Feedback
What is feedback?
Feedback is developmental and should enable you to enhance your knowledge and understanding, personal qualities and intellectual, transferable and practical skills. At Alliance MBS feedback is given in a variety of ways and aids your progression on specific course units as well as towards your overall degree.
Feedback given to you during your programme should help you to understand how well you are working towards the intended learning outcomes of both your course unit and overall degree, the marks or grades you have been given and how your performance might be improved in the future.
In Alliance Manchester Business School academic staff aim to provide feedback which is:
- Prompt;
- Individual;
- Constructive;
- Related to progression;
- Related to the learning outcomes of the course unit.
Throughout the course of your studies, feedback is given in a variety of ways including:
- Informal advice and discussion during a lecture, seminar, workshop or lab. You will always receive immediate feedback on any contribution you make to discussions so make sure you participate fully.
- Online exercises and quizzes delivered through the course Blackboard space.
- Responses to your emails and questions from a member of staff, including feedback provided to a group via an online discussion forum.
- Specific course related feedback sessions.
- Written and/or verbal comments on assessed or non-assessed coursework.
- Written and/or verbal comments after you have given a group or individual presentation.
- Generic feedback posted on Blackboard regarding overall examination performance.
- Group and individual discussions/meetings with your Academic Advisor.
- Discussions and meetings with your Programme Director.
What if I want more feedback?
Opportunities will be provided for you to discuss feedback in person with your Course Co-ordinator, details of which are included in the full course outline which you can access via Blackboard. You can also discuss feedback further with your Academic Advisor or Programme Director. All academic staff have office hours so if you need to see someone, check when these are and sign up to a slot.
How can I receive feedback on examinations
Following each exam period, you may find that general exam feedback has been posted on Blackboard by the course coordinator. Please note that this is not a requirement and general feedback will not always be provided.
If you wish to review your exam script, you can request to do so by contacting assessment.ambs@manchester.ac.uk.
What you should find on your exam script:
An indication that all questions have been marked by a tick or a short sentence; where marks have been earned and the overall marks awarded.
Any comments on the script are predominantly part of the marking process and are not extensive in the way that feedback is provided on coursework.
What you WON'T find on your exam script:
Detailed written comments as you would for say an essay or a project. Course Unit Directors will provide group generic feedback on Blackboard following an examination period.
Important:
Under University regulations, students do not have an automatic right to have papers remarked. The University does not permit students to challenge academic judgement (Regulation XIX).
If you have any queries in the meantime, please feel free to contact assessment.ambs@manchester.ac.uk or come speak to a member of the team in 2.092.
Student feedback
Alliance Manchester Business School understands the value of listening to what you have to say. We will, therefore, actively seek your feedback either through course evaluation questionnaires or at various points throughout your degree programme whether directly or through your student representative. We are committed to listening to you, acting on the feedback you give to us and following this up by informing you of what we have done as a result of your feedback.
Surveys
As you are hopefully aware, the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) launches in March and closes in May. Please can we encourage you to complete the survey to tell us about your experiences as a postgraduate student at Alliance Manchester Business School.
PTES plays a vital role in helping AMBS to shape our MSc programmes. On the basis of feedback from MSc students who filled in the survey in previous years, we have already made important changes to our MSc programmes, including introducing e-assessment of course assignments, and increasing careers support for postgraduate students.
We really want to hear your views on what aspects of our MSc programmes work well and what we might need to improve.
You will receive an e-mail to your student e-mail account from ‘Student Experience @ Manchester’, which will give you access to the PTES survey. You can also find details of how to access the PTES survey by logging on to your ‘My Manchester’ account: my.manchester.ac.uk and there will be posters and other sources of information about the survey displayed around AMBS.
We can reassure you that the survey is anonymous - we have no way of tracing your answers to you.
As an incentive, there will be prizes up for grabs for all who complete the survey. Previous years’ prizes include £300 Flight Vouchers, Restaurant Vouchers, Afternoon Tea at The Hilton Hotel and an Apple IPad Mini.
Marking procedures
Anonymous marking
The University operates an anonymous marking policy. To ensure that your anonymity from staff and examiners will be preserved only your Student ID number should appear on your assessment (i.e. examination scripts and any coursework assessment). Your Student ID number should be on all pages of your coursework.
When you submit coursework via Blackboard you will be prompted by the link to enter a submission title. Please note that this is not your name or your essay title but your Student ID number and Course Unit Code with no spaces as shown in the example below:
Submission Title: 10054321BMAN77777
Marking and moderation
An internal examiner marks every script (or assignment) once, anonymously. The Course Co-ordinator is responsible for ensuring that there are no major discrepancies across individual markers. The scripts are then passed to a Course Moderator whose role is to (anonymously) moderate a selection of scripts ensuring that there is continuity, accuracy and no systematic biases. If biases or discrepancies are detected, marks may be adjusted following consultation between the Course Co-ordinator and the Course Moderator. The Course Moderator also focuses on marginal fails and scripts that are close to compensation borderlines. Finally, a selection of scripts is sent to the appropriate External Examiner with a commentary on overall performance.
External Examiners are full involved in the setting and examining of assessment and send annual reports, covering all aspects of the examination procedures to the office of the University’s Vice President (Teaching, Learning and Students).
Assessment results
Please be assured that considerable care is taken in assembling, checking and double-checking marks and determining results.
