Xaverian College
Manchester
PROGRAMME REGULATIONS
HANDBOOK

MPharm with a Preparatory (Foundation) Year
2025 entry

WELCOME TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER AND TO XAVERIAN COLLEGE

Welcome to this issue of the undergraduate programme handbook for the MPharm Pharmacy with a Foundation Year in the Division of Pharmacy and Optometry at the University of Manchester.

You are a new student who has recently joined this programme as the first part of a period of study leading to an undergraduate Masters degree (MPharm) of the University of Manchester. The Foundation Year of study is delivered primarily by staff on the premises of Xaverian College Manchester. Both Xaverian College and the University extend a warm welcome to you. We hope you are happy both during this Foundation Year and in your further studies and we hope that in five years’ time you will have obtained a degree of which you can be proud.

Remember that, as a registered student of the University, all of the facilities that are available to other students are available to you. This includes recreational and social facilities such as the Student Inion and Athletic Union, the academic support services such as the Library, Computing Facilities, Careers and Counselling Service and the full range of university Accommodation and the Accommodation Service plus lots more.

There are many exciting things to do as a University student. Make the most of the facilities both academic and social and enjoy yourself.

Mr A Knowles Principal Xaverian College Lower Park Road Manchester M14 5RB

Dr D G Allison Division of Pharmacy & Optometry Stopford Building University of Manchester Oxford Road Manchester M13 9PT

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 SOURCES OF INFORMATION

This handbook gives you much useful information. Please keep it somewhere where you can easily find it. It is designed to serve as a starting point when you have questions or problems. It gives the aims and objectives of this year of study and a brief description of the programme. It tells you about the credit-based system as operated at Xaverian College and how your programme is taught. It tells you about the support that is provided for you as a student and how you can influence development of your programme. It also tells you about the resources available to you as a student, those you will use as a compulsory part of your programme such as lecture rooms, laboratories and computer facilities and those available to support your learning such as the library and facilities required for study. Perhaps most important of all it tells you how your programme is assessed.

You will soon meet with your personal tutor. If there is anything you want to know, or any help you need, talk first to your tutor. You will also meet the Programme Director of the Division of Pharmacy whom you should talk to about progression to Year 1 of the MPharm, following successful completion of this Foundation Year and about facilities of the University.

If you need help, advice or clarification on any academic or personal matter, seek help straight away. Any member of staff is willing to help, but, where possible, you should initially contact one of a few designated people:

your personal tutor s.thatcher@xaverian.ac.uk
the Programme Director david.allison@manchester.ac.uk

There is a considerable amount of useful information in this handbook and you should read it through.

1.2 ANNUAL TIME-TABLE

The Foundation Year programmes extend over a 30-week teaching, revision and examination period which is the same as for the University in general. However, to accommodate the Xaverian College teaching calendar, which differs from that of the University, and different needs for examination periods the actual weeks of teaching differ.

You must ensure that your accommodation arrangements are appropriate for this period of teaching.

1.3 ESSENTIAL DATES

The Foundation Academic Year 2025 – 2026

Monday 22 September	Welcome week	Thursday 2 April	Last day of classes before Easter vacation
Monday 29 September	Semester 1 lectures and lab classes commence	Monday 20 April	First day of classes after Easter vacation
Thursday 23 October to Friday 3 November	Reading Week	Friday 1 May	Last day of lectures and lab classes
Friday 19 December	Last day of lectures before Christmas vacation	Monday 11 May	Semester 2 examinations commence
Thursday 15 January	Semester 1 examinations commence	Friday 22 May	Semester 2 examinations end
Friday 30 January	Semester 1 examinations end	Wednesday 26 August	Re-examination period commences
Monday 2 February	Semester 2 lectures and lab classes commence	Friday 28 August	Re-examination period ends
Thursday 12 February to Monday 23 February	Reading Week	Friday 6 September (Provisional)	Examination results communicated to students who have taken resit examinations.

1.4 REQUIREMENTS OF REGISTERED STUDENTS

It is important that you understand at an early stage what is expected of you.

As a registered student of the University of Manchester you must submit to and observe in all respects the Statutes, Ordinances, Regulations and Bye-Laws of the University.

By signing the University registration form you have agreed to abide by these requirements even if you have not read them or been given a copy. By signing the registration form for this Foundation Year Programme you have agreed to abide by the rules of Xaverian College set out here and in the remainder of this handbook and separately available in the College. You must accept and understand the University’s and the College’s meaning and policy on computer use, plagiarism, malpractice in examinations, the rules for the conduct of examinations and on your requirements for work and attendance. You must understand the requirements on assessment of your degree programme. Nothing in this handbook, or in any other information that you have been given, supersedes what is to be found in the University Regulations or in the Faculty handbook.

1.5 ADMINISTRATIVE AND MANAGEMENT STAFF OF XAVERIAN COLLEGE

Address and telephone:
Xaverian College
Lower Park Road
Victoria Park
Manchester
M14 5RB
College Office                       Tel: 0161 224 1781           college@xaverian.ac.uk           Fax: 0161 248 9039
College Coordinator           Ms Suzanne Thatcher      s.thatcher@xaverian.ac.uk

1.6 TEACHING STAFF OF XAVERIAN COLLEGE

Biology
Mrs Suzanne Thatcher	s.thatcher@xaverian.ac.uk
Mrs Caroline Andrews	c.andrews@xaverian.ac.uk
Chemistry
Ms Katy Webb	k.webb@xaverian.ac.uk
Ms Priya Nayar	p.nayar@xaverian.ac.uk
College Counsellor
Ms Marianne Garside	m.garside@xaverian.ac.uk
College Chaplain
Ms Esther Knowles	e.knowles@xaverian.ac.uk
Personal tutor/Academic tutor
Mrs Suzanne Thatcher	s.thatcher@xaverian.ac.uk

1.7 RELEVANT STAFF OF THE UNIVERSITY

Office address and telephone:
The Undergraduate Office	Tel: 0161 275 2334
Division of Pharmacy & Optometry	Email: ug-pharmacy@manchester.ac.uk
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PT
Programme Director	Dr. David Allison
Room G.181	Email: david.allison@manchester.ac.uk
Stopford Building	Tel: 0161 275 2359

1.8 PROGRAMME COMMUNICATION

There is a notice board located in the University Students’ Common Room (first floor) in the Science Block of Xaverian College which is used to convey important messages about the programme and for individual students. It is your responsibility to check this notice board regularly.

Details of your student representatives will be posted on this notice board (see section 7.2).

Email is a frequently used means of contacting individual students and the programme cohort as a whole. You should check your personal email regularly both at Xaverian and University.

1.9 HEALTH AND SAFETY

You must, at all times, be mindful of the health and safety regulations and take responsibility for the safety of yourself and others. The Health and Safety regulations are reproduced in section 9.6.

1.10 NO SMOKING POLICY

All University and Xaverian College academic and administrative buildings are designated as no smoking areas.

2 PROGRAMMES OF STUDY

2.1 INTRODUCTION

This handbook relates to the MPharm with a Foundation Year. This is a one-year programme and does not result in a qualification or award (other than of attendance) on completion. The Foundation Year is the first year of an extended programme of study of five years leading to the award, on successful completion, of a MPharm degree.

Programme title	UCAS Code
Pharmacy with a Foundation Year	B231

The Foundation Year in Pharmacy, on successful completion (24 points), leads to automatic progression onto Year 1 of the MPharm programme.

Later in this handbook you will find the requirements for successful completion of the MPharm Pharmacy with a Foundation Year. If you have concerns about progressing onto the MPharm you should discuss these with the Programme Director at the University.

There are related programmes, but with slightly different contents, leading to progression to programmes of study in the Faculties of Science and Engineering, and Life Sciences.

2.2 THE PURPOSE OF THESE PROGRAMMES

The Division of Pharmacy & Optometry delivers, in most of its provision, a strongly discipline focused programme designed to permit successful graduates to register with the professional body (RPSGB) without further educational requirements, en-route to achieving chartered status. This programme builds upon the presumption that students will enter year 1 with a high standard of discipline-relevant previous qualifications. This Foundation Year programme provides an entry route into Pharmacy for those students who do not meet required entry qualifications, and the programme aims to give students a solid and sufficient platform in the core science subjects for successful further study.

2.3 PROGRAMME AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The Foundation Year programme of study has the following aims;

1. to meet the need of students from a range of educational backgrounds to access Year 1 of the MPharm programme so addressing the University’s aspirations to widen participation. Specifically, priority will be given to students who have obtained A-levels (or equivalent) in appropriate subjects for direct admission to the MPharm degree programme but have experienced educational and other disadvantage, measured geo-demographically and by prior educational context and have not, therefore, met the minimum entrance level.
2. to prepare students in a number of fundamental science subjects for subsequent successful study on the MPharm programme,
3. to encourage students to develop independent study skills and extend their communication and IT skills so as to provide the best platform for subsequent study,
4. that students will be supported by an academic and pastoral tutorial system that is responsive to their range of backgrounds, that includes a ‘needs’ aspect and that includes links to the University,
5. that students, although not taught solely on University premises or by University staff, will be full members of the University and will have access to all support facilities,

The one year, pre-degree, programme of study has the following learning outcomes.

