed section C: Accreditation of Prior Learning – AP(E)L / Rescinding, page 3).

• In order to match up timescales with those found in current APEL guidance, rescinding of PGT awards can now take place  if the rescinding occurs within five years of the award (rather than within five years of the student’s initial registration on their original programme).

• Similarly to the Undergraduate Degree Regulations, an additional paragraph has been added regarding the use of aegrotat degrees. The new paragraph (I 36) states:

“The Examination Board may determine from evidence available to it that a candidate for a Postgraduate Taught degree who has been prevented by good cause from completing the final examination or assessment will be awarded a class of degree the Board judges to be suitable, as long as the candidate has gained over half the credits required for the award”. (Page 6 of the Postgraduate Taught Degree Regulations).

• A few additional words have been added to paragraph C 7 to state that one of the conditions of a student being able to rescind a Postgraduate Certificate or Diploma is that: “The rescinding occurs within five years of the student’s initial registration on their original programme, subject to the programme still being available”.

• The word ‘just’ has been removed from paragraph F 25 regarding referrals, to make it clear that when referral pass marks are capped, the capped mark is applied to the unit level mark, not the failed element. (The original wording said “The capped mark is applied to the unit level mark, not just the failed element.”) In addition, in recent updates to the Guide to the Taught Degree Regulations, this has been further clarified with the addition of the statement: “It should be noted that it is the unit level mark which is capped, not the failed element”.

• Clarification is provided regarding the treatment of students within the boundary zone under the heading of ‘Consideration of postgraduate masters students within the boundary zone by mark distribution’ (page 8 of the Postgraduate Taught Degree Regulations). The original wording stated that students whose “total mark at the first assessment is within the boundary zone specified…must be considered for the higher award.” This has now been amended to state that students must be “awarded the higher degree classification” as long as the specified requirements are satisfied.

Details of the PGT Degree Regulations prior to 2012.