BSc Psychology UCL. Information for Undergraduate Students

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1 BSc Psychology UCL Information for Undergraduate Students CONTENTS BACKGROUND Sources of Information The College and the Division FACILITIES Library Facilities Computing Facilities Common Room THE UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMME Programme of Study Courses and Course Convenors Professional qualification WHAT IS EXPECTED OF STUDENTS? Student responsibilities Notes for beginning students on how to pace your studies STAFF-STUDENT LINKS AND GUIDANCE Principal Tutors for Undergraduate Students Guidance for Students Mentoring Scheme Feedback of Students' Views Study Abroad Careers Advice Healthcare Facilities COURSE REQUIREMENTS Being Complete on a Course Seminars Coursework and Assessment Progression and Degree Result Failure/Non-completion of a CU Illness and Academic Performance Examinations Plagiarism APPENDICES Seminars, Essays and Marking Schemes Faculty of Life Sciences: Notes for Undergraduate Students First Year Courses The information contained in this booklet is as accurate as can be ascertained at the time of writing, but cannot be guaranteed as correct. 1

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3 BACKGROUND Sources of Information Besides this section, there are two other main sources of information about your degree course: An Induction Pack (Year 1) and Information booklets (Years 2 and 3). These documents contain details of courses, their value in terms of course units, the names of course convenors, the composition of the seminar groups and names of seminar tutors and the timetable for that year. Psychology Online: here you can access course information such as aims and objectives of courses, lecture notes, recommended reading and exam details. Please read this booklet and your year handouts carefully and use the Psychology Online System as the means to guide you through those courses. More general information about being a student at UCL can be found in the Faculty of Life Sciences Notes for Undergraduate Students (included in this handbook), and the College Student Handbook. The College and the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences UCL is the oldest and largest College of the University of London. Founded in 1826, UCL opened its doors to those barred by race, class and creed from Oxford and Cambridge and was conceived as a radical alternative to these institutions. As the third university to be established in England, it pioneered the conception of a modern university, open to all, and was the first to establish many of the departments and degree courses that we now take for granted in contemporary university institutions - these include Law, English, French, Geography and Italian, as well as Chemical, Biochemical, Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Architecture Departments. It was also the first university in England to bring the practice and teaching of Medicine within the context of a university syllabus. In the Research Assessment exercises by HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) established in the 1980's, UCL has consistently been ranked in the top three of multi-faculty universities in the UK for scholarship and research. UCL and Cambridge were the first British universities to establish laboratories of scientific Psychology, and the British Psychological Society originated in the UCL Department in UCL has long been one of the UK centres of excellence for psychological research and was the UK's top-rated institution (by volume of high-quality research) in the Government's 2008 assessment of research quality. UCL Psychology has recently undergone a restructuring that has seen the formation of the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, which is part of the Faculty of Life Sciences. The Division is made up of eight Research Departments; Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience; Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences; Developmental Science; Human-Computer Interaction; Language & Communication; Linguistics; and Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Science. The Undergraduate degree benefits from the expertise of staff from across the Division. In addition to the Undergraduate degree, the Division also offers Psychology-related postgraduate degrees including; Cognitive and Decision Sciences, Social Cognition, Language Sciences, Cognitive Neuroscience, Human-Computer Interaction with Ergonomics, Research Methods in Psychology, Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology, Psychodynamic Developmental Neuroscience, and Theoretical Psychoanalytical Studies. The Undergraduate degree is based at 26 Bedford Way. 3

4 FACILITIES Library Facilities For details of the library facilities provided by College, please see the separate handout entitled The Psychology Collection. Key references for lectures / practicals and lecture notes can be downloaded from the Psychology Online site at Computing Facilities There is a computer-based laboratory which utilises a networked system of 51 PCs. You will use this laboratory for various classes; the computers will be open access when not in use for teaching. The 30 laboratory cubicles on the Third Floor each contain a networked PC. The cubicles are open access when not in use for laboratory classes and individual experiments. Around the UCL campus, there are "open access" cluster rooms (maintained by Information Systems) equipped with PCs. One of these cluster rooms is located on the Third Floor of the Bedford Way Building (room 316). Through both the Psychology and College networks, a wide range of software is available to students, including packages for word processing, graphics, spreadsheets, statistical analyses, mathematical libraries, databases, and several programming languages. In addition, these machines can be used to: Send and receive . This is essential as a method of communication between staff and students. Please make sure that you are registered with Information Systems (this can be done following enrolment), and check your regularly. Access the Psychology intranet. The Division has its own website ( which includes: - Staff home pages - News and events - The Subject Pool - Links to each of the Research Department web pages - Vacancies for Research posts - Psychology intranet (which includes ethics information, telephone lists, general Bedford Way information and link to Psychology Online). The Psychology Online System contains information on timetables, course descriptions, lecture notes and course-related documentation. This is also where you will complete course and seminar appraisals and submit lab reports. Login details are provided at your computing training session during induction week. Courses on computing are available within the College, and courses on computer use in psychology are run in Bedford Way building, including an introductory session in Induction Week. Students are encouraged to acquire computer skills and use computers as an everyday tool of study, writing, and communication. But remember, one of the most essential skills is to keep a back-up copy of any vital essay or report you are writing! Common Room The third floor Common Room is available for the use of all students and staff. We hope 4

