Assessments & Examinations

Programme Handbook

In addition to the information provided here your programme tutor will provide you with your Programme Handbook. It will normally contain detail of:

How the grades awarded will contribute to your final award
What kind of assessments or examinations will be used to determine your grade
Deadline dates for submission
Links to relevant Academic Regulations

For information about these issues, please contact your module or programme leader.

Academic Regulations

The Academic Regulations relevant to your HE programme will either be:

New College Durham Academic Regulations for the award of Foundation Degrees

Regulations for the Validated Awards of the Open University

Regulations for Pearson BTEC Higher Nationals as articulated by Pearson and the Joint Council for Qualifications

Assessment Results

Your tutor will normally provide written feedback on your assessment within four College weeks of the deadline submission date.

Any issues you experience with grades/results in your formal assessments should be discussed initially with your subject tutor or programme leader. In most cases it should be possible to resolve your issue in this way. You need to be aware that the marking of your assessments is carried out using clear criteria. This means that the assessments are marked objectively. A sample of marked work form each assessment is considered by another member of the College’s academic staff to ensure the marking is standardised. This is referred to as second marking or internal moderation. A sample of work is also considered by the External Examiner who is an experienced lecturer independent of the College. This ensures that appropriate objective standards are being maintained. Teaching staff will use their professional academic judgement when they assess student work.

Deadlines, extenuating circumstances and suspension of studies

You can always hand work in early but if you hand work in later than the deadline without agreeing an extension with your tutor, then you will receive a penalty. Your tutor may advise you to apply for Mitigation if your circumstances require a longer extension or some form of consideration to be applied. Please refer to our procedure for Consideration of Extenuating Circumstances / Mitigation

If you require a longer time away from study you can apply for a pdf Suspension of Studies (1.55 MB) .

Examinations

Examinations will be conducted according to the College’s Examinations and Assessments Policy and the internal procedure for HE Examinations which is available from the Student Intranet.

All students must produce photographic ID when taking examinations at New College Durham so we can confirm your identity. Failure to produce photographic ID will result in you not being allowed to take the examination(s).

Academic Integrity

New College Durham recognises the importance of promoting and protecting academic integrity and our Academic Integrity Policy indicates we have signed up to the QAA Academic Integrity Charter, producing our own charter which is available here.

The College also recognises the importance of Academic Integrity and has procedures for the identification and investigation of academic malpractice. You need to be aware of the potential penalties for malpractice and the activities that the College finds unacceptable like plagiarism, collusion and the use of essay mills. Our procedure for investigating HE academic malpractice can be found on the Student Intranet.

We have Guidance on the use of Generative AI to help students understand acceptable practice.

Professional Practice

If you are studying on an award that leads to a professional qualification, or is regulated by a professional body, you may find you are governed by additional professional principles and practices during your study. Your tutors will advise you of any regulations pertinent to these. You may find that failure to meet these standards will result in you being unable to practice professionally and possibly being required to withdraw from the programme.

Final Awards

At the end of your academic year you will receive a Statement of Results and at the end of your programme you will receive a Certificate and a Final Statement of Results (sometimes called a Diploma Supplement).

You will be notified of your final results within 2 days of ratification. Results for Open University (OU) programmes are provisional until ratified by the OU Module Results and Approval Qualification panel (MRAQCP).

It is important that we have the correct name, email and postal address in order to ensure your results and certificate are sent to you. It is your responsibility to ensure we hold correct personal details for you. Please note that results will not be given over the telephone.

Enquiries about this process should be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Replacement Documents

If you require a replacement document please refer to our Academic Registry Services page.

Appeals

If you wish to appeal against the award the College has conferred you may consider an Academic Appeal. The process for this is described in the College’s Assessment and Moderation Academic Appeals Procedure

Ethics Approval for a Project/Dissertation Proposal

All research proposals that students are planning to undertake will need to be approved by their Supervisor/Research Tutor. Where primary and secondary research with a risk element is proposed this must also be approved by College Ethics Committee. The procedure and associated documentation for this process can be found on Student Intranet in the section titled Higher Education Information.