Assessment information
Assessment requirements for MSc courses and how to submit appeals or complaints.
Each taught course that the School delivers in an academic session has related assessment rules, which have been agreed by the relevant Programmes Committee or the Board of Studies before the new session begins.
Assessment requirements
The UCMS result for the taught component of the programme is the weighted average over courses (compulsory and optional courses). Sufficient conditions for the various awards that can be made are in the table below.
| Diploma | MSc | MSc with Merit | MSc with Distinction | |
| Course average | 40% or above | 50% or above | 60% or above | 70% or above |
| 80 credits at 50 | no | yes | yes | yes |
| 80 credits at 40 | yes | - | - | - |
| Project/Dissertation | no | 50% or above | 60% or above | 70% or above |
Upon completion of the taught component of the programme, any student satisfying the conditions set out in the "MSc" column of the table above will be permitted to proceed to the dissertation. Note that candidates are not allowed to resit a paper in order to be considered for the award of MSc.
Scaling
It is not always easy to predict in advance how hard or easy an exam or other assessment will turn out to be. For that reason, to ensure the outcome of assessment is fair and reasonable, exams and other substantial assessments are “moderated”. This means that the marks received on the common marking scheme may differ from the “raw” mark on the script that was originally generated by the marker(s) of the assessment.
In performing this scaling, we pay attention to a number of sources of information such as: whether it is apparent from student attempts that parts of the assessment were easier or harder than expected; whether the distribution of class marks is in accordance with norms for pass rates, proportion of A grades, etc. In response to this information it may be decided to scale marks up or down.
The final marks for components of assessment are decided by the Board of Examiners. They may, after discussion, decide to adjust the moderated marks, by changing or introducing a scaling. In particular, moderated marks for coursework may on occasion be adjusted by the Board of Examiners.
Unsatisfactory performance
Under the rules of the University, the Head of the School of Mathematics can, on the advice of the Programme Director, formally request a student who is not performing adequately, or has otherwise breached University discipline, to withdraw from the programme at any time during the programme.
Appeals
The University regulations for postgraduate appeals can be found in the University's Code Student Conduct and Academic Services Appeals.
Complaints
We would encourage students to raise any problems (either academic or personal) as quickly as possible by approaching their Student Representative, Student Advisor, course staff and the Advice Place, as appropriate. When such matters cannot be resolved informally, the University has a formal student complaints procedure.