Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme The Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (the Scheme) applies to all taught courses in the University and its affiliated colleges, with the exception (as at February 1994) of the Bachelor of Medicine course. Credit points are assigned by faculties to every course unit in accordance with the principles set out in the Guide and Regulations (below). Details of unit credit-ratings may be obtained from Faculty/ College Offices; in most cases they correspond to the proportion of the total course of which the unit forms a part. The Scheme is open to all students.

Guide and Regulations

Preface
The Scheme allows students to qualify for awards of the University through the accumulation of credit points for course units which are the building blocks of programmes of study. Students may be permitted to assemble individual programmes according to their needs and interests and credit points may be given for previous formal courses of study. A series of awards is available at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Students undertake an overall programme of study which has stated aims and objectives and which demonstrates coherence, balance and progression through the course units it contains. Students are given grade points in each course unit according to the quality of their performance at assessment. These grade points are used by the examiners to assess whether the standard of overall performance is high enough for an award to be made and, in the case of honours degrees, to determine the class awarded. Course units taken and grade points obtained are recorded annually and a transcript, or certificate of credit, which also shows where credit points have been "cashed in" for an award, is available to the student.

The Scheme also permits students to study individual course units without the immediate aim of achieving an award.

In this Guide the following terms are used:

Programme of study: the curriculum of an individual student deemed acceptable as leading to an award if successfully completed.

Course unit/module: subdivision of a course to which is assigned a number of credit points; a self-contained part of a programme of study with separate objectives, pre-requisites, syllabus and assessment scheme. Each course unit/module will consist of one or more elements.

Credit points: a number between 4 and 120 representing the contribution of a course unit to a student's programme of study. 120 credit points represent the normal workload for a student taking a full-time programme of study for one academic year of a three-year first degree course or a one-year postgraduate Master's course.

Grade points: points on a scale of 16 (excellent) to 0 (fail) awarded as the assessment of the quality of a student's performance in a course unit.

Level: an indication of the notional degree of difficulty associated with credit points. Course units are assigned to levels; typically, levels 1, 2 and 3* correspond to undergraduate studies in years 1, 2 and 3 respectively of a conventional three-year first degree course; level 4* denotes the fourth year of first degree Master's programmes and level M* postgraduate instructional units. The level of a unit represents the lowest level at which it may be taken. Course units appropriate to a postgraduate programme of study are designed at M-level.

Regulations

Introduction

  1. These regulations govern the Scheme in general. Detailed regulations relating to defined programmes of study are contained in other Sections of the Calendar.

  2. The Scheme provides for the following awards:

    at undergraduate level:
    Certificate of Higher Education
    Diploma of Higher Education
    Honours degree of Bachelor
    Ordinary degree of Bachelor
    First degree of Master

    at postgraduate level:
    Postgraduate Certificate
    Postgraduate Diploma
    Degree of Master

    by the accumulation of academic credit points through programmes of study composed of course units. A student's programme of study may be taken by full-time or, where permitted, by part-time study, and may incorporate credit points for appropriate prior learning and for the successful completion of employment-based training.

Admission of Students

  1. The admission of students to the Scheme is governed by the established entry requirements of the University faculty and/or department or of the relevant college, as appropriate.

  2. The majority of students are admitted to complete programmes of study which lead to an award. However, students may be admitted with credit points from previous study elsewhere. Approval of such admission with advanced standing is at the discretion of the University or the college concerned and is subject to there being sufficient evidence available to arrive at a judgement of both the level and equivalent credit points of the student's prior learning, which may include the evaluation of prior experiential learning and industrial training.

    It is also possible for students to study for credit points associated with individual units, for example continuing education modules, but without the immediate aim of achieving an award.

Programme of Study

  1. Awards following study at undergraduate level are based on the standard of the three-year full-time honours degree for which at least 360 credit points must be accumulated.

  2. Postgraduate awards are based on the standard of the one-year full-time taught Master's degree for which at least 120** credit points must be accumulated from course units designated as level M*.

  3. Each level of a programme, however studied, is equivalent to one year's full-time work and satisfactory completion normally requires the accumulation of a minimum of 120 credit points.

