Quality Manual Chapter 5 | HKU Teaching and Learning

5. Assessment Policy and Regulations

5.1 University Assessment Policy

5.1.1The University Assessment Policy sets out the philosophy, principles and regulations that guide and regulate assessment practices for Ug and TPg curricula at the University (Appendix 5.1):

Philosophy
- Assessment should reflect what and how students have learnt, and should enhance, facilitate, and support their learning experiences.
- The University seeks to ensure that its students are assessed in appropriate, credible, fair, rigorous and transparent manners at all times.
Principles
- Assessment is an important vehicle for supporting and guiding student learning.
- There should be alignment between PLOs and CLOs, and the assessment processes and standards.
- A diversity of forms of assessment needs to be employed, and there should be a good balance of different forms of assessment appropriate for different types of learning experience in a programme or curriculum.
- Assessment procedures should exemplify ethical practice, academic integrity and honesty, impartial judgments, equity and moderation.
- An important function of assessment is that it can provide feedback on learning to students, individually or collectively.
Standards-referenced assessments
- The University adopts standards-referenced assessment, which affords a holistic judgment of competencies and attainment of learning outcomes.

Other aspects such as grade descriptors and moderation of grading are also covered in the University Assessment Policy. Faculties and the CC Office may draw up specific assessment policies as they deem fit, for consideration by the Senate.

5.2 Procedures and regulations

5.2.1Internal Examiners and Chief Examiners are appointed by the respective Faculty Boards for their Ug and TPg curricula. They serve on the relevant BoEs and discharge duties in respect of examinations (Appendix 5.2).

5.2.2BoEs, which are committees of the Senate, are formed in respect of individual curricula or groups of curricula to maintain academic standards and ensure that the assessment processes are appropriate, fair and rigorous; determine the classification of awards, and the methods and procedures by which the Examiners shall carry out their duties; determine the final course results; receive External Examiners’ reports; submit to the respective Faculty Boards pass lists of successful candidates to be presented to the Chancellor for the conferment of the awards; decide the award of relevant prizes and medals presented wholly or partially on the results of University assessments; and undertake other associated duties.

5.2.3The Terms of Reference of BoEs for First Degrees and Taught Postgraduate Curricula are at Appendix 5.3.

5.2.4Students who have failed to satisfy the requirements for progression of studies and/or exceeded the maximum period of registration as stipulated in the relevant University and curriculum regulations may be recommended by the BoE of their curriculum for discontinuation of studies. They may make representations to the Faculty Review Committee on Student Performance and Discontinuation of their Faculty Board, which conducts a review of the individual circumstances, academic (but not including their actual results) and non-academic, and reports to the Faculty Board/BoE with a recommendation on each case.¹¹ Students who are recommended by their Faculty Board or BoE for discontinuation of studies have a further and final opportunity to make representations for non-academic reasons to the Committee on Discontinuation of the Senate which makes the final decision.

5.2.5The Terms of Reference of the Faculty Review Committees on Student Performance and Discontinuation and the Committee on Discontinuation are at Appendix 5.4.

5.2.6There are other University regulations and guidelines concerning assessments and examinations, as embodied in the following documents:

General Regulations (Appendix 1.15 in Chapter 1);
Regulations Governing Students’ Academic Conduct Concerning Assessment (Appendix 5.5);
Policy on Student Plagiarism in Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Curricula (see Section 5.4);
Instructions to Candidates for University Examinations (Appendix 5.6);
Guidance Notes for Chief Invigilators and Invigilators (Appendix 5.7);
Form of Medical Certificate (Appendix 5.8);
Security Measures: Question Papers and Worked Answer Scripts (Appendix 5.9); and
Guidelines for Handling Students’ Requests for Examination Scripts and Other Examination-related Personal Data, and for Provision of Feedback to Students on Assessment (Appendix 5.10).

5.2.7Faculties formulate detailed examination procedures for individual curricula. A document on examination procedures incorporates the University and curriculum regulations in respect of grading, progression of studies and course failures. It also sets out the provisions for classification of awards, administrative arrangements for handling examination scripts and mark sheets, proceedings of Internal Examiners’ meetings, and award of prizes and honours.

5.3 Appeals against results of examinations or other forms of assessment

5.3.1The University’s General Regulation G9(h) stipulates that “There shall be no appeal against the results of examinations and all other forms of assessment.”

5.3.2Students may however request checking of the final course grade or the result of any assessment component of any course if they have reason to believe that there is any procedural irregularity or technical error in the determination of that result, following the University’s Procedures for Checking of Assessment Results of Taught Courses (Appendix 5.11).

5.4 Academic integrity and plagiarism

5.4.1The University is committed to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity. Plagiarism is regarded as a serious offence. It is a violation of the Regulations Governing Students’ Academic Conduct Concerning Assessment (Appendix 5.6). Any student who has committed plagiarism is liable to disciplinary action.

5.4.2The University has a Policy on Student Plagiarism in Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Curricula (Appendix 5.12). The Policy articulates the general principles adopted by the University towards plagiarism, outlines the T&L strategies for educating students about academic integrity, and clarifies various issues related to the handling of student plagiarism cases. The University also has a website that provides students with general guidance on what constitutes plagiarism, why it is wrong, and how to avoid it (https://tl.hku.hk/plagiarism/).

5.4.3All educational materials (including, but not limited to, course materials, PowerPoint presentations, web contents, recordings and other audio-visual resources) are copyright protected. Students and graduates must not share these materials with a third party unless they have written permission from the teacher concerned (and from the University as applicable). In no case shall these materials be shared with or sold to commercial websites. The University reserves the right to take legal and disciplinary action against any violation. Any unauthorized broadcasting, distribution, transmission or publication of such materials in whole or in part in any form to a third party may contravene local copyright law and international copyright conventions, resulting in possible legal action and consequences.

11 In respect of the said cases, the Faculty Review Committee on Student Performance and Discontinuation reports to the Faculty Board in the case of the Faculties of Arts, Dentistry and Medicine, and to the BoE in the case of the Faculties of Architecture, Business and Economics, Education, Engineering, Law, Science and Social Sciences.

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