Applying special circumstance outcome decisions at course level

Guidance on how to search for students with special circumstances and apply outcome decisions at course level

Overview

Applying special circumstance outcome decisions is done in the Assessment Hub which is part of the Assessment and Progression Tool (APT). You can search for and enter outcome decisions by course using the process course results screen (PCR).

Once an assessment level special circumstance outcome decision has been applied you may need to apply a course level decision.

(Depending on the terminology used within each school a course level decision may also be known as a programme level decision and an assessment level decision may also be known as a course level decision)

(See here for guidance on applying special circumstance outcome decisions at assessment level).

A course level decision can be applied to the overall course result and can be used when the progression/graduation of the student needs to be taken into consideration as a result of a special circumstance.

A course level special circumstance decision is considered as a requirement of the progression and awards board. The image below highlights where it is applied in the overall process of applying a special circumstance outcome.

Making decisions

To support the decision making process when deciding outcomes you will be able to select the relevant case link for each assessment or course which will allow you to view the information the student has submitted in their application(s).

Only staff who have access to the Assessment Support tool will be able to view case information for students.

Outcome decisions

The outcome decisions that can be taken at assessment level are from section 10.2 of the Special Circumstance policy.

You can view the policy here.

There are two levels of outcome decision that are applied at assessment and course level when considering special circumstances.

Final outcome

A final outcome decision is applied at board level and can take into consideration the recommended outcome decision by either agreeing with it or editing it. The final outcome decision is what is saved and displayed to the student.

The two-step process of applying recommended and final outcome decisions is available to support the different committee and board level decision making processes. However, a recommended and a final outcome decision can be made at the same time if it is more suited to an individual school process.

Selecting and saving a final outcome decision does not affect the course mark. For the outcome to be taken into consideration in the overall course mark has to be ratified and published.

Viewing outcomes

For a final outcome decision to be displayed to the student and in reports the course mark must first be ratified and published.

Once a course mark has been published a student will be able to view their special circumstance outcome decision in the Assessment Support tool in their application dashboard and in the self-service portal.

The final outcome decision will also be displayed within the relevant BI reports.

Applying an outcome decision on a course

The process below explains how to search for students with validated special circumstances and apply outcome decisions that supports pre-board and board level decision making. It also shows how these outcome decisions can be viewed by both staff and students.

1. Search for a course

1.1 From the Students tab in Euclid open the Assessment Hub.

1.2 Enter the code and academic year of the course you want to view.

2. View students with special circumstances

2.1 Select Process course results.

This will open the PCR screen where you will be able to view and filter the list of students who have special circumstances.

2.2 Click the i button to view the students information.

Above the list of assessments is the course level special circumstance table.

The Case # field will display links to all cases where a student has applied for a special circumstance on an assessment for the course.

The Action field will display the status of the outcome decision.

Only staff who have access to the Assessment Support tool will be able to view case information for students.

2.3 Use the case links to review the case information that a student has submitted in support of their special circumstance application.

3. Provide a recommended outcome

3.1 Select Provide recommendation

This will open the mark modal screen which will display a list of recommended outcomes to choose from.

3.2 Select the relevant outcomes and save.

The recommended outcome(s) will be stored and can be viewed in the Assessment Hub by other staff in your school who have access to APT.

The outcome decision status in the Action field will now be updated to Provide outcome.

4. Provide a final outcome

4.1 Select Provide outcome

This will open the mark modal screen which will display a list of available final outcomes with the recommended outcomes pre-selected.

The recommended outcome(s) will be initially be greyed out and you can accept them by clicking Save outcomes.

To edit the recommended outcomes select the Edit outcome(s) radio button.

This will allow you to select different outcome decisions from the recommended ones and save them as the final outcome decision(s).

The final outcome(s) will be stored and can be viewed in the Assessment Hub by other staff in your school who have access to APT.

The outcome decision status in the Action field will now be updated to View outcome.

Changing a recommended outcome

You can edit a recommended outcome decision before the final outcome decision is applied.

Select the Provide outcomes action link of the assessment to open the outcome decison panel.

Updating a final outcome decision

Content

Once the final outcome(s) have been saved in the Assessment Hub the process of ratifying and publishing marks still needs to be completed.

See here for guidance on ratifying marks.

See here for guidance on publishing marks.

This article was published on 2024-07-29