On successful completion of the year students will have:

1. a knowledge across the underlying science subjects of Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics that is appropriate for university study and that, in the core components of Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics is equivalent in depth to three ‘A’ levels,
2. a knowledge and understanding of certain aspects of Pharmacy, that have characteristics of HE learning and that are outside the core subjects in order both to smooth the transition to university study and to assist students to make informed choice about their future educational and vocational path,
3. develop their skills in numeracy, IT and communication and will have been given the opportunity to develop their skills of working with others improving their learning and performance and problem solving,
4. experienced teaching and learning principally through small group and individual sessions,
5. demonstrated their knowledge and understanding primarily through time constrained formal examinations together with elements of continuous assessment,
6. experienced a student support and guidance (Academic Advisor) system that includes scheduled sessions with a personal tutor and contact with relevant recruitment and subject specialist staff of the University,
7. experienced learning that is supported by laboratory, library and IT facilities that are appropriate for the level of learning,
8. had an opportunity to comment upon their programme of study anonymously and in writing and to have a mechanism through which concerns may be addressed.

2.4 THE PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

A programme of study has been devised at Xaverian College consisting of 120 academic credits supported by weekly tutorials. Additional subject support on an individual basis will be available to all students. Students will be able to discuss their academic progress during individual tutorials. The total contact time per week will be 19 hours.

Students will study a common core of units in Biology and Chemistry. These units will also provide a study of Mathematics that will enable students to manipulate and analyse experimental data accurately and to use statistical and mathematical techniques in biological and chemical contexts. Chemistry will form approximately half the academic core content and lectures will cover a wide range of areas including atomic structure, bonding, rates of reaction, inorganic and physical chemistry, organic and medicinal chemistry. Lectures on these subjects will be supported by relevant laboratory practicals.

The remainder of the academic core will be mainly Biology with some foundation mathematics and statistics. The Biology topics will include the study of cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, biotechnology, microbiology, health and disease and physiology. Regular laboratory work will reinforce some of the subject material and help develop practical skills.

The University delivered module is not credit rated but students are required to pass (40% level) to progress onto the MPharm. The overall aim of this module is to introduce many of the key fields and skills associated with professional pharmacy. This module is assessed by:

• 4 CPD assessments @ 10% each
• 1 Group project (4-5 students per group) @ 20%
• 4 x assessed Enquiry Based Learning (EBL) classes @ 10% each

3. STRUCTURE OF PROGRAMMES

3.1 GUIDE TO PROGRAMME STRUCTURE TABLE

The table on the following page shows the course units which form the compulsory elements of the programme of study.

An average student should expect to spend approximately 10 hours of study on each credit of each course unit. Thus a 15 credit course unit is expected to require 150 hours of study. For each hour of lecture you should typically spend between about one and one and a half hours of private study. For each laboratory session you should spend some additional time divided between prior preparation and post reflection.

The assessment for each course unit is achieved by the summation of up to three aspects; an end-of-semester examination; laboratory; coursework and/or in-course tests.

3.2 COURSE UNIT TITLES AND LECTURERS

PH BY01	Cells and Foundation Biology	Ms Caroline Andrews
PH BY02	Biochemistry	Mrs Suzanne Thatcher
PH BY03	Physiology	Mrs Suzanne Thatcher
PH BY04	Health and Disease	Ms Caroline Andrews
PH CH01	Principles of Chemistry I	Ms Katy Webb
PH CH02	Principles of Chemistry II	Ms Priya Nayar
PH CH03	Pharmaceutical Chemistry	Ms Katy Webb
PH CH04	Inorganic and Organic Chemistry	Ms Priya Nayar
PH PH01	Orientation to Pharmacy I & II	Dr David Allison/ Prof Jason Hall
	Academic Advisor	Ms Suzanne Thatcher

4. TEACHING, LEARNING and ASSESSMENT

4.1 CREDIT RATING AND STUDY TIME

Degree programmes at this University are organised around a credit-rating scheme based on course units. A course unit is a self-contained part of a degree programme with its own distinct objectives, syllabus and marks assessment scheme. You will be told more about this when you progress from this MPharm Pharmacy with a Foundation Year and enrol on the MPharm degree programme because there are specific requirements for the number of credits needed for a degree because there are specific requirements for the number of credits needed for a degree.

Course units of this MPharm Pharmacy with a Foundation Year are assigned at level 0 (to indicate that they are preliminary to the normal levels of degree study) and are 15 credit units in length. Credit points assigned to a course unit reflect the amount of time that most students will need to spend in the study of that unit. You will need to spend about 10 hours of study for each 1 unit of credit. These programmes are 30 weeks in length and you study 120 credits. This gives 1300 hours in total or about 40 hours per week. Being a student is a full time activity. Now clearly, every student will not need exactly the same amount of study time for each unit, it will depend upon your individual strengths, interests and weaknesses, but you should expect to spend about 40 hours each week in study. About half of this is timetabled time (or contact time). In addition to this contact time you will need to study individually, in the library, at home or in your hall of residence.

4.2 THE TEACHING APPROACH

You are on a programme of study of the University of Manchester and you will find both differences and similarities to the teaching and learning styles employed in the degree programmes of the Faculty. The main difference is that, whereas on a degree programme in the Faculty there may be in excess of 100 students in a lecture, on the foundation year programmes you will learn in classroom sized groups of around 25 (what might be regarded as a seminar group in the University). The main reason for this is that the Foundation programmes cover approximately the equivalent of a two year A-level syllabus in a single year and a high level of staff contact is desirable.

The main similarity to University study is that you are responsible for organising your time so that you devote appropriate effort to your studies whilst also experiencing the benefits of University life. It is your responsibility to ensure you hand work in on time, prepare properly for classroom tests and plan your revision for examinations.

You will be provided with regular problem sheets for each of your subjects and you should ensure that you allocate sufficient time to attempt these sheets. As with all examinations, the clue to success in the examination is to have prepared properly through the coursework.

4.2.1 Laboratory Classes

In the laboratories you will normally work in pairs. You will be trained in any necessary techniques for safe working, and you will be supervised in the laboratories. You must at all times comply with health and safety requirements. The requirements and background information for successful conduct of experimental work will be given to you in course notes. Where you are given these in advance you should read through them and understand the tasks required of you so that you gain maximum advantage of the time spent in the laboratory. You will be expected to maintain a laboratory notebook which will form a part of the assessment of the laboratory component of the course unit. Where longer reports are required, you will be informed of when these should be handed in.

4.2.2 Coursework

Every course unit includes elements of continuous assessment. In Biology and Chemistry this will include in-semester tests held at regular intervals. These tests will allow you to monitor your progress in acquiring the knowledge and in its understanding and application. You will be in a good position to assess your own learning needs and to allocate your time to each subject.

Coursework in Biology and Chemistry will include laboratory work.

The overall assessment of a course unit is achieved by integrating the examination and coursework marks.

4.3 THE PROGRAMME CONTENT

4.3.1 Academic core content, organisation and assessment.

Criteria used to determine achievement

The criteria used for determining achievement will be similar to that used for ‘A’ level qualifications. Xaverian staff have considerable experience in the setting, marking and grading of ‘A’ level examinations. Marks will be determined for each academic course unit according to the weighting of continuous assessment and examinations.

The total mark for each of the academic components of the Foundation Year will be proportional to its credit rating. Thus:

Chemistry will be marked out of 400 equivalent to 60 credits.
Biology will be marked out of 400 equivalent to 60 credits.

Note: A proportion of the total of 800 marks will be allocated to the testing of Mathematical skills. In addition, although not credit-rated, students must pass the Orientation to Pharmacy module with an overall mark of 40%, with no single component mark less than 30%. Failure to submit assessed coursework will require a retake of that component.

First Semester

Course Unit	Method of Assessment	Credit Rating
Cells and Foundation Biology	Examination at end of first semester (80%) Progress tests during first semester (10%) Coursework (10%)	15
Biochemistry	Examination at end of first semester (80%) Progress tests 1 during first semester (10%) Progress tests 2 during first semester (10%)	15
Principles of Chemistry I	Examination at end of first semester (80%) Progress tests during first semester (10%) Practical work (10%)	15
Principles of Chemistry II	Examination at end of first semester (80%) Progress tests during first semester (10%) Practical work (10%)	15
Orientation to Pharmacy I	Coursework CPD (20%) EBL (20%)	0

Second Semester

Course Unit	Method of Assessment	Credit Rating
Physiology	Examination at end of second semester (80%) Progress tests during second semester (10%) Coursework (10%)	15
Health and Disease	Examination at end of second semester (80%) Progress tests during second semester (10%) Practical work (10%)	15
Pharmaceutical Chemistry	Examination at end of second semester (80%) Progress tests during second semester (10%) Practical work (10%)	15
Inorganic and Organic Chemistry	Examination at end of the second semester (80%) Progress tests during first semester (10%) Practical work (10%)	15
Orientation to Pharmacy II	Coursework CPD (20%) EBL (20%) Project (20%)	0

Note: Tutorials throughout the two semesters will not be directly used in determining achievement.

