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1. Admissions/ Management Information
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Title of the programme – including any lower awards
Please provide the titles used for all awards relating to this programme. Note: all programmes are required to have at least a Postgraduate Certificate exit award.

See guidance on programme titles in:
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Masters MA in Medieval Literatures and Languages
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Postgraduate Diploma Postgraduate Diploma in Medieval Literatures and LanguagesPlease indicate if the Postgraduate Diploma is available as an entry point, ie. is a programme on which a student can register, is an exit award, ie. is only available to students exiting the masters programme early, or both.Exit
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Postgraduate Certificate Postgraduate Certificate in Medieval Literatures and LanguagesPlease indicate if the Postgraduate Certificate is available as an entry points, ie. is a programme on which a student can register, is an exit award, ie. is only available to students exiting the masters programme early, or both.Exit
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Level of qualificationLevel 7
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This document applies to students who commenced the programme(s) in:2019/0
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Awarding institutionTeaching institution
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University of York University of York
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Department(s):
Where more than one department is involved, indicate the lead department		Board of Studies
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Lead Department English and Related LiteratureEnglish and Related Literature
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Other contributing Departments:
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Route code
(existing programmes only)		PMENGSMLL1
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Admissions criteria
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BA 2:1
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Length and status of the programme(s) and mode(s) of study
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ProgrammeLength (years/ months) Status (full-time/ part-time)
Please select		Start dates/months
(if applicable – for programmes that have multiple intakes or start dates that differ from the usual academic year)		Mode
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Face-to-face, campus-basedDistance learningOther
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MA in Medieval Literatures and Languages1Full-timePlease select Y/NYesPlease select Y/NNo
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MA in Medieval Literatures and Languages2Part-timePlease select Y/NYesPlease select Y/NNo
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Language(s) of study
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English (with some options involving other languages)
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Language(s) of assessment
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English
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2. Programme accreditation by Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Bodies (PSRB)
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2.a. Is the programme recognised or accredited by a PSRB
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Please Select Y/N: Noif No move to section 3
if Yes complete the following questions
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3. Additional Professional or Vocational Standards
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Are there any additional requirements of accrediting bodies or PSRB or pre-requisite professional experience needed to study this programme?
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Please Select Y/N: Noif Yes, provide details
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4. Programme leadership and programme team
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4.a. Please name the programme leader for the year to which the programme design applies and any key members of staff responsible for designing, maintaining and overseeing the programme.
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Dr Nicola McDonald is programme leader for this MA, and is responsible for recruitment, coordination, oversight, pastoral care and planning. Dr Claire Westall is Director of PGT Programmes in English, which involves consulting with MA programme leaders on issues of programme design, coordination, oversight and planning. All Medieval School staff in English constitute the teaching and supervision team for the programme.
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5. Purpose and learning outcomes of the programme
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5.a. Statement of purpose for applicants to the Masters programme
Please express succinctly the overall aims of the programme as an applicant facing statement for a prospectus or website. This should clarify to a prospective masters student why they should choose this programme, what it will provide to them and what benefits they will gain from completing it.
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The MA in Medieval Literatures and Languages offers an intensive and exciting opportunity to study the literary culture of medieval England (c.700-c.1500) in its European and multi-lingual contexts. You can choose from an exceptionally wide array of option modules across the languages, literatures and chronological periods of the Middle Ages, including Old and Middle English, Old Norse, medieval Italian, French and Latin, enabling you to construct a distinct, individually tailored programme of study throughout the year. These modules are supported by specialist skills training in medieval languages and/or palaeography. Option modules are each assessed by a research essay, and your developing skills as a researcher are then brought to bear on a substantial dissertation on a topic of your own choosing. In all these tasks you are taught and supervised by world-leading scholars, working in one of the largest research centres in medieval literature in the UK.

