Terms of Reference
Module Studies Boards and Programme Studies Boards are responsible for the review, enhancement and development of the modules and programmes within the scope of that Board. Module Assessment and Programme Assessment Boards are responsible for the operation of the decision-making process relating to marks, awards and progression.
All Assessment Boards report to the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Faculty responsible for the provision concerned, and through the Pro-Vice Chancellor to the Academic Board of the University.
Pro-Vice Chancellors of Faculties must nominate Chairs of Boards for Academic Quality and Compliance Sub-Committee (AQCSC) approval no later than November in the academic year in which the Board is to sit. All Chairs and Officers of Assessment Boards must attend the Board training session run annually by Academic Registry and Governance. All Assessment Board minutes will be submitted electronically by Programme Administration to the Quality Team at the end of each assessment cycle, and a sample will be reviewed by a group consisting of a chair of assessment board for each Faculty (nominated by the Faculty Pro-Vice Chancellor), the Academic Registrar, the Deputy Academic Registrar, the Senior Assistant Registrar and the Head of Quality. The group will report any findings to AQCSC along with any necessary recommendations for action.
It is the responsibility of all members of a Board to declare an interest if placed in a position of making a judgement about any student with whom there may be a potential, a perceived or an actual conflict of interest. This declaration should be made in writing to the Chair. If the Chair then agrees that there is a potential conflict of interest, this must be recorded in the minutes of the Board, and the member should absent themselves from the Board for the duration of any discussion about that student and should not contribute to any assessment decision related to that student.
Any Chair's Actions must be formally minuted, and the action minute appended to the main Board minutes and reported to the next meeting.
Module Boards
Every module will be included within the scope of a Module Studies Board (MSB), responsible for the operation of a portfolio of modules, and an associated Module Assessment Board (MAB). Such Boards shall be established by the appropriate Faculty.
Every module must have an identified Module Leader.
In some cases, it will be appropriate for a Faculty to operate a Programme Assessment Board which subsumes the role of the Module Board where composition of the Boards makes this possible.
Constitution of Module Boards
a) A Chair appointed by the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Faculty. The Chair of a Module Studies or Assessment Board will normally be a programme leader or team leader responsible for a group of programmes
b) Module Leaders for each of the modules within the portfolio.
c) The Programme Manager(s) and Assistant Programme Manager(s) from the London campus and Hong Kong campus where applicable
d) An appropriate number of External Examiners nominated by the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Faculty in consultation with the Module Studies Board, and approved on behalf of Academic Board by AQCSC
(e) Where appropriate and practicable, representatives from external institutions collaborating in the delivery of the modules may be in attendance. These members will not contribute to the quorum count.
Attendance at an Assessment Board is mandatory for all internal members.
The quorum count for a Module Assessment Board is based on the members listed above. The Programme Manager(s) or Assistant Programme Manager(s) from the London/Hong Kong campus do not count towards quoracy unless they are also a module leader. The quorum shall be one-third of this membership or three members, one of whom must be the chair, whichever is the greater.
Where an external examiner is absent from the Board, the protocol in Policy on the Role of External Examiners must be followed.
Procedure in the event of an inquorate board meeting:
If a Module Assessment Board is inquorate, the Board meeting should proceed, if possible, in order not to disadvantage students in relation to progression and referral information or to participation in graduation. However, the following protocol should be followed.
If the Chair is absent, a senior internal member of the Board should contact the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Faculty or, in their absence (in order of precedence):
- The Head of School or Team Leader
- A Pro-Vice Chancellor or Head of School of a different faculty
- The Academic Registrar
- The Deputy Academic Registrar
- To provide a Chair from those already authorised and trained for the role.
The Chair should then follow the protocol below.
If other member(s) of the Board are absent, the Chair should hold the meeting noting that the meeting was inquorate and taking particular note of the views of the external examiner(s).
Immediately following the meeting, the Chair should send a written statement of the position to the Deputy Academic Registrar (unless they had to act as Chair, in which case the Academic Registrar), who will discuss the situation with the Chair of Academic Board or their nominee. Within two working days, a copy of the minutes of the meeting must be forwarded via the same route. If the Chair of Academic Board is willing to approve the actions taken, they will formally approve the minutes of the meeting on behalf of Academic Board. If they are not willing to approve the minutes, the Board must be rescheduled. The minutes will be reviewed within two working days of receipt.
No marks may be released until this process has been completed.
Module Assessment Board: Terms of Reference
The Module Assessment Board shall meet at the end of each assessment period and shall be responsible to the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Faculty for:
a) decisions upon the marks, failure, referral or deferral of each student in all module assessments in accordance with the approved assessment regulations
b) making assessment decisions in relation to extenuating circumstances on the basis of information from Faculty Extenuating Circumstances Panels about whether the evidence the student has submitted supports the claim for extenuating circumstances.
