NFAAR-UG: Information for students on Undergraduate Programmes (NFAAR Phase 1)
Changes for 2014/15 | Details in Programme Structure | Examples of NFAAR-UG information in Programme Catalogues | Where to access further information
NB. The information below pertains only to students on first-degree programmes not Foundation Degrees and Honours Years (top up programmes from Foundation Degrees). Links to pages for students on other types of programme can be found on the NFAAR index page.
The University's assessment regulations for undergraduate degree programmes are known as the New Framework for Assessment: Assessment Regulations: Phase 1 for first-degree programmes, abbreviated to NFAAR-UG. They describe the rules for progression from one stage of a degree programme to the next (including supplementary assessment, and the extent of failure that can be condoned), as well as for the award of degrees.
NFAAR-UG regulations do not apply to students who commenced their programmes of study prior to the 2008/09 academic year (unless they repeated or transferred into the first year of a programme of study which falls within the NFAAR in 2008/09 or later). Students on Foundation Degree and Honours Year programmes will not be assessed under NFAAR-UG - see the NFAAR index for links to versions of the NFAAR relating to these programmes.
Changes to regulations for 2014/15
As agreed at its introduction in 2008/09, a review of the effectiveness of NFAAR-UG has been undertaken and Senate has agreed a number of changes to the regulations with effect from 2014/15. These changes will result in updated regulations and appendices but in summary the main changes impacting on rules are as follows:
- Reductions in condonable failures in the final year at Honours/Masters level, with additional provision for re-assessment, and consequent abolition of the credit-counts for particular classification levels, for Year 1 starters/re-starters in 2014/15 or later.
- That exit awards in the form of a Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) and a Diploma of Higher Education (DiplHE) should be created for all programmes, to be available from 2014/15 for all students irrespective of when they started.
- Where departments currently offer ordinary degrees these will be abolished for those students starting or re-starting year 1 in 2014/15 or later. Students who started their programmes prior to 2014/15 will retain the opportunity of transferring to an ordinary degree where specified in programme regulations and where they meet the criteria to transfer. You can find further information on DAPs here.
- Simplification of progression rules for stand-alone programmes, with changes in threshold for credits of condonable failures in non-Designated Essential Units (DEUs) and in scope, for supplementary assessment, in Parts 1 & 2 from 2014/15.
- New rules for retrieval after failing some supplementary assessments during suspension of study for credit only, and clarification of rules for repeating a stage, from 2014/15.
- Provision of clarification of Designated Alternative Programme transfers as being a discretionary admissions decision, with principles for credit by condonement, from 2014/15. Individual programme handbooks will provide more detail where DAPs are a possible option.
This is not a complete list of all the recommendations. A complete list of all the recommendations from the NFAAR:UG review are shown on the University’s NFA:AR web page.
Programme Structure
The programme catalogues have been structured to help you understand the way in which the NFAAR-UG has been applied to a specific programme of study. Years of programmes which fall within the NFAAR-UG will have the relevant parts and stages described as well as any designated essential units (or designated essential optional units). Also, at the beginning of each year (or for some thin-sandwich programmes at the beginning of each stage) within the programme, the catalogues include a block of text providing further NFAAR-UG information:
- Whether a Designated Alternative Programme (DAP) is available for the relevant year of study (note that this may differ between individual years of a programme - transfer to DAP may be possible from some years and not others within the same programme).
- Details of any exemptions granted for the relevant stage of the programme (e.g. some programmes may require you to achieve an average mark for assessment across a particular stage which is different from that given in the standard documentation). See page 61 of the NFAAR-UG documentation (
) which lists all the exemptions currently approved. - For some undergraduate masters programmes only (e.g. MEng, MChem, MSci etc): a marker to show the programme's penultimate stage (this distinction is important when using the NFAAR-UG flowcharts).
- Links to the University's official NFAAR-UG documentation relevant to the specific year of study (this includes flowcharts describing how you can progress through each stage of your programme).
- A statement of what percentage the specified part and stage contributes towards the final award classification.
This information will appear in a shaded box at the top of each year of study within the programme catalogues.
Example 1: a programme with no DAP and no exemptions
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Example 2: a programme with a DAP and exemptions granted
 NFAAR-UG assessment regulations:
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Example 3: the penultimate year of an undergraduate masters programme
NFAAR-UG assessment regulations:
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Where to access further information
- Following the links from the information buttons ( ) within the programme catalogues will take you to pages providing additional information on various aspects of the NFAAR-UG.
- You can find a full list of the terminology used in the NFAAR-UG in Appendix 2 () of the NFAAR-UG documentation.
- You can find full details of the NFAAR-UG on the NFAAR web page. This page includes links to the full Assessment Regulations document .
- Details of the way in which the NFAAR-UG has been applied to your programme of study should be provided in your programme handbook. Your Director of Studies will also be able to help with any queries you might have.