The MA in Medieval Literatures and Languages is designed to foster both subject-specific and transferable skills; as such, it represents an equally suitable foundation for students who wish to pursue doctoral research and those who aspire to careers in related areas, including teaching, heritage management, publishing, and archives, among others. Throughout the year the MA programme is supported by a rich schedule of seminars, conferences, and reading groups in medieval literatures, languages and cultures, and as a postgraduate student you will play an important role in the wider research community of both the English Department and the Centre for Medieval Studies. Postgraduate life in the medieval period is channelled equally through the University’s Centre for Medieval Studies and the Humanities Research Centre, vibrant interdisciplinary hubs that enable close social and intellectual bonds to form over the course of your time at York.
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5.b.i. Programme Learning Outcomes - Masters
Please provide six to eight statements of what a graduate of the Masters programme will be able to do.
If the document only covers a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma please specify four to six PLO statements in the sections 5.b.ii and 5.b.iii as appropriate.
Taken together, these outcomes should capture the distinctive features of the programme. They should also be outcomes for which progressive achievement through the course of the programme can be articulated, and which will therefore be reflected in the design of the whole programme.
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PLOOn successful completion of the programme, graduates will be able to:
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1Analyse significant literary and cultural texts from the medieval period closely and critically, interpreting them with reference to their social, political, linguistic and/or cultural contexts.
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2Synthesise and interrogate a range of critical sources in a sophisticated fashion, showing awareness of scholarly debate, while evaluating and selecting material to make for convincing and creative argumentation.
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3Deploy knowledge of medieval literature in its original contexts, demonstrating specialist skills in medieval languages and/or palaeography.
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4Initiate, design, and complete advanced research, drawing on skills honed by graduate-level training, teaching, and independent study.
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5Communicate sophisticated written arguments in a clear, accurate and persuasive fashion, to a deadline and to a high professional standard.
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6Engage in discussion of literary and scholarly texts, demonstrating versatility and cooperation in the exploration of complex ideas and perspectives.
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7Direct their own development, bringing new knowledge and skills to bear upon a range of possible careers and/or further study.
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5.c. Explanation of the choice of Programme Learning Outcomes
Please explain your rationale for choosing these PLOs in a statement that can be used for students (such as in a student handbook). Please include brief reference to:
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i) ... in what way will these PLOs result in an ambitious, challenging programme which stretches the students?
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The PLOs clearly demonstrate the high standards of intellectual enquiry and specialised training that underpin the programme. Students on the programme study a broad range of medieval literatures, in English and other medieval languages, both in the original and in translation; they receive specialist training in the linguistic and palaeographical skills essential to their chosen research field; and they are encouraged to interpret their reading of medieval literature through a range of lenses – social, cultural, linguistic, and aesthetic. They are given the tools to evaluate and contribute to ongoing debates in their area of literary study, and are introduced to a range of specialist fields within this broader area. They are trained to be independent researchers, and to communicate at a high level both verbally and in written work. The training they receive encourages them to direct their own development by applying their graduate skills to considerations of career choice after their MA. The PLOs capture these key facets of an ambitious, challenging programme.
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ii) ... in what way will these PLOs produce a programme which is distinctive and advantageous to the student?
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The PLOs evidence the distinctive breadth of this MA. PLOs 1, 2 and 3 speak to the programme's intellectual and cultural scope: the opportunity it offers to engage at an advanced level with a broad range of medieval literatures in their original linguistic and material contexts, across genres, periods, and geographies, and through a variety of critical and conceptual lenses. PLOs 4, 5, 6 and 7 emphasise the M-level skills that students will gain through the programme. PLO 4 names the elements of the programme that help to develop the student as an independent researcher, while PLO7 indicates where the student might take this development beyond the programme, supported by the writing and verbal skills described in PLOs 5 and 6. Taken together, the PLOs convey the manner in which the student’s ability to manage, shape, and mobilise their thinking will be substantially advanced, aiding a wide spectrum of future professional journeys.
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iii) ... how the design of the programme enables students from diverse entry routes to transition successfully into the programme? For example, how does the organisation of the programme ensure solid foundations in disciplinary knowledge and understanding of conventions, language skills, mathematics and statistics skills, writing skills, lab skills, academic integrity
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While the expectation is that the majority of students taking this MA programme will have completed a BA in English (or a BA with English as one of its elements), the programme is designed to help students from other entry routes to transition successfully into postgraduate life as an English student. This transition is mainly addressed through the training element embedded in the Dissertation module. Although the bulk of the work for the Dissertation is undertaken in the Summer Term and Summer Vacation, its training element runs from the start of the academic year, and comprises both lectures devoted to research skills and to graduate-level writing, as well as writing exercises, making sure students new to the discipline gain a grounding in its key elements. These elements include library orientation, research through digital platforms, bibliographical skills, academic integrity, and writing and argumentation. The opening weeks’ lectures lead up to an essay, written for an Autumn Term option module of the student’s choosing. Submission of this essay is a summative task for the module, but the essay is not given a mark so that students can use it as a lower-stakes stepping stone to research and writing for the assessed essays in their Autumn Term option modules. Students receive written feedback on the essay from their module tutor, and can discuss it further with that tutor, as well as their personal supervisor, in advance of submitting their first essays. This core focus on writing and research skills at the beginning of their graduate training is intended to help all students to transition to M-level work, but will be particularly valuable for students transitioning from diverse entry routes. This includes mature students returning to full- or part-time study, whose particular needs will be addressed by matching them with a carefully chosen supervisor, and through making them aware of central initiatives for mature students such as buddying schemes. Additionally, all of the skills modules (in medieval languages and palaeography) are streamed to include sections for absolute beginners, carefully tailored to facilitate the learning of students new to the study of languages manuscripts.
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iv) ... how the programme is designed to enable students to progress successfully - in a limited time frame - through to the end of the award? For example, the development of higher level research skills; enabling students to complete an independent study module; developing competence and confidence in practical skills/ professional skills. See QAA masters characteristics doument http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Masters-Degree-Characteristics-15.pdf
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The programme is designed to ensure that the students receive the grounding they need, intellectually and in terms of specific study and related skills, at a pace that is commensurate with and supports their progress through the developing challenges of the MA. All candidates have a personal supervisor able to advise them in the shaping and rationale of their route through the degree (including option and skills module choices). All our Masters modules, too, include a first session outlining the contours of the debates and issues to be addressed and offering a map or maps of the terrain. In their option modules in the Autumn and Spring terms, the students progress to study specialist areas of interest to them, from a broad range of possibilities. Across these modules, students receive expert and research-led teaching, and this key facet of the programme ensures that the methods and materials they encounter are sufficiently challenging, field defining, and recent for them to approach as an example of how to proceed in the undertaking of advanced academic and scholarly work. Assessments for each of these modules are double-marked and extensive individualised feedback is received by the student. This feedback can be discussed with tutors, supervisors and programme leaders, ensuring that the student can incorporate its insights into later tasks on the MA, including the dissertation.