4.4 ATTENDANCE AT LECTURES AND LABORATORIES

The University requires that a management committee awards a Certificate of Satisfactory Work and Attendance before a candidate may take examinations in May/June. The Management Committee has decided that you must attend at least 80% of your scheduled teaching and learning activities to be awarded a Certificate of Satisfactory Work and Attendance. If your attendance at classes falls below 80% (without a satisfactory excuse such as illness or other legitimate reason) the Management Committee will take the steps defined in the University’s Work and Attendance

Regulations (see section 9.1) which can lead to your exclusion from examinations.

If you are not granted this Certificate you cannot sit University examinations and so you cannot continue with your studies in this University.

The minimum of 80% attendance will be counted from the start of the session and will be averaged over a moving window of four weeks during term time.

You should note that the Management Committee regards the only satisfactory level of attendance as being full attendance with zero absences. 80% attendance will be regarded as the absolute minimum below which a Certificate will not be awarded. You should attend all time-tabled classroom, laboratory, external lecture and tutorial sessions. See section 4.12 of this handbook for what you should do if you are ill. Arriving regularly and on time for your university studies helps to develop the personal skills of time management and self-organisation that are valued by employers. These good work habits are developed through encouragement of regular attendance. Attendance records are kept and are made available to the programme committee.

4.5 BOOKLISTS

Many of the texts that you will require for this Foundation Year of study will be given or loaned to you by Xaverian College. Additional books may be recommended to you either to use for reference from the library or to purchase.

4.6 TIMETABLES

Lecture, tutorial and laboratory timetables are published separately from this booklet and are distributed at registration. They are displayed on the programme notice board.

4.7 ASSESSMENT

Your work will be assessed in several different ways during your programme. The primary written forms of assessment are coursework, in-semester tests and the formal time constrained examinations. Section 4.10 of this handbook gives detailed information on the requirements for successfully completing the year. The course unit syllabuses give information on the assessments of each unit. You will also find assessment criteria for the different types of work that will be assessed in mathematics and in the laboratory based subjects. These criteria should help you to understand what is expected of you and what the marker of your work will be looking for.

4.8 ARRANGEMENTS FOR EXAMINATIONS

4.8.1 Timing of Examinations

The examination periods for these Foundation Year programmes may differ slightly from the periods for other University examinations. Do not let this confuse you if you are talking to other university students.

See section 1.3 for the dates of the examination periods.

You will have formal time-constrained University examinations at the end of each semester in the course units of biology and chemistry.

Notices of examination dates will be in the Programme Specification handbook, displayed on the Foundation Year Programme notice board (see section 1.8) and will be available from the College Coordinator and Programme Director.

4.8.2 Examination procedure

Xaverian College will organise your examinations but they will be run in accordance with the examination rules of the University. You will, for example, use University-style examination books for your answers which will conceal your identity from the markers of your scripts. All University examinations are marked anonymously. Sections 9.2, 9.4 and 9.7 all contain information and rules about University examinations.

4.8.3 Location of Examinations

You will usually sit your examinations in Xaverian College. You must ensure that you can find the location of your examination with sufficient time to arrive for its start.

4.8.4 The Examiners

In common with other universities we set and mark our own examinations. Thus, to ensure comparability of standards, the University appoints an external examiner or examiners to inspect your degree programme content and to assess the examination questions and specimen answers before you sit the papers and to review the marking of those papers and any other assessed work. The external examiner participates fully in the examiners meeting.
For the MPharm Pharmacy with a Foundation Year programme the internal examiners are teaching staff of Xaverian College who set and mark the papers and assignments.

For the MPharm Pharmacy with a Foundation Year programme the internal examiners are teaching staff of Xaverian College who set and mark the papers and assignments.

The external examiner, a person external to both Xaverian College and to the University who has experience of similar foundation programmes at other institutions. This examiner may wish to talk to a proportion of students on the programme. This discussion is not to make a judgement of you as an individual but to discuss the programme as a whole with you and to assess in a general sense whether the programme has delivered it intended learning outcomes. This meeting will be arranged in advance and will probably be a few weeks after the Easter vacation.

4.9 REGULATIONS AFFECTING THE ASSESSMENT OF CANDIDATES

There are a number of rules and regulations affecting the assessment and examination process. These are summarised here and reproduced in an appendix. Important information including University regulations, appeals and complaints procedures, finance, health and welfare, and learning resources can be found via the students services centre http://www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/ssc/. Other information specific to the Faculty of Life Sciences can be found at http://www.ls.manchester.ac.uk.

4.9.1 Work and Attendance Regulations

If you have not fulfilled the work and attendance regulations prescribed for your programme of study you may not be allowed to sit University Examinations, see section 4.4.

4.9.2 Failing to arrive for an examination or other time-tabled assessment

If you fail to present yourself at the right time and place for any assessment or examination for reasons other than illness or other justifiable cause you will be deemed to have failed that assessment or examination. Misreading of the timetable will not be accepted as a satisfactory explanation for absence. Refer to sections 4.12 and 9.7 for what you should do if you are ill. Apart from reading these sections, the first thing you should do if you cannot attend an examination or assessment is to contact your personal tutor or programme director at the time of the assessment in person, by ‘phone or by email.

4.9.3 Failing to submit coursework by the required date

If you fail to submit coursework by the required date you will be given zero marks. If you have been ill or have not been able to give full attention to your studies because of justifiable cause you may ask for an extension as explained in more detail in the next section.

4.9.4 Consequences of failing to attend any assessment or failing to hand in coursework

If you fail to attend a formal end of semester examination you will be given zero marks. If you do not attend the examination because you are ill or for other very good reason then you must inform your programme director in accordance with section 4.12. Your case will then be considered by the Mitigating Circumstances Committee. If your reason for absence is seen with supporting documents as being acceptable by the Committee you will usually take the examination the next time it is held as your first attempt. Examinations are held only twice each academic year. If you do not take an examination in January or in May/June then the second opportunity is in the August/September resit period. If, through legitimate reasons for absence, you have not used both of your two opportunities in the one academic year the only option available to you is to interrupt your studies for a whole year and to take the examination whilst away from the University.

If you fail to attend an in-course test you will be given zero marks. If you do not attend the test because you are ill or for other very good reason then you must inform your programme director in accordance with section 4.12. Your case will then be considered by Mitigating Circumstances Committee. There is no opportunity to re-take an in-course test. If your reason for absence is not satisfactory then your mark of zero will stand. If Special Circumstances Committee considers that your reason for absence is acceptable a mark will be determined from your other performance.

If you fail to submit a piece of coursework by the required deadline you will be given zero marks. If you have been ill and that has affected your ability to submit your work on time then you must agree an allowable extension with your programme director in advance. If you are ill at the time the work is due to be submitted you must hand it in immediately on your return and inform the programme director of your illness and the reason for its late submission. Your case will then be considered by Special Circumstances Committee.

These rules will be rigorously enforced and you will very quickly lose marks if you do not hand in work on time or do not attend in-class tests.

4.9.5 Conduct of examinations and malpractice

There are specific rules about the conduct of examinations which are reproduced in section 9.2. Familiarise yourself with these as ignorance is not a defence and a breach of these rules, however innocently, would result in you being accused of cheating.

Calculators may, in general, be used in examinations but only certain types of calculator are allowable.

4.9.6 Plagiarism

Plagiarism, or using the work of others as of your own, is regarded as a very serious offence. Read the guidelines on plagiarism in section 9.3. In researching a topic there is a very large quantity of useful information available from the Internet. This is a very valuable information resource but it is all too easy to copy sections of text from the web and link it together with a few of your own words. This is plagiarism and is just as unacceptable as copying from a book or another student. There are some very powerful plagiarism detectors available which will find this form of copying very quickly. You may find yourself taken to the University Student Discipline Committee and the penalties available can result in your expulsion from the University. BE WARNED.

4.10 REQUIREMENTS TO COMPLETE THE PROGRAMME SUCCESSFULLY

Pass marks, compensation rules and available qualifications

There is no exit award from this programme. To pass the Foundation Year and progress onto year 1 of the MPharm programme a student must acquire the equivalent of 24 points from the maximum of 30 points attainable and a minimum of a grade B in Chemistry. The number of points allocated to each of the academic components of the Foundation Year will be proportional to its credit rating and total assessment mark. Thus:

Chemistry will be marked out of 400 with a grade A equivalent to 15 points.
Biology will be marked out of 400 with a grade A equivalent to 15 points.

