Answers to frequently asked questions about academic results communications

A breakdown of your marks is available on OSIS. A transcript of your marks will also be made available to you via the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR). You need to activate your HEAR before you can see your transcript and you should have received an email asking you to do this. If you have not, or if you want any further information about the HEAR follow our guidance.

No, you cannot challenge the academic judgement of the assessment board. However, there are other grounds on which you can appeal. Find out more about the grounds and process for appeals by reading the Academic Appeals Regulations (AR8 or AR9) and speaking to your personal tutor or to the Union of Kingston Students.

No. If your registration has been terminated on academic grounds you will not normally be able to apply for readmission to Kingston University.

If your application for mitigating circumstances was successful, this will be indicated by a grade of "S" next to the relevant module in OSIS. This typically means that the assessment board has decided that you may defer your attempt at this/these assessment(s) until the next reassessment period. You should have received information about your deferred assessment alongside your results communication but if you have not, please contact your Faculty Student Office for advice (see the details in the General Enquiries FAQ). It is your responsibility to ensure that you are aware of all the arrangements for your deferred assessments.

If your mitigating circumstances claim was rejected and you did not attempt the assessment in question, this will be recorded as a failed attempt in OSIS. You may still be entitled to reassessment in that element of assessment and, if so, this will be indicated in your results communication.

You should note that approved claims for mitigating circumstances only apply to the specific assessment period that you applied for, and claims will not automatically be applied to any subsequent assessment periods.

For further advice and guidance about mitigating circumstances and your results, please contact your Faculty Student Office for advice (see details in the General Enquiries FAQ).

If you are on a standard undergraduate degree

Standard bachelors honours degree classifications are calculated as follows:

• average % of the best 105 credits at Level 5 which is given a weighting of 20% (multiplied by 0.2)
• plus...
• average % of the best 105 credits at Level 6 which is given a weighting of 80% (multiplied by 0.8)

This means that your Level 6 modules are weighted more heavily than your Level 5 modules.

Where there are four 30-credit modules at each level, each module is treated as two blocks of 15 credits for the purposes of the calculation. Using the best 105 credits means that your lowest performing module counts for less, as you effectively "drop" one of the 15-credit blocks from your lowest performing module (this gives your best 105 credits).

If you are on one of our standard undergraduate degrees, you may be able to find out more about how your degree classification will be calculated by looking at the Award Predictor on OSIS.

If you are on a standard postgraduate degree

Standard postgraduate degrees are classified by calculating the average score across all of the credit required for your qualification. Depending on your average score, your degree will be awarded with a Pass, Merit or Distinction.

• Pass: An average score of 50-59% across all of the credit required for the qualification
• Merit: An average score of 60-69% across all of the credit required for the qualification
• Distinction: An average score of 70% or above across all of the credit required for the qualification

Postgraduate Certificates will not be awarded with merit or distinction.

If you are on one of our standard postgraduate degrees, you may be able to find out more about how your degree classification will be calculated by looking at the Award Predictor on OSIS.

If you have failed 30 credits at Level 4 with a mark of between 35% and 39%, the assessment board may decide to compensate this failure and allow you to progress to the next stage of your degree. This will be identified on your record in OSIS as a compensated pass with a module grade of PC.

You should be aware that the University's undergraduate regulations permit compensation in up to a total of 30 credits across Levels 4 and 5. Therefore, if you decide to accept the compensation for this module you will not be permitted any further compensation at the end of Level 5.

If you are happy to accept the compensation for this module, you do not need to take any further action.

If however you would prefer to repeat or replace this module in the next academic year, please contact your student office within five University working days of the date of your results letter. There will be financial implications of opting to do this and you may want to contact your Faculty Student Office for advice (see the details in the General Enquiries FAQ).

If you are on a course which allows students to trail a failed module into the next level of study (most courses in KSA and FBSS and some courses in HSCE) you may instead opt to trail the module rather than accept the compensation. If you wish to do this, please contact your student office within five University working days of the date of your results letter. You should also read the Trailing credit guidance and FAQs for students (AG10) which includes some important information about the implications of trailing credit.

