Law School Policies and Procedures

Contents of this page:

ASSESSMENT

• Assessment Schemes
• Forms of Assessment

SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN ASSESSMENT

• Submission of Assignments
• Extensions for written assessment

PLAGIARISM, CHEATING AND OTHER FORMS OF ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

• University Policy on plagiarism
• 'Turnitin' Plagiarism Detection Software

EXAMINATIONS

• Examination Timetables
• Anonymity of Examinations
• Student Identification
• Contact with Examiners During Examination Periods

GRADING ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

RETURNING ASSIGNMENTS AND FEEDBACK

• Returning of Assessment
• Feedback on Assessment
• Double Marking of Written Assessment

PUBLICATION OF FINAL RESULTS

REQUESTING A RE-MARK

SUPPLEMENTARY ASSESSMENT

• Grounds for Supplementary Assessment
• Applying for Supplementary Assessment
  • Supplementaries on Compassionate Grounds
  • Supplementaries on Medical Grounds
  • 'Last Course' Supplementary Examination
  • Consideration of Applications and Notification to Applicants

APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS

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1. ASSESSMENT

1.1 Assessment Schemes

Assessment schemes take a wide variety of forms, depending on the teaching method and objectives of the course. It is the responsibility of students to be familiar with the assessment scheme in each course for which they are enrolled. The assessment scheme is set out in the Course Outline, which is made available in hard copy and on the MyUni site for the course.

Variations in the assessment scheme are possible. Students should keep up to date with course requirements by regularly checking the announcements page on MyUni.

1.2 Forms of Assessment

Assessment may take a variety of forms including formal exams, essays, in-class tests, online quizzes, class presentations, and class participation. Assessment may be optional or compulsory. In some courses, the result in one piece of assessment may be redeemable by higher results in another piece of assessment. Be careful to ensure that you know the assessment requirements for the course and, in particular, the due dates for submission. Failure to complete compulsory assessment can result in exclusion from other pieces of assessment in a course. Check your course outline for full details.

Students must keep a copy of all written items of assessment. It is also advisable to keep written work after it has been assessed and returned.

2.1 Submission of Assignments

In most courses, assignments must be lodged in the assignment slot in the front foyer of the Law School. There may also be a requirement for electronic submission via MyUni or via Turnitin. The Course Outline or MyUni announcements will inform you of the lodgement requirements for each piece of assessment. Students are required to enter their student number on written work submitted for assessment. A formal statement declaring the assignment to be your own work must be signed for every assignment: assignments will not be assessed without this declaration.

2.2 Extensions for written assessment

Extensions are granted at the discretion of Course Coordinators. Extensions beyond the due date are usually only granted in the case of significant unforeseen incapacity.

Students can apply for an extension by completing the online Application for Extension form found at (http://www.law.adelaide.edu.au/student/forms/). The application must give details of the extent and length of the student’s incapacity, and the length of extension that is requested. The Course Coordinator will email students with the outcome of their request as soon as possible after it is received. If an extension is granted, it is only provisional until formal evidence of the incapacity is received. Students must attach this evidence as well as the email granting the extension to the assignment when it is submitted. The evidence submitted must be consistent with details provided in the email requesting the extension. If the details of the request for an extension, and the medical or other evidence verifying the reason for the extension are not consistent in all respects, the extension may be nullified, and the Course Coordinator may in their discretion decide not to accept the assignment, or impose a penalty for late submission.

You can apply for an extension at any time before the due date for an assignment. However, you are strongly advised to make your application as soon as the need becomes apparent. Delay in making an application obviously involves the risk that there will be insufficient time to complete the assignment (with consequential loss of marks) if the application for extension is refused.

If an application is made within two days of the due date, or after the due date has expired, it will not be granted unless the Course Co-ordinator is satisfied:

 that the circumstances warrant an extension; and
 there was no unreasonable delay in making the application.

If your request for an extension is rejected, you can appeal in writing to the Student Appeals Committee, via the Secretary to the Student Appeals Committee, within seven days of notification of rejection by the Course Co-ordinator.

3.1 University policy on plagiarism

Students should be aware that the Law School and the University take plagiarism and cheating in any form of assessment very seriously. Plagiarism consists of a people using the words or ideas of another as if they were their own. The University regards plagiarism as a very serious offence. At the very least it is a breach of academic conventions and it can amount to deliberate fraud. It is the obligation of every student to understand and respect the rules concerning plagiarism; the excuse of ignorance will not be accepted. Other forms of cheating will also be treated with the utmost seriousness.

For detailed information regarding plagiarism, refer to the following web site: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/?230

Law students should be particularly careful to avoid any form of academic dishonesty. Applicants for admission to practice law are required by the Rules of Court Regulating the Admission of Practitioners 1999, to disclose any incidents where plagiarism or other breaches of academic conventions have been detected. Law School correspondence relating to any incident involving a deduction of marks, loss of credit or requirement to attend counselling sessions must also be disclosed to the Board of Examiners in the application for admission. Failure to make a full declaration of such incidents can itself provide a ground for barring admission to practice.

