Wednesday 03-02-2021 - 16:06

Vice-President (Education) Bee Morgan has successfully passed the first stage of securing a series of concessions from the university to ensure no student’s education is harmed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The news comes as Bee completes her final week in office before stepping down from her post to take up a role in the Government Office for Science Graduate programme.

There have been calls for the university to introduce a ‘no detriment’ policy since last year, including one of the most signed SU petitions in history, to ensure students are protected from their education being compromised by the pandemic.

Bee said: “The changes that I have had agreed this week are a massive win for students and will give you protections that ensure when earning your degrees the unprecedented situation we’re all living through will properly be taken into account.

“The rule changes have now been passed by the University’s Standing Committee For Academic Regulations, and agreed to verbally by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and should be communicated to you by the University later this week.

“The changes that have been agreed go a long way to protecting our members and ensuring your qualifications are awarded fairly. I couldn’t be happier to get such a well-rounded package for students and thank the University for being so considerate when creating these.

The changes that have been approved mean:

• Some first year students who may have previously needed to resit will now be allowed to progress straight to Part II.
• Students will be awarded the higher degree classification where your core modules (which make up at least 40% of part II credits) are are in the higher class
• More opportunities to ‘condone’ and discount low marks where you might have clearly under-performed when being assessed in new non-traditional formats
• For the first time, Exam Boards will provide a transparency report to share information on what they considered during marking, including average module marks, any scaling decisions and any contextual information specific to modules. This means the impacts of Covid on your teaching will be taken into account and your grades will be compared to previous non-Covid years' performance.
• Free resits will be given for any student who needs them – previously you could spend up to £100 or more if you were being examined abroad
• Continuation of the policy of allowing you to self-certify that you are struggling with mental health difficulties suffered as a result of the pandemic (no need to pay for a doctor’s note!)

Bee said: “These measures will make a huge difference to so many students, protect your degrees and hopefully reduce your stress levels in the coming months.

“This couldn’t be a better way to end my time in office, and I wish everyone the best of luck with their studies for the rest of this academic year and beyond.”

If you need support with academic issues, contact our Advice team at advice@lancastersu.co.uk