Industrial action: undergraduate marking and assessment

Yes, postgraduate examination boards meet later in the calendar year and guidance for these will be issued at a later date. In the meantime, you must still attend all exams and submit all coursework as normal: students who have not attempted all assessments, except where there are accepted mitigating circumstances, cannot be considered under this guidance. 

For some courses with external requirements, e.g. the General Medical Council for the MBBS degree, this guidance may not apply. 

Most students are expected to be unaffected by the boycott and their classification will be determined in the normal way. Please be reassured that if you are affected, your situation will mean that you will be prioritised when decisions are made regarding classifications. We understand that graduation is a critical moment in your academic and personal development, and we will ensure that students who have demonstrated that they have met the learning outcomes of their programme are able to move forward with at least a provisional classification, before providing you with a final classification at a later date. Your final classification will be the same as or higher than your provisional classification. 

Most students are expected to be unaffected by the boycott and their progression will be determined in the normal way. The College’s Senate has made allowance for departments to consider progressing students when they have passed all of the modules for which marks are available but have up to 30 ECTS worth of modules whose marks are missing (one academic year usually consists of 60 ECTS). Resits will be arranged in the normal way for students who have failed modules. 

We are clear that the standards of the College’s awards must be maintained, and the integrity of the College’s marking processes must be protected.  

Examination boards are being instructed to consider a range of factors when awarding provisional classifications, including the degree classifications they grant in a normal academic year. 

If you are a graduating student impacted by the marking boycott, please be reassured that you will receive a partial transcript from the College’s Registry team, alongside a letter clearly explaining the nature of your provisional classification and our guarantee that your final classification will remain the same as your provisional classification or be revised higher at a later date. 

Employers are aware of the situation, as set out by the Institute of Student Employers.

The College’s Careers Service has consulted a wide selection of employers that frequently employ Imperial graduates. Employers have appreciated the College’s proactive approach to informing them of our plans and have provided positive and informative feedback as we have developed our guiding principles. 

Employers are aware of the situation, as set out by the Institute of Student Employers.

No, you will not be able to appeal any provisional classification the College has granted you. You may request an arithmetic mark check in the usual way, but you should note that this may result in module mark(s) and the overall degree average going down. 

The College will endeavour to share your final classification with you as soon as possible. Your final classification will be the same or higher than any provisional classification you might receive. You will be able to appeal your final classification in the usual way. 

You should ultimately receive the marks and feedback on all coursework, exams and other assessments as you expected to prior to the boycott, but there may be delays in receiving some marks and feedback. 

No, normal procedures will apply. If you have a serious problem affecting your study, coursework, or examinations, you must ensure that you follow the process specified by your department as usual.  

You must attend all exams and submit all coursework as normal: students who have not attempted all assessments, except where there are accepted mitigating circumstances, cannot be considered under this guidance.  

Departments will inform students needing to take resits at the earliest opportunity. As the majority of modules are expected to be unaffected by the boycott, resits are expected to run as normal. Where the boycott does impact a module, identifying any students who need to take resits will be a priority, and departments have been asked to consider the impact on student workload of any necessary changes to the timing of resits. 

Please contact your department’s undergraduate administration team. Examination boards in departments will take bespoke approaches based on the scale of impact on their students. Please be reassured that these approaches will follow the guiding principles detailed above. 

Yes, the full guidance is available to browse under Annex E of the Board of Examiners Notes.

Information about documentation be found on the College’s Registry pages.