  4. A course unit will be assigned credit points at one level only. A course unit may be incorporated into any part of a student's programme of study provided that, in doing so, the regulations of the programme are not contravened.

  5. Each course unit will be assigned a specific credit point rating which will be the maximum which may be accumulated from the unit.

  6. Approved programmes of study are published, for example in the University Calendar. The appropriate Faculty/Academic Board may also approve programmes of study where these do not match existing approved programmes.

  7. On registration the student will agree in writing to the programme of study. The programme may be renegotiated at any time but changes will be subject to the prior approval of the appropriate Faculty/Academic Board.

  8. The programme of study will specify the conditions that the student must satisfy in order to progress to the next level, including any necessary prerequisite study. The student shall normally have satisfied any prerequisites before being permitted to register for a course unit.

  9. While a student will normally complete one level of the programme before moving to the next, the Faculty/Academic Board may allow concurrent study of course units from more than one level subject to the completion of any appropriate prerequisites.

  10. A student's programme of study may be composed of course units of any size.

  11. With the approval of the Faculty/Academic Board course units to the value of a maximum of 150 credit points may be studied in any period of 12 months and accumulated towards an award.

  12. Students specialising in certain subject areas may be required to complete a period of study in another country or in employment or to include specified course units.

Assessment

  1. Arrangements for assessment and re-assessment of course units/modules will be as specified by the Faculty/Academic Board and in course regulations.

Determination of Awards

  1. A level (or levels) and a number of credit points will be assigned to every course unit/module.

  2. Grade points for each course unit will be assigned by the examiners as follows:

    Grade PointsConventional Honours classification
    16.0
    15.0I - an outstanding performance
    14.0

    13.0
    12.0IIi - an above average performance
    11.0

    10.0
    9.0 IIii - an average performance
    8.0

    7.0
    6.0 III - a satisfactory performance
    5.0

    4.0 Pass - a borderline pass

    3.0
    2.0 Fail - fail
    1.0
    0.0

    Marking schemes in use in the faculties/departments/colleges will incorporate an indication of equivalence between these grade points and marks awarded.

    Where it is not possible to grade according to the above scheme, for example with experiential learning, a classification will be given and no grade points assigned.

  3. Credit points for course units may normally be counted once only towards an award of the University.

Awards following Undergraduate Study

  1. Students are eligible for the awards below provided they satisfy their Faculty/College examination and attendance regulations which define in detail the level and achievement required. The level of attainment normally required is:

    Certificate of Higher Education120 credit points
    Diploma of Higher Education240 credit points
    Honours degree360 credit points
    Ordinary degree300 credit points
    First degree Master's480 credit points (including 60 at level 4*)

    However, candidates with fewer credit points may also proceed in good standing where, according to Faculty/College regulations compensation is permitted for failed units.

Awards following Postgraduate Study

  1. To qualify for the award of a Postgraduate Diploma a student must normally successfully complete, or be credited with, course units at level M totalling at least 70** credit points.

    Students entering without an Honours degree may be required to complete a programme of studies totalling more than 70 credit points as determined by the appropriate Faculty/Academic Board.

  2. To qualify for the award of a Master's degree the student must normally successfully complete, or be credited with, course units at level M totalling at least 120** credit points, normally including 50 credit points from a dissertation. A distinction may be awarded for a performance at a level defined in course regulations.

  3. In certain cases a Postgraduate Certificate may be awarded. Course regulations define the level of achievement required in each case.

Certificate of Credit

  1. The University/college issues annually on request to every student a certificate of credit (a transcript), which lists all the course units taken, grade points awarded and credit points accumulated. Where appropriate it will also show an award made.

Footnotes:

*All levels (1, 2, 3, 4 and M) are subject to change, and retitling, in the light of the prescription of levels by the Quality Assurance Agency in the National Qualifications Framework.

**During 2000-01 the University shall consider the implications of the National Qualifications Framework, within which all postgraduate Masters degrees are to be comprised of 180 credit points at the appropriate postgraduate level. All new masters programmes developed during 2000-01 shall be required to adopt the 180 credit structure.