Mathematical skills will be assessed in both the Biology and Chemistry examination papers.

In accordance with ‘A’ level practice, grades of A to E will be associated with each of the numerical marks of the course units according to the uniform modified score system used by ‘A’ level examiners. The associations will be subject to discussion by the board of examiners:

A 80%

B 70 %

C 60%

D 50 %

E 40 %

Chemistry Component – 400 marks

Grade	A	B	C	D	E
Points	15	12	9	6	3
Mark Boundary	320	280	240	200	160

Biology Component – 400 marks

Grade	A	B	C	D	E
Points	15	12	9	6	3
Mark Boundary	320	280	240	200	160

There will be no separate requirement for a particular mark in a single course unit e.g. Biochemistry, so incorporating internal compensation within a programme component. Although the additive process between the two programme components incorporates compensation, a minimum of a grade B in Chemistry will usually be required in a programme component for successful completion of the Foundation Year and progression to the first year of MPharm.

In addition, students must also pass the Orientation to Pharmacy module with an overall mark of 40%, with no single component mark less than 30%. Failure to submit assessed coursework will require a retake of that component.

4.10.1 Compensation procedures

You may hear from other University students about ‘compensation’, that is, that each separate course unit does not have to be passed to be considered as having passed the year. Compensation applies to you but it is already built into the above rules for progression. Weakness in one course unit can be compensated by strength in a related course unit in awarding the grade for the subject and weakness in one subject can be compensated by strength in other subjects in award of the overall points total.

4.11 RESIT ARRANGEMENTS

There will normally be no opportunity for resubmission of continuously assessed work.

As the second teaching semester begins immediately after the assessment period for the first semester, it is not possible to resit any examinations at that stage.

There will be one opportunity for re-examination usually taken during August/September of the year of study. You may be re-examined in any course units that you choose but you would not normally be re-examined in a subject area where you have obtained a B grade or in any course unit where you have obtained a B grade. You will be advised of the most sensible units in which to be re-examined so as to meet the requirements for progression. Progression following a re-examination will be according to the same rules as given above.

When the examination board in September considers your marks and grades to determine whether you meet the criteria for progression the marks that will be used will normally be those obtained in your most recent assessment for any particular course unit. The mark used will NOT normally be the higher mark of your two attempts.

If you should fail to pass the Foundation Year after the one re-examination opportunity you will not normally be permitted any further opportunities to pass or an opportunity to retake the year in attendance except on the grounds of ill health.

As mentioned previously, because you are a registered Undergraduate student at the University of Manchester, you may receive automatically generated email communication about University resit examinations from the University’s Student Services Centre. This information will contain information about how to access your resit examination timetable via the Student Portal and how to pay your resit examination fees. These emails do not apply to you as your resit examinations are organized by Xaverian College, and not by the University. Examination timetables will be provided by Xaverian College and you are not required to pay a resit examination fee.

4.12 ILLNESS OR PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH AFFECT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE – REFER TO UNIVERSITY WEBSITE.

You should always consult your General Practitioner (or for emergencies the Accident and Emergency Department of a hospital) if your illness is severe, if it persists or if you are in any doubt about your health.

For minor medical conditions that are not sufficiently serious for you to need to consult your GP and that affect your performance for less than seven days, the University does not require you to produce a medical certificate from a doctor, you can self-certify your illness. See section 9.7 for the University guidelines for student illness.

You will see in the guidelines that, if you are unable to attend an examination or any other assessment that will contribute to your end of year performance you must contact your personal tutor or your programme director immediately. Your personal tutor or the programme director will give you guidance and tell you what your options are and what are the consequences of failing to take the assessment or examination. If you do not make contact immediately then you will normally be assumed to have failed to turn up for the assessment or examination and you will be given a mark of zero.

If you feel that your academic performance has been adversely affected by health or personal circumstances beyond your control, even if you have not been absent from studies, you should immediately contact your personal tutor or the programme director and you must ensure that full documentation (self-certification forms, medical notes and relevant correspondence) reaches the programme director in time to be taken into consideration by the Special Circumstances Committee. Obviously, the examiners can only take into account information which has been reported prior to the publication of results.

4.13 RELEASE OF RESULTS AND MARKS

Your tutor will tell you your marks after the first semester examinations on the following understanding agreed by the University.

“These marks are provisional and are provided for information only. They may go up or down at the examinations board in July, when all marks are confirmed by external examiners. Questions of compensation will be dealt with in July, when the full range of results is available”.

After the July and September Examination Boards a list will be published of those candidates who have satisfactorily completed the year and of those candidates who have satisfied the examiners in one or more course units.

You may request a formal transcript of your course unit marks from the Student records Office.

4.14 PROCESS FOR APPEALS

1. There is no provision for appeal against the academic judgement of the examiners.
2. An application for an appeal may be made only on grounds alleging:

1. that there exists or existed circumstances affecting the student’s performance of which the examiners had not been made aware when their decision was taken;
2. that there were procedural irregularities in the examination process
3. that there is evidence of prejudice or bias or of inadequate assessment on the part of one or more of the examiners.

Prior to taking a final decision as to whether to request an appeal or not, you are advised to contact your Personal Tutor or the Programme Director informally to attempt to resolve the issue.

Appeals and Complaints

Following completion of the above procedures, a student may write to the Registrar and Secretary of the University of Manchester in connection with the appeal or complaint if s/he feels that his/her case has not been dealt with appropriately. The University of Manchester must receive a letter from the student outlining why s/he does not believe the case to have been dealt with appropriately within one calendar month of the date on which Xaverian College formally notified the student of its decision. The Registrar and Secretary of the University of Manchester will check, on the basis of documentary material, that the investigation was conducted properly and fairly, and that them published procedures were followed correctly, but will not reinvestigate the appeal or complaint afresh. There are no further stages in the appeals or complaints procedure beyond those detailed above. Students who believe that their case has not been dealt with properly by Xaverian College or by the University of Manchester or that the outcome is unreasonable may be able to complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) if the complaint is eligible under its rules and once all the above procedures have been concluded. [Note: information about the role of the OIA and the procedure for submitting complaints can be obtained from the OIA website: www.oiahe.org.uk)

5. STUDENT PROGRESSION

5.1 REGISTRATION

Registration is the formal process that you must complete before you can be considered to be a student of the University. Registration is a two part process, you will need to register with the programme of study (academic registration) before going on to register with the University (financial registration in respect of fees).

5.2 INDUCTION

Your first few weeks at the University of Manchester may at times be daunting. Not only do you need to familiarise yourself with the University and its many buildings, but you also need to come to know the buildings and staff of Xaverian College.

The first week of the academic year, the week in which you register, is called Welcome Week. During this week you will have quite a lot of free time to explore the University and the City and you will be sent a programme of events organised by the Student Union. You will have plenty of time to explore the Welcome Week Fair and to join Student Union and Athletics Union societies and clubs so that you can pursue existing interests or develop new ones.

There will also be an induction meeting organised by Xaverian College.

Tuesday 23 September 2025

12:00

Lecture Theatre, Xavier Block (Xaverian) Introduction to Xaverian College Meeting Xaverian College dtaff and personal tutor Tour of Xaverian College

5.3 CHANGE OF ADDRESS

If you change your term time or home address during the academic year you must report the change as soon as possible to the Administrative Office of Xaverian College and also to the Faculty undergraduate office. This is particularly important because for a variety of reasons, it may be necessary to contact you at short notice.

5.4 CHANGING YOUR MIND

5.4.1 Changes to programme and course units

There are very few choices that you have to make about your academic study during this Foundation Year. The course units in the syllabus handbook are compulsory.

5.4.2 Withdrawal from the programme

We very much hope that once you have embarked on the programme you will wish to see it through to the end of the year and you will not wish to withdraw from it. However, if you do think you wish to withdraw talk things over first with your College Coordinator. If you do decide to continue with your intention of withdrawing we would then like you to talk to the Programme Director. This may help us to understand whether we need to make any changes to the programme.

6. STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE

6.1 TUTORIALS

During the induction process you will be assigned and you will meet a member of the academic staff of Xaverian College who is to be your personal tutor. Under normal circumstances you will retain the same personal tutor throughout the Foundation Year. You will attend a number of time-tabled sessions with this tutor, however you can contact your tutor to arrange meetings outside of the time-tabled sessions if you feel this is necessary.

First and foremost your personal tutor is someone with whom you can discuss any difficulties that you are experiencing whether these are related to your academic study or to your personal or financial life. A personal tutor cannot be expected to know the answer to every problem but will talk things over with you and set out your options wherever appropriate and will refer you elsewhere within the College or the University if needed.

Secondly, your personal tutor will monitor your academic performance in your assignments and in-class tests and will
discuss with you your progress.

