Feedback
At the core of the University’s approach to providing feedback on assessments and continuing to enhance the quality and impact of this feedback are seven principles. These are informed by sector-wide best practice and research. Effective feedback should:
- Be for learning, not just of learning
- Be a continuous process
- Be timely
- Relate to clear criteria
- Be constructive
- Be legible and clear
- Be available on exams
Marks and overall summary comments should be delivered to students electronically through the University’s virtual learning environment. Where practicable, all coursework should be annotated and returned electronically to students, in addition to their marks and summary comments. Where feasible and possible, and where effective management of submissions and marks permit, the marking process for all written submissions should ideally be conducted using anonymous marking. Assessment feedback should normally be written and supplemented where appropriate with oral comments.
In normal circumstances, feedback should be returned to students within 15 working days of the published submission deadline, i.e. students submitting work before the published deadline should not have an expectation that early submission will result in earlier return of work. Where feedback will not be provided within 15 working days for good reason, e.g. in circumstances where a student has been granted an extension of time, illness of module co-ordinator etc., students should be informed of the timescale for feedback.
Evaluation
Programme Teams must continually evaluate the quality of assessments based on multiple sources of information, including feedback received from students, External Examiners, employers and industry, and alumni.
