• Section 1 - INTRODUCTION  
• Purpose and Parent Policy  
• Responsibilities  
• Faculty Responsibilities  
• Staff Responsibilities  
• Section 2 - PROCEDURE  
• Part A - Procedure for Grade Moderation  
• Appointment of Grade Moderators  
• Sampling  
• Grade Moderation  

Section 1 - INTRODUCTION  

Purpose and Parent Policy  

(1) This procedure outlines the steps for ensuring that grading is consistently and correctly performed by moderating the grades awarded by Assessors under the Assessment, Grading and Certification Policy.   

Responsibilities  

Faculty Responsibilities  

(2) The Programme Director or nominee, in consultation with the relevant Assessors and Grade Moderators, is responsible for implementing the procedure for grade moderation.   

Staff Responsibilities  

(3) Staff on the Programme Team who collect and store grades are responsible for selecting grades for moderation, in consultation with the Programme Director or nominee.  

Section 2 - PROCEDURE  

Part A - Procedure for Grade Moderation  

Appointment of Grade Moderators  

(4) Experienced, competent Assessors are appointed as Grade Moderators.   

(5) The Grade Moderator for a particular set of grades should have had no prior involvement in making academic judgement for the relevant pieces of student effort for this cohort of students.  

Sampling  

(6) Following grading in line with the Grading Student Effort Procedure, the Programme Team takes a sample of the grades for moderation.  

(7) This sample group should include:

1. At a minimum, a sample of all grades awarded at each band of award are subject to internal moderation.  
2. Any borderline grades.  
3. Any provisional fail grades.  
4. A random sample from within each grade band.  
5. Any script for which the original marker or Programme Director has identified concerns.   

Grade Moderation  

(8) Grade moderation takes place in line with the Assessment, Grading and Certification Policy.  

(9) Grade Moderators review the application of the marking scheme/rubric against the student effort by the original Assessor to ensure consistent and fair assessment.  

(10) Grade Moderators submit a report (using the appropriate form) detailing any proposed adjustments to the grades selected for moderation along with detail of the extent to which they believe the grading scheme and criteria were correctly applied.  

(11) Variation in grading between the Assessors and the Grade Moderator may be discussed between the two in an attempt to reach agreement.   

(12) Variation in grading may be discussed between the Grade Moderator and the Programme Director or nominee to determine the final grade.  

(13) A module review meeting is held to review the moderation outcomes and process. In attendance are; the Grade Moderator, Programme Director or nominee, Academic Integrity and Assessments Manager or nominee and senior administrative staff on the programme.  

(14) The Programme Director has the final decision on moderation of a grade, subject to the Board of Examiners.