3.1 Second marking of student work by University academic staff at collaborative partners will normally take place at the highest level of study. For postgraduate courses and level 6 degree top-up awards this simply means all modules within such programmes.
3.2 For full 3 or 4 year degree courses, Foundation Degrees and other sub-degree provision the following applies:
a) If the first intake is only at one level (either 4 or 5) then that is where second marking occurs.
b) In the second year of operation, second marking will follow the first cohort of students so that it always occurs at the highest level being delivered. For example, in the first year of operation of a new Foundation Degree, students enter only at the start of Level 4 and the second marking at the end of the year will be on the level 4 modules. In the second year of operation this first cohort will progress to level 5 and a new cohort will join level 4 - second marking will only occur at level 5. A second example sees a Foundation Degree commence with students joining at both level 4 and level 5 and in this case the second marking would be at level 5.
3.3 The scale of the sample for second marking is determined by whether a course is new and whether it has been running successfully for a period of time (referred to here as ‘Steady State’).
3.4 However, in certain specific instances where quality concerns arise, this will necessitate second marking for the entire cohort. In such cases this would be determined according to a risk assessment and a requirement for second marking.
3.5 The following table is indicative but should guide practice on the scale and extent of second marking, wherever practical.
Table 1: Indicative Sample Sizes for Second Marking, based on cohort size
|
Module cohort size
|
Year 1 of operation
|
Years 2 to 3 of operation
|
Year 4/ Steady State operation
|
Notes
|
|
1 to 20
|
100%
|
50%
|
25%
|
Giving a maximum of 20 pieces of work per assessment task reducing to 5 in year 4
|
|
21 to 50
|
40%
|
20%
|
12%
|
Giving a maximum of 20 pieces of work per assessment task reducing to 6 in year 4
|
|
More than 50
|
20%
|
10%
|
8%
|
Giving a minimum of 10 pieces of work (up to a maximum of 30 pieces of work) per assessment task reducing to 4 in year 4
|
3.6 The sample should reflect the full range of marks for that particular assessment component.
3.7 The mechanism for the second marking should be agreed by the relevant Department Board in discussion with the partner organisation3.
3.8 Moderation 'events' are seen as good practice and are recommended as one of the most efficient approaches to building a successful partnership between the course teams.
3.9 As shown in the table above, Year 4 represents a ‘steady state’ for a successful course and is the default expectation of the University.
