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Assessment and Feedback

Your guide to assessment and feedback in the Department of Media and Communications

Students should contact Media.Assessment@lse.ac.uk with any queries

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1) Formative assessment and feedback deadlines

Formative assessment develops the knowledge and skills that you acquire from your courses. Formative assessment is a compulsory part of every course and may include class/seminar discussions and presentations; essays; problem sets; research proposals, mock examinations or quizzes. Formative assessment does not count towards your course mark or your overall degree classification. Instead, it is is designed to prepare you for the summative (assessed) work that you will complete later in the course. The feedback you receive from your formative work will help prepare you for your summative work.

We have set formative deadlines for the core courses which all our MSc students take:

Course

Assessment

Weighting

Submission deadline

Feedback deadline

MC408

Essay (1500 words)

0%

31 October 2024 at 12.00 noon

21  November 2024

Methods

Research Proposal (1500 words)

0%

6 March 2025 at 12.00 noon

27 March 2025

Other Courses

check with course convenor

0%

Week 7 in AT/WT

3 weeks after submission

For formative assignments (except MC408 and Methods) in the department, you should check the exact deadline with your course convenor or seminar leader. Feedback on formative tasks will normally be returned to students within three term weeks of the submission deadline, where students submit their work on time.

2) Summative assessment and feedback deadlines

Summative assessment tests whether you have acquired the learning outcomes of each course. Summative assessment is a compulsory part of every course and may include a variety of methods including coursework (such as essays), closed book and take-home assessments, presentations and dissertations. Summative assessment does count towards your course mark course and your overall degree classification. Individual courses may be assessed by one piece of summative assessment or by a combination of different types of summative assessment.

The below table lists the summative assessment deadlines for master's courses in the department in the academic year 2024/25. Feedback on summative tasks will normally be returned to students within five term weeks of the submission deadline, where students submit their work on time. All feedback deadlines comply with the .

Course

Assessment

Weighting

Submission deadline

Feedback deadline

MC402

Essay (3000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC403

Essay (3000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC404

Essay (3000 words)

100%

20 January 2025 at 12.00 noon

21 February 2025

MC407

Essay (3000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC408

Essay (3000 words)

100%

20 January 2025 at 12.00 noon

21 February 2025

MC409

Essay (3000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC411

Essay (3000 words)

100%

20 January 2025 at 12.00 noon

21 February 2025

MC416

Essay (3000 words)

100%

20 January 2025 at 12.00 noon

21 February 2025

MC418

Essay (3000 words)

100%

20 January 2025 at 12.00 noon

21 February 2025

MC419

Essay (3000 words)

100%

20 January 2025 at 12.00 noon

21 February 2025

MC421

Take-home assessment (7 days)

100%

26 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

20 June 2024

MC422

Essay (3000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC423

Essay (3000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC424

Take-home assessment (7 days)

 100%

26 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

20 June 2024

MC425

Essay (3000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC426

Essay (3000 words)

100%

20 January 2025 at 12.00 noon

21 February 2025

MC427

Essay (3000 words)

100%

20 January 2025 at 12.00 noon

21 February 2025

MC428

Essay (3000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC429

Essay (3000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC430

Essay/Project (3000 words)

100%

20 January 2025 at 12.00 noon

21 February 2025

MC431

Essay (3000 words)

100%

20 January 2025 at 12.00 noon

21 February 2025

MC432

Project (5000 words)

100%

20 January 2025 at 12.00 noon

21 February 2025

MC434

Essay (3000 words)

100%

20 January 2025 at 12.00 noon

21 February 2025

MC436

Essay (3000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC437

Essay (4000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC438

Essay (3000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC440

Essay (3000 words)

100%

6 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

6 June 2025

MC4M1

Exam (2hrs)

20%

January Exam Period (check )

 

Essay (3000 words)

80%

8 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

13 June 2025

MC4M2

Exam (2hrs)

20%

January Exam Period (check )

 

Essay (5000 words)

80%

8 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

13 June 2024

MC4M7

Exam (2hrs)

20%

Spring Exam Period (check )

 

Essay (3000 words)

80%

8 May 2025 at 12.00 noon

13 June 2024

MC499

Dissertation (10,000-12,000 words)

100%

21 August 2025 at 12.00 noon

30 September 2025

 

3) Coursework submission instructions

Formative submission instructions

  • Formative coursework must be submitted online via Moodle coursework, refer to your seminar teacher for whether you must also submit a hard copy during your seminar. If so, formative assignment essays should be printed on A4 or American letter paper, using a clearly legible font of at least 12pt, with 3 cm/1inch margins, and 1.5 line spacing.
  • Coursework must be typed in a clearly legible font with a font size of at least 12. Line spacing should be set to 1.5 or 2.0; margins should be set to at least 3cm. Tables and figures must be numbered and given a title and a source. All pages must be numbered.
  • Upload an electronic copy of your essay to the assessment section of Moodle. You must name the file as follows: MC4XX_Name. For example, MC408_JennyJones.
  • A standard submission sheet (Formative Coursework Coversheet, available on Moodle) must be attached as the first page of the formative assessment.