5 you find it a valuable social centre. Please be considerate to others in your use of it. In particular, note that all public areas of the College, including this room, are NO SMOKING areas. Panino D Oro Café is based in the Common Room and serves a range of hot and cold food and drinks during term time. The Common Room also contains student noticeboards (one for each year) and alphabetical pigeonholes for student mail. Important communications will be put there; please check your mail regularly and remove any mail addressed to you. Please leave empty envelopes in the box provided, not in the pigeonholes. Programme of Study THE UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMME The stated objectives of our BSc programme are that students should have followed a coherent programme which combines a broad grounding in psychology with the opportunity to achieve depth in areas chosen by the student; be familiar with biological, cognitive, individual differences and social approaches to psychology, their achievements, limitations, and relationships; understand, and have practical experience of, the methods which develop new knowledge and new understanding in psychology; be able to apply appropriate statistical methods in the analysis of data, and appreciate their power and limitations; possess skills in written and oral presentation, in finding and organising information, and in using information technology for these purposes. As these objectives suggest, the course deals with Psychology as an empirical science, and practical work, research design, and statistics play important parts in it. The structure of the Psychology degree is as follows: In the First Year, students take three introductory courses and three core courses in Psychology. The Introductory courses serve as an introduction to concepts and methods in Psychology, research design and data analysis. The core courses cover topics in individual differences, memory and decisionmaking, and social psychology. These courses make up 3 of the required 4 course units of study. The fourth course unit is taken in other departments of UCL. A directory of courses available to you is included in your Induction pack. The Psychology component of the Second Year is entirely made up of core courses, building on the knowledge gained in the First Year Introductory courses. The topics covered are: research design and data analysis, brain and behaviour, health and clinical psychology, perception, attention and action, cognition and language and developmental psychology. The final half-course unit may be chosen either within Psychology (Computing for Psychologists), or from courses offered elsewhere in UCL. A Directory of available courses is ed to prospective second year students during August. The Third Year is made up of a project, which is worth one course unit, and half course unit specialist advanced courses in the whole range of psychological study and practice. Every course that students attend will have clearly stated aims and objectives. These will be given with the lecture synopsis and reading lists that accompany the course. The reading lists will distinguish strongly recommended items from those which give background information. All obligatory First and Second Year courses will always be available. A selection of optional (Third Year) courses will be available, but may vary from year to year; Second Year students will meet with the Third Year tutor soon after their exams end in Term 3 and at that meeting will be told of the availability of optional Third Year courses. 5

6 Courses and Course Convenors The Tables below list all courses for students registered on the BSc Psychology. Note: Courses taken in Year 1 and Year 2 count towards progression from one year to the next and courses taken in all three years contribute to the final degree grade (see Page 14 for more details). First Year No. Course Title Value Convenor 1103 Introduction to Psychological 0.5 CU Prof Lavie Experiments 1104 Introduction to Statistical 0.5 CU Dr McClelland Methods in Psychology 1105 Concepts and Methods in 0.5 CU Dr Wattam-Bell Psychology 1201 Memory and Decision 0.5 CU Prof Harvey 1202 Social Psychology 0.5 CU Dr Richardson 1203 The Psychology of Individual 0.5 CU Prof Burgess Differences Second Year No. Course Title Value Convenor 2203 Research and Quantitative 0.5 CU Prof Howell Methods in Psychology 2204 Design and Analysis of 0.5 CU Dr McClelland Psychological Experiments 2205 Brain and Behaviour 0.5 CU Dr Spiers 2206 Health and Clinical Psychology 0.5 CU Prof Brewin 2207 Perception, Attention and Action 0.5 CU Prof Johnston 2208 Cognition and Language 0.5 CU Prof Green 2209 Developmental Psychology 0.5 CU Dr Schlottmann 2301* Computing for Psychologists 0.5 CU Dr Langley *Can be taken as a subsidiary course in Year 2 (or exceptionally in Year 1). Details of Subsidiary Courses are provided in directories included in your Induction pack (Year 1) or sent via (Year 2). 6

7 Third Year (options offered in are listed: these may change from year to year) No. Course Title Value Convenor 3901 Project (compulsory) 1 CU Prof Harvey 3102 Social Psychology 0.5 CU Dr Kopietz 3104 Psychology of Education 0.5 CU Dr Schlottmann 3107 Topics in Clinical Psychology 0.5 CU Dr Mandy 3109 Psychology of Health Risks 0.5 CU Dr Joffe 3110 Topics in Developmental 0.5 CU Dr Schlottmann Psychology 3111 Human Computer Interaction 0.5 CU Dr Cox 3201 Applied Decision-Making 0.5 CU Prof Harvey 3203 Language & Cognition 0.5 CU Prof Green 3205 Speech 0.5 CU Prof Howell 3207 Human Learning and Memory 0.5 CU Prof Shanks 3209 Cognitive Neuroscience 0.5 CU Dr Otten 3210 Brain in Action 0.5 CU Dr Konen 3211 Attention & Awareness 0.5 CU Prof Lavie 3301 Advanced Multivariate Statistical 0.5 CU Prof McManus Methods in Psychology 3303 Topics in Neurobiology 0.5 CU Dr Cacucci 3307 Genes and Behaviour 0.5 CU Dr Haworth 3045 Visual Neuroscience 0.5 CU Prof Johnston (Anatomy Course) Note: Where there are multiple convenors, only the first has been listed. The project (3901) is obligatory. Students registered for the degree in Psychology must choose six third year courses. There are restrictions on the combination of options that may be chosen, as described in the handout to Third Year students. Students are able to take appropriate courses in other Departments within the Faculty of Life Sciences, with the permission of the Third Year Tutor. Professional qualification The BSc degree in Psychology has been approved by the British Psychological Society as providing the basis for Graduate Registration within the Society. Qualification in specific professional areas of psychology, in particular Clinical and Educational Psychology, requires further postgraduate training. Information on this will be available in the careers advice programme (see below). 7