If we have not heard from you within five University working days of the date of your results letter we will assume that you are happy for this module to be compensated and your student record will be finalised.

If you have failed 30 credits with a mark of between 35% and 39% (for undergraduate courses) or between 45% and 49% (for postgraduate courses), the Assessment Board may decide to compensate this failure and allow you to progress to the next stage of your degree. This will be identified on your record in OSIS as a compensated pass with a module grade of PC.

The FF grade means that you have failed the module at the final attempt and are not eligible for further reassessment. Consequently, you may not be able to achieve your intended award (eg. MSc/MA).

If you are part way through your course, you may continue to complete any remaining academic modules for an exit award (eg. PGDip/PGCert).

If this final failure if on a taught module and you are on a masters degree ‘with Professional Placement', you will be transferred onto the academic (non-placement) route and you will no longer be able to go on placement. If you are studying on a Student Route visa (formerly Tier 4 visa), the duration of your visa will be adjusted accordingly.

If you have failed taught credit, this may mean that you are no longer able to continue with your professional placement. You will receive further information about this from your Faculty if this is the case. For further information you can contact your Faculty Student Office for advice (see the details in the General Enquiries FAQ).

The letter that was sent to you after your Academic Misconduct hearing will have outlined the provisional outcome of the hearing and the penalty that will be recommended to the Programme Assessment Board, including what type of reassessment (if any) is permitted.

If you need any advice or support in relation to this, please contact your Faculty Student Office for advice (see the details in the General Enquiries FAQ below), your personal tutor or the Union of Kingston Students as soon as possible.

If you are not permitted any further reassessment on the module for which you have academic misconduct, but you still have other credit or reassessment to undertake, you may still be allowed to undertake this. You should be aware, however, that this will still mean that you are unable to progress to the next stage of your course and/or achieve your intended award. Depending on the outcome of your other assessments, you may be entitled to an intermediate award or a certificate of credit.

A retake is a type of assessment where you attempt the element of assessment that you have either failed or deferred with mitigation, usually during the retake period. There is no charge for this.

The retake period for most courses starts from when your results are released and concludes a few weeks later. Please refer to Canvas for reassessment information or contact your module leader or course team for further information.

Marks for retake assessments following failure will be capped at the pass mark, and the cap is applied at element level. This means that if a module has two elements of assessment and you have already passed one of these, only the retake mark for the failed element will be capped. For undergraduate courses (Levels 3, 4, 5 and 6) the standard pass mark is 40%. For taught postgraduate courses (Level 7) the standard pass mark is 50%.

There are exceptional circumstances where marks for retake assessments will not be capped at the pass mark at element level. For example:

• If you have submitted a claim for mitigating circumstances which has been approved, your mark for the retake will not be capped.
• If you were set the retake as a penalty for academic misconduct (Penalty B or Penalty C), the cap will be applied to the whole module, not just to the element.

If you have retake coursework

To submit your retake materials please log in to Canvas, using your Kingston ID and password. You will then see boxes in your dashboard for each of the modules you are enrolled on. Click on each box to access the module and follow the assignment link which should have the retake submission link where you can submit your materials.

If you are unable to access Canvas for any reason you should contact the Help desk immediately on 63355 or +44 (0)20 8417 3355.

If you have retake examinations

Please see the Retake Examinations Schedule which is available on My Kingston.

If you are in doubt or have any questions about the arrangements for your retake(s) you must contact your student office as soon as possible. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are fully aware of all retake arrangements.

If you have questions about the content of your retakes then please:

• check Canvas for your reassessment brief and materials;
• email your module leader (from your KU email address) as soon as possible for help. They may not be available throughout all of the retake period. If you don't hear back from them after five working days, you should contact your Faculty Student Office for advice (see the details in the General Enquiries FAQ).

Kingston has lots to offer when it comes to supporting your academic skills. From one to one support with our Academic Success Centres to structured programmes and online resources, have a look at how we can help you to be better on My Kingston.

The results from your retakes will be considered by a Reassessment Board.

