CADD Centre Lanka (Pvt) Ltd
BTEC Higher Nationals Student Information,
Policies and Procedures
Submission of Coursework
You will be given an assessment schedule during your first few weeks of study. The schedule will outline the release dates and hand in dates for your assignments, and you must work to those deadlines.
You must submit all your assessed work by the deadline specified on the assignment; that is the summative deadline. If you do not meet the deadline and do not have any extenuating circumstances (things that have happened over which you have no control and have impacted on your ability to meet the deadline, if you have any of these then there is a form you can submit to make your Course Leader aware as detailed later in the handbook) then you will automatically receive a Fail for that piece of work. The method of submission will be confirmed on your assignment and by your Unit Tutor/Course Leader when the assessment is released to you.
You much ensure that you use the correct Harvard Referencing system in all of your written assignments.
Minimum Pass Marks for Units
All units are made up of criteria and you must achieve all the core criteria to achieve the unit. Successfully meeting all the core criteria will enable you to pass the unit, however students will also have the opportunity to attempt both merit and distinction criteria within assessments to achieve the higher grades.
Student Attendance/Progression
The Institute has a duty to monitor attendance, and to act on non-attendance so that you can be supported to successfully complete your program of study.
The Institute expects you to attend all timetabled classes. It is in your own interest that you attend all timetabled classes; it will help you achieve successful results. Please arrive on time for classes as late arrival causes disruption to other class members and your tutor.
Please notify your program administrator, module tutors and personal tutor in advance (by email or phone) if you expect to be absent from timetabled sessions. You will need to decide to catch up on any work missed during absence.
Please avoid taking holidays during term-time; this includes the weeks leading up to the end of the academic year.
We recognize that there are occasions where students have difficulties attending classes because of personal, financial or academic problems. If so, please talk at an early stage to your Tutor. A poor attendance record could result in withdrawal from the program. More details are available in the ‘Students Attendance and Progression Policy’ on our web portal.
In some instances, your tutor may advise you to apply for Extenuating Circumstance.
Rules governing extensions to submission deadlines
It is important that you have a good reason if you require an extension for a piece of coursework. Extensions of one week may be granted by your course leader for valid circumstances. Extensions of more than one week may require review by the CCL Academy Quality Team. If you feel that you may miss a submission deadline due to a situation that has arisen that is unforeseen, is sudden in its nature or is out of your control then you should contact your course leader immediately either by phone, in person or by email.
Extenuating Circumstances
If you course leader feels that your circumstances are likely to be valid then they will ask you to complete an extenuating circumstances form.
- To request an extension the Extenuating Circumstances and Extension Form must be completed and submitted with appropriate supporting evidence (see below for guidelines) before the assessment deadline.
- To request consideration at the Assessment Board the Extenuating Circumstances and Extension Form must be completed and submitted with appropriate supporting evidence (see below for guidelines) at least 10 working days prior to the Preliminary Board. Consideration by the Assessment Board are for when:
- There is an ongoing circumstance during the year where extensions have been granted but the student feels that they have not adequately addressed the situation as the circumstance has developed over the period of the time.
- The student did not apply for extensions during the year but wishes the Board to take account of the circumstances in relation to overall grades.
- The student was not fully aware of the impact circumstances until after the assessment had taken place.
Examples of circumstances that would not normally be considered valid:
- Alarm clock did not go off
- Car broke down, train/bus delayed or cancelled, other public transport problems (unless you can demonstrate that you allowed adequate time to compensate for such problems as might reasonably have been anticipated)
- Childcare problems that could have been anticipated.
- Accidents or illness affecting relatives or friends (unless serious, or you are a sole carer)
- Unspecified anxiety, mild depression, or examination stress
- Cough, cold, upper respiratory tract infection, sore throat, minor viral infection, unless the illness was at its peak at the time of an examination, end-of-module test, or in-class test and the corroborating evidence refers to the impact on your performance.
- Financial problems (other than cases of exceptional hardship)
- Holidays, house moves, family celebrations or other events where you either have control over the date or may choose not to participate.
- Computer problems, corrupt data, disk, or printer failure or similar
- Problems with postal delivery of work (unless recorded delivery or registered mail)
- Time-management problems (e.g., competing deadlines)
- Appointments (legal, medical etc.) that could be rearranged.
- Territorial Army commitments or similar (unless unavoidable)
- Sporting or recreational commitments (unless the student is representing the Institute in a national competition or representing his/her country in an international competition)
- De-registration
Examples of circumstances that might be considered valid:
- Hospitalization, including operations.