Programme Assessment Boards
Every Faculty-based programme and short course will be included within the scope of a Programme Studies Board (PSB), responsible for the operation of a portfolio of programmes, and an associated Programme Assessment Board (PAB). Such Boards shall be established by the appropriate Faculty. In some cases, it will be appropriate for a Faculty to operate a Programme Assessment Board which subsumes the role of the Module Board where composition of the Boards makes this possible.
Programme Studies Boards will be responsible for ensuring that learning outcomes are appropriate to the award and that teaching, learning and assessment strategies are appropriate to the learning outcomes; that student support is in place, and for identifying resourcing issues. Programme Assessment Boards are responsible for the progression of students and the classification of awards.
Every programme must have an identified Programme Leader.
Constitution of Programme Boards
Membership of Programme Assessment Boards
a) Chair, which in the case of Assessment Boards or Studies Board will be a Pro-Vice Chancellor of Faculty, Head of School or Team Leader
b) At least one member of each relevant Module Studies Board contributing core or optional modules to the programmes, with a minimum of at least three members of the Programme Board to be drawn from this category
c) The Programme Leader of each of the programmes within the portfolio
d) The Programme Manager(s) and Assistant Programme Manager(s) from the London/Hong Kong campuses (where applicable); the Assistant Programme Leaders (or nominee) from local partner colleges (where applicable)
e) Where appropriate, at least one external member from industry, commerce or professions
f) An appropriate number of External Examiners nominated by the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Faculty in consultation with the Programme Studies Board and approved on behalf of Academic Board
g) If not already included in the membership specified above, the relevant Centre Leader(s)/Faculty Partnership Leaders.
Quoracy requirements for Programme Assessment Boards
Attendance at an Assessment Board is mandatory for all internal members. The quorum for a Programme Assessment Board is based on the membership above. The Programme Manager and Assistant Programme Manager from the London/Hong Kong campuses and from Partner Colleges do not count towards quorum unless they are also a programme leader or designated representative of a Module Studies Board. The quorum shall be one-third of this membership or three internal members (one of whom must be the chair), whichever is the greater.
Where an external examiner is absent from the Board, the protocol in Policy on the Role of External Examiners must be followed.
Procedure in the event of an inquorate board meeting:
If a Programme Assessment Board is inquorate, the Board meeting should proceed if possible, in order not to disadvantage students in relation to progression and referral information or to participation in graduation. However, the following protocol should be followed.
If the Chair is absent, a senior internal member of the Board should contact the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Faculty or, in their absence (in order of precedence):
- The Head of School
- A Pro-Vice Chancellor or Head of School of a different Faculty
- The Academic Registrar
- The Deputy Academic Registrar
- To provide a Chair from those already authorised and trained for the role.
The Chair should then follow the protocol below.
If other member(s) of the Board are absent, the Chair should hold the meeting, noting that the meeting was inquorate and taking particular note of the views of the external examiner(s).
Immediately following the meeting, the Chair should send a written statement of the position to the Deputy Academic Registrar (unless they had to act as Chair, in which case the Academic Registrar), who will discuss the situation with the Chair of Academic Board or their nominee. Within two working days, a copy of the minutes of the meeting must be forwarded via the same route. If the Chair of Academic Board is willing to approve the actions taken, they will formally approve the minutes of the meeting on behalf of Academic Board. If they are not willing to approve the minutes, the Board must be rescheduled. The minutes will be reviewed within two working days of receipt.
No marks may be released until this process has been completed.
The constitution for joint MAB/PABs will operate as follows:
a) The formal constitution and quorum requirement will be that of the PAB
b) All papers for the MAB element will be circulated in advance to all module leaders
c) All module leaders will be invited to attend the start of the joint Board if they wish, to raise any issues identified in those papers
d) Following completion of that agenda item, the Board will proceed as a PAB.
Programme Assessment Board: Terms of Reference
The Programme Assessment Board shall meet at least once per academic year and shall be responsible:
a) To Academic Board for decisions upon the progression of each student in accordance with the approved assessment regulations, including decisions on compensation, progression and classification of awards. Interim awards may be made where a student is unable to complete the full programme of study
b) For advising the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Faculties, Programme Studies Board or Faculty Education Committee or Academic Quality and Compliance Sub Committee on related matters
c) Making assessment decisions in relation to extenuating circumstances on the basis of information from Faculty Extenuating Circumstances Panels about whether the evidence the student has submitted supports the claim for extenuating circumstances.
Notes
The Programme Assessment Board will receive decisions on marks, failures, referrals and deferrals from the Module Assessment Boards together with information on special cases and circumstances and the decisions taken by the Module Assessment Boards in such cases.
There will be a complex mix of programmes with wide choices of optional and elective modules, and a need for consistency and equity in assessment. The programme assessment must depend strongly upon the received module assessment, which cannot be overturned. Not every examiner, not even every Module Leader, for every student, will be present at the Programme Assessment Board.
Where Programme Boards and Module Boards are operated as one conflated Board, the external examiners will be appointed to the Programme Boards but will undertake responsibilities as outlined under the relevant module and programme Board.