Posted on Fri 14 Jan 2022 at 13:30 by
Jacob Withington Welcome back to the new year! I hope you had a good break.
For info on assessments such as IMCs and how to prepare head here: https://www.bath.ac.uk/topics/exams-and-assessments/
Our Advice and Support team can also help you apply for IMCs: https://www.thesubath.com/advice/
IMCs are a way to request the exam board consider the impact of an unexpected event that has impacted your academic performance.
Since the new year I have been working on the following issue of the lack of an option to defer exams. If you are in a difficult situation outside of your control such as severe mental health difficulties, an essential un-rearrangeable doctor’s appointment or a family funeral at the time of an exam, you will not receive adequate mitigation in the form of a deferral of your exam unless you fail the exam and have an IMC accepted. I have been in discussions with the Pro Vice Chancellor Education and the Pro Vice Chancellor Student Experience about this need for a deferral process within IMCs.
Our IMC process is set up so you only find out the outcome after you have sat the exam, these outcomes can range from awarding the next highest classification if you are on the border to allowing you to resist your exam uncapped at 40% if you have failed it.
However, with the university not allowing deferrals prior to the exam and forcing all students to sit the exam no matter what, it leaves students having to gamble between:
- Sitting the exam and hope that you fail to allow you to resit it capped at 40% and then hope that your IMC claim is accepted meaning the 40% cap is removed.
- Not sit the exam (not knowing if your IMC will be approved) and hope that it is accepted allowing you to sit the exam uncapped in the summer.
- Sit the exam, hoping that you perform to the best of your ability even in your circumstances and hope the IMC process mitigates for this.
One of the major ways IMC claims mitigate for affects on your performance are that if you are on the border between for example a 2.1 and a First it may allow you to move up to a First. However, if the exam affected had a heavy weighting that bought your average way below the border, this may not be available. In which case, we believe you should have the option to resit the exam.
This gamble you are forced to take when you are in situations outside of your control that make you unfit to take an exam is unacceptable and damaging to your mental health and outcomes.
Since the start of the new year, I have been lobbying the university to allow uncapped exam deferrals for specific exams to be granted before the exam occurs as part of the IMC process for students where this is appropriate. Sadly, this was not possible for this exam season. We are now calling on the university to allow two things:
1) For you to be able to defer an exam before you sit it if you aren't in a fit state to or if you cannot make it due to something unarrangeable and outside of your control.
2) For you to be able to resit an exam uncapped without having to fail it, just by having an IMC accpeted for it.
If you want to show your support for this which would be much appreciated, comment below or email me at sueducation@bath.ac.uk
