University of Southampton Calendar 2009/10


University Calendar 2009/10 Section VII : Academic Regulations - Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics School of Electronics and Computer Science

School	Electronics and Computer Science
Final Award	Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) Bachelor of Science (BSc) Master of Computing (MComp) Master of Engineering (MEng) with exit awards of Certificate of Higher Education, Diploma of Higher Education, Ordinary Degree.
Programme(s)	These regulations apply to all undergraduate programmes in ECS
Last modified	25 June 2009

Reference should be made to the University's General Regulations found in Section IV and Section V (Higher Degree Regulations) of the University Calendar.

Except where the School has been granted an opt-out by the University (see below) the following academic regulations apply in addition to the General Regulations.

Admissions

1.1	The specific admissions criteria for each programme are given on the ECS web site.
1.2	Students who are exceptionally well prepared may be admitted into the second year of a programme. This requires approval from the admissions tutor and course leader.

Structure of Programme(s)

2.1	All undergraduate programmes in ECS are full-time degrees.
2.2	Bachelors degrees normally require three years of study. MComp/MEng degrees normally require four years of study.
2.3	Students who transfer from an MComp/MEng programme to a BEng/BSc programme will not normally be permitted to transfer back to the MComp/MEng.
2.4	Transfer from BEng/BSc to MComp/MEng is normally permitted up to the start of the final term of the third year. Transfer is conditional on the student having taken any modules that are compulsory for the MComp/MEng programme, and their prior academic performance.
2.5	All Part I modules are core. This means they must be taken and passed with a minimum mark of at least 40% before students may progress to Part II.
2.6	The individual third year project, and the fourth year group design project are also core components. These must be taken and passed with a minimum mark of 40% before any late penalty is applied.
2.7	A referral in a core project module represents an opportunity for a student who has failed this module to undertake additional work on the original project, normally without receiving additional supervision or undertaking further experimental work.
2.8	Students on taught programmes in ECS are required to register for 60 credits of modules in each semester. Students may attend lectures for additional modules, but only with the permission of the module leader. Students may not participate in the assessment activities of these additional modules.
2.9	The compulsory and optional modules for each year of each ECS degree are given in the programme specifications and student courses handbook. Some modules have pre-requisites and some modules are mutually exclusive. These are documented in the ECS module specifications. A printed copy of the latest version of these documents is kept in the ECS Student Services Office and can also be viewed electronically on the ECS website.
2.10	Students must select their options for each semester of study before the start of the semester on or before the options deadline as notified by the Options Coordinator.
2.11	It is the responsibility of each student to ensure that the combination of modules they have selected is valid and meets the requirements of their programme of study.
2.12	Students may change their selection up to the end of week three of the semester. Students changing their selection after the deadline are responsible for checking that there are no timetable clashes.
2.13	Completed options forms must be signed by the student and their personal tutor, senior tutor or programme coordinator.
2.14	The deadlines indicated above apply to the submission of a properly completed options form to ECS Student Services.
2.15	Students must submit their project preferences by the end of the semester before the start of the project on or before the deadline as notified by the project coordinator so that a project supervisor can be allocated.

Progression

3.1

In order to progress to the next Part of the programme, MEng students who commenced their studies in or before October 2007 are required to obtain an average mark of 55% in Part II and 52% in Part III. MComp/MEng students who commenced after October 2007 are required to obtain an average mark of 58% in Part III.

Assessment

4.1	When students repeat modules externally, it may be impractical for them to undertake the normal assessment activities, for example in the case of a module with assessed laboratories or group work. In such cases, ECS will provide an alternative but equivalent form of assessment.
4.2	Assessed coursework or project work that is submitted late will be penalised at 5% per working day, compounded. For the purposes of this regulation, working days are defined to be weekdays during term time, or the summer vacation, or the first week of the Christmas or Easter vacation, but excluding bank holidays.
4.3	A project that fails as a result of the application of late penalties will however be awarded the pass mark of 40%.
4.4	A project referral represents an opportunity for a student who has failed their project to perform a small amount of extra work on the original project and re-submit their report.
4.5	Any student undertaking a project repeat must begin a new project. No work undertaken in pursuit of the original project may be considered during the assessment of the project.
4.6	Due to requirements for supervision and likely demands on resources, students opting to repeat Part III externally will not repeat their project, but will carry forward the original project mark. For this reason an external repeat cannot be used to remedy a failing project mark. The same restriction also applies in Part IV to the group design project.

Award of Qualification(s)

5.1	Qualifications are awarded according to the standard University regulations.

Placements/Study Abroad/Exchange/Fieldwork

6.1	ECS students are required to demonstrate that they have read and understood the relevant laboratory handbook and computer regulations before they are allowed to work in any ECS teaching laboratory.
6.2	ECS students are required to complete a risk assessment before undertaking as part of their studies any activity that is judged to involve health and safety risks.

Other

7.1	Students who are not enrolled on an ECS approved programme of study require written permission from the module leader before they may register for an ECS module.
7.2	Candidates are required to satisfy the academic and attendance requirements of the programme as laid out in the Programme Specification and the Student Handbook for the programme. Those failing to do so may have their course terminated.
7.3	These regulations may be revised during the student’s period of registration in accordance with the procedures approved by Senate.