- Health problems
- Personal or psychological problems for which you are undergoing counselling or have been referred to a counselor or other qualified practitioner
- Childbirth (including a partner in labor)
- Bereavement causes significant impact/effect.
- Major accident or injury, acute ailments or conditions which coincide with an assessment deadline or an examination or test or are sufficiently long-lasting to impact on a significant part of a term.
- Clinical depression or other mental health problem
- Recent burglary/theft/serious car accident
- Jury Service that cannot be deferred
- Representing the Institute at national level or your country at international level in a sporting event
- For part-time students in full-time employment, exceptional pressure of work or permanent change of employment circumstances
- Late diagnosis of, for example, dyslexia, resulting in no support or examination provision
- Separation or divorce – student or parental (provided the facts and the effects are independently corroborated)
- Unavailability of the upload facility prior to the deadline for an assignment or examination where it has been confirmed by the module leader that this would have had a material effect on the preparation for an assessment.
Examples of circumstances which might be considered as valid circumstances:
It is important that any extenuating circumstances which may have affected academic performance are reported regardless of whether the assessments have been passed or failed. Many students do not divulge extenuating circumstance as they wish to be judged on ‘academic merit’ alone. The Institute does not normally accept this as an adequate reason for not disclosing the details of extenuating circumstances. It is therefore essential that you ensure you disclose all relevant information prior to the assessment deadline for an extension or the Preliminary Board meeting.
Confidentiality
Normally circumstances are considered by those present at the Preliminary Board which is a confidential meeting. Details of extenuating circumstances will be confidential to the Institute staff authorized to receive and consider them. The Institute will not normally disclose personal information to a third party other than with the data subject’s explicit permission; except where there is a legal obligation to do so. Likewise, it is not possible for the Institute
to obtain information about you from a third party (such as a doctor) without your explicit consent.
Aseessmnet Instruction
Student Assessment Submission and Declaration
Students should attach and sign a self-declaration form (format will be provided by the institute) confirming that the assignment work submitted towards a particular unit is their own. Students should also reference their work using ‘Harvard Referencing’ system.
Note:
- Do not use textboxes to add text within the assignments, except for the mandatory information. e.g.: Figures, tables of comparison etc. Adding text boxes otherwise will result in non-acceptance of your work.
- Pay attention to the hand-in date and the instructions given in the assignment. Late submissions will not be accepted except for valid extenuating circumstances expressed in writing as mentioned in the student handbook.
- Ensure that you allocate sufficient time to complete the assignment by the due date.
- Failure to achieve at least PASS criteria will result in a REFERRAL grade.
- non-submission of work before the due date will also result in an automatic REFERRAL. You will be required to complete an alternative assignment.
- Use ‘Harvard Referencing’ system to reference your work when you utilize other’s work or ideas in your assignment to avoid plagiarism. You must provide both in-text citation and a reference list.
- If you are proven to be guilty of plagiarism or any academic misconduct, your grade could be reduced to A REFERRAL or at worst you could be expelled from the course.
Malpractice/Plagiarism
When submitting work, you are responsible for ensuring that it is fully and correctly referenced in line with the protocols that will have been shared with you at the start of your course. Your work should also be proofread to ensure spelling; punctuation and grammar are as accurate as possible. Please be aware that by submitting your work for assessment, you are confirming that it is authentic and is all your own work (or that of the group if it is a group work assignment). If you submit in hardcopy this will be written on the front of your sheet, if you submit electronically through the LMS/Portal then the act of uploading the work is taken as your agreement to its authenticity. All students are required to attend the orientation program, which supports you in your study skills and academic conduct, in particular the orientation program gives you the knowledge to support correct referencing within your academic work and avoid academic offences such as plagiarism. Additionally, guidance and support are fully and freely available from your program team. If you do not reference correctly and are suspected of committing plagiarism, are suspected of collusion (collaborating with another on independent work) or another academic offence, you will be subject to CCL Academy’s Malpractice Policy.
HEALTH & SAFETY INFORMATION
All employees, employers and students have a legal duty to take reasonable care of their own health, safety and welfare as well as those who may be affected by their activities or omissions. In accordance with the National Occupational Health and Safety Policy (2014) employers are required to ensure the health and safety of their employees or equivalent at work, so far as is reasonably practicable.
The Health and Safety policy at CCL Academy requires to:
- undertake risk assessments of any hazards associated with the student’s workplace and work activities
- provide relevant information, instructions, and supervision to the student
- co-operate and co-ordinate health and safety matters with other employers sharing the workplace
If you identify a Health & Safety concern whilst on campus, please talk to your Course Leader in the first instance or, if they are unavailable, please raise the issue directly with the management either by email to info@caddcentre.lk or by telephone: 0217 204 204. A first aid kit is available at reception.
