9.7.2 Student Progress

Responsibilities

1. Responsibility for stipulating the day-to-day requirements for student discipline rests with the Partner Organisation. This includes:

a. Specifying which teaching and learning sessions are compulsory.

b. Monitoring attendance.

c. Taking action in the case of students who fail to meet the attendance requirements.

d. Specifying dates for the submission of assessed work.

e. Monitoring the receipt of assessed work.

f. Taking action in the case of students who fail to hand in assessed work on time.

g. Specifying and imposing consistent penalties for the late submission of assessed work.

h. Documenting this policy clearly for students;

i. Advising students of their progress through the term/semester and offering appropriate academic advice and support (for notification of examination results see Section 9.7.6).

j. Registering students for programmes and modules and ensuring that the proper procedures are followed in the case of students who wish to change their registration.

k. Considering complaints from students (unless provision has been made in the relevant memorandum of agreement for a partnership's students to be registered as University students, in which case such students come under the University's Complaints Procedure).

l. Making students aware of their right to appeal against an academic decision and the means by which they may do this.

2. The policies and procedures of Partner Organisations must be documented for consideration by Durham University:

a. when a new partnership, or new programme to be offered within an existing partnership arrangement, is submitted for approval;

b. or Periodic Review when the appropriateness of the procedures will be reviewed and their implementation monitored.

3. Changes to the Partner Organisation's policy and/or procedures should be submitted by the Programme Committee for consideration by the Management Committee which may refer issues of principle to Quality and Standards Sub-Committee for consideration.

4. Information about procedures at Durham University which may act as a guide to Partner Organisations establishing their own procedures can be found in Section 2 of this Handbook.

5. Responsibility for monitoring the academic progress of individual students rests with the relevant department of the Partner Organisation. The University would normally expect that a Programme Committee would oversee this on a regular basis. Where the Partner Organisation chooses not to have a Programme Committee, the University will require evidence that the alternative structure can fulfil the requirements expected of the Programme Committee.

6. The Programme Committee, or its equivalent, should review on an annual basis the progression statistics for each programme, including:

a. numbers of applicants;

b. level of entry qualifications;

c. numbers of applications from and admissions of students by gender, ethnic minorities, who are disabled, mature or from non-traditional backgrounds and the progression of such students;

d. degree results;

e. graduate employment statistics;

f. wastage rates;

g. transfers in and out of the programme;

h. levels of application, entry and progression of students from any 'target group' (e.g. local students).

The Partner Organisation should ensure that the student data is collected and held in a form which enables this analysis to take place.

7. The Partner Organisation should provide Durham University with the following information for each student registered on each programme and on each year of each programme within 6 weeks of the start of the registration period:

a. Family Name

b. Fore Name(s)

c. Start Date

d. Mode of Study (full-time/part-time)

e. Expected End Date

f. Qualification Aim

Concessions

8.    In a range of circumstances students may need to seek permission for exceptional treatment such as:

a. admission without the standard entry requirements.

b. withdrawing from study for a period of time;

c. additional time to be allowed during an examination;

d. other alternative arrangements to be made in respect of assessment (e.g. with regard to the venue);

9. Many situations of this kind arise from medical problems, pastoral situations such as bereavement or the illness of a close family member, or disabilities.

10. In such circumstances the Partner Organisation must apply for permission for exceptional treatment from Durham University on behalf of the student, using the standard concession form available at Appendix A9.11. For concessions relating to admissions see Section 9.7.1; for all other concessions follow the procedures detailed below.

11. Partner Organisations may wish to establish internal procedures for considering applications for exceptional treatment before forwarding concession requests to Durham University. Under no circumstances should a partner organisation pre-empt the decision of Durham University; in particular, students must not be led to believe that a concession has been granted before a decision has been made by Durham University.

12. Please note that the following terminology is used by Durham University:

a. grace period: withdrawal from study for a short period usually of up to 5 weeks;

b. temporary withdrawal and return: withdrawal from study for a period of more than 5 weeks followed by a return to study.

13. In addition the concession request form uses the following terminology:

a. suspension: withdrawal from study for a grace period or temporary withdrawal and return for a longer period. In this case alternative dates should be given for the completion of coursework and/or examinations falling within the period of withdrawal;

b. extension: permission to complete an assignment after the normal end of the period of registration. A revised submission/examination date should be given, along with the revised end date for the period of registration;

c. direct entry to 2H: entry to level 2 of a 3- or 4-year degree programme.

