31a. Academic outcomes in undergraduate modular programmes - non-final year

Non-final year of study

Award of credit and reassessment

Award of credit for (‘passing’) a unit

31.1. To be awarded credit for a unit (a ‘pass’), students must:

achieve the unit pass mark (a mark of 40 for units at levels 4-6 and 50 for units at level 7), and
meet any other designated criteria (see section 18: Setting of assessment) set out in the unit specification.

31.2. A student may be awarded credit for a narrowly failed unit through ‘compensation’ to allow progression where certain conditions are met (see 31.20).

Reassessment

“Reassessment means any time a student is allowed to take an assessment again as an additional attempt because it has been failed or missed.”

31.3. If a student does not meet the requirements to pass a unit at their first attempt, they have up to two further assessment 'attempts' (i.e. three in total) to meet those requirements.

31.4. To be eligible for reassessment, a student must achieve:

for a second assessment opportunity: 40 credit points in the year of study following first attempts of all units
for a third assessment opportunity: 80 credit points in the year of study following two attempts of each unit

If a student does not achieve the credit point threshold for reassessment as above, they are required to withdraw from the programme.

31.5. Students cannot take assessment where they have already passed the unit, unless in exceptional cases where both the following apply:

as mitigation made by an exam board in accordance with section 20 on student circumstances where their performance in assessment has been impacted by exceptional circumstances, and
the exam board judges the student is reasonably likely to improve their overall unit mark.

If an exception is granted, the original mark for the affected unit is voided.

31.6. For any unit that is passed by reassessment, students receive the awarded mark for the assessment, however the unit mark is capped at the minimum pass mark (40 out of 100 for units at levels 4, 5 and 6, and 50 out of 100 for units at level 7).

31.7. Students are only permitted to be reassessed in those assessments in the unit that have been failed. Reassessment does not need to be in the same form as the original assessment, as long as it tests the same learning outcomes. Where the assessment or unit has changed or is no longer running, the Exam Board may permit the student to take an alternative assessment or unit.

Supplementary assessment

“Supplementary assessment is where a student is allowed to take an assessment because they previously missed it due to an agreed deferral or self-certified absence, or because an exam board has accepted the previous attempt was affected by exceptional circumstances. A supplementary assessment does not count as an additional attempt to pass the unit.”

31.8. Students who have not passed a unit are permitted a supplementary assessment if:

they deferred or self-certified their absence from an assessment, or
their performance in assessment was impacted by exceptional circumstances (with an impact classification of at least i2)

A supplementary assessment does not count as an additional attempt to pass the unit.

31.9. For any unit that is passed by supplementary assessment, students receive the awarded mark for the assessment and the unit mark is either:

uncapped if it constitutes a first attempt at passing the unit (an ‘uncapped supplementary assessment’), or
capped if it constitutes a second or third attempt at passing the unit (a ‘capped supplementary assessment’).

31.10. Students are only permitted to take a supplementary assessment in those assessments in the unit that have not been passed.

31.11. Students who have not passed a unit but are eligible for both reassessment and supplementary assessment within that unit do so for a capped mark. If a student then achieves the unit pass mark once all first attempts at assessment in the unit have been completed, an exam board will allow an uncapped mark to be awarded instead.

Scheduling of reassessment and supplementary assessment

31.12. A reassessment or supplementary assessment opportunity is provided within the same academic year, unless a student is required to undertake reassessment (including supplementary assessment) by an exam board but in units that exceed 80 credit points in total (e.g. where assessment has been affected by exceptional circumstances). In this case, the student is required to take all assessment as part of a supplementary year, i.e. the amount of credit that can be assessed in the reassessment period may not exceed 80 credit points.

31.13. A student who is eligible for reassessment and has not met the conditions for progression or award by the end of the year of study (i.e. after the assessment period) is provided a reassessment opportunity in a supplementary year. Students are registered on the unit(s) they have yet to pass. An exam board may replace a unit with another unit in the programme structure:

where the assessment or unit has substantially changed or is no longer running, or
in lieu of a failed optional or open unit from outside of a student’s honours subject.

31.14. Students are permitted to undertake both reassessment and supplementary assessment within a supplementary year.

31.15. Students who are studying a programme on a part-time basis may be permitted by an exam board to undertake reassessment or supplementary assessment prior to their progression being formally considered by an exam board.

Reassessment for inbound study abroad students

31.16. Inbound study abroad students who are studying at Bristol are only permitted to undertake reassessment or supplementary assessment to achieve credit for a unit, where:

the reassessment / supplementary assessment is for coursework that can be submitted online, and
reassessment / supplementary assessment is not otherwise precluded by the partner institution.

31.17. The reassessment / supplementary assessment is scheduled at the same time as for other students.

Progression through a programme of study

A flow diagram for the progression of students on an undergraduate modular programme is available.

