MSc and Diploma Award Requirements

Awards

www.ed.ac.uk/academic-services/policies-regulations/regulations/assessment

www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files/taughtassessmentregulations.pdf

Please refer to:

Regulation 41 Borderlines

Regulation 53 Postgraduate assessment progression

Regulation 54 Postgraduate degree, diploma and certificate award

Regulation 56 Award of postgraduate merit

Regulation 57 Award of postgraduate distinction

Borderline Criteria for Progression

Where a student is borderline for progression, the case will be considered by the Board of Examiners. The decision whether or not to allow progression in such cases is at the discretion of the Board of Examiners.

Borderline marks are defined as marks from two percentage points below the boundary for progression, up to the boundary itself, i.e. 48.00% to 49.99%.

Where applicable, factors taken into account in such cases will be (a) any special circumstances, such as illness or other adverse personal circumstances, which have been brought to the attention of the Board of Examiners; (b) credit weighting of individual courses; (c) the range of overall course marks; (d) marks and letter grades awarded to learning outcomes.

Borderline Criteria for Award – including with Merit

Where a student is borderline for award including award with Merit, the case will be considered by the Board of Examiners. The decision regarding classification of degree in such cases is at the discretion of the Board of Examiners.

Borderline marks are defined as marks from two percentage points below the boundary for award, up to the boundary itself, i.e. 48.00% to 49.99% and 58.00% to 59.99%

Where applicable, factors taken into account in such cases will be (a) any special circumstances, such as illness or other adverse personal circumstances, which have been brought to the attention of the Board of Examiners; (b) performance in final project / dissertation; (c) credit weighting of individual courses; (d) the range of overall course marks including dissertation / final project; (e) marks and letter grades awarded to learning outcomes.

Borderline Criteria for Distinction

Where a student does not qualify for a distinction as of right, they may be considered for the award of distinction if (a) their dissertation mark and (b) their credit-weighted average mark across all taught courses are both 68.00% or higher. The decision whether or not to award a distinction in such cases is at the discretion of the Board of Examiners. In exercising its discretion, the Board will take into account the following factors: (a) the student’s credit-weighted average across the degree as a whole; (b) the number of courses (including the dissertation) in which the student received a grade of A, and the credit weighting of those courses; (c) any special circumstances, such as illness or other adverse personal circumstances, which have been brought to the Board’s attention.

Academic appeals

An academic appeal is a request for a decision made by a Board of Examiners to be reconsidered in relation to:

marks

progression

degree award

If you are considering lodging an appeal, it is important that you act promptly. It is important to note that the appeal process cannot be used to challenge academic judgment. That is, a student cannot submit an appeal simply because they believe that they deserve a better mark.

There are specific and fairly narrow grounds under which an academic appeal may be submitted.

www.ed.ac.uk/academic-services/students/postgraduate-taught/academic-appeals