8 WHAT IS EXPECTED OF STUDENTS? Student responsibilities You are a student in the Faculty of Life Sciences, and the Notes for Undergraduate Students provide information on a range of matters (such as examinations, and changes of course or programme). Attendance at laboratory classes and seminars is compulsory. If there is some good reason why you are unable to attend a scheduled seminar, inform your seminar leader as early as you can. Attendance at lectures is not obligatory, but it is strongly advised; knowledge of material covered in lectures is expected in the examinations. You are required to write a minimum of three essays in each of the first two terms. Normally, these will be marked by your seminar leader. At the end of each term, an on-line report will be written about you. It will record essay grades, attendance at seminars, punctuality, and quality of contributions to seminar discussions among other things. You will be given the opportunity of seeing and responding to these reports on-line, which will be kept in your file. This information is used when writing references and you should remember that potential employers invariably ask about attendance, and general reliability. It is expected that students take their studies seriously and that they will fulfil all the requirements placed on them. In addition to essay writing, students are required to hand in laboratory reports and projects by stated deadlines, to attend statistics problems classes and assessments, and to sit unseen examinations on their various courses. The last sections of this handbook give detailed information on the requirements for Coursework and Assessment, Progression, Degree Classification, and Examinations and include the Faculty of Life Sciences Notes for Undergraduate Students. Notes for beginning students on how to pace your studies If your last experience of academic work was at A-level or equivalent, you may find a little guidance helpful on how to organise your University studies. As already indicated, you must attend some things here at UCL (seminars, and laboratory classes). While individual attendance at lectures is not monitored, you will find it difficult to keep up with the course if you miss them. However, even if you do go to all your lectures, as well as laboratory classes, statistics classes and seminars, there will be many hours of the week when you are working unsupervised. Your A-level studies may have prepared you for some of this. However it is our experience that while A-level work requires quite a large degree of independence, students may find it difficult to adapt to the almost total lack of "spoon feeding" at University. Remember, except for your essays and laboratory reports, no one is going to say "have you done this?" or "why have you not written that?" or "when did you read the other?" You are expected to be disciplined enough to go to the libraries armed with reading lists; you are expected to read the appropriate articles and chapters and summarise their contents; and then you are expected to write a précis of the topic and integrate it with knowledge that you have of related areas. You should do this for all areas in all lecture courses. At a minimum, you should be spending at least one hour in private study for every hour of lectures. This may seem a lot of work, but actually it is not. There are no more than ten hours of lectures each week, and usually less than that. Add in laboratory time, statistics classes, seminars and essay writing and, if you are not working harder than one-hour library time for every one-hour lecture time, you will still be working considerably less than 35 hours a week. Working more hours than this is recommended. So, please remember: success at university requires consistent, disciplined and self-motivated study. Think about how best to schedule your own study time around the teaching timetable that is imposed on you - and 8

9 then go for it. Don't let a backlog of work accumulate. Work steadily. That way you will be able better to enjoy your time away from your studies. Remember also that, while much of your work is not monitored closely during the year, guidance is available if you need it. Tutors, lecturers and demonstrators can all answer questions and give you advice, but you need to ask. Principal Tutors for Undergraduate Students STAFF-STUDENT LINKS AND GUIDANCE Director of Studies and First Year Tutor: Second Year Tutor: Third Year Tutor: Third Year Projects Tutor: Tutor to Women Students: Careers Liaison Tutor: Dr Alastair McClelland Dr Frances Rice Dr Anne Schlottmann Prof Nigel Harvey Dr Hilary Richards Miss Jo Strange Guidance for Students First and Second Year students will be assigned a Seminar Tutor each term, with whom they will meet once a week. The Seminar Tutor will usually be a member of academic, research staff, or a capable postgraduate research student. The Seminar Tutor will mark your essays, and generally fulfil a supportive role, acting as the most direct link between you and the Division with respect to your academic work. You should turn in the first instance to your Seminar Tutor for academic guidance, and to the appropriate Year Tutor for personal or more serious problems (e.g. financial, health, course changes, interruption of study etc). These tutors have office hours when they are available to see students, but are, of course, willing to see students at other times. Third Year students are assigned to a single Seminar Tutor for the entire final year of study. You may want to go directly to the Third Year Tutor if you have problems that you feel you cannot take to your Seminar Tutor. The other Year Tutors will deal with major difficulties if the Third Year Tutor is not available. Women students should approach Dr Richards (Faculty of Life Sciences Office) if they want to talk to a female member of staff who is experienced in matters such as sexual harassment. All students, of course, may see the Head of Division, but such occasions should be restricted only to the most serious difficulties, when other tutors have not been able to help. Mentoring Scheme Each year second and third year students are recruited to provide help and advice to first year students during their first term of the academic year. They are identified in consultation with Psychology staff because they possess the key qualities associated with successful mentoring: empathy, leadership, communication skills and a willingness to engage positively with all aspects of university life. 9

