How we're helping you with your assessments this year

Your success is our priority and we are not going to let the pandemic stop you from succeeding in your studies. It is important for you to undertake all your exams and assessments to demonstrate your learning and progress with your studies, or to graduate.

Our approach to exams and assessment takes into account everything that we learnt last year and means that that you have a fair opportunity to demonstrate your learning and do your best. We do recognise the difficult circumstances you may be facing. We also know that some of you may be worried about your assessments. That’s why we’re continuing with our No Detriment Policy this year, which we’ve developed working with our Student’s Union.

The policy will operate in all Departments and Schools without exception. It will be applied through the Board of Examiners for all taught students, all programmes of study and all assessment you have this academic year, including coursework, dissertations, and online exams.

Helping you to progress 

Automatic reassessment

If you fail a module, you will automatically be offered another chance at reassessment.

More Summer reassessment

We’ve increased the amount of reassessment you can take over the Summer.  This year, undergraduate students can take up to 120 credits of reassessment, which is double what we’d normally offer.  This is to help you achieve the marks (and credits) you need to be able to progress.

No Charge

We have removed the £50 per module reassessment charge for students undertaking reassessments in 2020/21).  This means you can undertake the full amount of reassessment you’ve been offered without having to think of the cost.

No Capping

Undergraduates can usually only receive a pass mark of 40 for any resit, but we’ve removed this limit so you can undertake your reassessment and achieve your full marks.

First Sits

Students are usually limited to three attempts at a module, but all our reassessment this year is being offered as a first sit, meaning it doesn’t count as one of your attempts.

Making it easy if things go wrong

We understand that this year is tough, so we want to make it as easy as possible for you to let us know about any difficulties you’re facing.  With that in mind, we’ve made it easier than ever for you to let us know when things outside of your control impact on your studies.

A holistic approach

Our Exam Boards will automatically be taking into account the impact of COVID-19 when they’re thinking about your marks this year. This means that you don’t need to let us know about the general effects of the pandemic. 

However, we do want to know about any specific difficulties, such as bereavements or periods of sickness, that have affected your performance or ability to do your exams, so we make can make sure that we’re taking these into account.  To save you time and effort, we’ve also made it easier than ever for you to let us know about your own circumstances.

Absence from exams

If you can’t complete your online assessment, let us know by filling in the Notified Absence from Exam form on MyEssex.  That way we can make sure we give you another chance to complete your assessment, free of charge.

Circumstances that affect your performance

If you’ve taken an assessment but know that you haven’t done as well as you could because of circumstances outside of your control, please let us know.  You just need to submit an Extenuating Circumstances claim telling us what’s happened and how it’s affecting you. We can then make sure we help you in the best way we can, normally by offering you a free reassessment.

No Evidence Needed

We understand how difficult it is right now to get hold of evidence and we don’t want to be putting any additional strain on the NHS, so you don’t need to submit any evidence with your claim. If you have it, great, feel free to submit it, but if you don’t, your claim will still be considered in just the same way.

Protecting your marks

We don’t want your marks to suffer because of the pandemic, so we’ll be comparing the marks for each module against the marks for the previous three years to make sure they’re in line with what we’d expect. If we find that students on a particular module have not performed how we would usually expect, then we’ll consider what actions we need to take to make sure you’re not disadvantaged.

Make sure you check out our website which outlines our full No Detriment Policy, including details of all our safety nets.