UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH ACADEMIC REGULATIONS, 2020-21 IMPORTANT: These regulations set out the University’s requirements for academic progression and awards. Students subject to immigration control should be aware that there may be additional restrictions on their progression. Information about current Tier 4 requirements is available from the International Student Advice (ISA). These regulations apply only to registered students of the University and its academic partners.
These are the standard University academic regulations. Students should also refer to their programme documentation, where any non-standard regulations will be explained. Contents Section A: Admissions. 4 ADM1 Accreditation of Prior Learning.
4 Section B: Student Registration and Enrolment. 7 SRE1 Registration and Enrolment. 7 SRE2 Student Transfers .1 Transfer into the University or partner institution, from an external institution (taught programmes).2 Internal transfer within the University, to another Faculty or partner institution (taught programmes) .3 Incoming and outgoing student transfers (research degrees). 16 SRE3 Registering for the Ordinary Degree Route / Top-up to Honours.
Registering for the Ordinary Degree Route .2 Application to top-up an Ordinary Degree to an Honours degree. 19 SDY1 Programme structure. 19 SDY2 Work Placements. 24 SDY3 Study Abroad / Exchange.
26 SDY4 Religious Observance in Teaching, Learning, Research and Assessment 28 SDY5 Study and Wellbeing Review. 29 University of Plymouth academic regulations 2020-21/ Full document v1 1 AST1 Extenuating Circumstances. 29 AST2 Submission for assessment (taught programmes only) .1 Late Submission of Coursework .2 Late arrival at a formal examination .3 Late arrival at an assessment on a professional programme.4 Unreadable / inaccessible eSubmission. 34 AST3 How to pass a Level (undergraduate only).
35 AST4 How to pass a module. 36 AST5 Procedure in the event of failure (taught programmes / modules) .2 Referral and repeat .3 Exclusion of a Student on the Grounds of Unsatisfactory Progress (either Academic or in Terms of Professional Development). 43 AST6 Subject Assessment Panels and Award Assessment Boards (Taught programmes / modules) .1 Subject Assessment Panels .2 Award Assessment Boards. 46 AST7 External Examiners.
49 AST8 Progression for research degrees. 49 AST9 Progression for research degrees (PGR only) .2 Confirmation of Route .3 Failure to Progress .4 Examination and Outcome of Examination (PGR only). 55 AST10 Examination and Academic Offences (Taught and Research programmes, including Research Misconduct) .1 Examination Offences – Taught programmes .2 Academic Offences Regulations. 76 AST11 Appeal Against the Decision of an Assessment Board (Taught students) or Academic Decision (Research students).
88 AWD2 Posthumous and Aegrotat Awards. 97 AWD3 Certification of Awards and Supplementary Certification. 99 University of Plymouth academic regulations 2020-21/ Full document v1 2 AWD4 Academic Dress. 100 Appendix 1: Portfolio of Awards.
104 Appendix 2: Calculation of Degree Classification for students who completed Level 4 in its entirety before the 2014-15 academic year. 108 University of Plymouth academic regulations 2020-21/ Full document v1 3 Section A: Admissions Admissions to all programmes of study at the University are managed under the admissions policy. ADM1 Accreditation of Prior Learning This regulation applies to students at University of Plymouth sites of delivery and in all UK and international partnerships unless a non-standard regulation has been formally approved. A student seeking specific credit through APCL or APEL will normally be required to pay a charge as specified on the University’s website.
1 The maximum amount of prior credit which a student may claim towards a University of Plymouth award, and the minimum credit which must then be studied at the University in relation to specific awards, is: Maximum Credit that must be studied on a APCL/APEL University of Plymouth programme credits MArch 120 credits 120 credits, including at least 60 credits at Level 7 Grad Dip 60 credits 60 credits at Level 6 or above Grad Cert 30 credits 30 credits at Level 6 or above Honours Degree 240 credits 120 credits, including at least 60 at Level 6 Degree 240 credits 80 credits, including at least 60 at Level 6 Integrated 240 credits 240 credits, including at least 120 at Masters Degree Level 5 or above Dip Prof 160 credits 80 credits, including at least 60 at Level 5 FdA/FdSc 120 credits 120 credits, including at least 60 at Level 5 DipHE 120 credits 120 credits, including at least 60 at Level 5 or above HND 120 credits 120 credits, including at least 60 at Level 5 HNC 60 credits 60 credits at Level 4 or above CertHE 60 credits 60 credits at Level 4 or above PgCert 30 credits 30 credits at Level 7 PgDip 80 credits 40 credits at Level 7 Masters 120 credits 60 credits at Level 7 (including the major project or dissertation) University of Plymouth academic regulations 2020-21/ Full document v1 4 Students with prior credits awarded by University of Plymouth should be treated the same as students applying with prior credits from other Higher Education institutions. A student can claim APCL credit from CPD short courses as well as from named awards. Decisions on the award of credit are a matter of academic judgement, and are therefore final. The procedure for making an APCL or APEL claim must be set out in the Programme Handbook.
