Glossary

Any assigned work or project used to determine academic credit, including (but not limited to) an examination, coursework or other project; scheduled teaching sessions; or activity on or off campus sponsored or sanctioned by the university in which the student participates for the purpose of their studies.

The Academic Calendar captures key dates across the academic year. These include Welcome Week, Teaching Dates and Examination Periods. The academic Calendar is approved by Academic Board and is available at Student Services Online.

Awarded to a student who has exhausted all opportunities, failed to meet the criteria for award and is not eligible for an exit award.

Academic judgement is a judgement about a matter where the opinion of an academic expert is essential. Academic judgement is developed over time and is defined by disciplinary expertise in teaching, learning and assessment in a university setting. A judgment about marks awarded, the significance of certain contributions to an overall piece of work, degree classification, research methodology, whether feedback is correct or adequate, and the content or outcomes of a course will normally involve academic judgment. Procedural matters, consideration of evidence and facts, and decisions about whether misconduct has occurred do not normally require academic judgement.

Academic staff of the University include Professors, Readers, Senior Lecturers and Lecturers. This may also include appropriately qualified and trained staff, provided that they have a current honorary contract with the University.

Where a final year undergraduate has completed the full period of study and is absent from final year assessments through illness or death, the student may be eligible for an aegrotat award.

A partnership arrangement whereby cohorts of students studying on a programme at a Partner Institution that is linked to a King’s programme will either gain access to a higher-level programme at entry level or with advanced standing, or gain automatic entry to a programme offered at the same level.

Methods used to evaluate a student’s learning or progression. Examples of assessment methods include but are not limited to: written examinations under controlled conditions, take-home papers, in-class tests and quizzes, practicals, coursework, dissertations, presentations and research.

Assessment Boards are responsible for ensuring that examination and assessment procedures within the faculty are carried out in accordance with college regulations and those governing the programmes registered within the faculty.

Assessment Sub-Boards are responsible for ensuring that examination and assessment procedures for the award(s) for which it is responsible are carried out in accordance with Academic Regulations, Academic Policies and other relevant University regulations in a fair and impartial manner. They are also responsible for ratifying module marks and awards.

A degree, diploma or certificate awarded to a student following successful completion of a recognised programme of study. The rules and methods used to determine the award the student receives are called the award rules.

Any type of educational opportunity where the achievement of the relevant learning outcomes for a King’s module or programme of study is dependent on the arrangement made with a Collaborative Partner for which there is a formal agreement in place.

The College Marking Framework provides guidance for all assessment practices and promotes consistency across taught programmes with the aim of enhancing the student experience of assessment. It covers: • marking policy • marking models, • marking schemes, and • marking criteria.

When students collaborate, without permission, to produce individual assessment that significantly overlap in content, structure or format. As opposed to collaborative learning, collusion is considered misconduct when it involves presenting someone else's ideas as your own or calls into question the integrity of the individual assessment. Another student using your work in an individual assessment task also constitutes collusion because it calls into question the integrity of the assessment. 

Compensation can be applied to the first year of an undergraduate’s programme of study. Up to 30 credits of a non-core module(s) may be compensated if a student achieves a mark in the compensation range for the programme and has engaged with the assessment for that module. Students who meet these conditions will be awarded 120 credits overall for year one where required. The compensated credit can be used towards meeting award requirements and progression stages from year two onwards. The marks for modules that have been compensated will be given a weighting of 0 in the final degree calculation, as per all year one modules.