Progression requirements

31.18. Students progress to the next year of study on achieving 120 credit points in the year of study. Students may also be permitted to progress to the next year of study despite a failed unit under certain conditions by: ‘compensation for progression’ or ‘conditional progression’.

31.19. Students who do not meet the conditions for progression as set out in these regulations (or specific programme regulations) are required to withdraw from their programme with an exit award where they have achieved enough credit points at the relevant level (see credit framework). Students receive the credit for any units they have taken and passed.

Compensation for progression

“Compensation means where a student is awarded credit for a unit to enable them to progress to the next year of study despite a fail mark.”

31.20. Students are awarded credit for a unit that has been narrowly failed at the first attempt through ‘compensation’ to allow progression where all the following conditions are met:

all other units in the year of study have been passed at the first attempt
only one unit up to a maximum of 20 credit points has been failed
the failed unit is not must-pass
the failed unit has a mark of 35-39 for level 4-6 units or 45-49 for level 7 units, and
the overall year mark is at least 40.

31.21. Students are awarded the actual unit mark they achieved.

31.22. Compensation is not available in accredited undergraduate programmes in the following schools:

School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering
School of Computer Science
School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering
School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology.

Students on these programmes must achieve at least 120 credit points to progress to the next year of study.

Conditional progression

“Conditional progression means where a student is permitted to progress to the next year of study and make up a failed unit from the previous year.”

31.23. Students are permitted at the summer reassessment exam board to conditionally progress to the next year of study even if they have failed a particular unit where:

conditional progression is allowed on the programme of study (as set out in the programme specification)
the failed unit is not “must-pass”, is not being discontinued with no available alternative, and/or is not a prerequisite for units in the subsequent year
the failed unit is no more than 20 credit points, and
the student has achieved at least a ‘pass’ for the year of study (40 out of 100 for levels 4-6, or 50 out of 100 for level 7).

31.24. Conditional progression is automatically applied by an exam board; however, a student may elect to instead take the supplementary year by notifying their home school no later than the start of Welcome Week.

31.25. Where a student is allowed to conditionally progress, they register for the next year of study and, in addition to the requirements for that year of study, either:

re-take the failed unit/s or;
undertake a different unit/s in lieu of the one the student has not passed.

31.26. In the next year of study, the exam board first considers whether a student has passed the outstanding failed unit/s before considering whether they have met the conditions for progression or award.

31.27. Where a student is unable to achieve the credit points for the failed unit on which their conditional progress is based and are not permitted further reassessment on that unit, they are required to withdraw from the university with an exit award, where appropriate.

Permission to register for the next year of study

31.28. If the exam board has not been able to consider a student’s progress before they begin:

an industrial placement
a period of study at another institution, or
the next year of study following a period of study at another institution,

due to the marks not yet being available, the Chair of the Exam Board permits the student to register for the next year of study without the necessary credit, pending and subject to the decision of the exam board on the student’s progression once all marks are available. 

Additional progression requirements

In programmes with a Study Abroad Year or Industrial Placement Year

31.29. To progress onto the study abroad year or industrial placement, students must

achieve 120 credit points, and
achieve a year mark of 60 or more out of 100 for the first year of study*, as determined by the programme.

* In some cases, the higher progression threshold may apply at the end of the second year instead of the first. This is permitted where suitable arrangements are in place to support students who have not met the progression requirements by the time of the relevant exam board, subject to faculty approval.

31.30. Students who are awarded 120 credit points for the year of study but do not meet the conditions for progression onto the study abroad year or year in industry are automatically transferred onto the equivalent degree programme without the study abroad year or year in industry component. 

In an Integrated Masters Degree Programme (with no study abroad or industrial placement year)

31.31. In a four-year programme, students must achieve 120 credit points for the year of study and:

to progress from Year 2 to Year 3: achieve a year mark of:

- 60 or more if their programme has been designated an ‘advanced study’ type or

- 50 or more if their programme has been designated as a ‘professional’ type of programme.

to progress from Year 3 to Year 4: achieve a year mark of 50 or more.

31.32. Students who are awarded 120 credit points for the year of study but do not achieve the progression requirements are either:

automatically transferred onto an equivalent Bachelors degree programme provided that they meet the progression requirements; or

awarded an equivalent Honours degree or Ordinary Degree depending on the amount of credit points achieved.

31.33. In order to progress within a five-year programme, students must achieve 120 credit points for the year of study and achieve a year mark of 50 or more out of 100 in years 2, 3, and 4.

31.34. Students who are awarded 120 credit points for the year of study but do not achieve a year mark of 50 or more are either:

automatically transferred onto an equivalent Bachelors Honours degree or,

following completion of Year 4, awarded an equivalent Honours degree or an Ordinary Degree depending on the amount of credit points achieved (on the basis of the mark achieved at the first attempt if a re-sit of a unit was required).