Directorate of Computer Science & Engineering

Trimester 2 Arrangements for Civil Engineering Students

You will no doubt have read announcements from the university about trimester 2
teaching and end of year examinations. This is to confirm the arrangements which
civil engineering has put in place under the guidance of the university rules.
Trimester 2 teaching
Teaching events will primarily be on campus. Your timetable may still include an
indication that teaching will be online, this is not correct. It is NOT intended that
lectures will be webcast on Collaborate as they were in trimester 1.
Design Exercises for levels 4 to 6 will be undertaken in the Newton building second
floor rooms, the year will be split into two sets so you will be on campus every other
week, for face-to-face meetings with the rest of your group and tutor. The leader of
your design exercise will communicate with you in the next week on this matter.
Trimester 2 examinations
In line with accreditation expectations, Trimester 2 examinations will be held on
campus. You should begin preparing for end of year examinations now, if you have
not already started to do so. You should expect to take a series of 2.5 hour long
examinations in a hall under normal examination conditions. Past examination
papers are available on Blackboard or the e-library, you are advised to form a
revision group and begin answering examination questions so that you become
accustomed to working under time pressure. Remember that you will be required to
write by hand and your writing must be legible to your lecturer.
Examination preparation advice which we distributed to pre-pandemic students is
attached.
Guidance
You are reminded that the special provisions for COVID 19 have now been
removed and there is no safety net for marks in this academic year. There are also
no special conditions for PMC's. In short, we have returned to the conditions which
prevailed prior to the pandemic, as the government has lifted all restrictions in
England. Students are strongly advised to ensure they submit every assessment on
time and to a good standard.
Everyone is required to wear a mask when indoors on campus (this includes
lectures, as seating will not be socially distanced). This applies to everyone unless
you have a medical exemption, you will be asked to produce this if you are not
wearing a mask. A member of staff is posted at the entrance to all buildings, who
will have a quantity of masks available for you to use if you forget to bring your own.
Everyone is strongly encouraged to fully engage in the vaccination programme,
current guidance is that a third vaccination is required to maximise protection
against the omicron variant.
Students on levels 4 to 6 will be taking modules which are now subject to the
university's single point entry assessment system. This means that assessments cannot
be modified by members of lecturing staff, under any circumstances (we cannot
change dates, times etc.). This means that if you submit late (even by one second)
you must submit a PMC to justify your late entry (emailing your lecturer can have no
effect on the outcome). When you submit a PMC you must provide written
evidence, i.e. a letter from a doctor which proves that you were detained in A&E or
similar reliable evidence.

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Directorate of Computer Science & Engineering

If you contract COVID-19 and you are unable to submit an assessment or attend an
examination then you must take a lateral flow test and register the positive result on
the NHS app and when you receive an email from the NHS confirming a positive
result, you can submit this as evidence for your PMC. You should then register for a
PCR test. The PMC panel will then notify you if your PMC is accepted/rejected (civil
engineering staff are not involved in this process).
Remember that it is not possible to obtain a PMC for substandard performance in
an assessment, you can only apply for a PMC because you are unable to take or
submit an assessment.

Student hub, COVID 19 FAQ’s page:

Covid-19 – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) (sharepoint.com)

Form to report self-isolation:

University of Salford: Student Covid-19 Self-isolation Disclosure Form (office.com)

Student hub, COVID 19 testing page, including a link to the PCR test booking page:
University of Salford Student Hub - Mass testing (sharepoint.com)

If you have a medical condition which prevents you from attending university you
must obtain an approved PMC, or you will be marked absent, and you run the risk
of being removed from your programme following persistent non-attendance. Most
modules will have previously or alternative recorded material on Blackboard which
you can watch, though it is unlikely to provide sufficient detail to replace attending
lectures. Whilst marking trimester 1 assessments it has become clear that many
students have not attended lectures, and some have engaged in collaborative
coursework solution (which will result in plagiarism reports). Therefore, it is important
that students re-engage with lecturers in face-to-face learning.

Remember that Structurescope is running Tuesday-Friday in Newton 244, if you need

help with structural engineering topics.

The Library is running a new workshop on getting the most out of feedback Finding
the Positives in 'Negative' Feedback session on 26th January 2022, 11:00-12:00.

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 Directorate of Computer Science & Engineering

Some advice on taking examinations for university students

1. Check where the examination is to be held, if you have never been there before,
visit the room the day before.
2. Arrive at least 20 minutes before the start time. Reading time starts 5 minutes
before the exam start time and it takes at least 10 minutes to get a cohort
seated and silent. Seat numbers are listed outside the examination room.
3. Leave your bag and coat at the back of the examination room. If you have a
mobile phone turn it off and leave it in your bag. If you take it to your desk, you
will be disqualified, fail the module and have to resit in the summer. This applies
to any other internet devices.
4. Only take stuff to your desk that you need to sit the exam – pen, pencil, scale
rule, calculator, rubber, compasses. If you put your stuff in a pencil case it
should be transparent. If you do not bring stuff to the exam you cannot borrow
stuff from other students during the examination. If you have a programmable
calculator with entries in the memory you will be disqualified.
5. If you take a bottle of water, put it on the floor under your desk. Do not take food
to your desk, it is an examination not a cafeteria.
6. Read the front of the examination paper – check the exam title is the one you
expected to take, and alert one of the invigilators by raising your hand, if this is
the case. The rubric on the front page sets the rules for the exam.
7. You must not communicate with other students during the exam – this includes
when you go to the toilet, and when you want to borrow a ruler from your friend.
If your friend talks (or whispers) to you, and you respond, you are both guilty of
unfair means and will be disqualified.
8. You cannot leave the examination in the first hour, or the last 15 minutes. If you
have completed the examination and wish to leave, raise you hand and attract
the attention of an invigilator, who will annotate your script before releasing you.
If you leave early, do so quietly (do not let door bang on your way out of the
room). You may not re-enter the examination hall. Invigilator may refuse to let
you visit the toilet in the first hour.
9. If you wish to go to the toilet during the examination, raise your hand and attract
the attention of an invigilator, who will escort you to the toilet. Your script will be
annotated when you return to your desk. Before you enter the toilet the
invigilator will ask you to turn out your pockets, this is to avoid your mobile
phone being discovered after you leave the toilet and automatic
disqualification from the module. You may have to wait until sufficient invigilators
are in the room before being allowed to go to the toilet.
10. Complete the front of your answer scripts. In particular your name goes down the
right hand side of every script, which you then cover with the peel off seal strip.
Anonymous scripts attract no marks.
11. You are not permitted to take the exam paper away. Put it inside your answer
script. If you use supplementary answer scripts, number them and put them all
inside the first script.
12. At the end of the examination, you will be instructed to stop writing. If you do not
stop when instructed you will be disqualified and have to resit the module (or
possibly repeat the year).
13. When you are released from the room by the invigilator, leave immediately and
quietly as there may be students continuing who have extra time.
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Directorate of Computer Science & Engineering

Good luck with your examinations

A reminder about programme transfers: BEng to MEng at end of level 5. Any
qualifying student who achieves a level average over 60% with no resits will be
contacted by the School administration team, by email, after their summer
examination board with an invitation to transfer – you must respond.

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