It is the policy of AMBS not to selectively remark examination papers or coursework on request. Examination scripts and coursework will only be remarked where the Chair of the Board of Examiners has good cause to believe that there has been a marking irregularity. Such circumstances would normally be exceptional.
Work will not be remarked simply because a student believes that they should have obtained a better mark than that awarded.
Marking criteria
Marking of University exams and coursework is anonymous unless you are specifically told otherwise. Never write your name on your coursework. Instead you should include your ID number in the header of every page.
The University takes the marking of work very seriously and rigorous procedures are in place to check the work is marked fairly and to the highest of standards. All coursework and exams are marked by an internal academic and a selection is then further verified by up to 2 academics, including an external examiner and then checked by administrators before they are released to students.
Marking criteria
The marking criteria are as follows:
- 70-100% Very good, well above average performance at Masters Level
- 60-69% A good, sound performance at Masters Level
- 50-59% Pass. An adequate performance at Masters Level
- 40-49% Fail at Masters Level. Adequate performance at Diploma level
- 30-39% Fail at Diploma level
- 0-29% Fail
The level of achievement associated with each grade is as follows:
| Class | Descriptor (which reflects the highest possible mark attainable) | Possible mark |
|---|---|---|
| Distinction | Your work is exceptional and of sufficient quality to be awarded an upper-range distinction mark. Your work is authoritative and amply demonstrates very advanced knowledge and a very advanced ability to integrate the full range of principles, theories, evidence and techniques. The clarity and originality of thought and the way that it is expressed is very impressive for this level of work. | 100 |
| Distinction | 95 | |
| Distinction | 92 | |
| Distinction | Your work is outstanding and of sufficient quality to be awarded a mid-range distinction mark. Your response to the question is insightful. You demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of this topic. To improve future marks you should attempt to refine your analysis and arguments even further. | 88 |
| Distinction | 85 | |
| Distinction | 82 | |
| Distinction | Your work is excellent and of sufficient quality to be awarded a lower-range distinction mark. You demonstrate a detailed level of understanding of this topic. To improve future marks you should attempt to identify any weaker parts of your argument and/or its presentation, ensure you have addressed opposing viewpoints or evidence decisively, and consider extending the range and use of supporting resources even further. | 78 |
| Distinction | 75 | |
| Distinction | 72 | |
| Merit | Your work is very good and of sufficient quality to be awarded a merit mark. Your work is sound and well-considered. To improve future marks you could integrate a wider range of sources and/or deepen your analysis. You may also need to develop weaker parts of your argument and/or its presentation, ensuring that you have identified and addressed key opposing viewpoints or evidence. | 68 |
| Merit | 65 | |
| Merit | 62 | |
| Pass | Your work is good and of sufficient quality to be awarded a pass mark. Your work is competent and coherent. To improve future marks you could integrate a wider range of sources and should increase your level of critical appraisal and seek to demonstrate a more integrated understanding of the subject and possible opposing viewpoints in your analysis. You could also improve the presentation and structure of your work. | 58 |
| Pass | 55 | |
| Pass | 52 | |
| Compensatable fail | Your work demonstrates insufficient knowledge and skills in the specific topic area and does not merit a pass mark. It shows a basic level of knowledge and understanding. To achieve a higher mark you need to make sure that all your points are coherent and fully supported with data or evidence from the literature. You also need to achieve greater analytical depth and take fuller account of opposing viewpoints or evidence in order to provide more substantial, comprehensive and nuanced support for your argument. | 48 |
| Compensatable fail | 45 | |
| Compensatable fail | 42 | |
| Fail | Your work demonstrates insufficient knowledge and skills in the specific topic area and does not merit a pass mark. Your work demonstrates some awareness of the topic, although it is a frequently incoherent, or partial, response. To improve future marks you should improve your awareness of the appropriate principles, theories, evidence and techniques and engage more critically with them. You should present and structure your arguments better and make sure that they are substantiated. You should seek to undertake, or demonstrate that you have undertaken, independent work. | 38 |
| Fail | 35 | |
| Fail | 32 | |
| Fail | Your work is inadequate and does not merit a pass mark. It demonstrates a confused or deficient awareness of the subject matter. To improve future marks you should improve your awareness of the appropriate principles, theories, evidence and techniques and engage critically with them. You should present and structure your arguments and make sure that they are substantiated. You should seek to undertake, or demonstrate that you have undertaken, independent work. | 28 |
| Fail | 25 | |
| Fail | Your work is severely inadequate and does not merit a pass mark. Your work demonstrates a very deficient understanding of the topic. To improve future marks you should improve your awareness of the appropriate principles, theories, evidence and techniques and engage critically with them. You should present and structure your arguments and make sure that they are substantiated. You should seek to undertake, or demonstrate that you have undertaken, independent work. | 15 |
| Fail | Your work is profoundly inadequate and does not merit a pass mark. Your representation or understanding of thinking in the discipline is highly deficient. To improve future marks you should seek to understand thinking in the discipline and engage critically with it. You should present and structure your arguments and make sure that they are substantiated. You should seek to undertake, or demonstrate that you have undertaken, independent work. | 5 |
| Fail | 0 |
- Any change to the above criteria will be noted on blackboard.
- Please note, however that these marking criteria are for guidance only and may vary across different programmes. For more advice on marking criteria for your programme, please contact your Programme Director.