10 Mentors are expected to meet their first years regularly and be available to discuss any relevant issues that come up, be they social, academic or personal. Towards the second half of the first term, mentor groups are encouraged to become Peer Assisted Learning groups where the focus is on discussion of academic assignments and study skills. There will be Meet Your Mentor lunches during Induction Week. Feedback of Students' Views There are a number of different ways by which students can let the Division know their views on courses, the quality of teaching and instruction, and the general services and amenities available to them. Within the Division: Seminar tutors, the Degree Programme tutor, course convenors and, on the most serious issues, the Head of Division, may all be approached if a student wants to make known his/her views on teaching or other matters. For every course, students will be expected to complete an online appraisal of each lecturer teaching on the course. The results are summarised on the Psychology Online System shortly after the end of each term. The views of students (which are given anonymously) become known to the staff teaching on courses. The results are also seen by the Director of Studies, the Programme Steering Committee, and the Faculty Office. Students are also given the opportunity to appraise Seminar Tutors at the end of each term and these appraisals are returned to the Director of Studies. There is also a Staff-Student Consultative Committee. It is currently chaired by the Divisional Manager, and has on it members of the academic staff, and two nominated student members from each undergraduate year as well as nominated postgraduate students. The minutes of each termly meeting are seen by the Director of Studies and are available on Psychology Online. They are also reported to the Programme Steering Committee and to Staff Meetings. As well as teaching issues, students may (and do) raise matters relating to general amenities in the Bedford Way building. The Programme Steering Committee is currently chaired by Prof David Green. This committee deals with all aspects of teaching and the undergraduate psychology curriculum, and includes student representatives. Outside the Division, students may wish to make representation to or seek advice from: UCL Students' Union (Rights and Advice Centre) Faculty Tutor (Dr H Richards) Dean of Students - Welfare (Dr Ruth Siddall) Dean of Students - Academic (Professor Mike Ewing) Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences (Professor Mary Collins) In normal circumstances, a student would be expected to discuss a problem with the Director of Studies or the Head of Division before making representations to the Faculty Tutor, a Dean of Students or the Dean of the Faculty. 10

11 Study Abroad The International Office [ provides a number of services for students considering or preparing for a study abroad placement (normally in Year 2 of the degree programme). There is an information-and-advice centre where students can look at reference materials and CD ROMS provided by many of UCL s exchange partners. The office provides preparation guides, organises briefings and workshops, and also handles the initial applications of students contemplating an optional study abroad placement. Application forms, available from the Study Abroad Office, should be completed in the Autumn Term of the year preceding any planned placement. Careers Advice The Careers Programme is organised by the Psychology Careers Liaison Tutor (Miss Jo Strange) in collaboration with the UCL Careers Service. The programme commences in Induction Week, with a presentation for First Years by Ms Laura Brammar (UCL Careers Advisor) in which she introduces the UCL Careers Service. There will then be a range of careers events tailored to each year group, which will be publicised by and posters. Students are also encouraged to use the UCL Careers Service (4 th floor, ULU building, Malet Street) for individual consultations and advice, and to visit the careers website ( Healthcare Facilities Keeping healthy, both physically and mentally is important and it is strongly recommended that you register with a doctor when you arrive at University (if you are living away from home). The Gower Street Practice, located on UCL premises, 3 Gower Place, is a National Health Service (NHS) practice and you can register there if you live within the area of North or Central London that it covers. Please see their web-site for more details: If you do not live within the area that the Gower St Practice covers, then you should register with a practice close to where you are living. You can find services closest to you using the National Health Service website If you are an international student you may wish to refer to for further information about the health care provision available to you in the UK. If you are dyslexic, have a disability (including a mental health difficulty) or a long term medical condition that may have an impact on your studies, please contact Student Disability Services (SDS) for information and advice about services and support. If you wish to apply for special exam arrangements it is best to register with SDS as soon as you can, particularly if you have dyslexia. Please refer to the SDS website for further details: UCL also has its own counselling service for students (Student Psychological Services). More information about this can be found at: 11

12 Being Complete on a Course COURSE REQUIREMENTS In order to be awarded a degree under the UCL Harmonised Scheme for the Award of Honours, you must complete a total of 12.0 units over the three years of the programme, and pass 11.0 units. In order to pass a course, you must be complete on that course. What does it mean to be complete on a particular course? This will vary, as it depends upon the nature of the course, and the department offering the course. But in essence, in order to be deemed complete you will have to have met both attendance and assessment requirements for the course. These requirements should be made clear to you at the start of the course. If you are in any doubt, ask the relevant member of staff. Attendance: On many courses attendance at lectures, seminars/tutorials, laboratory classes etc, is compulsory, and a failure to attend may result in the department offering the course withdrawing you from the assessment component (meaning that you cannot pass that course). Assessment: This includes coursework (e.g., essays, laboratory reports) and examinations (e.g., oral examinations, unseen written examinations). The assessment for some courses may be coursework only, and for some it may be examination only, but many courses have both a coursework component and an examination component. In all cases, you must complete all the required elements of the assessment in order to be deemed complete on the course. Seminars Most course units are made up of lectures and accompanying individual reading and study. You are strongly recommended to write reviews of all areas and topics studied in the course, either as seminar essays or to organise your own knowledge. The purpose of seminars is to enable you to investigate topics and issues which you have encountered in lectures and in your reading, to practise writing clearly and cogently about them, and to discuss them with other people (a later section of this booklet contains more detailed advice on the role of seminars in your learning). You will stay with the same seminar group throughout the year, and in the First and Second Year the group meets every week for an hour (arrangements may vary in the Third Year). The list of seminar groups and Seminar Tutors appear in your induction pack or year handout. Although the Tutorial Seminar is informal, regular and punctual attendance is a course requirement, and you must inform your Seminar Tutor of the reason for any absence. A minimum of three seminar essays per term must be handed in to your Seminar Tutor. At the end of each term the Seminar Tutor writes an on-line Seminar Report for each student in the group. You will have the opportunity to see your report, discuss it with your Tutor, and comment on it if you wish. Students who fail to submit essays or show satisfactory attendance at seminars will be reported to the Degree Programme Tutor, and in serious cases, the Faculty Tutor who has the power to suspend the student from the College. Coursework and Assessment Attendance at laboratory classes in the First and Second Years is obligatory. PSYC1103 Introduction to Psychological Experimentation (Year 1): Under normal circumstances, eight 12