14. In completing the concession request form please supply the following information under Summary of Concession:

a. the reason for the request (illness, bereavement etc.)

b. the period of time during which the student is affected by the problem concerned and the relationship between this and the timing of the concession (e.g. an illness might occur prior to the assessment period but the concession might relate to an examination);

c. details of the arrangements which it is requested should be made for the student. The Partner Organisation should also indicate, where relevant, what steps it will take to ensure the security of the assessment process, especially where a request is made to alter the timing of an assessment.

15. Partner Organisations are advised to contact the relevant faculty support officer in the Academic Support Office for guidance if they have any queries about concession requests, either in general or in relation to a particular case.

Concessions - general procedures

16. If a Partner Organisation wishes to request a concession on behalf of a student registered on a programme of study validated by Durham University, it should submit details of the request to the University using the concession request proforma at Appendix A9.11. In addition, the Partner Organisation must provide:

a. A letter of support from the Partner Organisation detailing the reasons for and the nature of the concession in full.

b. Further evidence as required by the nature of the concession e.g. medical evidence in the case of illness.

17. The proforma and supporting documents should be completed and forwarded to relevant faculty support officer in the Academic Support Office at the Academic Support Office, University Office, Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HP, for consideration by the University.

18. No party involved in the concessions process should presume that a concession will be granted.

19. All those involved in the concessions procedure are responsible for ensuring:

a. that all applications are handled with speed and efficiency

b. that stringent efforts are made to keep Durham University informed about matters relating to a student's entry or progress

c. that as much notice as possible is given of a concession request so that students can be informed of the outcome as soon as possible and alternative arrangements can be made for assessments where applicable.

20. For guidance concerning medical evidence please refer to paragraph 2.3.5.4 below

21. If the concession is approved the Partner Organisation will be notified by the relevant faculty support officer in the Academic Support Office. The student, all those who teach the student and anyone else involved in the relevant arrangements should then be informed by the Partner Organisation.

22. Members of Durham University considering requests may seek further advice from the Partner Organisation and/or other University officers, members of the University's support services (e.g. Counselling, DUSSD) and/or the chair of Education Committee to ensure comparability of treatment with concession requests from students at Durham University.

Concessions - student progress

23. Matters relating to student progress (the majority of concessions) including temporary withdrawals and programme related concessions, should be sent by the Partner Organisation, with supporting documentation and, where appropriate, written medical support, to the relevant faculty support officer in the Academic Support Office as above.

24. Such requests will be considered by the chairs of the Management Committee and Quality and Standards Sub-Committee. A checklist of the procedures is set out below.

	Check List of Procedures	Responsible Body
1.	Discussion of the academic and pastoral consideration of a case to ensure that a student is neither disadvantaged or advantaged in relation to their peers.	Partner Organisation
2.	Forwarding of the request, on the University concession request form A9.11 with all supporting documents	Partner Organisation (course leader, personal tutor etc. as appropriate)
3.	Receipt of case	Relevant faculty support officer in the Academic Support Office
4.	Review of case and documents with a view to provision of advice to the chairs of the Management Committee and QSSC - in order to maintain consistency of procedure across the University	Relevant faculty support officer in the Academic Support Office
5.	Consideration of case and determination of outcome	Chairs of the Management Committee and QSSC
6.	Written communication of outcome to Partner Organisation	Relevant faculty support officer in the Academic Support Office
7.	Communication of outcome to student	Partner Organisation
8.	Maintenance of records	Relevant faculty support officer in the Academic Support Office and Partner Organisation
10.	Issue of guidance on policies and judgements to reinforce consistency of treatment of students across the University	QSSC and Education Committee via Learning and Teaching Handbook

Concessions - grace period

25. A grace period is an uncommon concession request and it should not normally be longer than 5 weeks of term-time. Longer periods should normally be dealt with as a withdrawal and return. Grace periods, where appropriate, require the students to be certified fit to return.

26. If summative work would have been submitted during the period of grace the concession should specify alternative arrangements (to include where applicable a new deadline for the submission).

27. A student who fails to fulfil all academic engagements for good cause should have a grace period concession raised on his/her behalf.

28. The role of grace periods (or at least the evidence on which a concession would have been granted) is important in the consideration of requests to withdraw and repeat a given year of study. The only acceptable basis for requests to repeat a year of study should normally be that the student, for good cause, was unable to make academic progress for a significantly long period.

29. Even when the University has evidence that the student's progress is significantly impaired (for medical or personal reasons) a concession may only be applied for on his/her behalf with the student's express consent.

Concessions - admissions

30. For information about concessions for students with non-standard entry qualifications, see Section 9.7.1

Concessions - examinations and assessment

31. For information about concessions in this area, see Section 9.7.6.

Academic appeals

32. All academic appeals for validated students are considered under the University's General Regulation VII.