24. Admission and Study (undergraduate)

24.1   Most candidates for admission to the University will be at least 18 years old on entry. If a candidate is selected who will be under 18 years of age on admission, there may be requirements related to an applicant’s choice of programme, including those from professional accrediting bodies, that may be unsuitable for those who are under the age of 18 for part of their period of registration. Applicants from overseas who are under 18 at the point of entry will need to provide details of a guardian based in the UK.

24.2   No student shall be permitted to register and be admitted to any programme of study at the start of any academic year if that student:

a)    has failed to satisfy the academic requirements of the programme for the previous year of study, as outlined in the regulations for the progression of students on taught programmes; or

b)    is in debt to the University in respect of tuition or other ancillary fees, accommodation fees or fines properly imposed for breach of any University regulation, unless specific arrangements have been agreed with the University for the settlement of the debt; or

c)    is suspended; or

d)   has previously withdrawn from the same or cognate programme of study due to academic failure within the last three academic years.

24.3   New first-year students must be fully registered on their programmes within the first two weeks of teaching of their programme of study (i.e. by the Friday of week 2). Specific programmes may designate an earlier final deadline for registration. If a student is unable to register in that time, they will be required to suspend their studies until the following academic year or withdraw from the programme.

24.4   The consent of the Faculty Board shall be necessary for the admission of a student to any assessment and to each part of a programme. Each programme is governed by the University Assessment Regulations.

24.5   Each student shall attend such lectures, discussion periods, tutorials, practical classes, design classes, fieldwork, vacation courses and any other educational activities, as described in the unit and programme specification, and shall undertake such written and other work as may be required. Each student shall also attend, as an integral part of the programme, such work placements, vacation courses and fieldwork as are defined in the programme and are required of her/him. Each student shall also undertake any professional requirements, as described in the programme specification. Each student shall undertake such assessments as are arranged.

24.6     The failure of any student to show satisfactory progress on the programme, including failure in summative assessment, failure to obtain credit points or to attend regularly any prescribed part of a programme (including such lectures, discussion periods, tutorial and practical classes, fieldwork, design classes and vacation courses as may be required) or to undertake prescribed written or other work or to present themselves for any examination or to reach a satisfactory standard in any assessment or any part or parts of an assessment, will be reported to the Faculty Board of Examiners (or other approved Board of Examiners) which may at any time, if it thinks fit, require the student concerned to repeat part of a programme or to retake an assessment or to withdraw from a unit or units or the whole programme in accordance with University regulation. Any student who has been required to withdraw shall be informed of the decision and of the University procedures for making representations against the decision.

24.7 The Faculty Board of Examiners shall determine whether a candidate, on completion of the programme including the final assessment, has obtained the required number of credit points for the award of a degree, diploma or certificate. The class of the degree will be determined in accordance with the University regulations on degree classification.

24.8 A student who has obtained 120 credit points at level 4 or above but who either does not proceed to undertake further units or does not satisfactorily complete further units may, if their faculty has made provision, be awarded a Certificate of Higher Education. Similarly, a candidate registered for a higher award who has obtained 240 credit points at appropriate levels may, if their faculty has made provision, be awarded a Diploma of Higher Education (see the University’s Credit Framework in section 4 for more details).

For the purposes of the Intercalated Degree of BSc in the Faculty of Health Sciences, or the BA in Medical Humanities in the Faculty of Arts, each year of study in the MB,ChB, BDS or BVSc programme shall deemed to be worth 120 credit points.

24.9 Study and assessment carried out under the supervision of the University, or in another institution approved by Senate, and the credit points obtained from there may be accepted towards the fulfilment of the requirements of a particular programme.

In every case, except where there is a specific agreement with another institution, a candidate for a degree programme must take and satisfactorily complete University of Bristol units which comprise the final 120 credit points of the programme.

24.10 For awards of the University of Bristol, except as specified below, credit points may only be used once and not towards two or more awards of this University or of another higher education provider and this University. The exceptions are:
a) where an award at one level may be subsumed into an award at a higher level;
b) where a University award or award of another institution has independent standing as a professional qualification and is accredited by a professional body;
c) where a medical, dental or veterinary student of this University intercalates a year of study for the degree of BSc or BA in this University or elsewhere, or where a medical, dental or veterinary student from another institution intercalates a year of study for the degree of BSc or BA in this University.

The use of credit or a lower award from this University towards an award of another institution is at the discretion of that awarding institution, including as part of articulation agreements where a partner institution might count the credit or qualification obtained at Bristol towards their own award.

24.11 No student who is registered for a programme of full-time study leading to a qualification of the University of Bristol may study concurrently on a programme of full or part-time study leading to the award of a qualification at this or another higher education provider, except:

• Where a student is awaiting the academic outcome from an intercalated programme but is required to commence study on their primary programme of study. 
• Where a student is awaiting the academic outcome from a Master’s degree but is able to commence further study on a new taught postgraduate or research postgraduate programme.
• Where a research postgraduate student is undertaking a programme or unit for credit to directly support them as a teacher (e.g. the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice).

24.12 The University does not encourage students to take more than the required units for any programme, however, a student may request to take a unit in addition to their programme structure (i.e. the unit is not listed in the programme structure and student is not permitted to take it as an alternative optional unit). This requires the agreement of both the Programme Director of the student’s programme and the Unit Director. If agreed, the student will engage with the unit as normal and be awarded credit if they meet the relevant criteria, however, neither the credit nor the marks contribute to their progression or final award. The student pays a pro-rata fee for the additional unit. 

24.13 Students may be permitted to transfer between programmes subject to approval, but there is no automatic right of transfer between programmes. The academic record of the student (i.e. the credit and marks for any relevant units and the time they have already spent studying in relation to the maximum period of study), will normally follow when transferring programme, except for students who change their programme of study and enter the first year of a non-cognate programme, in which case their academic record will not follow and the period of study is re-set. Changing a programme of study is subject to sufficient space being available and the applicant meeting the academic criteria and requirements for the new programme and any visa requirements, should they apply. See the University’s policy on student transfer between undergraduate programmes and units of the University.

24.14 The following table shows the normal and maximum periods of study for full-time undergraduate awards covered by these regulations. These periods of study include extensions but exclude suspensions of study. Periods of study for part-time students shall be calculated pro-rata to the periods of full-time study. A student on a modular programme will normally only be able to take an additional year (e.g. a supplementary year) due to exceptional circumstances once during their programme of study. A student on a non-modular professional programme will normally only be able to extend their normal period of study by up to two additional years due to either exceptional circumstances or academic failure.

24.15   Students with a Student visa registered on a four-year undergraduate Bachelors Degree (i.e. at level 6) cannot undertake a second supplementary year due to UK Immigration Rules’ application of a five-year study cap to study in the UK. Schools should contact the Student Visa Team to determine whether a student may be eligible.