In the Autumn and Spring terms students additionally follow specialist skills modules in medieval languages and/or palaeography which are designed to provide them with the training needed to allow them to undertake independent research in a variety of medieval topics.

Undergirding the student’s progress through the programme is the training element of the Dissertation module. This module is carefully designed to teach students particular academic skills at the moment when they first need to employ them. So, as described in the answer to (iii) above, the early part of the module in the Autumn term is devoted to core research and writing skills. In the Spring term the focus shifts to preparing for the dissertation, including the writing of a proposal for a focused and manageable dissertation (in the time and word count available), and to careers beyond the MA. Early in the Summer term students are prepared for the dissertation presentation workshops that form the final summative assessment of the module, and for the writing of the dissertation itself. The training element of the Dissertation module therefore feeds directly into the students’ preparations for their dissertation over the summer, the transition to which offers the key progression point of the MA year.

Progression through the dissertation module itself is supported by assigning a specialist research supervisor to each student. The student has five one-hour meetings with this supervisor between the beginning of the Summer term and 21 July, and for each meeting the student submits a substantial piece of writing towards the dissertation. In addition to this one-on-one mentoring, the student also receives feedback from peers and from their programme leader at the dissertation presentation workshop. As such, the student is thoroughly supported in undertaking the most challenging element of their MA.
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v) ... how this programme (as outlined in these PLOs) will develop students’ digital literacy skills and how technology-enhanced learning will be used to support active student learning through peer/tutor interaction, collaboration and formative (self) assessment opportunities (reference could be made to such as blogging, flipped classroooms, response 'clickers' in lectures, simulations, etc).
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The VLE is a crucial element of the student’s interaction with this MA programme. All option modules as well as the Dissertation module will have VLE sites, through which students will access week-by-week teaching content and further reading and resources, and will submit their assessed work. VLE training is available to all students through the university’s central provision. In all option modules, tutors will engage with digital literacy where it fits the purposes of the relevant module or individual seminar. In the training element of the Dissertation module, students will begin the year by being introduced to academic research through digital platforms, ensuring that their core research, writing and bibliographic skills are supported by digital awareness. Students will be encouraged to followed up with key Library and technology staff if they want to develop these skills further. Early in the Spring term, students will receive a lecture introducing the department’s new online student-led magazine, The Stray. Students on this MA programme, along with students on other programmes, will have the opportunity to write for, edit and publish an edition of the magazine, introducing those students to valuable skills in digital editing and publication. Students will have the opportunity to utilise their digital skills as part of their final summative assessment at the dissertation presentation workshop. The use of Powerpoint or Prezi will be expected, but students will also be able to present videos related to their work. Finally, students can test their developing digital literary skills in the context of the wider activities of the Humanities Research Centre. They can participate in research events, reading groups and postgraduate forum that involve e.g. setting up their own reading materials online, organising conferences and video guest speakers, and presenting their own work to their peers.
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vi) ... how this programme (as outlined in these PLOs) will support and enhance the students’ employability (for example, opportunities for students to apply their learning in a real world setting)?
The programme's employablity objectives should be informed by the University's Employability Strategy:
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The advanced academic, writing and research skills that students gain through an MA in English are prized on the job market. As such, the teaching and learning associated with the option, skills and dissertation modules serve to support and enhance the students’ employability by developing and testing those skills. More specifically, the training element of the Dissertation module has a strong careers focus, particularly in the Spring term when students will be starting to look ahead to life after the MA. Students will receive a presentation from the English careers contact early in the term, and later in the term the department will host an alumni event where former MA students return to discuss their career journeys following their time at York. Then in the Summer term, the students will present their research-in-progress for the dissertation in 10-minute presentations, followed by question and answer with their cohort and programme leader. This task marks the summative assessment of the verbal skills the students have gained through the programme, and students will receive feedback oriented towards their presentation skills as well as their content, serving the employability as well as academic agenda. Students on this programme are also supported by the broad range of employability-linked sessions offered by Careers and Placements.