Summative submission instructions

  • Summative coursework must be submitted online via Moodle (hard copy submission is not required).
  • You must submit to course pages on Moodle by 12.00pm (noon UK time) on submission day. Any work submitted after this deadline without an extension will be recorded as a late submission.
  • Coursework must be typed in a clearly legible font with a font size of at least 12. Line spacing should be set to 1.5 or 2.0; margins should be set to at least 3cm. Tables and figures must be numbered and given a title and a source. All pages must be numbered.
  • You must submit your coursework as a single PDF file which includes a coversheet, a Generative AI statement (if used), followed by your essay, a bibliography and any appendices.
  • If you have used Generative AI tools in preparing your coursework, you must include a statement confirming this after your coversheet but before the main body of your coursework. See details in the Section 8 of the Assessment and Feedback page.
  • You must name the file as: MC4XX_CANDIDATE NUMBER. e.g. if your candidate number is 12345, you would name the MC408 electronic file as MC408_12345. Check carefully that you are uploading the correct file, which must be the final version of your essay.
  • Your name and student number must not appear on the assignment. Use only your 5-digit candidate number, not your 9-digit student ID number. Incorrectly named files can cause delays in the marking and feedback process.
  • Your essay must include the Title/Name of the essay (usually the same as the essay question) and the date of submission.
  • You are not permitted to alter your Moodle submission after the deadline of 12.00pm (noon UK time). Any attempt to do so will be counted as a late submission and a penalty will apply.
  • Coursework must contain complete and correct referencing and bibliographies - see the 'Plagiarism and academic misconduct' section below for more details.

4) Word count

When writing assignments, students must adhere to the stated word limit. However, the Department of Media and Communications allows a 10% margin of error on word count, meaning students can write 10% over or under the stated word limit, unless specific course assignment guidelines state otherwise. For example, for an assignment of 3000 words, students should aim to submit no more than 3300 words and no fewer than 2700 words.

The word count must be recorded on the coversheet, which you must attach to the first page of your submission. Where the word count of an assignment is considerably over or under the limit (i.e., more than 10%) this will be taken into consideration during the marking process.

For all formative and summative coursework submitted to the Department of Media and Communications, including the dissertation, the word count will include:

  • the main body of the text 
  • titles, headings and subheadings
  • abstracts
  • directly quoted material
  • footnotes and endnotes used to provide additional information to supplement the main body of the text

 The word count will not include:

  • in-text (bracketed) citations, as used in referencing systems such as Harvard, APA, MLA and the Chicago/Turabian 'author-date' style
  • footnote or endnote citations, as used in referencing systems such as Oxford and the Chicago/Turabian 'notes and bibliography' style
  • the coversheet
  • the Generative AI statement
  • letters of notification (only used by students with My Adjustments)
  • tables of content
  • acknowledgements and dedications
  • graphs, figures, tables, images, and captions referring to these
  • appendices
  • bibliographies and reference lists

Written coursework submitted to other academic departments may have different word count rules, so please check before submitting work if this applies to you.

5) Late submission penalties for summative work

If you have a summative assessment and you are worried that you will not meet the deadline, you should request either an Extension or a Deferral (see the 'Extensions, Deferrals and Exceptional Circumstances' section at the bottom of this page). If you don’t successfully request either of these, and you submit your work late, the penalties will be as follows:

  • Coursework (including essays, projects and dissertations)
    Five marks will be deducted for coursework submitted within 24 hours after the deadline. A further five marks will be deducted for each subsequent 24 hour period (this includes weekends, public holidays and School closure days) until the coursework is submitted. Coursework more than five days late will only be accepted with the permission of the Chair of the Sub-Board of Examiners.
  • 7-Day take-home assessments
    Within the first 24 hours after the assessment submission deadline, five marks will be deducted for every half-day (12 hours), or part of a half day the assessment is received late. This will result in a maximum penalty of ten percentage marks for the first 24 hours. For beyond the first 24 hours after assessment submission deadline, ten marks will be deducted for the first 24 hours as above then five percentage marks will be deducted per 24 hour period (not limited to working days) the assessment is late, or 24 hour period, thereafter.