13 laboratory reports have to be written up and handed in by the specified deadlines in order for a student to be deemed 'complete' on this course. The deadlines must be observed; in the absence of mitigating circumstances, marks will be deducted for late submission of reports. In addition, participation in experiments in exchange for course credits is required for this course-unit. Students have to complete 10 hours of such course credit in their First Year. Registration for these experiments is via the Psychology Subject Pool website at: Completion of the full 10 hours is obligatory by the end of your 1st Year. PSYC2203 Research and Quantitative Methods in Psychology (Year 2): Under normal circumstances, five reports (four laboratory reports and a mini-project report) have to be written up and handed in by the specified deadlines in order for a student to be deemed complete on this course. Again the deadlines must be observed; without mitigating circumstances marks will be deducted for late submission of reports. The final grade for both the PSYC1103 and PSYC2203 course is based on submitted reports there is no examination. Both First and Second Year statistics courses are assessed by performance on two tests, one in Term 1, and one at the end of the course (before Reading Week in Term 2). One Second Year course (2301) and one Third Year course (3301) are assessed by written examination and coursework. All other psychology courses, apart from the Third Year project, are assessed by performance in unseen examinations which are normally held in the Third (summer) term (see Examinations below). The Third Year project (3901) is obligatory and must be handed in after reading week in the Second term. The research project is a specific requirement for a degree in Psychology. Failure in the project, including failure to submit a project report by the deadline set by the project tutor may result in the award of a degree which will not be BPS-recognised. Individual course marks are usually in the form of percentages. To get an indication of your level of performance, the percentages translate as follows: Mark range Performance Level % = First Class 60-69% = Upper Second (2:1) 50-59% = Lower Second (2:2) 40-49% = Third 0-39% = Fail In all work that is handed in for assessment, whether it is a seminar essay, laboratory report or examination script, legibility, clarity, literacy and accuracy of content are important. Whilst knowledge of a subject, analytical skills and critical faculty are the characteristics most prized by those assessing your work, literacy and accuracy are essential for good results. Legibility, of course, helps - and where appropriate work should be produced on a word processor. (A later section of this booklet explains the marking criteria in more detail) Deduction of Marks for Late Submission of Coursework The late submission of coursework, including laboratory reports (Years 1 and 2) and project reports (proposal and final report Year 3) carries a penalty, as follows: The full allocated mark should be reduced by 5 percentage points for the first working day after the deadline for the submission of the coursework. The mark will be reduced by a further 10 percentage points if the coursework is submitted during the following six days. 13

14 Providing the coursework is submitted before the end of the first week of term 3 for undergraduate courses or by a date during term 3 defined in advance by the relevant Master's Board of Examiners for postgraduate taught programmes, but had not been submitted within seven days of the deadline for the submission of the coursework, it will be recorded as zero but the assessment would be considered to be complete. In the case of dissertations and project reports submitted more than seven - days late, the mark will be recorded as zero but the assessment would be considered to be complete. Where there are extenuating circumstances that have been recognised by the Board of Examiners or its representative, these penalties will not apply until the agreed extension period has been exceeded. For permission to derogate from these penalties, an application should be made to the Chair of the UCL Board of Examiners through the relevant Faculty Tutor. Progression and Degree Result Progression from the First to Second Year is assessed by a pass-fail result in the exams at the end of the First Year. Under normal circumstances, no student can proceed to the Second Year unless 3.0 or more of the 4.0 course units taken have been passed and other course requirements fulfilled (including attendance, submission of coursework and essay writing). In order to progress into the Third Year, a student must, under normal circumstances, have passed a minimum of 7.0 course units in the combined First and Second Years and fulfilled other course requirements (including attendance, submission of coursework and essay writing). The final degree result is an aggregate of the First, Second and Third Year average mark weighted as follows: 1: 3: 5 (First; Second; Third). The yearly average mark is based on the best 3.0 course units marks (Year 1), 3.5 course unit marks (Year 2) and all 4.0 course unit marks (Year 3). For the award of a degree, a minimum of 12 course units must have been completed and a minimum of 11 passed. In addition, a student must normally have passed: PSYC1103 Introduction to Psychological Experimentation and PSYC1104 Introduction to Statistical Methods in Psychology (in Year 1), PSYC2203 Research & Quantitative Methods in Psychology and PSYC2204 Design & Analysis of Psychological Experiments (in Year 2), and PSYC3901 Research Project (in Year 3) in order to be awarded a BSc Degree in Psychology. What happens if you fail or do not complete a course unit? There are 3 levels of regulations to be kept in mind here: First, the UCL regulations for progression and graduation ( new UCL Harmonised Scheme for the Award of Honours ), second, the BSc Psychology regulations for the award of a Psychology degree, third, the BPS regulations for making this Psychology degree BPS recognized (conferring GBC status or graduate basis for chartered membership previously know as GBR status or graduate basis for registration). It is possible for a low-performing student taking this programme to graduate from UCL, but without a Psychology degree, and it is also possible to obtain a UCL Psychology degree, but one that is not recognized by the BPS. As far as the UCL regulations are concerned (see section on Progression and Degree Result above), you need to complete 12 units and pass 11 of them to graduate with an Honours degree. If 14