6.2 REGISTRATION WITH A GENERAL PRACTITIONER

You need to register with a local doctor. There are a number of General Practices in the south Manchester area which are conveniently close to the University and to the popular areas of student accommodation. Details of General Practice surgeries are available at University Halls of Residence and at local pharmacy shops.

The Student Health Service of the University (see below) is not a General Practice surgery.

6.3 ILLNESS OR PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES THAT AFFECT YOUR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

See section 4.12 of this handbook for what you should do if your health or personal circumstances affect your academic performance.

University examination boards are able to take into account, and to make allowance for, any significant medical or personal circumstances that are affecting your studies. We can only do this if you tell us. Section 4.12 tells you about the type of information we need and when we need it. However, do not wait until the examinations to tell us you have problems. Talk to us at the time. Depending upon the severity and duration of your problems there are a number of avenues open at the time of the problems which close as time passes. Deadlines for coursework can be extended, examinations can be deferred from January or June until August and, if your problems are sufficiently serious, it can be arranged for you to interrupt your studies and to continue the following academic year. But it is easiest for these things to get sorted out in advance of the examinations. Once you have taken the examinations you cut down your options.

6.4 UNIVERSITY SUPPORT SERVICES

As a registered student of the University you are a full member of the University student body and you have access to the many University provided support services.

Your personal tutor or programme director are often the first points of contact with any problems that you might be experiencing, particularly where they are related to your studies or making it difficult for you to study properly. However, you may feel that these people are too close to your everyday activities in the College or University and that you would rather discuss personal matters with someone more remote.

Your personal tutor may suggest that you refer yourself to one of these services, you may refer yourself without advice from anyone or you can talk to the faculty recruitment officer about any of these services.

Academic Advisory Service
Second Floor, Williamson Building
Telephone – 0161 275 3033
You can use the service at any time. The advisers have extensive experience of dealing with student problems and offer confidential advice on any matters relating to your academic work.

Counselling Service
Crawford House, Precinct Centre
Telephone – 0161 275 2864

The Counselling Service for the University offers confidential, individual counselling to students. The members of the team have qualifications in counselling and psychotherapy and provide a range of therapeutic responses to all kinds of personal problems.

Student Health Service
Crawford House, Precinct Centre
Telephone – 0161 275 2858

For primary healthcare, students need to register with an NHS general practitioner, and should locate one near their term-time residence. The Student Health Centre for the University provides an accessible occupational health service for all students. A doctor and nursing staff offer advice and support on any health problem affecting studies. The service accepts referrals from academic departments and from other welfare services. A wide range of health promotion, vaccination, and contraceptive services are also offered.

Careers Service
Crawford House, Precinct Centre
Telephone – 0161 275 2828

The University Careers Service is open between 9.00am and 5.00pm Monday to Friday throughout the year. The Careers Service exists to help you clarify your career aspirations and develop a strategy for fulfilling them. The University’s Careers Centre is one of the largest and most active in the UK and offers three principal types of service.

• Information.
• Advice.
• Employer contact.

The most up-to-date source of information is the Centre’s website which can be found at http://www.man.ac.uk.careers

Working part-time whilst being a University student is not advised but is a necessary part of student life for some. The Careers Service run a job agency for part-time employment where the employers are aware of the academic demands on students.

Accommodation Service
Crawford House, Precinct Centre
Telephone – 0161 275 2888

The Accommodation Service for the University can assist with accommodation matters both for University owned halls of residence and through the University Leased Houses scheme for some private sector shared housing. Manchester Student Homes, also in the Precinct Centre, have a large register of private sector shared housing.

Security
Precinct Security Office
Telephone 0161 275 2728 / 2730

Security cameras are fitted across the campus and there are regular security patrols. Please read the advice given in Streetwise, which is issued to all students in their induction pack.

6.5 XAVERIAN COLLEGE SUPPORT SERVICES

Whilst you are most welcome to make use of any of the University support services, you will be spending most of your time at Xaverian College and you may feel it is more convenient to discuss any problems with someone local to where you are studying.

College Counsellor
Ms Marianne Garside m.garside@xaverian.ac.uk

St Edwards presbytery

The College Counsellor is regularly available to discuss any problems whether connected with your study or with your private life. These discussions are in complete confidence unless you wish the circumstances to be made known to the academic staff or to an examination board. You can discuss with the Counsellor whether you should be referred elsewhere within the College, University or wider support facilities.

College Chaplain
Esther Knowles e.knowles@xaverian.ac.uk

Chaplaincy, Firwood Building

As with the Counsellor, conversations with the Chaplain are in complete confidence and can extend to any aspect of your life, not just religion.

6.6 STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

It is recognised that there may be students with permanent disability in, for example, hearing, seeing, mobility, dexterity, as well as ones with conditions of special educational needs such as dyslexia. Students who have a disability should discuss it in confidence in the first instance with the Divisional Support Office (see below). In the case of a disability, including dyslexia, which can affect examination performance, the University is able to make special arrangements to minimise your difficulties. Information about disability will only be passed on to other staff with the permission of a student. If any particular allowance is subsequently to be made in regard to course assessment and examination marks this can only be done with the approval of any Examining Board involved.

One of the aims of the University of Manchester is to encourage wider participation in Higher Education by making the best provision possible for those with disabilities. The University’s Disability Support Office is based on the lower ground floor of the John Owens Building, which forms part of the University’s main administration building. The contact details are as follows:

Disability Support Office
Lower Ground Floor LG27
John Owens Building
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Telephone – 0161 275 7512
Fax – 0161 275 2407
Minicom – 0161 275 2794
Email – disability@manchester.ac.uk

Staff in the Disability Support Office:

• can offer advice to prospective students with regards to all aspects of their disability-related support needs whilst at the University
• help students with applications to LEAs for the Disabled Students’ Allowances and undertake a full assessment of their study support requirements
• liaise with other members of the University staff in academic departments and central services about the support needs of disabled students
• advise on suitable technology/equipment
• organise personal helpers and support workers
• advise on external sources of financial support and assistance and help with the application for such funds
• prepare and distribute specific disability-related information and deliver appropriate staff/student training

The University Disability Statement, “Opportunities for Students with Additional Support Needs at the University of Manchester”, published July 2000, is available on request from the Disability Support Office. Faculty of Life Sciences also has a disability coordinator (0161 275 1525,) who liaises with DSO to organise your support in the faculty.

6.7 OVERSEAS STUDENTS

The University’s Overseas Student Advisor can be found in the International Office and can provide advice particularly on financial and Home Office matters. You will have been told of the International Office and of the International Society when we sent you papers telling you about registration. The International Society organise many social events and gives you the chance to meet students from other academic disciplines and maybe from your own country.

6.8 HARASSMENT

The University of Manchester is committed to creating a working and studying environment which is free of harassment and which protects the dignity of staff and students, female and male, irrespective of their sexual orientation, racial or ethnic background, religion or disabled status. Harassment is offensive and prejudicial to a productive working and studying environment. It is indicative of a lack of respect for the person harassed, undermines his or her position and may have a negative impact on health, job performance, coursework, examinations and their sense of personal security.

The University regards sexual, racial or personal harassment as an extremely serious matter. Observance of the University’s policy with respect to harassment is a condition of service for all members of staff and is required of students. Formal complaints will be thoroughly investigated in such a way as to protect those who complain and those who are the subject of complaint. In cases where the complaint is substantiated the individual responsible may be subject to action under the appropriate disciplinary procedure.

If you are the subject of harassment should talk in the first instance to your personal tutor, the programme director, the Faculty recruitment officer, the Faculty Senior Tutor or you should go to the Student Enquiry Office, any of whom will be able to offer help and support.

7. STUDENT REPRESENTATION AND FEEDBACK

7.1 ACADEMIC STANDARDS CODE OF PRACTICE

The Code of Practice provides a framework for assuring the quality and standard of all the academic qualifications awarded by the University. The code aims to ensure that you are offered a high quality learning experience and the opportunity to follow academically coherent programmes of study underpinned by up-to-date research and scholarship, so that you can acquire subject knowledge, develop skills of critical and analytical thinking and become independent self-reliant learners.

A copy of the Code of Practice is available on the University website under the entry for the Teaching and Learning Support Unit.

7.2 THE STAFF/STUDENT COMMITTEE

There is a Staff/Student Committee which will meet, during the year of study. The Programme Director chairs this committee. Students on the programmes of study will elect two student representatives who will be the student members of this Committee.

The Staff/Student Committee gives your representatives the opportunity to discuss aspects of the programme in a semi-formal setting. Any concerns will be reported to the College Coordinator at Xaverian. Obviously, we have given careful thought to the design and delivery of your programme of studies and we all hope that you enjoy and benefit from it. By listening to your views we may be able to make it even better.

The Student Union run training sessions for student representatives and members of committees.

If there are any matters about the programme which are causing you concern you can raise these with your student representatives, the College Coordinator or the Programme Director at the University.