If you do submit an assessment late, then it is important that you submit an Exceptional Circumstances form (see the 'Extensions, Deferrals and Exceptional Circumstances' section at the bottom of this page), which allows the Department to consider any circumstances you were experiencing at the time which may have affected your ability to submit work by the deadline. 

6) How we mark your work

All summative coursework in the Department is marked using a system called ‘moderation’. Moderation is an established and widely used system of marking in UK academia. Moderation aims to assure that assessments have been marked in an academically rigourous manner, fairly, with consistency, and with reference to agreed marking criteria. Initially, the first marker, who is either the teacher responsible for the course or a member of academic staff who has experience in the subject matter to the satisfaction of the Exam Sub-Board Chair, marks the pieces of work and writes notes justifying these marks. All courses are then moderated by a moderator, who is a member of full-time faculty. The role of the moderator is to review and verify marks and to oversee the consistency of marking in line with assessment criteria, the course aims, and the expected learning outcomes. The moderator performs this role through a review of the overall mark distribution and the reading of an appropriate sample of assessments.  In the unusual situation where marks cannot be confirmed, the first marker refers the marking outcome to the Exam Sub-Board Chair who will decide on what action, if any, is required, and whose decision will be final with respect to the internal marking procedure.

In the case of in-class work which is non-textual (e.g. presentations), an appropriate system of moderation is put in place to enable consistency and rigour in marking. This could be through joint observation of presentations and/or review of presentation reports. 

All dissertations are independently double-blind marked i.e. each marker marks the dissertation without having sight of the other marker’s mark or comments during the process. In the case of dissertations, one of the two markers, normally your supervisor, is assigned the role of ‘first marker’ and is responsible for arranging a meeting between both markers to discuss and agree upon a provisional mark for the dissertation.

The Department’s marking standards and the rigour of its moderation processes are reviewed each year by the Department’s External Examiners who report to the Department’s Exam Sub-Board and to the School. We are confident that our assessment and marking processes are robust, and as such students are not able to call into question the academic judgement of markers. There is no provision, therefore, for summative work to be re-marked.

Students can review the following webpage for advice and guidance on .

7) Plagiarism and assessment misconduct

  • Academic misconduct regulations (including plagiarism)
    Everything you need to know about the School's regulations and what is expected of you can be found .
  • Citing and referencing
    Find resources and tools for citing and referencing correctly from the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Library
  • Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools
    See section below.
  • TurnItIn
    The School uses TurnItIn text-matching software to assist in detecting plagiarism for written assignments. Click  for the School's TurnItIn FAQs for students.
  • Statement on editorial help
    Find everything you need to know about editorial help for your written assignments .
  • Exam procedures for candidates
    Make sure you know the rules before sitting exams, which can be found .
  • ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ LIFE
    Click  to find out more about support, resources and events to develop your learning and skills in relation to academic integrity, misconduct and plagiarism.

8) Policy on the use of AI Tools in Learning and Assessment

In the Department of Media and Communications, our priority is to ensure that students have the best possible opportunity to develop their critical thinking, hone their analytical skills and refine their ethical sensibilities in relation to the opportunities and challenges that media and communications presents in theory and practice. Students also share these goals, but in addition, they want to develop and use associated skills (research, writing, presentation) in a way that makes sense to them in the context of their daily lives, and that will be useful for them once they leave ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ to pursue their careers. 

The departmental policy is based on the differentiation between AI-powered tools and generative AI tools.

  • AI-powered tools use artificial intelligence to support (academic) learning, writing and research. They are now embedded in the ways in which students go about their day-to-day work, through tools like typing assistants, search engines, and referencing databases. Many of these use machine learning to identify and generate predictable outcomes (e.g. correct grammatical constructions in a particular type of sentence, or correct requirements for a particular referencing style).
  • A sub-set of AI-powered tools, often called generative AI tools, use deep learning and Large Language Models (LLMs) to produce outputs that more closely mimic human activities, thought processes and outputs. These tools include Microsoft Co-Pilot, ChatGPT, Canva, Midjourney, and many others. Students tend to use generative AI tools to support their learning by activities such as summarising content, doing an initial survey of literature in an area, or simplifying articles and ideas. 