In addition, as mentioned in (v) above, students will have the opportunity to write for, edit and publish an issue of the department’s new online magazine, The Stray. This will provide those students interested in finding employment in careers related to writing, editing, and publishing a chance to establish their credentials in this area and boost their CV.

Over the course of the programme, as outlined in the PLOs, the students’ employability is enhanced by the development of transferrable skills such independent working, time management, efficient organisation, critical reasoning, effective argumentation, and verbal communication. These skills are developed in seminar discussion, in researching and writing to deadlines, and in presenting on their work-in-progress. Students are also introduced to the York Strengths and York Award programmes early in the year, and are given the opportunity to complete these in addition to their core work on the MA programme.
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viii) ... how learning and teaching on the programme are informed and led by research in the department/ Centre/ University?
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The Department of English and Related Literature, as well as the Centre for Medieval Studies with which the MA is also associated, and from which it is administered, are internationally renowned for their research, and this is what attracts many students to undertake an MA with us. Our MA programmes centrally feature research-led teaching across their various elements. Across the range of option modules available, teaching staff are typically constructing and teaching their modules from within their own research frame of reference. They draw on disciplinary and inter-/trans-disciplinary debates as appropriate, they set up broad questions/issues where needed, and they model research-intensive approaches, methods and questions for students, who gain insights and also examples of how best to pursue high-standard research. In their dissertation projects students also receive support from the research experience and expertise of their supervisor, and this can be in content or methodological terms, and is often across both. Finally, staff contributing to the training element of the Dissertation module also use their research and the experiences they have gained while researching to help the students understand how academic and other research-activities and employment function. In these ways the programme is - at its intellectual roots - bound to the research culture and practices of advanced and experienced research scholars in the department.
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5.d. Progression
For masters programmes where students do not incrementally 'progress' on the completion of a discrete Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma, please summarise students’ progressive development towards the achievement of the PLOs, in terms of the characteristics that you expect students to demonstrate at the end of the set of modules or part thereof. This summary may be particularly helpful to students and the programme team where there is a high proportion of option modules and in circumstances where students registered on a higher award will exit early with a lower one.

Note: it is not expected that a position statement is written for each masters PLO, but this can be done if preferred.
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On completion of modules sufficient to obtain a Postgraduate Certificate students will be able to:
If the PG Cert is an exit award only please provide information about how students will have progressed towards the diploma/masters PLOs. Please include detail of the module diet that students will have to have completed to gain this qualification as an exit award.
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The PG Certificate in Medieval Literatures and Languages offers recognition for their work and achievements to students who have completed taught elements of the degree, without them having to complete a dissertation project or a long essay. Students must obtain 60 credits in order to receive a certificate. Students will thus have completed at least: either three 20 credit option modules or two 20 credit option modules and two 10 credit skills modules and the assessment requirements for each of those modules. They will have passed at least 40 credits outright and received at least a compensatory pass in another 20 credits. Students achieving a certificate will have engaged with the training element of the Dissertation module but will not have completed the module, so no credits will be awarded to this provision.