7.3 THE PROGRAMME CURRICULUM AND MODERATION COMMITTEE

This is a committee of staff from Xaverian College involved in teaching on the programme and of staff of the University concerned with programme management, curriculum design and assessment moderation. It is chaired by the Programme Director of the Foundation Programmer. It meets to review the delivery of the programme and the progress of students. Any relevant matters from the Staff/Student Committee are considered by this Committee.

This committee meets as an Examination Board in February, July and September after each set of formal examinations.

7.4 STUDENT FEEDBACK

7.4.1 Course unit questionnaires

You will be given a questionnaire to fill in about the content and delivery of each course unit. This forms a standard part of the monitoring of provision both of the University and of Xaverian College. A summary of results of these questionnaires and a brief report by the programme director will be considered at relevant meetings of the Staff/Student and Programme Curriculum and Moderation Committees.

7.4.2 Programme questionnaires

You will be given a programme questionnaire in the Summer term before your examinations. This gives you the opportunity to comment on issues relating to the structure and quality of the year of studies as a whole and to comment on other aspects of the University.

7.4.3 External Examiner

The external examiner may wish to meet with a number of students, not for the purpose of making any academic decisions, but to discuss the programme with you and to form an opinion of the quality of the programme. This meeting will occur a few weeks after the Easter vacation and may be combined with the forum with the Dean of Undergraduate Studies.

7.5 COMPLAINTS

If you have a complaint against the College or any of its staff or against the University or its staff which you either do not want to air via any of the above mechanisms, or if you have brought up an issue but are not satisfied with the outcome, you may complain to a higher authority. You should make a written complaint either to the Principal of Xaverian College Mr. A. Andrews or to the Dean of the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences. Ways to contact these people are given in section one of this handbook. The written complaint should set out briefly:

• the nature of the complaint.
• the informal steps already taken together with full details of the response received.
• the reasons why you remain dissatisfied.

You should receive a written response to your complaint, normally within 20 working days. If you are still dissatisfied, you may refer the complaint formally to the Registrar and Secretary of the University. For full details of the University’s formal complaints procedure, regulations and student services please see your Faculty Handbook or look on the web at:

Regulations:
http//www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/governance/generalregulations/

Student Services:
http//www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/ssc/

Complaints Procedure:
http//www.manchester.ac.uk/policies/

8. TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCES

8.1 GENERAL

Administration Office Xaverian College:	Ground Floor Reception and Student Services, Xaverian College Main Building
School of Pharmacy:	The Undergraduate Admissions Office Division of Pharmacy & Optometry Jean McFarlane Building University of Manchester Oxford Road Manchester M13 9PT
Main Teaching Rooms:	Xaverian College – Primarily in the Sunbury, Firwood and Ward Hall Portacabins
Study rooms in Xaverian College:	Independent Learning Centre in Ryken Building                              The library in The Pavilion
General Purpose Computing Facilities:	Xaverian College – available between 08.30 and 16.30: Science Resource Room (Firwood Block) Library Independent Learning Centre
University – available over extended opening times:	John Rylands University Library Manchester Computing Owens Park (22 hours a day)
Xaverian Library:	Located in the Independent Learning Centre Ryken Centre

8.2 COMPUTING FACILITIES

Access to general purpose computing can be gained at Xaverian College, at several locations in the University, perhaps through a small cluster at your Hall of residence or, if you have your own computer, through network access at some of the Halls of Residence.

All students are registered for email and Internet access. The total number of PCs available for general use in the University in public and semi-public clusters is currently over 1500. If you are living in the Fallowfield area you may find the 100 seat cluster (open 22 hours a day) in the Owens Park Student Residence particularly useful.

You will be shown how to access computing facilities and how to log-on to file servers.

The University has rules concerned with using its computing facilities which apply to all of its members. A copy of these rules can be found at section 9.5. In particular, you must be aware that it is strictly forbidden to load any software onto a College or University computer, to modify the set-up of the computer or its Windows desktop, to transfer software from the internet or to use the computer for any purposes whether legal or illegal which might give offence to others.

8.3 LIBRARY FACILITIES

8.3.1 Xaverian College

The Xaverian College Library is currently open between 08.30 and 16.30 on weekdays. It contains the books which are recommended for the programme to which reference may be made in the library. Facilities for borrowing books should be discussed with the librarian.

The library also provides space for quiet private study.

8.3.2 John Rylands University Library of Manchester

The John Rylands University Library is the third largest university library in the United Kingdom. It provides extensive support for teaching and research activities. The library also provides working space for students, network access to the on-line catalogue and reference information and a 300 seat PC cluster.

8.4 QUIET STUDY

Facilities for quiet private study are provided in the Xaverian Library and a number of other locations in Xaverian College as on the list above and the University Library.

8.5 UNIVERSITY BOOKSELLERS

Blackwell’s Academic Bookshop
The Precinct Centre
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9RN
0161 274 3311

Waterstones
2/4 St Anne’s Square
Manchester M2 7HH
0161 832 0424

Waterstones
91 Deansgate
Manchester M3 2BW
0161 832 1992

Waterstones
http://www.waterstones.co.uk/
Website for the major booksellers which contains allows you to order and purchase books online.

JSTOR Journal Storage
http://www.jstor.org/
JSTOR is a website which provides searchable archives of scholarly journals. It is an invaluable resource for students.

8.6 STUDENT INTRANET

The Student Intranet has been put together to provide a centralised website with answers to all sorts of student-related questions. It contains information on Finance (fees, student loans, council tax exemption), Learning Resources (library facilities, computing facilities), Accommodation (how to transfer to another hall, where to start looking for houses), Health & Welfare (student health services, counselling services, disability support) and your future (careers service, postgraduate courses).

University of Manchester Student Intranet
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/currentstaffandstudents/

Faculty Student Intranet:
http//www.ls.manchester.ac.uk

8.7 NOTICE BOARDS

The programme notice board is located in the University Students’ Common Room on the first floor of the Science Block.

You should refer to this notice board on a regular basis.

9. RULES AND REGULATIONS

9.1 WORK AND ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT

The University regulations require satisfactory progress and attendance of students. These regulations are administered by the Programmes Committee.

See section 4.4 of this handbook for information on the required level of attendance.

9.1.1 Regulations governing the work and attendance of students

1. Individual Programme Committees are responsible for the determination of the compulsory requirements as to the work and attendance of students, and for the granting of Certificates of Satisfactory Work and Attendance.
2. A clear statement of the Programme’s specific and compulsory requirements as to students’ work and attendance must appear in the Programme Handbook for students.
3. It shall be the duty of each Programme Committee to keep under continuous review throughout the academic year the work and attendance of the students with which it is concerned.
4. As part of that review Programme Committees shall (1) obtain evidence on the progress of students by means of first semester examinations, course examinations, tests or such other means of assessment as are considered appropriate, and (2) monitor the attendance of the students with which it is concerned by means which it considers appropriate.
5. Before a student may be permitted to present himself or herself for any University Examinations at the end of the second semester a Certificate of Satisfactory Work and Attendance shall be required from the appropriate Programme Committee, stating that the attention of the student to his or her approved programme of study has been satisfactory.
6. If at any time a Programme Committee believes that a student’s work or attendance has not been satisfactory, it shall send to the student due notice in writing that, unless there is an improvement, he or she may not be permitted to take the examinations on the course or courses concerned.
7. Notwithstanding some evidence that a student’s work and attendance is less than satisfactory, that student may be permitted to take end-of-first semester examinations. Programme Committees retain the right to refuse a student this opportunity subject to completion of the procedures described in paragraphs 6, 8, and 10. A student’s first semester record of work and attendance will be carried forward into the second semester and continuing unsatisfactory work and attendance during the second semester will result in that student being refused a Certificate of Satisfactory Work and Attendance.
8. Students who receive due notice in writing about their unsatisfactory work and attendance shall be offered the opportunity to appear in person before the Programme Committee. The Programme Committee shall inform the Registrar & Secretary in writing that such notice has been sent.
9. No student shall be prevented from taking examinations on the grounds of unsatisfactory work or attendance unless the notice referred to in paragraph 6 above has been issued.
10. In a case where a student has been refused a Certificate of Satisfactory Work and Attendance, the Programme Committee shall immediately send notification of that refusal to the student’s registered home and study-time addresses.
11. A student who has been refused a Certificate of Satisfactory Work and Attendance may give written notice of appeal against the refusal to the Registrar & Secretary within fourteen days of the refusal being issued. Any appeal shall be heard by the Committee of Senate on Student Appeals. Having heard any appeal the Committee may confirm the refusal or grant permission to the student to take examinations.
12. In order to allow sufficient time for completion of the procedure described in paragraph 11 above, the latest date upon which a refusal letter may be issued is the last teaching day of the second semester prior to the Easter vacation.
13. Examination Boards reserve the right in considering the results of the assessment of students with whom they are concerned, to take into account, when agreeing such results, the work and attendance record of students during the academic year in question.

