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Delivery Information

Grading System

All assessments are designed to gauge the extent to which the desired Learning Outcomes of each particular course have been achieved by the learner. Learning Outcomes for the course will be made clear to you early on, and assessment guidance and feedback will make explicit reference to them.

Individual assessments will receive a grade on the following scale:

  • Distinction
  • Merit
  • Pass
  • Fail
  • Clear Fail

Learners whose submitted assignments do not meet the passing requirements (receiving a Fail or Clear Fail grade), or who do not submit an assignment during their first attempt, will have the opportunity to re-submit an assessment once. Results of re-submitted assessments will be limited to a final grade of Pass (i.e., will not be graded a Merit or Distinction). Learners will have two weeks to re-submit their assessments from the point of results being published. 

Where there are two or more weighted assignments, all components must be submitted and receive at least a Pass grade in order to pass the course overall. In other words, strong performance in one assessed component will not compensate for other components which fail or are not submitted. 

Professional Academy Diploma learners with overall passing grades are emailed their digital certificates approximately 7 working days after their final results have been released (please check your spam folder).


Plagiarism

UCD Professional Academy's submission system automatically flags and assigns a percentage to content which is similar to internet sources and assessments already submitted through its database or available online. 

Any sources or content which are not your own work should be clearly cited. Work containing unoriginal content which is not clearly acknowledged will fail if, in the judgment of the assessor, the amount of original work is insufficient to demonstrate achievement of the Learning Outcomes. For the avoidance of doubt, content produced by artificial intelligence, e.g., an AI chatbot, does not constitute your own work.

In courses where templates are provided, templates will be discounted.

Please note that all assignment work done as part of UCD Professional Academy courses needs to be original and specific to the particular course of study undertaken; assignments done previously for other courses (either at the PA or other institutions) cannot be re-submitted, even if they are your own work.


Extenuating Circumstances / Extension Requests

If unforeseen personal circumstances (such as illness, bereavement etc.) make it difficult for you to complete assessments throughout your Professional Academy Diploma or Certificate course, please fill in the Extenuating Circumstance Form and attach any relevant supporting documentation.

Extenuating Circumstances applications can also be considered retrospectively, i.e., after the submission date has already passed. The introductory page of the Application Form explains the basis for decisions. 

Depending on the circumstances, a determination will be reached and communicated to you. Please allow up to 48 working hours for a response.

If you submit the extension request on the day your assessment is due, a response will not be immediate and may be after the deadline. In these cases, if the extension is denied, you can still submit after the deadline during the re-submission period and your result will be capped at a Pass. 

When citing extenuating circumstances, please provide relevant documentation at the point of submitting a request, as applications cannot be updated subsequently. Documentation should be limited to official documents that relate to the provided circumstance e.g. a medical document / doctor’s cert / RIP.ie link / letter from an official body. Personal images/photographs that contain images of the learner/family members are not accepted as supporting evidence.

Please note that, since only unforeseen circumstances will be taken into account, holidays and pressure of work are not accepted as extenuating circumstances.

Learners are asked not to direct queries regarding Extenuating Circumstances to individual Subject Matter Experts. 

The Academic Office's decisions once communicated are final, and no further correspondence will be entered into.


Grading Appeals

UCD Professional Academy is committed to providing an excellent training experience for all learners. We consider a robust and consistent approach to assessment to be an integral part of that commitment. However, the Professional Academy also recognises that from time to time, situations may arise where learners consider they have grounds to appeal decisions related to assessment of their academic work.

Learners are asked not to direct queries regarding grades to individual Subject Matter Experts.

Learners wishing to appeal assessment decisions must do so within one week from receiving notification of their grade by filling in the Grade Appeals Form. Please refer to the Professional Academy’s procedure for submitting appeals (the procedure is detailed on the second page of the form).

Once the appeal has been considered, a determination will be reached by the Academic Office and the outcome communicated directly to you.


Audio & Video Recording

All UCD Professional Academy live sessions are recorded for Quality Assurance and are subsequently deleted in line with GDPR.

We encourage learners to have their cameras on to better enhance the overall learning experience, but do not require them to.

If you do have your camera and your microphone enabled, please be aware that you may feature in the recording. Please be mindful of anyone or anything in the background that may also be visible to others during the session.

Any unauthorised sharing of recordings is prohibited.


Course Forums

The forums available on your course LMS page, is a learning space for you and others in your cohort.

To get the most from it, engage by:

  • Sharing an interesting article or resource.
  • Giving your perspective on the content.
  • Asking others how they are applying newly learned information.
  • Using your own experiences to help others with their challenges.

You will have the option to interact with your SME during classes with any questions you may have. You should not ask for or use SME personal contact details or an SME’s online presence to communicate with them outside the context of your Professional Academy Diploma or Certificate itself. Where outside contact is necessary, the Operations Team at support@ucdpa.ie will be happy to relay a message to an SME on your behalf.

The course forums are not regularly moderated by UCD Professional Academy staff. As a participant, you play an essential role in maintaining a welcoming and professional environment. To support this, please avoid discussing potentially divisive topics that are outside the scope of your current course. We thank you for your cooperation and assistance.