This departmental policy addresses the reality that AI-powered and generative AI tools are now part of the academic landscape, and the need to balance the use of these tools with ethical awareness about their use, as well as ensuring the integrity of students’ learning, assessment and achievement in the Department.

Fundamentally, we both encourage and expect students to be careful and reflective in their use of AI-powered and generative AI tools. They may be used to support, but not replace, your own intellectual effort both in class and in assessments, and when employed should be used sparingly, recognising that what may appear as a useful shortcut in the short term (for example, summarising literature in a particular area of media and communications scholarship) may limit the development of knowledge and insight in the longer term (for example, a more in-depth understanding of the different positions in the field and the nuance of their arguments). Moreover, the tools themselves present a range of ethical challenges – for example, in relation to their environmental impact, their use of intellectual property without permission, labour exploitation to train AI datasets, and equality of access to different generative AI tools (e.g. paid or unpaid versions).  

In line with these expectations, students must adhere to the following rules:

 During the year:

  1. You may use both AI-powered tools and generative AI tools (based on deep learning) during the course of learning and teaching throughout the year, with the limits listed below. In the case of generative AI tools, you should be aware that these tools are far from perfect and may produce incorrect or nonsensical results. When using generative AI tools, you should always review the content they deliver against other sources to ensure accuracy and evaluate whether or not the output is actually useful for you.  Where you do use generative AI tools, we encourage you to use Microsoft Co-Pilot. The ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ has a site-wide licence for Co-Pilot, and this ensures that all students have access to the same level of generative AI support. 
  2. You may not use generative AI tools to auto-translate the spoken content of lectures, because this contravenes the intellectual property rights of the teachers developing and delivering the content.
  3. You may not use generative AI tools to auto-translate the spoken content during seminars, because this may also contravene intellectual property rights of the teachers, and of students who may be presenting or contributing. Seminars are designed to be participatory, and your role in this is essential. You should focus on reflecting on the topics and readings related to the seminar with your fellow students, and engage in the discussions wherever you can.

For assessments:

  1. You may use AI-powered tools in the process of producing an assessment.
  2. You may not use any generative AI tools (including Microsoft Co-Pilot) in the process of producing an assessment, including writing drafts of all or part of a proposed submission; producing assignment structures, titles or topics; or changing your own writing into a different style.
  3. If, during the course of the year, you have used generative AI tools for learning about topics related to your assessment, you may of course use the learning you have developed while using them. However, you may not copy any of the content produced by a generative AI tool into your assessment (see examples below).
  4. All assessments should be written in your own English, and you may support your writing with AI-powered tools such as editorial assistants or thesaurus tools. However, you may not use translation software for translating all or part of your assessment into English, from another language, for your submission, because your assessments should be your own original writing. Any writing that is not yours (e.g. citations from academic texts) should properly referenced back to its original source.

Using generative AI tools against these rules will be treated as a case of academic misconduct, with measures taken in accordance with the School’s expectations and policy on academic misconduct .

 Examples:

 A student uses a generative AI tool (e.g Microsoft Co-Pilot) to obtain a summary of the theory of the Circuit of Culture model. They use this summary when reflecting back on their course readings and lectures on the topic, to develop their understanding prior to, and after a seminar on the topic – permitted

      - The student then uses the understanding they have developed to write their assessment on the topic – permitted

      - The student inserts the summary from the generative AI tool into their assessment on the topic – not permitted

 A student uses translation software to check the meaning of a word or phrase in a course reading, primary source or in lecture slides – permitted

 A student uses translation software to translate their original essay, from another language, into English, for submission – not permitted

 A student enters key terms into a search engine to search for theoretical literature relevant to a particular aspect of Development Communication - permitted 

 A student enters a series of bullet points into Canva and asks it to create a presentation based on them – not permitted

 A student uses Canva to draw a diagram of their conceptual framework for their dissertation – permitted

 A student is writing an assignment and uses referencing software to insert references into the body of an essay and compile the reference list – permitted 

9) Assessment criteria

General information

The Department of Media and Communications is committed to transparency and clarity in its assessment criteria. The general assessment criteria are intended as broad guides to the kinds of qualities that examiners will be looking for in written work. The Department will apply the same general criteria for the different kinds of written and oral assessment although, in the case of unseen written examinations, the restricted time will also be taken into account.