3.2 ‘Turnitin’ Plagiarism Detection Software

The University of Adelaide holds a licence to the plagiarism detection software, Turnitin®. The software electronically compares your work to that of your classmates and previous students, material available on the Internet, and both freely available and subscription-based electronic journals. It is a requirement in some of the courses in the law degree that you submit assignments electronically to the Turnitin website as well as via the normal method of hard copy submission. Detailed instructions about how to submit assignments using Turnitin® will be set out in the assignment instructions.

4. EXAMINATIONS

4.1 Examination Timetables

Examination timetables are posted on the University Examination Timetable Website.

Students can also access their individual timetables via Access Adelaide.

To prevent error information concerning examination dates or times will not be given over the telephone or otherwise by academic or administrative staff. Students are responsible for checking their own examination times.

Primary examinations are held in June/July and November each year and supplementary examinations are held in July and December respectively:

(a) Students should ensure they are available during the primary and supplementary examination periods where an examination is an assessment requirement for your course(s).

(b) Students may apply for an alternative exam in accordance with the University’s Alternative Examination Arrangements policy. The law school will not make alternative arrangements outside of this policy.

An administration charge may be applied to students sitting an alternative examination. That charge can include costs associated with examination supervision and mailing.

(c) Students may also apply for a supplementary exam on medical or compassionate grounds according to rule 4.12.3 of the University Examinations Policy.

(d) Under no circumstances will a student be granted a special or supplementary examination on the grounds of misreading or failing to read the timetable. It is your responsibility to check your examination times.

4.2 Anonymity of examinations

Student identification numbers must be used on examination papers. Students are encouraged to take advantage of their anonymity by not writing/printing their name on the paper.

4.3 Student Identification

Your student identification card must be presented at all examinations.

4.4 Contact with Examiners during Examination Periods

Students must not contact examiners during the time between an examination and the publication of results. If you have an enquiry regarding an examination you must direct that enquiry, in writing, to the Associate Dean - Teaching.

5. GRADING ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

The standard marking scale for all forms of assessment is shown in the following table.

GRADE	MARK
HD	85-100
D	75-84
C	65-74
P	50-64
CP *	45-49
F	0-44

Some forms of assessment may be marked on a pass/fail basis.

* Courses for which a result of conceded pass has been obtained may not be presented towards the degree requirements for the Bachelor of Laws or the Honours Degree of Bachelor of Laws programs, nor to satisfy prerequisite requirements within any law course.

6. RETURNING ASSIGNMENTS AND FEEDBACK

6.1 Returning of Assessment

Once assignments have been marked, the Front Office will inform students from where and when their assignments may be collected. Interim assignments will usually be marked and available for collection prior to the release of final results. Exams that are conducted in the exam period will usually be released after the Board of Examiners has confirmed final results. Marks for all forms of assessment, whenever released, remain provisional until ratified by the Board of Examiners.

6.2 Feedback on Assessment:

Students can expect to receive feedback which explains the mark they have received for all their assessment. This may be in the form of written notes on assignments, in class discussion or notes posted on MyUni discussing the strengths and weaknesses of student answers, or example answers for the assessment. If, having considered carefully all the feedback provided for an assessment, student’s are still not clear on why they received the mark they received, they may request an appointment with the original examiner. If the original examiner is not available they should make an appointment with the Course Coordinator to discuss the assessment and obtain further feedback. Where appropriate, the Course Coordinator may refer the student to the person who examined their assessment to get further feedback.

See also the University Policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, s6.

6.3 Double marking of written assessment

All written assessment which receives a fail mark from an examiner is double-marked and a final result settled between the examiners. Once results are published, students may request an interview with the original examiner. After that interview, students whose assessment has not already been double marked may request a re-mark or re-assessment by another examiner (see Requesting a Re-Mark at 8. below).

7. PUBLICATION OF FINAL RESULTS

Final course results are not published until they have been ratified by the ‘Board of Examiners’ which meets at the conclusion of the examination period at the end of first and second semester. Following ratification by the Board, final results will be recorded on students’ academic transcripts and will be available on Access Adelaide. Final results are also posted on the Law School website. Results are made available as soon as possible and in any event not less than one week before the scheduled supplementary examination in the course. After results have been finalised, students will be informed of a time when their exam scripts will be available for collection.

You must not ring the Law School to inquire when results will be available or what your results are. It is your responsibility to check your results. To prevent possible error, it is Law School policy not to provide any of this information over the telephone.

All written assessment will be available at the Law School front office for five working days after results are posted. If the assessment is not collected within five working days, students must complete an application form to have their assessments or examination scripts sent to them in the mail. Students must also supply the Law Office with a self addressed, stamped envelope. All materials will be kept for one year, after which they will be destroyed.