15 you complete all 12 units, but pass only 10 or 10.5 you may be offered an Ordinary degree instead. Each Psychology course contributes.5 units (except the project which is a whole unit). If you pass everything in a year, you gain 4 units per year, 12 units over the 3 year course. Thus UCL regulations allow you to fail one unit across all 3 years. However, you have to complete all courses (see section on Completion above). Complete means that you attend lectures as required (and seminars etc if applicable), that you hand in all course work, and that you sit the exam(s). If any one component is missing you will be considered incomplete. So you may end up with an incomplete if you fail to hand in course work, even if you attend and do well on the final examination for that course. Note also that some departments offering subsidiary courses go so far as to withdraw candidates who do not fulfill attendance requirements from the final exam. If you have an incomplete on your record in Years 1 or 2, you can progress to the next year only with special permission and if it is possible to make this course complete (e.g., by handing in missing coursework or by sitting an exam.) If this is not possible, you may have to spend a year as a parttime revision student in order to become complete on a particular course, because you will not normally be able to graduate without completing all course units. The completion rule is independent of the rule that allows you to drop the weakest 2 courses in year 1 and the weakest course in year 2 from your average (see section on Progression and Degree Result). The dropping rule might tempt some strategic thinkers simply not to bother with, for instance, a subsidiary course, and not to attend or not to hand in course work, in the expectation that the low mark will be dropped from your average. However, failure to submit work or attend assessments will result in an incomplete that may prevent progress or graduation. Note also that the official UCL transcript (demanded by most institutions when you apply for postgraduate study) lists all courses and marks obtained, even those that were dropped from the average used for degree classification purposes by the department. In fact, the official transcript lists only the raw marks for all courses and the awarded degree class, not the average at all. This sort of strategic thinking may therefore backfire very badly. A crucial aspect of the BSc Psychology regulations concerns the courses that are obligatory for a Psychology degree: These are the Psychology Year 1 and Year 2 lab and stats classes and the 3 rd year project. These courses involve course-based assessment, in addition to or instead of an endof-year exam. There are penalties for handing labs/project in late and you may fail an obligatory course if a penalty is applied. If you submit a lab/project up to one working day late 5 percentage points will be deducted from the mark, and the mark will be reduced by a further 10 percentage points if the work is submitted during the following 6 days. If you submit more than one week late, but before the end of week 1 of term 3, then the mark is zero, but the assessment is considered complete. The mark for the weakest lab report in year 1 is dropped from the calculation of the overall mark, so a single fail need not be problematic. However, there is always a problem if you do not submit a lab report at all. If you do not submit a lab report at all you will be deemed incomplete. If this happens, you normally will only be allowed to progress to the next year on the understanding that you hand in the missing lab report by a new deadline set for you (typically the beginning of the next academic year). The mark for the missing lab will be capped at 40% unless there are extenuating circumstances. Similarly, if you miss a stats exam you will normally only be allowed to progress to the next year on the understanding that you will sit the missing exam at the next opportunity (provided you have documented evidence for the reason you missed the stats exam see section on Illness and Academic Performance). If you fail to sit the missing exam/hand in the missing lab, or if it is not feasible to do the work over the summer (for instance, because you are missing several lab reports) you may have to spend a year in part-time revision to make up the work. If you still end up 15