9.2 MALPRACTICE IN EXAMINATIONS

The University Committee on Student Discipline decides upon the penalty if you are found guilty of malpractice. Possible penalties include the award of a lower class of degree and suspension or even expulsion from the University. University Regulation XX printed in the Calendar covers Discipline and Conduct of Students.

As with any other closed book examination that you may have taken in the past you are not permitted to have any unauthorised material with you at your examination desk. Possession alone of the material is an offence against the examination rules. The University does not have to demonstrate that you have used the material. Do not take pencil cases or wallets to your desk, any such article will be inspected by the invigilators. Keep your writing implements in a clear plastic bag.

9.2.1 University rules for the conduct of examinations

The following information states the University’s practice and rules regarding the conduct of examinations. Read and understand these rules, infringement can lead to cancellation of the examination paper or to expulsion from the University.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL STUDENTS

1. You must bring with you to every examination you attend your current University Registration Card (Swipe Card) which must be placed on your desk, in the top right-hand corner, and remain there throughout the time you are in the examination room.
2. You must write your registration number (the 7 or 8 figure number on the front of your Registration Card) on every examination answer book you use.
3. All examinations are now marked anonymously. At the end of the examination make sure you fold over and seal the gummed edge of the panel on the top corner of each of the answer books you use, before they are collected from you.
4. At the end of the examination your answer book (or books) will be collected from you by an invigilator. You must not leave your seat until your answer book has been collected. Silence is to be observed throughout, right up until the time you have left the examination room. If you wish to leave the examination before the allotted finishing time you must remain in your seat and raise your hand: an invigilator will then come to collect your answer book from you.
5. You must write your answers in ink; pencil is not allowed, except for graphs, diagrams or illustrations. You are not allowed to have pencil cases, tins or other containers with you in an examination. If you need to keep pens, pencils etc together you must use either a rubber band or a small transparent plastic bag.
6. It is a serious offence to take to your examination desk any books, notes, other material or aids which have not been specifically authorised for use in that examination. Students caught in possession of unauthorised material, whether deliberately intending to use it or not, will be brought before a disciplinary committee and will find that, as a minimum penalty, their examination paper will be cancelled (that is, they will be given a mark of zero). A number of more severe penalties are available, according to the circumstances of individual cases.
7. It is strictly forbidden to tear pages out of answer books; it is also forbidden to remove used or unused answer books from examination rooms. Students found doing any of these things will be subject to disciplinary action.
8. Talking to, or any other forms of communication with, other candidates during an examination is strictly forbidden.
9. Smoking, eating and drinking in examination rooms is forbidden.
10. Electronic calculators may not be used unless specific authorisation for their use appears on the examination question paper. The University’s policy on the use of calculators in examinations is given on a separate notice displayed on departmental notice boards.
11. You are not allowed to leave an examination room during the first half-an-hour of the examination.
12. Theft of students’ belongings from examination rooms has occasionally occurred in the past. You are strongly advised to take with you into the examination room only those items you need to complete the examination (pens, ruler, etc). Whenever possible, avoid bringing with you to the examination room coats, bags and other valuables. A copy of the current rules and practice for the conduct of examinations is included in the appendix.

9.3 PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is a serious offence – it is treated as seriously as cheating in exams.

Plagiarism is the theft or use of someone else’s work without proper acknowledgement, presenting the material as if it were your own. Plagiarism is a serious academic offence and the consequences are severe.

1. Coursework, dissertations and essays submitted for assessment must be your own work, unless in the case of group projects a joint effort is expected and is indicated as such.
2. Unacknowledged direct copying from the work of another person, or the unacknowledged close paraphrasing of somebody else’s work, is called plagiarism and is a serious offence, equated with cheating in examinations. This applies to copying both from other students’ work and from published sources such as books, reports or journal articles. Plagiarised material may originate from any source. It is as serious to use material from the World Wide Web or from a computer based encyclopaedia or literature archive as it is to use material from a printed source if it is not properly acknowledged.
3. Use of quotations or data from the work of others is entirely acceptable, and is often very valuable provided that the source of the quotation or data is given. Failure to provide a source or put quotation marks around material that is taken from elsewhere gives the appearance that the comments are ostensibly your own. When quoting word-for-word from the work of another person quotation marks or indenting (setting the quotation in from the margin) may be used and the source of the quoted material must be acknowledged.
4. Paraphrasing, where the original statement is still identifiable and has no acknowledgement, is plagiarism. Taking a piece of text from whatever source, and substituting words or phrases with other words or phrases is plagiarism. Any paraphrase of another person’s work must have an acknowledgement to the source. It is not acceptable to put together unacknowledged passages from the same or from different sources linking these together with a few words or sentences of your own and changing a few words from the original text: this is regarded as over-dependence on other sources, which is a form of plagiarism.
5. Direct quotations from an earlier piece of your own work, if unattributed, suggests that the work is original, when in fact it is not. The direct copying of your own writings qualifies as plagiarism if the fact that the work has been or is to be presented elsewhere is not acknowledged.
6. Sources of quotations used should be listed in full in a bibliography at the end of the piece of work. References in scientific and technical publications are usually identified in this manner:

In the body of the text where the reference is used include a numeral inside square brackets. For example:

To circumvent this situation, some learning rules for adaptive distributed detection have been proposed [6-9]. A learning algorithm for the tandem neural network structure was proposed for the binary hypothesis testing [6] in which only one parameter needed to be estimated. In [7], an on-line learning algorithm was adopted to estimate the thresholds for each local sensor and the fusion centre.

At the end of the report or paper give sufficient information about the reference so that it can be readily found in a library. Quote the authors’ names, the name of the book or paper, the name of the journal or the publisher, the date of the publication, the volume number if appropriate and the page numbers of the article referred to. For example:

Pados D A, Papantoni-Kazakos P, Kazakos D and Koyiantis A G. ‘On-line Threshold Learning For Neyman-
Pearson Distributed Detection’, IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern, 1994, 24, pp 1519-1531.

Naim A and Kam M, ‘On-line Estimation of Probabilities for Bayesian Distributed Detection’, Automatica, 1994,
30, (4) pp 633-642.

Ansari N, Hou E, Zhu B and Chen J, ‘An Adaptive Fusion Model For Distributed Detection Systems’, IEEE
Trans Aerospace Electronic Systems, 1996, 32, pp 524-531.

Plagiarism is a serious offence and will always result in imposition of a penalty. In deciding upon the penalty the University will take into account factors such as the year of study, the extent and proportion of the work that has been plagiarised and the apparent intent of the student. The penalties that can be imposed range from a minimum of a zero mark for the work (with or without allowing resubmission) through to downgrading of degree class, the award of a lesser qualification (e.g. a Pass degree rather than Honours, a Certificate rather than a Diploma) to discipliniary measures such as suspension or expulsion.

9.4 UNIVERSITY POLICY ON THE USE OF CALCULATORS IN EXAMINATIONS

1. Electronic calculators may not be used in University examinations unless specific authorisation for their use appears on the examination question paper.
2. Calculators must be battery-operated (or solar-powered) and silent. You are responsible for providing batteries for your calculator.
3. Calculators with facilities for storing and retrieving text are not permitted. Calculators, or other devices capable of acting as a calculator, which have a full range of alphabetic keys (ie A-Z) are not permitted; devices with keys in the range A-F for use with hexadecimal numbers are permitted.
4. Portable computers are not permitted.
5. Devices capable of communication directly with other similar devices are not permitted.
6. If there is a particular restriction on calculators in any examination, or extensions to these provisions, where this is required by the subject matter or method of examination clear instructions will be given in the rubric at the head of the examination paper.
7. Any candidate found using an unauthorised calculator in an examination will be reported for suspected cheating. The device will be immediately confiscated, and the University will be under no obligation to issue the student with a replacement device for the remainder of the examination.

9.5 COMPUTER MISUSE AND THE LAW

Introduction
The Computer Misuse Act became law in August 1990. Under the act hacking and the introduction of viruses are criminal offences.

Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 violating the copyright of computer software is a civil and in some circumstances a criminal offence.

The following sections describe the types of offence and the associated penalties which may be invoked. The penalties include both University internal penalties and the penalties defined under the Acts.

I. COMPUTER MISUSE ACT

Definitions
The Act identifies three specific offences:

1. Unauthorised access to computer material (that is, a program or data). This includes: using another person’s identifier (ID) and password without proper authority in order to use data or a program, or to alter, delete, copy or move a program or data, or simply to output a program or data (for example, to a screen or printer); laying a trap to obtain a password; reading examination papers or examination results.
2. Unauthorised access to a computer system with intent to commit or facilitate the commission of a serious crime. This includes: gaining access to financial or administrative records.
3. Unauthorised modification of computer material. This includes: destroying another user’s files; modifying system files; creation of a virus; introduction of a local virus; introduction of a networked virus; changing examination results; and deliberately generating information to cause a complete system malfunction.

