Purpose and responsibilities

Colleges are responsible for the establishment of DABs. It is the responsibility of each Head of Department annually to approve the membership for each DAB and to determine that each board is properly constituted with a Chair and External Examiner.

The purpose of DABs is to provide accurate results to students who are:

• progressing to the next level of study
• continuing to the next academic year on the same level of study
• achieving an award

For semester 1 modules, DABs will meet in order to ratify marks. The responsibilities of DABs are to:
• ensure that assessment has been conducted in accordance with the current course document and approved module descriptors
• ratify the final moderated marks for each course
• ratify individual student assessment profiles leading to progression, continuation and award (including deeming students to be withdrawn)
• ensure that the assessment of students has been conducted in accordance with University regulations (and PSRB requirements where appropriate)
• address quality assurance issues relating to assessment delivery and processing which require immediate attention, e.g. scaling
• identify quality assurance issues requiring review for referral to Departmental Boards, e.g. modules with high referral rates

DABs are where marks are ratified prior to the publication of final results to students. Marks cannot be changed after this point unless there has been: 

• an input error
• a mathematical error in the grading
• a material error in the assessment process which has affected students