16 incomplete on any of the lab or stats courses, you will not be able to graduate unless there are severe and clearly documented extenuating circumstances. In addition, passing not just completing both lab and stats courses is normally a pre-requisite for taking the 3 rd year project course. Penalties for handing in the project late are as for late lab reports. If you do not hand in a project at all, you will be incomplete and cannot graduate. In order to graduate, you can either submit your old project report by a deadline set for you, typically the beginning of the next academic year, in which case the mark will be capped at 40, or you come back the following year as a part-time revision student and complete a new project. In the latter case the mark will not be capped. In both cases graduation will be delayed by a year. Note that you must not only complete the project, but you must pass the project in order to qualify for a degree in Psychology (rather than in Combined Sciences ). Finally, in order for this Psychology degree to be recognized by the BPS, it must be at least a 2.2 Honours degree (BPS Quality Assurance Policies and Practice for First Qualifications in Psychology, Oct 2009, p8) Therefore: If you fail or are incomplete on either a Psychology lab or stats course, you may have to spend another year in part-time revision to complete and pass this course before progressing or before being allowed to register for the 3 rd year project. Discuss your prospects with the degree programme or year tutor over the summer. If you fail or are incomplete on any other course in years 1 or 2, but otherwise meet the progression criteria, you will progress and you will be automatically registered to re-sit the course at the earliest opportunity, in order to pass or complete it. However, if you have failed and already have sufficient units for progression (normally 3 units in Year 1, 7 units in Year 2) then you may, after discussion with your year tutor, choose to drop this re-sit. You may, for instance, consider dropping the course, if you feel that the re-sit is unlikely to improve on the mark enough for it to make a difference to your average, or that focus on the re-sit would distract you unduly from the new exams which contribute much more to your average. Keeping a failed half unit means, however, that only one more half unit can be failed without forfeiting/delaying graduation. Discuss your best course of action with the year tutor during your beginning-of-year interview in September or over the summer. If you have failed and you do not have enough units for progression, then you will have to re-sit the examination at the earliest opportunity. You do not have the option of deferring re-entry to assessments further without documented mitigating circumstances. If you are incomplete due to a missing component (e.g., on subsidiary courses with course work requirements), you may be required to submit a new piece of work in order to complete it. So if you have the misfortune to have chosen a subsidiary unsuitable for you and are tempted to give up half way through assuming that the mark will be dropped, please remember that you can fail a course, but you must complete it. An incomplete may mean a huge amount of extra work. The examiners do understand that illness or severe personal problems may on occasion prevent completion or passing of a course, but for this to be taken into account you need to document these circumstances with your programme/year tutor and with the convenor of any subsidiary 16

17 course concerned. Documentation (e.g., a hospital or doctor s letter) must be provided at the latest a week after the end of your exams and before the end of the academic year (see the section on Illness and Academic Performance). If it is suspected that an absence was strategic (i.e., to reduce workload or avoid a low mark in a non-preferred course), the relevant exam board subcommittee will look at the documentation very closely indeed and may decide to cap the re-entry mark. If you miss a 1 st /2 nd year exam due to well-documented illness, the degree programme tutor can apply for deferred assessment, to be taken over the summer. If there are no such extenuating circumstances, or if you fail a 1 st /2 nd year exam you can re-sit the exam at the next opportunity, typically during the exam period the following year. In year 3 there are no re-sit exams. Therefore, if you fail/miss (with extenuating circumstances) one or two 3 rd year exam(s), but have 11 or 11.5 course units passed altogether, you will simply graduate without the unit(s), without possibility of a re-sit. If you end up with less than the 11 units needed for graduation in total, you will be allowed to re-sit the missing/failed exam(s) one year later. Alternatively, if you do not want a re-sit, and if you have 10 units or more, including 2 from year 3, you may choose to graduate with an Ordinary rather than Honours degree. In case of severe extenuating circumstances, the exam board can also apply to the Academic Registrar for an award under the Special and Aegrotat provisions. Illness and Academic Performance The procedures to be followed in the event that ill-health or other adverse circumstances prevent the meeting of deadlines or attendance at examinations are as follows: In the event of illness, always get a doctor's note or certificate. In the event of other adverse circumstances, try to get a statement from someone in authority who can confirm your account of what has gone wrong. Always contact the member of staff responsible for the course, or your seminar leader, and explain why a deadline was, or will be, missed. In the event of laboratory report deadlines not being met, this will be acceptable only if the reason is a medical condition (and if supported by appropriate medical certificates). If there is no medical reason for breaking a laboratory report deadline, then marks will be deducted from the report when it is handed in. If the total number of lab reports handed in falls below the number required (8 in the First Year and 4 plus miniproject in the Second Year), the student may not pass the laboratory course (see Being Complete on a Course above). If the required number of essays is not handed in to the seminar leader, then, in the absence of certified medical reasons, the failure will be noted in the termly report. Failure to meet course requirements may well affect references subsequently written for the student. Occasionally students will be ill or suffer personal trauma (e.g., bereavement) that could affect exam performance. Such cases should be discussed with the appropriate Year Tutor in the first instance. If necessary, students may apply to sit their exams in the special facility where a nurse is in attendance. If students wish for extenuating circumstances to be taken into account by the Board of Examiners in Psychology, they should state their case in writing, supplying documentary 17

