Assessment and feedback code of practice

You should be provided with this information at the beginning of a module, via a separate assessment brief, available on the KLE. Additional information about a specific assessment may be given in the module handbook and via taught sessions within a module.

Assessment deadlines should be published to students in the module handbook and in the assessment briefs, which should be made available at the beginning of a module and published on the KLE. Information on when examination dates are published can be found here >

All modules should provide time in the taught curriculum for introducing the assessment task, including discussing the assessment criteria and providing opportunity for questions. Where appropriate and for certain types of assessment, staff may be able to provide students with anonymised examples of previous work completed as part of a module to enable you to better understand what is expected.

If you have engaged with all learning opportunities and resources provided to you, and you still do not understand what is expected, please contact the module leader for further advice.   

The assessment brief for each assessment will detail which scale of GenAI use is permitted in that specific assessment (See ‘Using GenAI in Assessment Scale’ below). The scale ranges from ‘No GenAI use permitted’ which may apply under invigilated exam conditions and similar assessments (e.g., class tests), through to ‘Full GenAI co-creation’ [of the assessment] which may apply for assessments which require you to fully engage with GenAI software. The assessment brief will describe how you can use GenAI in that specific assessment, as well as how you should reference and/or acknowledge your use of GenAI. 

This will be treated as academic misconduct. Further details about student conduct in assessment can be found here. 

You should contact the module leader, or member of staff responsible for the assessment, to seek further clarification.

Yes. Your experience of different types of assessments must be built up progressively throughout your programme of study. For example, it is not good practice to introduce a new assessment type in the final stages of your course without appropriate support. In addition, you should be provided with opportunities to engage with formative assessment and feedback. These opportunities are designed to help you to understand what is required in a specific assessment, and to make judgements about your own work. Formative assessment tasks must be timed to enable you to apply formative feedback to subsequent summative assessment tasks. 

Yes. External Examiners are invited to provide feedback on any assessment which counts towards a final grade. Following consideration of feedback from External Examiners, all summative assessment briefs (at Levels-3-7) must be approved by the relevant School Education Committee prior to the start of each Semester and before publication to students.

All students should have an opportunity to engage in formative assessment as part of a module. Formative assessment is designed to help you understand what is required of you in assessment, enabling you to make judgements about your work and take responsibility for your own learning. Engaging in formative assessment provides you with formative feedback – feedback which you can apply to help you improve your final assessment submission. There are lots of different examples of formative assessment tasks and the nature of these tasks will vary by module, programme and/or subject area. Below are some examples of different types of formative assessment which you may be required to engage with:  

• A structured session within a module for you to bring along drafts of work to discuss with your peers and/or staff. 
• Providing exemplars of a completed/model assessment which you then critique in small groups.  
• Presenting a draft report/essay plan in class and receiving feedback from peers and staff  
• Holding a drop-in session for you to bring along a draft of your work to discuss  
• Completing a series of small tasks in (e.g.,) the field, laboratory, practical session or seminar, where you are in regular discussions with staff and your peers during the activity, which then feeds into a summative piece of work (e.g., a field/lab notebook, a reflective diary).   

Summative assessment is assessment which counts towards credit and is used to evaluate your learning and assign a mark or grade. It determines whether you have met the intended learning outcomes of a module or programme. In most cases, the marks awarded for summative assessment count towards the final mark of a module and/or award.  

No. Staff must not proofread, edit, give an indication of likely mark, or routinely provide feedback on drafts of student summative assessment, except for dissertations/research projects (or equivalent) or in circumstances where feedback on drafts form an integral part of a specific summative assessment. Formative assessment alongside briefing sessions within modules and other KLE resources should provide appropriate guidance to students and be designed to support their understanding of the requirements of the assessment. 

No. Submission deadlines for summative assessment must not be set on weekends, University closure days (i.e., between Christmas and New Year), Bank Holidays in the UK and, where possible, should be mindful of other religious festivals.   

No, not usually. All assessment should be submitted electronically wherever possible, usually via the KLE. Where this is impractical for a particular type of assessment, you should be informed in the module handbook of the alternative submission format. 

Staff must provide clear instructions to you on where to submit assessment in module handbooks, including any specific instructions relating to the submission of different types of assessment (e.g., submission of presentations, audio files or spreadsheets etc). The default system for all assessment submission is the KLE. You are responsible for downloading the submission receipt for your work, which must be done at the time of submission. You must store this receipt in case there are subsequent queries regarding the successful submission of your work.