Our aim is to encourage and support students to develop a sophisticated knowledge of the subject, the capacity for independent and critical judgment, and the ability to express ideas with clarity. Our expectation is that students will go beyond lecture materials and use the reading lists and other library resources as a basis for an exploration of an area, there are no model answers associated with a given mark.

Assessment is not carried out according to a checklist, but in an integrated way that assesses the piece of work as a whole and allows for deficits in one aspect to be compensated for by strengths in another aspect. Since all written and oral presentation examinations are time-limited and coursework essays are restricted in length, you must decide which theories and findings are important for your argument. Thus, an important skill to develop is determining what to omit. Appropriate omissions will depend on the argument that you wish to present.

There are no “model answers” against which your written work will be assessed, which is why we do not provide "model essays" written by former students. There are many different ways of successfully approaching a question and answers employing widely differing arguments may be equally successful. The appropriateness or relevance of your use of material from published and unpublished sources is judged according to its relevance to the argument you are presenting; not relative to a model answer.

The types of essay or presentation topics and examination questions posed require original thinking and/or synthesis across areas of the media and communications. There may be a core of important material but there are usually several acceptable ways of framing that material and of introducing relevant arguments. Students must decide which theories and findings are important for their own argument.

General assessment criteria for coursework and examinations

In the assessment of an essay and the writing of feedback to students, the examiners look for evidence of work that is responsive to the following three criteria:

Argumentation and Understanding

Analysis

Organisation

Your argument

Your critical appraisal

The structure of your assignment

Your reading and research

Your application of argument

Your presentation and writing

Your understanding of key concepts

Your use of sources and evidence

Your citation and bibliography

Please find the detailed Coursework Assessment Criteria here. Written and oral assignments will be assessed based on the above criteria, including presentation structure and presentation style. The same assessment scheme broadly applies to the assessment of unseen examination essays, with appropriate allowances for the limited time available and unavailability of cited work. 

Assessment scheme for assignments

Marks are numerical 0-100. All students taking MC courses will receive a provisional letter grade, e.g. Bad Fail (BF), Fail (F), Pass (P), Merit (M), Distinction (D), by the published feedback deadline.

80–100: High Distinction: This is for outstanding work that achieves nearly all that could reasonably be expected of an MSc student, and will feature many if not all of the following characteristics: original argument, creative selection of sources, highly critical appraisal and analysis, excellent integration of theory and evidence, excellent expression, citation and bibliographic norms.

70–79: Distinction: This is for excellent work that achieves most of what could reasonably be expected of an MSc student, and will feature many of the following characteristics: original argument, creative selection of sources, highly critical appraisal and analysis, excellent integration of theory and evidence, excellent expression, citation and bibliographic norms.

60–69: Merit: This is for work of good quality with a well-defined focus. Such work will feature many if not all of the following characteristics: thoughtful argument, well-researched selection of sources, good critical appraisal, well integrated theory and evidence, good, clear expression, accurate citation and bibliography.

50–59: Pass: This is for work that reaches the overall standard required of a MSc student and will feature many if not all of the following characteristics: standard argument and range of sources used, mainly fair synthesis of ideas, adequate presentation and flaws or gaps in citation and bibliography norms.

40–49: Fail: This is for work that does not reach the overall standard required of a MSc student. It will feature many if not all of the following characteristics: weak argument, narrow range of sources used, descriptive account, poor presentation, inaccurate citation and gaps in bibliography.

0–39: Bad Fail (for MC courses only): This is for work that shows a basic lack of knowledge and ability. Such work will feature many if not all of the following characteristics: very weak argument, little use of even standard sources, descriptive, with large gaps, very poor presentation with flawed expression and extensive flaws in citation and bibliography.

Dissertation assessment criteria

Assessment criteria for the dissertation are broadly the same as for coursework – please see above. You can find details of the specific aspects of dissertation assessment in the Dissertation Guide on the .

10) Feedback

Get the most from your feedback

The following handbook on How to Use Feedback Effectively, produced by the Department of Social Policy, gives excellent guidance on how to understand and use the feedback you receive. You can use it to support your engagement with feedback of all kinds, and to develop the ways you use the advice to improve your work.

Formative and summative assessment feedback

Throughout your MSc programme you will receive feedback in diverse forms and on a variety of aspects of the development of your understanding of the field of media and communications and on your performance.

During the year you will receive written feedback on your formative and summative assessment assignments. This written feedback can then be discussed with your academic mentor, supervisor and the course teacher for the assessed course.

After the conclusion of the dissertation marking process, you will receive written feedback on your dissertation. You will receive brief written feedback on your examinations within the department.

