Assessment and examination
Coursework programs: assessment
Coursework master’s degrees, graduate diplomas and graduate certificates require attendance at, and completion of, assessable tasks (eg examinations, essays, and projects) for prescribed units of study each semester.
The University's Resolutions on the Assessment and Examination of Coursework stipulates that information about all aspects of assessment must be provided to every enrolled student within one week of commencing a unit of study.
Students who do not attend class during the first week are advised to seek the information as soon as is practicable. This information will cover all details of assessment, including the criteria for satisfactory and meritorious performance, penalties for plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty, attendance and class requirements and the weighting of assessments.
A grade is finalised for each unit of study at the end of the semester and these grades are recorded on FlexSIS (the student records system). Each faculty is required to monitor results in units of study taken by its students and to ensure that results are finalised in a timely manner.
When sufficient units of study have been completed to satisfy the requirements of the program, the dean of the faculty concerned will approve the award of the degree, graduate diploma or graduate certificate on behalf of the faculty, and any grade of honours or merit award.
If you have concerns with the assessment process or the results, see the section above on resolution of problems and the section on Appeals against academic decision on formal appeal mechanisms.
Common result grades
The Academic Board has adopted the following table of common result grades. Not all faculties use all grades in all courses.
| Permanent Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade | Description | Mark range if applicable | Comments |
| HD | High Distinction | 85-100 | |
| D | Distinction | 75-84 | |
| CR | Credit | 65-74 | |
| P | Pass | 50-64 | |
| R | Satisfied Requirements | This is used in Pass/Fail only outcomes. | |
| UCN | Unit of Study continuing | Used at the end of a semester for units of study which have been approved to extend into a following semester. This will automatically flag that no final result is required until the end of the last semester of the unit of study. | |
| PCON | Pass (concessional) | 46-49 | Use of this grade is restricted to those courses which allow for a Concessional Pass of some kind to be awarded. A student may re-enrol in a unit of study for which the result was PCON. Each faculty will determine and state in its course regulations what proportion, if any, may count – eg 'no more than one sixth of the total credit points for a course can be made up from PCON results'. |
| F | Fail | 0-49 | This grade may be used for students with marks from 46-49 in those faculties which do not use PCON. |
| AF | Absent Fail | Includes non-submission of compulsory work (or non-attendance at compulsory labs, etc.) as well as failure to attend an examination. | |
| W | Withdrawn | Not recorded on external transcript. This is the result that obtains where a student applies to discontinue a unit of study by the HECS Census Date (ie within the first four weeks of enrolment). | |
| DNF | Discontinued – Not to count as Failure | Recorded on external transcript. This result applies automatically where a student discontinues after the HECS Census Date but before the end of the seventh week of the Semester (or before half of the unit of study has run in the case of units of study which are not semester-length). A faculty may determine that the result of DNF is warranted after this date if the student has made out a special case based on illness or misadventure. | |
| DF | Discontinued – Fail | Recorded on external transcript. This applies from the time DNF ceases to be automatically available up to the cessation of classes for the unit of study. | |
Academic dishonesty and plagiarism
The University has strict policies and guidelines on plagiarism, copying, recycling and other forms of academic dishonesty.
The policy is outlined in the Academic Honesty in Coursework (plagiarism) which can be downloaded from sydney.edu.au/ab/policies/Academic_Honesty_Cwk.pdf
See also Plagiarism: Student Coursework - Policy and Procedures at sydney.edu.au/senate/policies/Plagiarism.pdf
It is your responsibility to ensure you have an understanding of the University’s policy in relation to academic dishonesty and plagiarism. If you have any questions regarding these policies you should approach your faculty.