For undergraduate courses, these are typically held in the summer and for postgraduate courses, these are typically held in March, June and September. However, some non-standard courses will hold Reassessment Board outside of these time periods.

You will get another communication after the Reassessment Board confirming your results and explaining what will happen next.

If you are on an undergraduate course

Depending on your level of study and results achieved at that level, the Reassessment Board might allow you an opportunity to repeat the module(s) in the following academic year. This is dependent on the number of assessment attempts you have had at the module(s) and your level of engagement throughout the academic year.

If you have exhausted all your assessment attempts at a module (typically four attempts at undergraduate level), your registration on your course will be discontinued.

If you are on a postgraduate course

If you have exhausted all assessment attempts at a module (this is typically two attempts at postgraduate level), no further reassessment will be offered in that module.

Depending on the structure of your course, you may be permitted to continue with other modules on your course, or it may be necessary to discontinue your registration on your course.

One of the University's underpinning regulatory principles is to make decisions which support student retention, progression and achievement by enabling students to complete or achieve the highest potential award in the shortest timeframe. This means that if you have a mixture of failure and mitigation within the same module, the assessment board may decide to give you the opportunity to sit the mitigated element and retake the failed elements of assessment at the same time during the reassessment period.

The way we will calculate your overall module mark in these circumstances is as follows:

Step 1

• The assessment board will consider the mark you received for the mitigated element with the original marks that you achieved for the other elements. At this stage, the board does not look at the marks you received for the retake(s).
• If, on the basis of this calculation, the overall module mark is above the pass mark you have now passed the module at first attempt. No further calculation takes place.

Step 2

• If, on the basis of the calculation undertake in Step 1, the module mark is below the pass mark, the board will confirm that you have not passed the module at first attempt. Now the assessment board will look at the marks you received for the elements that you have retaken. This is your second attempt.
• The board will calculate your second attempt module mark using the highest marks you achieved in each element across the first and second attempt. This could include the mark you achieved in the mitigated element.

As you can see, it is possible that we will not use your retake marks. This is because University regulations state that once you have passed a module you cannot have another assessment to improve your mark. This approach ensures that you receive the best possible outcome for your module in accordance with the regulations.

You will be awarded a mark of 0 (Fail) for any retakes that you do not attend or submit.

If you are on an undergraduate course, depending on your level of study and results achieved at that level, the Reassessment Board may allow you an opportunity to repeat the module(s) in the following academic year. If your retake is your final attempt at the module, then you will be discontinued from the course. This is also dependent on the number of attempts you have had at the module(s). If you have exhausted all your assessment attempts at a module (normally four attempts at undergraduate level), your registration with the University will be discontinued.

Please note that approved claims for mitigating circumstances only apply to the specific assessment period that you applied for, and claims will not automatically be applied to the retake period. If you have any questions about this, please contact your Faculty Student Office for advice (see the details in the General Enquiries FAQ).

If you experience any difficulties during or in the run-up to your retakes and need to claim for mitigating circumstances, you must submit an application via the online system in OSIS. See the University's regulations on Mitigating Circumstances for information on deadline dates and instructions on how to submit an application through the OSIS system.

If you experience any difficulties during or in the run-up to your retakes and need to claim for mitigating circumstances, you must submit an application via the online system in OSIS.

More about the University's regulations on mitigating circumstances and instructions on how to submit an application through the OSIS system.

Yes, provided that you have legitimate grounds to do so. You cannot appeal against the academic judgement of the assessment board, including grades or award classifications. Find out more about the grounds and process for appeals by reading the Academic Appeals Regulations (AR8 or AR9).

You are strongly advised to contact the Union of Kingston Students for advice before submitting an appeal. You must submit an appeal within 15 working days of the date that your results were published on OSIS.

Yes, provided that your complaint is submitted in the required timeframe and falls under specific grounds. Find out more about the grounds and process for submitting a complaint appeals reading the Student Complaints Procedure (GR2).

You are strongly advised to contact the Union of Kingston Students for advice before submitting a complaint.