From the 2025/26 academic year, two submission dropboxes will be set up on the KLE for each assessment component.

The first dropbox will be for students who submit their work by the original deadline. Please note that this dropbox will not accept further submissions after the deadline has passed.

The second dropbox will appear once the original deadline has passed. This dropbox must be used by students with 7-day automated extensions (or 14-days for 60-credit modules), those with extensions agreed through Support to Study or Disability and Inclusion Tutors (DITs), and students who are submitting their work late.

Most assessments allow a short extension to the deadline of 7-calendar days (including weekends and Bank Holidays). Please check the module handbook for eligibility of each assessment item in a module for the automatic 7-day extension. You must request the 7-day extension through your eVision account. You can apply for up to three automatic extensions per Semester. The semester dates run from 1 August to 31 January (Semester 1) and 1 February to 31 July (Semester 2). 

If you are dealing with a significant and unforeseen issue and need longer to complete an assessment, you should request another assessment opportunity through eVision. You will need evidence to support this request. This will mean that you will complete a new piece of work that will be released at the next available assessment opportunity. Further information is outlined in the EC Code of Practice.  

If you are late submitting assessed work at the first attempt (or for reassessment at the first attempt), but the work is received within seven calendar days after the submission deadline, the maximum that can be awarded is the module pass mark (typically 40% for an undergraduate programme and 50% for a postgraduate programme) or qualifying mark if higher.

If you are late submitting assessed work at the first attempt (or for reassessment at the first attempt) more than seven calendar days after the deadline or do not submit the work, the work will not be accepted, and you will receive a mark of ‘0’ for that component of the module. These rules apply in circumstances where an assessment is not eligible for a 7-day extension, you have already applied for three 7-day extensions that semester, and/or you do not have valid exceptional circumstances.  

The University has established Generic Assessment Criteria for Levels 3-6 and Level-7, and all UG and PGT student work will be assessed using the principles of these criteria, including use of the 24-point marking scale. It is expected that the Generic Assessment Criteria will be adapted for different types of assessments, particularly for those assessments which focus more on presentation and communication skills (e.g., presentations, podcasts, vlogs, posters). To avoid conscious or unconscious bias and to increase students’ trust in the fairness of the process, marking must be carried out anonymously unless it falls into one of the exempt categories or has been exempted from anonymous marking by the relevant Faculty Education Committee. All marking and moderation must be carried out in line with the University’s Marking and Moderation Policy.   

You should normally expect to receive feedback on all summative assessment within 15-workings days (i.e., excluding weekends and bank holidays). An expected date for the return of marks and feedback must be published to students before you undertake an assessment task. In cases where a large volume of students submit for automatic 7-day extensions, there may be an additional 7-day delay to the return of marks and feedback to students. Where feedback cannot be provided to you within the normal 15 working-day timescale, including instances where this is the result of a large volume of students submitting for automatic 7-day extensions, this will be communicated to you at the earliest opportunity. The communication will explain the reason for the delay and provide an indication of when you can expect to receive feedback on your work.  

In these instances, you should contact the module leader in the first instance for further information. 

Students must receive meaningful feedback on all summative assessment which is clear and concise, summarises the strengths and limitations of the work, and relates back to the assessment criteria for that specific assessment. Concise points of developmental feedback to improve future work must also be included. Feedback from staff on student assessment should always be in a format which is documented and auditable (e.g., typed, audio and/or video feedback).  Staff must ensure that information on how to access marks and feedback, along with who to contact if you have queries or questions relating to the feedback you have received, is communicated to you.  

The table below provides guidance for staff and students on the ways in which GenAI can be used in assessment, what is and what is not permitted, and any associated referencing requirements. Staff must make clear to you via the Assessment Briefs for each assessment item what type of use of GenAI is permitted in that specific assessment (from the scale below). For example, if an Assessment Brief states that you can use “GenAI-assisted editing and proofreading” this means that you may use GenAI to edit your work (e.g. enhancing phrasing, tone and sentence structure), but you are not permitted to use GenAI to generate new content. You must acknowledge your use of GenAI in completing an assessment as per the guidelines below. If you use GenAI inappropriately in an assessment (e.g., to create new content when this is not permitted) this will be dealt with as academic misconduct. If you are unclear about whether you can use GenAI to help you complete an assessment you should contact the module leader, or member of staff responsible for that assessment to seek further clarification.

Adapted from Heriot-Watt University, Staff Guide on using GenAI in your course (2024-25).