Students may seek a remark of written assessment which received a pass mark (for double marking of assessments that received a fail mark, see 6.3 above). If having sought and received further feedback on their assessment, students feel that the mark they received does not reflect the quality of their paper, they may complete a Request for a remark form and submit it to the Front Office. In this form, students are required to provide specific reasons based on the content of the assessment, and the feedback provided, for why they believe there is a case for having their assessment remarked. The Course Coordinator will complete the request form either approving or not approving a remark, and return the form to the Front Office. If the Course Coordinator approves a re-mark, they will appoint a second examiner. The final results will be settled between the examiners, and can be higher or lower than the original mark. However, in no circumstances will a pass receive a fail on a re-mark.

Remarks of formal exams must be sought within five business days of the date when examination scripts are available for collection.

The Front Office will notify students by email regarding collection of their re-marked assessment paper.

9.1 Grounds for supplementary assessment

Medical and Compassionate supplementary examinations are granted when some serious impediment affected a student’s performance at the time of the primary examination in accordance with rule 4.12 of the University Examinations Policy. They are available whether the student passed or failed the course and supplementary papers will be marked and graded according to the full range of grade descriptors set out as if it was the student’s primary exam. If you have grounds to apply for a medical or compassionate supplementary examination, but you can sit for the primary examination, it is advisable to do so. If a student sits a supplementary examination, the mark on this exam is their final mark. However if a student passed the course based on the result in the original examination, but failed the supplementary examination, they will receive a mark of 50P.

Academic supplementary examinations are automatically granted to students who fail, provided their overall mark is 45% or more and the student has complied with any requirements for attendance or interim assessment. A student who passes in a supplementary examination granted on academic grounds is marked at 50P.

Students who are unable to sit a supplementary examination on the date set are very unlikely to be offered any further supplementary assessment. The Associate Dean (Teaching) may grant a further supplementary examination in exceptional circumstances.

Students who are awarded supplementary examinations, and who do not intend to sit for them, are asked to advise the Examinations Officer of this fact as soon as possible. The advice may be provided in writing or by email to sarah.vujicic@adelaide.edu.au or panita.hirunboot@adelaide.edu.au so that papers are not set unnecessarily.

9.2 Applying for Supplementary Assessment

It is not necessary to apply for supplementary assessment on academic grounds. If you fail a course with a mark of 45-49%, you are entitled to a supplementary examination or other supplementary assessment so as to permit a second opportunity to pass the course. The other varieties of supplementary assessment, which are listed below, all require timely application before they are granted.

Supplementary assessment may be available on compassionate or medical grounds in accordance with s4.12 of the University Examinations policy.

9.2.1 Supplementaries on Compassionate Grounds: You must apply for a compassionate supplementary examination on the form available from the Front Counter or at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/pdfs/supp_applic.pdf. The form must be supported by independent documentation (e.g. doctor's certificate) and be lodged with the Front Office no later than FIVE days after the examination or assessment deadline.

9.2.2 Supplementaries on medical grounds: An application for supplementary assessment must be made using the appropriate forms available from the Front Counter or visit http://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/pdfs/supp_applic.pdf . The Medical Certificate must be completed by a medical or dental practitioner and display the medical provider number or practitioner’s official stamp, and the date or dates of the medical or dental condition. It is advisable, if you are ill on the day of the examination to consult a doctor immediately. The application must be lodged with the Front Office no later than FIVE days after the examination or assessment deadline.

If a student is aware, before the examination or assessment deadline, that they will be incapacitated, it is advisable to submit the application form early, together with supporting medical documentation.

9.2.3 Last Course' Supplementary Examination: Students are entitled to supplementary assessment if the course is the last one required to complete an LLB or other degree. If you believe you are eligible for a last course supplementary examination, you must advise the Examinations Officer [sarah.vujicic@adelaide.edu.au or panita.hirunboot@adelaide.edu.au], in writing within FIVE working days of the publication of results. On passing a supplementary examination or other form of assessment granted on this ground, your final result for the course will be recorded as 50P.

9.2.4 Consideration of Applications and Notification to Applicants: Medical and compassionate supplementary applications will be considered by the Student Applications Officer. Any appeal against the decision to reject an application must be addressed to the Associate Dean of Teaching who may refer the matter to the Student Appeals and Complaints Committee.

Complaints about assessment are governed by procedures approved by the University Council. Complaints about primary assessment that arise after the publication of results should be addressed, in the first place, to the Course Co-ordinator. If the complaint has been considered by the Course Co-ordinator and the student is of the view that it has not been satisfactorily resolved they should discuss this with the Student Advisor. If the student is still of the view that it has not been satisfactorily resolved they should lodge a written application for reconsideration of the complaint should be forwarded Secretary of the Student Appeal and Complaints Committee.

Complaints that arise after the examination but before the publication of results should not be directed to the Course Co-ordinator. They should be in writing and they should be addressed to the Student Advisor.

Appeals on matters affecting individual assessment are determined by the Student Appeal and Complaints Committee. Complaints of a more general nature about a particular course may be directed to the Associate Dean of Teaching and may be referred to the Academic Programme Committee.

Appeals from decisions by the Law School or its committees are governed by University procedures which are set out in the Student Guide or on the university web page.