In this manner, students will have studied in accordance with the PLOs that are mapped via the core module and option module entries on the Masters Programme Map. They will have engaged in learning towards all seven PLOs, and will have been assessed on the first five PLOs.
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On completion of modules sufficient to obtain a Postgraduate Diploma students will be able to:
If the PG Diploma is an exit award only please provide information about how students will have progressed towards the masters PLOs. Please include detail of the module diet that students will have to have completed to gain this qualification as an exit award.
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The PG Diploma in Medieval Literatures and Languages offers a postgraduate qualification that can be completed in less time than the MA and involves the writing of a 6-7,000-word long essay rather than a 14-16,000-word dissertation. Students must obtain 120 credits in order to receive the diploma. 80 credits are gained for the four taught modules, 20 for the Skills Modiles and the diploma long essay carries 20 credits.

Successfully completing these requirements will mean that students gaining a Diploma will have engaged in learning towards and been assessed on all seven PLOs.
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6. Reference points and programme regulations
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6.b. University award regulations
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The University’s award and assessment regulations apply to all programmes: any exceptions that relate to this programme are approved by University Teaching Committee and are recorded at the end of this document.
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7. Programme Structure
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7.a. Module Structure and Summative Assessment Map
Please complete the summary table below which shows the module structure and the pattern of summative assessment through the programme.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
If the structure of your programme does not fit the usual academic year (for instance students start at the beginning of September or in January) please contact your Academic Quality Team contact in the Academic Support Office for guidance on how to represent the structure in an alternative format.

To clearly present the overall programme structure, include the name and details of each invidual CORE module in the rows below. For OPTION modules, ‘Option module’ or 'Option from list x' should be used in place of specifically including all named options. If the programme requires students to select option modules from specific lists by term of delivery or subject theme these lists should be provided in the next section (7.b).

From the drop-down select 'S' to indicate the start of the module, 'A' to indicate the timing of each distinct summative assessment point (eg. essay submission/ exam), and 'E' to indicate the end of teaching delivery for the module (if the end of the module coincides with the summative assessment select 'EA'). It is not expected that each summative task will be listed where an overall module might be assessed cumulatively (for example weekly problem sheets).

Summative assessment by exams should normally be scheduled in the spring week 1 and summer Common Assessment period (weeks 5-7). Where the summer CAP is used, a single ‘A’ can be used within the shaded cells as it is understood that you will not know in which week of the CAP the examination will take place. (NB: An additional resit assessment week is provided in week 10 of the summer term for postgraduate students. See Guide to Assessment, 5.4.a)
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Full time structure
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CreditsModuleAutumn TermSpring Term Summer Term Summer Vacation
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CodeTitle12345678910123456789101234567891012345678910111213
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20Option Module 1SEA
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20Option Module 2SEA
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20Option Module 3SEA
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20Option Module 4SEA
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80DissertationSEA
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10Skills Module 1SEA
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10Skills Module 2SEA
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Please indicate when the Progression Board and Final Exam board will be held and when any reassessments will be submitted.
NB: You are required to provide at least three weeks notice to students of the need for them to resubmit any required assessments, in accordance with the Guide to Assessment section 4.9
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Progression BoardSummer Term & Week 6
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ReassessmentSummer Term & Week 11
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Exam BoardAutumn Term & Week 6
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Part time structures
Please indicate the modules undertaken in each year of the part-time version of the programme. Please use the text box below should any further explanation be required regarding structure of part-time study routes.
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Year 1 (if you offer the programme part-time over either 2 or 3 years, use the toggles to the left to show the hidden rows)
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CreditsModuleAutumn TermSpring Term Summer Term Summer Vacation
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CodeTitle12345678910123456789101234567891012345678910111213
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20Option Module 1SEA
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20Option Module 2SEA
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10Skills Module 1SEA
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DissertationSE
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Please indicate when the Progression Board and Final Exam board will be held and when any reassessments will be submitted.
NB: You are required to provide at least three weeks notice to students of the need for them to resubmit any required assessments, in accordance with the Guide to Assessment section 4.9
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Progression BoardSummer Term & Week 6
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ReassessmentSummer Term & Week 11
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Exam BoardAutumn Term & Week 6
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Year 2
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CreditsModuleAutumn TermSpring Term Summer Term Summer Vacation
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CodeTitle12345678910123456789101234567891012345678910111213