Credit for prior certificated learning which occurred more than five years ago will not be accepted. Some subject areas may accept only credits awarded more recently than the five-year deadline. This will be set out in the Programme Handbook. A student may be able to combine outdated (i.
more than five years prior) certificated learning with more recent experiential learning. In this case, the certificated learning should be considered as part of an APEL claim. Applications for programme credit (credit for earlier stages of a programme) should be made as part of the admissions process prior to registration on a programme. Applications for module credit (credit for a specific module) should be made prior to registration on a module, but may exceptionally be accepted within two weeks of the start of the module.
Evidence to support a module credit claim must be submitted by halfway through the module or within 30 days of the application (whichever is the earlier). Selected medical, dental or veterinary students can apply to take an intercalated degree at the University. Admissions decisions for these students will be considered as applications for programme credit, especially where the receiving programme is outside the student’s immediate discipline area. A claim for APCL programme credit will not normally be awarded with numerical marks attached unless the University is familiar with the marking scheme and academic standards of the credit-awarding institution.
The consequent effect on the calculation of final aggregate University of Plymouth academic regulations 2020-21/ Full document v1 5 marks, as set out in AWD1, should be made clear in writing to students when the University accepts the prior credits. A claim for APCL module credit will not normally be approved with marks attached unless a student can demonstrate that: a) the learning was directly applicable to the module against which the claim was being made; and b) the University was familiar with the marking scheme and academic standard of the credit-awarding institution. APEL claims are subject to the normal academic regulations governing the marking and successful completion of a module. A student who has submitted an assessment for an APEL claim that does not meet the required learning outcomes will either be offered the opportunity to submit an appropriate piece of referred coursework for the module(s), or, exceptionally, the Award Assessment Board may require the student to repeat the module with attendance as a further attempt.
Claims for APEL will be examined in line with the standard quality assurance procedures, including external examining where appropriate. All APCL/APEL decisions must be recorded and clearly identified in all papers considered by Subject Assessment Panels and Award Assessment Boards, and in the student transcript. The University reserves the right to reject an APCL/APEL claim based on academic judgement and the comparability of marking systems. University of Plymouth academic regulations 2020-21/ Full document v1 6 Section B: Student Registration and Enrolment SRE1 Registration and Enrolment This regulation applies to students at University of Plymouth sites of delivery and in all UK and international partnerships unless a non-standard regulation has been formally approved.
Students subject to immigration control should be aware that there may be additional restrictions on their registration, enrolment and progression. Information about current Tier 4 requirements is available from International Student Advice (ISA). A student can be registered only on programmes of study that add up to the equivalent of one full-time programme of study at any one time. A student may be registered on more than one part-time programme of study, as long as: a) the combined part-time programmes add up to no more than the equivalent of one full-time programme.
b) the work undertaken and / or the credits awarded contribute to only one of the programmes the student is registered on (unless specifically required or approved by the University through the programme approval process). The only exception to the above is when a student registered on a full-time postgraduate research degree programme is required to take postgraduate taught modules as a compulsory part of that research degree, or when these taught modules have been approved in advance by their Director of Studies. All students must register at the beginning of their programme of study and enrol subsequently as required. Students on postgraduate research degree programmes are required to enrol at the beginning of every academic year, until they have completed the examination process.
University of Plymouth academic regulations 2020-21/ Full document v1 7 Taught Programmes 3. All repeat years (even if taken as a same attempt), and all periods of interruption, extension, or disciplinary suspension will count towards the maximum period of registration permitted. If a programme is more than one year long, the maximum period of registration allowed is the planned length of the programme plus three years, with an absolute maximum of ten years. If a programme is one year long, the maximum period of registration allowed is three years for full-time students and five years for part-time students.
The maximum period of registration allowed for a student on a three-year Honours degree, for example, will be six years (the three-year programme plus three years). Programmes leading to registration with a professional body may have shorter maximum periods of study. This will be set out in the relevant Programme Handbook. All students must be able to demonstrate currency of knowledge.
If a student on a work- based learning programme requires longer than the standard maximum period of registration for part-time students, due to the needs of the workplace, they should apply for this at the beginning of the stage, as appropriate, through the Accreditation of Prior Learning process. For UPIC students, the period of registration starts at the point of enrolment on Stage 1 of the integrated programme. Ordinary Degree students should complete any Honours top-up within the normal maximum period of registration as set out in 3 above. Students entering the University to complete a top-up year should complete the award within a maximum of three years.
University of Plymouth academic regulations 2020-21/ Full document v1 8 In exceptional circumstances, at the University’s discretion, a further extension of 12 months beyond the normal maximum period of registration can be granted. If a student needs to extend the maximum period of registration, they must submit a written application to the Faculty Business Manager (or nominee), explaining why the extension is needed. The application must include a letter from the Programme Leader to confirm that the Programme Leader supports the application for extension, and that the student is expected to complete the programme within the extended period. The Faculty Business Manager (or nominee) is authorised to approve or reject a request for extension.
All new students are expected to attend University induction week (or the equivalent induction programme of events in a Partner institution).