Equal Opportunities Policy
- Ensure that qualifications are accessible to the learners taking our qualifications.
- Ensure equality of opportunity for learners to access our internal assessments
- Ensure fairness in our application of access arrangements
Ensure we fulfill our duties in accordance with the Right to Equality as mentioned in Article 12 of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
In order to do this, the Centre will:
- Always consider a request relating to access to qualifications that we receive, except where acceptance of the request is not logistically possible or where acceptance would undermine the criteria for the assessment.
- Monitor and review of equality throughout the process of recruiting and certification of learners.
- Examine and monitor data relating to candidate achievement in order to detect and mitigate accidental bias.
- Strive to improve the accessibility of customer-facing IT systems, or to introduce new systems.
- Fulfill obligation to meet the access arrangements requested for our learners in a way that does not disadvantage either them or their peers.
- Have an effective and inclusive appeals procedure.
Disability Support
The Head of Department is available to speak to students about their disability and/or learning difficulty and the level of support available to students. The type of support includes academic and professional support. Once the student is on the disability register the Head of Department will be able to have regular meetings with the students to ensure that they are receiving the appropriate support here at the Institute along with their progression route after obtaining their Higher National Diploma.
Advice and Support
If you are unsure about any of these areas, please consult with your Program Leader or Personal Tutor or email info@caddcentre.lk Deadlines for the submission of your assessments will be specified and are spaced throughout the year as much as they can be. If you have any concerns about the workload and timing of assessments, please raise this with your Course Leader in the first instance. Please bear in mind that sometimes it is unavoidable that assessment deadlines are close together. Your schedule will be available to you on your Program site on the web portal.
Student Certificates
CCL Academy is always proud to present students with their Pearson certificates once they have completed their Higher National Diplomas. Certificates are awarded during the Institute’s Graduation Ceremony where students will be able to share their achievements with their family, friends, and fellow peers. If students are unable to attend the Graduation Ceremony, there are opportunities to collect the certificates from the Institute.
Replacement Certificates
If a student requires a replacement certificate, they can either request it directly from Pearson or contact the Head of Department. An additional cost will be levied for re-issue of certificates. Students can also directly reclaim their HND certificates from the Pearson website.
Student Complaints and Procedures
We would always hope that you try and resolve any concerns you have or challenges you face with the member of staff most connected to the issue. This is often the best way to resolve an issue as it can be addressed very quickly. There may be times when you feel that this is not appropriate, or your concern has not been addressed to your satisfaction. If you wish to raise a formal complaint about any aspect of your experience as a student at the Institute, then please put this in writing to info@caddcentre.lk
Here’s an overview of the system in place for dealing with formal complaints:
Appeals Procedure
An academic appeal is defined as a request for a review of a decision of an academic body charged with decisions on student progression, assessment and awards (normally the Assessment Board, or equivalent) Appeals may be made by individuals only; they may not be lodged by a representative, a parent or any other third party (unless it can be shown that there are good grounds why the student cannot make the appeal him/herself). Where an academic appeal better fits or also fits with the Students Complaints and Procedures Policy, it is possible for the appeal or complaint to be reclassified (at whatever stage they may have reached) and processed under the most relevant regulation or procedure if this is likely to lead to a more appropriate outcome for the person(s) appealing or complaining. The key principles of this academic appeals process are that academic standards cannot be compromised in any way, this means that:
- There can be no appeal against academic judgement
- Administrative needs must be secondary to ensuring justice and fairness in the decision making process
- Decisions are reached based on only the evidence available to the panel
- This procedure is time-bound, meaning there are deadlines by which appeals must be raised by students and responded to by the Institute.
- Appeals will be handled in confidence with only staff who need to know being made aware.
- Students will not be disadvantaged if they raise an appeal.
- A student can withdraw their appeal without prejudice.
CCL Academy has developed a clear policy to outline the procedure to follow if you wish to lodge an appeal; a full copy of the Academic Appeals Policy can be found on the CCL Academy web portal. Appeals may be raised after the HN Award Board has communicated your outcomes for the academic year. You will need to confirm that you have grounds to appeal the outcome of the Assessment Board and should carefully read the CCL Academy Appeals Policy before submitting your claim. All claims must be submitted in writing to the CCL Academy management info@caddcentre.lk, within 10 days of receiving your results. A copy of the CCL.