18 evidence (such as a doctor s letter). Such requests should be submitted to the appropriate Year Tutor as early as possible and in no case later than one week after the examination period. The Board of Examiners will not change marks in such cases, but the information may be taken into account when deciding upon a student s ability to progress (Year 1 and Year 2) or if the student concerned is on a borderline between two degree classifications (Year 3). In some cases serious illness may lead to missed exams. In year 1 or 2, the Year Tutor can apply for deferred assessment over the summer, provided documentary evidence is provided (such as a doctor's letter stating explicitly that the student was not fit to be examined on the scheduled date. This must be provided within one week of the missed examination). A student who is absent from an examination without having Withdrawn from the examination, or provided a medical certificate, will be given 0%, and this mark will be used in the computation of any average mark used in the determination of honours. In the final year, University Regulations do not allow deferred assessment. Students missing an exam will simply graduate without the half unit missed, running the risk of a '0%' mark pulling the average down. With proper documentary evidence, the board of examiners has the discretion to discount such '0%' marks. Please note that headaches, colds, stomachaches and similar minor afflictions do not normally constitute sufficient grounds for missing exams. If a student feels seriously unwell on the day of an exam, this should be reported to the invigilator at the beginning of the exam; the student may then be seen by a doctor and if necessary sit the exam in the special facility. If performance is affected, a letter from the doctor should be provided. If no doctor is seen at the exam, but exam performance is affected, the student should see a doctor immediately after the examination and provide a letter. In addition, the student should talk to the appropriate year tutor and ask in writing for these extenuating circumstances to be taken into account. If illness or adverse circumstances have severely impaired your preparation for an examination, you should inform your Year Tutor as early as possible. It is not generally possible to take any account of such circumstances if they are notified after the examination has been taken. Examinations Vivas (oral examinations) are not normally a part of undergraduate assessment in psychology, but may be used in exceptional circumstances. Apart from the continuing assessment elements in the laboratory, statistics and computing for psychology courses, all courses in all years are assessed by unseen written examinations. Full details are given below: First Year 1103 Introduction to Psychological Experimentation Both courses are continuously 1104 Introduction to Statistical Methods in Psychology assessed 1105 Concepts and Methods in Psychology A two-hour written examination (compulsory MCQ section and an essay section requiring students to answer 2 questions out of 6) in the main exam period, plus a poster (Seminar Group, 18

19 Term 1) Social Psychology Three hour written examination (compulsory MCQ section and an essay section requiring students to answer 2 questions out of 6) in the main exam period Memory and Decision Both courses are assessed by a three 1203 The Psychology of Individual Differences hour written examination (essay based, requiring students to answer 3 questions out of 9). Second Year 2203 Research and Quantitative Methods in Both courses are continuously Psychology assessed 2204 Design and Analysis of Psychological Experiments 2206 Health and Clinical Psychology (answer 3 essay questions out of 9) in 2207 Perception, Attention and Action main exam period Developmental Psychology Please note that 2206 will have a sectioned paper (requiring you to answer at least one question from each section) 2205 Brain and Behaviour Three hour written examination 2208 Cognition and Language (compulsory MCQ section and an essay section requiring students to answer 2 questions out of 6) in the main exam period Computing for Psychologists A two hour written examination in the last week before Reading Week, plus Computing Project submitted after Reading Week of Second Term Third Year 3901 Research Project Project Proposal (submitted before Reading Week in First Term: 10%). Project (submitted after Reading Week in Second Term: 90%) All other Third Year courses (except 3301) are assessed by a three-hour written examination in the main examination period (answer 3 questions out of 9) is assessed by an examination and a piece of course work. 19

20 The aim of each examination is to establish the extent and quality of your factual knowledge and critical, analytical and synthesising skills for each course. Synthesising across courses, if appropriately done, may be rewarded. It is important that minimum literacy skills are displayed. Copies of past examination papers are available via the Psychology Online System. Students must be clear that examination questions reflect the course that has been taught that year. Courses change with development in knowledge and with changes in the current focus of a subject area, and with the individuals teaching a course. Do NOT assume that examination papers of previous years are representative of the examination papers that you will be presented with this year. It is the job of the examiners to compose balanced examination papers, but they are not required to examine every part of a course. Students are strongly advised to prepare all parts of the course for the examination process. Each examination paper is prepared by the course convenor(s) and scrutinised by both the Board of Examiners and the visiting examiners. It is the Board of Examiners that makes all the decisions about examinations. It comprises of a Chair (currently Professor Chris McManus), a Secretary (the Divisional Manager), academic staff and the external examiners. Each year has one external examiner drawn from other colleges or schools of the University of London, or other universities. The role of the external examiners is to serve as independent judges as to the correctness and fairness of the whole examination procedure. Each examination script is marked independently by two internal examiners, with the student identified by a code number but not by name. The internal examiners then compare their marks for each script and arrive at an agreed mark. The scripts and agreed marks of each are then passed on to the appropriate external examiner who provides a check on the quality and consistency of the marking of the internal examiners in general, and will make judgments on particular cases when the internal examiners request them to do so. Third Year projects are similarly marked by two internal examiners with scrutiny of the process by the Third Year external examiner. Examinations for some of the First and Second Year courses may occur in the First or Second terms. If this is the case, students will be informed of this in their year handouts. Otherwise, examinations, and this includes ALL Third (final) Year examinations are held in the final (summer) term. The Board of Examiners normally meets on the last day of the Third term to decide on all marks, and especially on the degree results of finalists. These are available to final year students from 2.00 pm on that Friday afternoon. They may get their marks from their seminar leaders or the Divisional Manager. The results are also posted on a noticeboard as soon as possible after the examiners' meeting. If you have grievances relating to the conduct of examinations, or individual results, please follow the formal grievance procedures outlined in the UCL Student Handbook and online at: Students must note that under certain circumstances (for example, not paying debts owed to the College or failing to return library books), the results of examinations may be withheld. In such situations, results will only be released when the student complies with College requirements. Failure in examinations is always serious. It may result in the student not having passed enough course units to progress from the First to Second or from Second to Third Year, or not having passed enough course units overall to be awarded a degree (see the requirements in the section Coursework and Assessment above). Resitting examinations in the following year is only allowed or advised under certain conditions, and resits always occur in the following summer examination period. There is no provision for resits in the autumn. Students have the right to resit First Year examinations in the Second Year, and Second Year examinations in the Third Year. The decision whether or not to resit is usually arrived at after consultation with the appropriate Year Tutor. 20