Examinations and Award

To test knowledge and understanding of material presented in the lectures and associated practicals, the student will be assessed via a combination of written examinations, oral presentations, essays, poster presentations, laboratory experiment write-ups, and/or fieldwork reports.

Summative assessment contributes to marks and usually involves a combination of written examinations (at the end of the study module) and coursework (which includes essays, project reports, and computing practicals, etc.). Assessment of knowledge and understanding is undertaken primarily via these summative assessment methods; in addition the student will receive feedback on all formally assessed work.

Assessment of the skills will be achieved through a combination of written examinations, essays, computer and laboratory exercises, oral presentations, fieldwork reports, short coursework assignments, poster presentations, and a research project report, according to the respective syllabus. Additional support can be provided for those students with specific needs.

To receive the Award, students have to acquire 120 ECTS.

To progress from one semester to the next and to the thesis, a student:

• Must achieve the pass mark for all Modules forming part of that semester as determined by the progression regulations (or equivalent regulations) of the university concerned including fully accredited exemptions of work or prior learning which a student completed outside of the programme as being equivalent to part of the programme it offers, in accordance with its regulations; and
• May also be required to achieve a minimum average mark for a semester expressed in the ECTS grading scale as determined by the most stringent progression regulations of the universities at which the student will be studying are concerned. Examinations passed and credits earned at one university will be fully recognised by the other partners.
• Every student will have to submit a final draft of the Thesis to be assessed by the JPB during the “green light assessment meeting” where thesis drafts are pre-assessed in order to be submitted for final evaluation.

The universities, through their National Co-ordinators, will unanimously agree by way of a written resolution of the JPB to mutually recognise each module successfully completed by a student at a partner institution and to accept the results of the examination grades given. Thesis work will be supervised jointly. The table below indicates the equivalence between local marking systems and the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).

For the purposes of classification of the Award and for use in transcripts and the European Diploma Supplement, the next table will be used:

(*) Regulation in Spain in accordance with the Spanish framework of Qualification for Higher Education (MECES) as stated in the Spanish Official Bulletin (B.O.E.: 7 Feb. 2015, 33, page 10325). For information purposes only:

https://www.educacionyfp.gob.es/dam/jcr:22e6b622-05ca-4128-823c-245a6ae90bb7/anexoi-escalas–1-.pdf

The JPB shall draw together the results from each university where a student carried out his/her studies for taught assessment and the results from each thesis Jury convened for each student.

The JPB will agree recommendations for the confirmation of the Award, together with any award of distinction as unanimously agreed by all the universities where a student carried out his/her studies.

The recommendations for Award from the JPB shall be forwarded to the relevant approval body at each university for formal approval through its own awarding processes, as appropriate. Each university shall sign a pass list (or similar results listing) confirming the Award.

Under the Erasmus Mundus framework, any student having successfully completed this programme will be entitled to receive the Joint Award and European Diploma Supplements. Otherwise a Double Award may be issued by one of the universities where the student has been registered according to their national regulations.

Appeals by a student against decisions of an Examination Board will be considered according to the university’s procedures applying where the decision, which is being appealed, was originally taken.

Re-take exams: students may have the possibility of re-taking exams in cases where progression requirements have not been met. The conditions and dates of re-takes exams will be as established by the existing internal rules and requirements at institutional level.

Cases of Fraud: Any cheating or attempted cheating by a student, established and proven, during or after the test, will lead to disciplinary sanctions. Recognised cases of fraud are:

• Using or having access to illegal aids during the relevant examination or test
• Unauthorized use of permissible aids
• Presenting someone else’s work as one’s own; plagiarism, including missing source references and/or clear marking of citations
• Presenting one’s own previous work without reference; self-plagiarism
• Unauthorized cooperation between candidates or groups
• Wrongfully obtaining access to assessment
• Otherwise acting in a way that could provide wrongful advantages in connection with assessment or compulsory activities

The following disciplinary reactions may be decided:

• Annulment of the applicable examination or test or recognition of a course
• The university where the student is registered will decide by unanimity the solution to take for these cases.

[last update = 02/14/2022]