Urgent Uni Exam Result Advice Needed

Sorry I made the post before but it’s barely getting an response and I need to serious advice ASAP.

So due to Covid 19 we didn't sit exams and had a prediction system, im on final year and we sat half our exams at Christmas so you’d think it would be easy to predict the 2nd half as we did half already.

So 2nd year I got 56% which is worth 15% overall, 3rd year I got 63.40% which is worth 10% overall and my first half of final year worth 75% overall I got 61.5% it would have been 64% but the university decided to knock of some percentages points for the provisional results from before, there reasoning is because we review it and we just can.

Anyway if you use the weighting it’s still 61% overall and my uni has given me a 2:2 degree from predictions. We also did course for some of the modules this term and one module worth 20 credits 10% was CW and I got 88%, another module which was 50% CW I got 65% and another one which was 30% I got 68%. So basically evidence of improvement, so surely it should have gone up not down.

Furthermore I have tried calling the University and they have just turned off all there phones and stopped replying to emails. If you email the higher ups at the uni they don’t answer you questions and send you generic emails telling you about exam regulation.

I have to sign up for retakes in 4 days and if I launch a appeal it will take them up to 6 weeks before they tell me if i’m eligible.

None of this seems fair and they had a no detriment policy which they explained on video saying your grades wouldn’t go down passed your averaged and now have changed it in there emails to say it wouldn’t go down too much passed your average.

Many many students are in the same boat at my university and can’t get answers. What can we do we need help? Is there anybody external we can contact because they university have just turned to ignoring us, please help.

Are these percentages your estimations or from transcripts?

So for 2nd and 3rd year it’s final. For this year we did half our exams at Christmas which I achieved 61.5% which is final. But due to the Covid 19 they did a prediction system similar to A levels and GCSEs and they took my average for final year down. Not to what percentage exactly as they haven’t said what the percentages or how anything was worked out. They just said you have a 2:2. No clarification on how this was done or anything

The marks are out of 1000 in a transcript. I would request the transcript which will show you all the marks for all your units/options and state that you will be taking legal advice.

I can’t get the marks for the assessments I didn’t take, they haven’t actually got marks for them. It just says credit award next too each module. They haven’t given me an overall degree percentage. They have literally just given the classification. I just don’t know what I can do

Sorry I made the post before but it’s barely getting an response and I need to serious advice ASAP.

So due to Covid 19 we didn't sit exams and had a prediction system, im on final year and we sat half our exams at Christmas so you’d think it would be easy to predict the 2nd half as we did half already.

So 2nd year I got 56% which is worth 15% overall, 3rd year I got 63.40% which is worth 10% overall and my first half of final year worth 75% overall I got 61.5% it would have been 64% but the university decided to knock of some percentages points for the provisional results from before, there reasoning is because we review it and we just can.

Anyway if you use the weighting it’s still 61% overall and my uni has given me a 2:2 degree from predictions. We also did course for some of the modules this term and one module worth 20 credits 10% was CW and I got 88%, another module which was 50% CW I got 65% and another one which was 30% I got 68%. So basically evidence of improvement, so surely it should have gone up not down.

Furthermore I have tried calling the University and they have just turned off all there phones and stopped replying to emails. If you email the higher ups at the uni they don’t answer you questions and send you generic emails telling you about exam regulation.

I have to sign up for retakes in 4 days and if I launch a appeal it will take them up to 6 weeks before they tell me if i’m eligible.

None of this seems fair and they had a no detriment policy which they explained on video saying your grades wouldn’t go down passed your averaged and now have changed it in there emails to say it wouldn’t go down too much passed your average.

Many many students are in the same boat at my university and can’t get answers. What can we do we need help? Is there anybody external we can contact because they university have just turned to ignoring us, please help.

Its really poor that the university has treated you and others like this. You have paid tuition fees to be educated and treated fairly. I am no expert but if you have the video recording discussing the no detriment policy where the university representative has said the S2 grades cannot push the average down, keep hold of a copy of it or any written document discussing the no detriment policy. The university cannot move away from the policy.

You and your friends have several options.
1. The university has a formal complaints system - find out about how to complain. If you send me a private message with the name of the uni I can find out the process on the web for you.

2. Contact your students' union president and get him or her involved. You pay union fees for a reason; to have the union represent you in situations where there is a dispute with the university.

3. The nuclear option is that you go to the QAA which is the UK's quality body for Higher Education. Click here to find find out how to complain via the QAA. I recommend you write to the Dean of the Faculty first to advise him or her that you wish to pursue this route and I am sure you will get a reply in 24 hours.

Thank you very much, I’ll compile an email today filled with factual evidence and email it to the university. If I don’t get the reply i’ll go down the complaint path or the 3rd option you said. The University is Aston Birmingham, I have no issue saying it publicly with how they assured students saying we had to do the same thing in 2006 and nobody complained about the result and all the policies in place for them to just change there mind. Honestly this was very helpful i’ll look further into what you have said

Hi, just had a look at the no-detriment policy and you can appeal based on the opening line, "All students will be awarded or progressed fairly, ensuring that they are not disadvantaged." - you clearly seem to be disadvantaged.

If you have tried to resolve the matter through your department then you should make an official complaint. Click HERE to find out how to complain. Once you raise an official complaint the Faculty office will contact the department and ask for their side of events. They will then contact you to listen to your side of events and come back to you with a decision. Thus, if you are studying chemistry, the Science Faculty will investigate your complaint against the Chemistry department.

Good luck

What uni is it? I’m really worried now.

Aston University Birmingham. They have set out regulations prior to marking and changed them after marking. The no detriment policy they had said students won’t be disadvantaged as it’s a blanket safe layer. Now changed too it’s a safe layer because you can take the exams in summer and if you average goes down it’s not disproportionate. When you email them, they got forwarded to one guy who’s just being stubborn and not budging.

Honestly this is one of the worst experience I have ever had.

Hi there is another student here who has had the same issue with Aston Uni. Keep the video recording with the member of staff stating the no-detriment policy. Look at my recent post - send me your marks broken down in year 2 and year 3 and we can figure it out.

this not the only university which appears to have backtracked on a no detriment policy.BCC seem to have reversed a no individual detriment to a no year detriment policy means anyone more than averagely effected by covid 19 will be additionally marked down compared with those less effected .it appear may be a policy which may further discriminate as is a policy which only serves to help the university and not its students