Information on the timeframe of feedback can be found in Section 2 of the .

Other kinds of feedback you will receive during the year

You will receive oral feedback during seminars with your seminar teachers as you develop your ideas and participate in seminar activities.

You will work in small groups in your seminars, interacting with your peers, who give you feedback on how your learning is progressing.

You will receive face to face feedback from your academic mentor in Michaelmas Term and from your dissertation supervisor in Lent and Summer Term. This feedback may be about your overall learning and progression, on a specific aspect of your development, or on your performance in a specific assignment.

You will receive oral feedback on the development of your dissertation ideas from your Supervisor during Feedback and Advice hours and during group supervision sessions. Feedback and advice hours of other staff are also good opportunities to receive feedback on the development of your dissertation ideas.

You also will receive oral feedback from academic staff providing any extra-curricular activities you register for during the year, for example, on essay writing, citation practice or language skills. You will receive feedback from mentors if you choose to engage in internship activities facilitated by ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ and by the Department.

11) I am not happy my provisional grade - can my work be re-marked?

Please note that there is no provision for summative work to be re-marked, and students are not permitted negotiate their provisional grade with staff.

The Department’s marking standards and the rigour of its processes are reviewed each year by the Department’s External Examiners who report to the Department’s Exam Sub-Board and to the School. We are confident that our assessment and marking processes are robust, and as such students are not able to call into question the academic judgement of markers.

Students may make an appointment to meet with the marker of their work, the course convenor, their academic mentor, or any other member of staff to discuss provisional grades and feedback, but as mentioned above, students cannot negotiate their grade or ask for work to be re-marked. It may also be useful to speak to ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ LIFE who can help students develop future work using the feedback they have received.

Students are permitted to submit , which will be considered by the Departmental and School Exam Boards. Individual marks cannot be changed as a result of the submission of Exceptional Circumstances, but the Exam Boards can take your circumstances into account when considering your final degree classification.

Students can review the following webpage for advice and guidance on  once they have been released formally.

12) Extensions, Deferrals and Exceptional Circumstances

Extensions

The ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳  allows you to request more time for a summative assessment if you experience exceptional circumstances which are sudden, unforeseen, outside of your control and proximate to an assessment.

You can request an extension here.

Deferrals

The Deferral process allows you to postpone an assessment to the next appropriate assessment opportunity. See the  webpage for further details on how to request a deferral.

Exceptional Circumstances

If you have submitted an assessment or sat an exam and you feel your performance has been affected by unforeseen circumstances that were outside of your control then you should submit Exceptional Circumstances (ECs). See the  webpage for further details on how to submit exceptional circumstances.

13) Progression and results

Results

Please review the below for Information on when results are published, how to interpret them and what to do if you want to challenge your results.

Progression to Year 2 (MSc Global Media and Communications students)

Progression to Year 2 of the MSc Global Media and Communications programme will be subject to the satisfactory achievement of the academic requirements of Year 1 at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳.

Students will progress to Year 2 unless any of the exceptional circumstances below occur: 

A student has either deferred or not made a serious attempt in assessment for any course.

A student has failed courses to the value of more than one unit (two half units). 

 A student has indicated that they do not intend to make a serious attempt to submit a dissertation at the end of the first year at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ and/or has not submitted formative work to their Dissertation Supervisor.

The Department will hold a progression meeting to consider the facts in relation to any of the above circumstances. The meeting will consider any medical and/or exceptional circumstances presented by a student, before deciding whether to recommend that they should progress to the second year or not. Any recommendation to progress in any of the above circumstances will require approval by the partner institution (University of Southern California, Fudan University, or University of Cape Town). 

The Department will inform the student as soon as possible if they are not permitted to progress to the second year. 

For MSc in Global Media and Communications (ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ and USC) only: 

In the University of Southern California (USC) system, any failed ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ course would receive zero units and must be made up either by resitting the assessment at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ or by taking a course of equivalent value at USC. Therefore, students who do not pass all ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ courses but who otherwise qualify for their ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ degree will be required under the USC regulations to either resit the failed ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ course(s) or to pass an additional course(s) of equivalent value at USC in order to satisfy the criteria for the USC award. If a student in this situation resits any ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ course(s), this will not improve or adversely affect their existing ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ degree classification. At USC, taking an extra course can cost more than $5000 USD, so students are advised to take this into consideration when deciding whether to resit an ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ course or take an additional USC course.

Students may resit courses while they are studying in Year 2 at USC.