25. Feedback to students on their work

Feedback is a two-way process that helps students understand how they have performed in their work and how they can improve in the future. The type of feedback depends on the nature and purpose of the assessment and can take various forms (see glossary for examples). 

25.1. Feedback is provided to students on all assessed tasks: 

1. Feedback on formative assessment: Students are provided with feedback on their work as a developmental opportunity during the teaching of a unit.
2. Feedback on summative assessment: Students are provided with feedback on summative assessment within or following the unit. The remainder of this policy focuses on feedback on summative assessment. 

25.2. At the beginning of the unit, students are informed of:  

• the assessments they will receive feedback on, 
• the date/s on which they will receive the feedback, and 
• the format in which the feedback will be provided (e.g. Blackboard).  

25.3. Programme Directors are responsible for overseeing the provision of feedback across a programme, working with Unit Directors. 

25.4. Feedback to students includes the provisional mark on the assessment, with some exceptions as set out in 25.5 (see Glossary for full definition of 'provisional mark'). The completion of the internal moderation process should not prevent the release of the provisional mark by the timeframe for returning feedback. 

25.5. Feedback on summative assessment is returned to students within 15 working days (excluding public holidays and University closure days) of the submission deadline, with the following exceptions: 

1. End of programme assessments (e.g. final dissertation) that do not inform future learning on the programme and require additional quality assurance steps  – in which case feedback is provided on a longer timeframe, as determined by the school or faculty. 
2. Exams in non-modular undergraduate programmes (Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Sciences) where the mark is subject to a standard setting process (see Glossary for definition) and therefore may substantially change by design, in which case feedback is provided within 15 working days but without a provisional mark. 
3. Feedback on end of unit assessment in the summer assessment and reassessment periods where the timeframe for releasing feedback is relatively close to the exam boards where a student’s academic outcome is confirmed. In such cases, a school, with faculty agreement, may return the feedback as part of results release. Feedback on assessment that is submitted / completed before the start of the summer assessment or reassessment period is returned within 15 working days.
4. Feedback that is due to be returned within an assessment period in which students are taking assessment, in which case feedback may be returned after the assessments are complete, with faculty agreement. 

25.6. The 15 working days for the return of feedback starts:  

a.  For any assessment completed or submitted in the Teaching Block 1 (TB1) Assessment Preparation week: 

• from the first working day following the end of the Assessment Preparation week. 

This means that feedback on assessment submitted in the TB1 Assessment Preparation week will be returned no later than a designated day in the Teaching Block 2 (TB2) Preparation Week, and not before the start of term (i.e. the start of TB2 Preparation week). Schools may set marking deadlines within TB2 Preparation week before the designated day for the return of feedback, to support the administration of marking. 

b.  For any assessment completed or submitted in the Teaching Block 1 Assessment Period, the 15 working days for the return of feedback starts: 

• from the first working day following the end of the TB1 Assessment Period. 

This means that feedback on assessment in the TB1 assessment period will be returned no later than a designated day during the first week of teaching in TB2. 

c.  At all other times, the 15 working days for the return of feedback starts: 

• from the first working day following the assessment submission deadline, or 
• from the first working day following the day that the student completes the assessment, for assessments that take place on a single day.  

For students with an approved extension, feedback is provided within 15 working days of the new submission deadline. 

25.7. If, in exceptional circumstances, a stated deadline is not going to be met, students are informed as soon as possible, and a new date set by which they will receive feedback on their work.  

25.8. Each school has a process in place to monitor the return of feedback and ensure students are alerted where a stated deadline is not going to be met, overseen by the Head of School and the Faculty.  

Student access to exam scripts 

25.9. As a tool for self-reflection, and creating their own feedback, students can request to see their exam script to identify areas for improvement in future assessments. The purpose of a student viewing their own script is not to query the academic judgement of the marker(s).

25.10. The provision of access applies, but is not limited, to examination scripts from the University assessment periods. Schools will identify and communicate where it is not academically appropriate to release specific scripts. 

25.11. Schools arrange access to examination scripts. The opportunity for a student to access their examination script is in addition to, and complements, feedback on the student’s performance in the examination. Any annotations made on an exam script are for marking purposes and are not necessarily intended as feedback. 

25.12. In order to safeguard exam scripts and their use, students must not remove, mark or modify an original script unless they are explicitly released to them. The provision of access and/or release of a script to a student is purely for their own educational use; students must not share, publish or otherwise disseminate their scripts, answers or the exam questions.