UAL announces pass-fail grading system for first year undergraduates

University of Arts London (UAL) has released new assessment information for first year undergraduates.

As part of their measures to counteract the impact of COVID-19 on university students, all first year undergraduates will be assessed using a pass/fail system.

In an email to students they wrote, “where coronavirus appears to have had an impact and marks are noticeably lower in comparison with previous years, exam boards will be able to agree to raise marks for all students.”

UAL went on to write “This was done successfully to a limited extent in summer 2020 and it will be expanded to provide the main ‘safety net’ mechanism for grades in 2021”

UAL also clarified the measures in place for graduating students, saying that they have “already benefitted from the application of a revised calculation for level 5 results in 19/20. The universities dual algorithm ensures these level 5 results will contribute to the calculation of the final classification of their degree, if they are better than the final year, level 6 results, on their own”.

With universities across the country under pressure to release information on how students will be supported throughout their assessments, this is a welcome step from UAL.