Penalties under the University’s Procedures

Offences will be dealt with by either the appropriate Head of Department, the Director of Computing Services or the Registrar, according to the gravity of the offence. Action taken may include temporary withdrawal of facilities, suspension, expulsion and/or fines. All incidents will be recorded.

Offences relating to misuse of Universities facilities apply whether access is direct or through any external network and the offences equally apply to any misuse of a third party’s facilities to which access has been gained from University facilities via the network.

In all cases the University reserves the right to use the full power of the Act which is detailed in the next section.

Penalties under the Act

The Act defines (1) as a summary offence punishable on conviction with a maximum prison sentence of six months or a maximum fine of £2,000 or both. The Act goes on to describe offences (2) and (3) as triable either summarily or on indictment, and punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a fine or both.

Obscene Material

In addition to the above regulations, use of the computing facilities for the distribution/display of obscene material is not permitted. Contravention of this will incur similar penalties under the University’s procedures.

II. THE COPYRIGHT, DESIGNS AND PATENTS ACT 1988

The Act defines computer software as a ‘literary work’ and thus the Act applies to computer software in exactly the same way as it applies to copyright in other written publications. The Act states that ‘the owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to copy the work’. The copyright owner is the software developer.

Any duplication or use of software, for which a licence is required, without the copyright owner’s permission is an infringement under copyright law. Infringement of copyright can be a crime punishable by fines or up to two years in prison.

Please note the following

1. The software loaded on a computer or network fileserver may not be duplicated for use on any other computer, unless it is specifically designated as ‘public domain’, ‘shareware’ or similar category for general distribution.
2. Software supplied specifically for use by University staff or students cannot be given to any outside third party, including clients or customers, unless written permission is given by the software developer or the University itself owns the copyright in the software and permission has been obtained for copies to be taken by a third party.
3. Most software is supplied to the University for “Educational Use”. As such it can not be used for commercial work, ie monetary gain by either the institution or an individual. If in doubt consult the software licence or seek clarification from the copyright owner.
4. In general a licence for your system at work does not mean that you can mount and use the software on your system at home.
5. The University reserves the right to take legal action against individuals who cause it to be involved in legal proceedings as a result of violation of its licensing agreements.

9.6 HEALTH AND SAFETY

Safety is very important, particularly so in view of the Health and Safety at Work Act. You should be safety-conscious at all times and you must observe any rules relating to specific experiments.

9.6.1 Health and safety information

Health and Safety plays an important role in student activities and is an influential aspect of the function of engineers and scientists. Everybody has a “Duty of Care” both for themselves and for those people around them. In order to create and maintain a safe working environment, the University has to exercise its own duty of care for employees and students, as well as highlighting the personal “Duty of Care” expected of staff and students.

9.6.2 Emergency procedures

9.6.2.1 Evacuation of the building

You must familiarise yourself with all fire exits and evacuation routes. The way that you entered a room or building may not be available to you in the event of an emergency situation requiring the evacuation of the building. It is in the interests of your own safety that you get into the habit of identifying alternative escape routes.

Leave all personal belongings in situ, leave by the nearest exit in an orderly and calm manner.

Congregate in a safe area away from the building in a manner that will not impede the emergency services. Do not re-enter the building until the Fire Officer or other authority gives the “all clear”.

9.6.2.2 Emergency situations

In the event of an emergency requiring:

AMBULANCE
FIRE or
POLICE assistance,

In a University academic building dial 9999

In a building of Xaverian College call a tutor nearby who will contact switchboard for emergency services

STATE:

SERVICE REQUIRED,
THE PRECISE LOCATION i.e. building, floor, room,
NATURE OF EMERGENCY including mention of any casualties
STATE YOUR NAME

After the emergency services have been summoned one of the following should be informed:

In University buildings – the building receptionist or porter,
In buildings of Xaverian College – the administrative office

9.6.2.3 First aid

There are a number of qualified first aid personnel in both the University and Xaverian College.

Contact the Xaverian Administrative Office or the University building receptionist or porter and you will be told where your nearest first aider is. The emergency services will be called if this has not already been done.

9.2.6.4 Lifts

If trapped in a lift, DO NOT PANIC. Hold down alarm button.

9.6.2.5 Clothing

Clothing not being worn should be put away tidily. Unnecessary clothing in a laboratory is a potential risk. Wear suitable and sensible clothing in laboratories and workshops. Do not leave bags, brief cases etc. on shelves where they may fall, or in walkways where they might pose a trip hazard.

Each laboratory or workshop has copies of local safety rules for that laboratory. It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to ask for and READ the Safety Notes for every laboratory which you use regardless of how infrequently that may be. Any directions on those notes must be obeyed.

9.6.2.6 Behaviour in laboratories and workshops

1. You will not be allowed to use the laboratory or workshop unless supervised by a competent person.
2. You must not work alone in a laboratory or workshop.
3. You must not use any equipment unless you have received instruction on how to do so.
4. You must not fool around in workshops or laboratories.
5. Do not wear loose long scarves or ties in laboratories or workshops. If you have long hair wear a snood or see that your hair is tied back whenever you are near moving machinery or chemicals.
6. Keep your fingers away from moving parts and cutting tools.
7. If you see any potential hazard report it to the person responsible for the laboratory or workshop.

9.6.3 Smoking policy

All University and Xaverian College academic and administrative buildings are designated as no smoking areas.

9.7 ILL HEALTH

1. It is a requirement of your registration with the University of Manchester that you register with a local general practitioner. A list of GP practices can be obtained from the Student Health Centre, any University hall of residence or a local Pharmacy. According to guidance issued by the General Medical Council it would not be regarded as good practice for a family member to be the registered GP or to offer treatment except in the case of an emergency.
2. You should always consult your GP (or for emergencies the Accident and Emergency Department of a hospital) if your illness is severe, if it persists or if you are in any doubt about your health. You should also consult your GP if illness keeps you absent from the University for more than 7 days including week-ends. If you do consult a GP and they consider that you are not fit for attendance at the University, then you should obtain a note from the doctor to that effect or ask them to complete Part III of the University form ‘Certification of Student Ill Health’ copies of which are available at local GP surgeries. You should hand this certificate to your programme director, tutor or departmental office as appropriate at the earliest opportunity.
3. If your condition is not sufficiently serious to cause you to seek medical help, then the University will not require you to supply a doctor’s medical certificate unless you are absent from the University due to illness for more than 7 days (in which case see b. above). You must however contact your department as soon as possible and self-certify your illness (that is complete and sign the “Certification of Student Ill Health” form to state that you have been ill) as soon as you are able to attend your department. You should do this if your illness means you are absent from the University for any period up to 7 days (see d.i) or if you are able to attend the University but your illness is affecting your studies (see d. ii and iii).
4. The following sub-paragraphs explain what you should do if your illness affects your attendance at compulsory classes or if you consider that your performance in your studies/examinations has been impaired.

1. If you are unwell and feel unable to attend the University to take a compulsory class, assessment or examination then you must seek advice by contacting your department immediately, in person, through a friend or family member, by telephone or by email. This is to ensure that you understand the implications of being absent and the consequences for your academic progress, which might be quite serious. You must do this as soon as possible so that all options can be considered and certainly no later than the day of your compulsory class, assessment or examination. If you do not do this then you will normally be considered have been absent from the class without good reason, or to have taken the assessment or examination in which case you will be given a mark of zero. You must also complete and hand in a “Certification of Student Ill Health” form on your return.
2. You may be unwell but are able to proceed with an assessment or examination and yet you feel that your performance will have been impaired. If you wish this to be taken into account as an extenuating circumstance, you must inform your department about this on the day of the assessment or examination and hand in to your department a completed “Certification of Student Ill Health” form. If you leave this until later it will not normally be possible to take your illness into account when assessing your performance.
3. If, as a consequence of your illness, you wish to seek an extension to a deadline for submitting assessed coursework, you must complete a “Certification of Student Ill Health” form and discuss it with the appropriate person in your department. The application for extension must be made BEFORE the deadline and not retrospectively.
4. You may be under occasional and ongoing medical attention which affects your studies. If so, you should obtain a letter from your physician which should be given to your department before the end of the January, May/June or August/September examination period, as appropriate, if you wish your condition to be taken into account as an extenuating circumstance.

Notes:

1. Certification of Student Ill Health forms are available in all departments and halls of residence and a copy is reproduced at the back of this handbook.
2. Your department will give you guidance on the effect of any absence from your studies or if you consider your illness has affected your studies. If you have repeated episodes of ill health which is affecting your studies, your department may refer you to the Student Health Centre.
3. If you are found to have been deceitful or dishonest in completing the Certification of Student Ill Health form you could be liable to disciplinary action under the University’s General Regulation XX: Conduct and Discipline of Students.
4. The use of the “Certification of Student Ill Health” forms by GPs as described above has been agreed by the Manchester Local Medical Committee. A GP may make a charge for completing the form.