Examination Board Platform - FAQ's

How can I book onto training?

Training concluded on the 23rd January 2025. Please review the Training Resources.

How can I practice?

Please use SITS Sandpit which is a non-live version of SITS Live https://sits-sandpit.beds.ac.uk. The overnight refresh paused in December 2024 and will not recommence until end of January 2025. This means the data will not be accurate.

Some of our faculty do not use the virtual desktop (VPN/VDI connection). How can we access the virtual desktop so we can use the Sandpit?

You can access the Sandpit without a VPN/VDI connection on a UoB Campus, using a UoB device. If you are not using a UoB device, or working offsite, please contact ICT for VPN/VDI guidance.

How will I access the training materials for future reference?

Final training materials and guidance will be published at the end of January 2025 found in training resources.

Is it possible to have a recording of the training for future reference?

Yes. Walk through videos are embedded with the training materials and guidance available. Any additional recordings will also be published on the in.beds site.

Are there due dates for assessments in the platform?

Assessment due dates are not currently recorded in SITS, however, a new e:Vision report is available in 'Our Curriculum' under 'Academic Calendar' you will find 'SITS Period Dates'. This displays the Academic Year, Period code & detail, Start & End dates, Predicated Board Date and Predicted Resit Date

If units do not require External moderation (i.e. first year units), do we need to use that button to flag them as moderated?

If External moderation is required, please flag as moderated.

Does the system has a minimum threshold of external moderation?

A facility to set this threshold has been developed, however, at this time there is no minimum requirement.

Can the Examination Board report be toggle sorted (e.g. course code)?

There is no faciity to toggle order, however, there are search filters on: reference number, course, calculated/recommended outcome

What is the sort order of the Board Report?

Students with recommended outcomes or variations that cannot be encoded will appear at the top. Then, in order of outcome risk scale. Please refer to the training material for more information.

Will there be Scheme Boards?

With the enhanced accuracy and turnaround times offered by the new platform, Scheme Boards are now redundant and no longer required as agreed by the Registrar

What will the award date be for students?

The award date will be the board date, or, in cases where an award has been approved by Chair's Action, this will be the date approved by the Chair or Assessment overseer.

What is the difference between calculated and recommended outcome?

A calculated outcome is the system calculation. The system is built to calculate outcomes by looking at the student data and references the Academic Regulations and variations where applicable. If the Secretary or board find that this outcome is incorrect, the Secretary has the facility to change this outcome, this then becomes 'recommended'. An assessment overseer will then review these changes before releasing the results. If there are no recommended outcomes, the board sign-off process will trigger the automatic release of results that evening.

What is the responsibility of the Assessment overseer?

The Assessment overseer is a senior member of Registry with expertise in the Academic Regulations, Examination Boards and assessment processes. They will perform assurance checks where SITS calculated outcomes are changing to recommended outcomes by the Board.

Why has the board moved to anonymous reporting?

For years the feedback from External Examiners has been that student profiles should be anonymised. The Registrar has approved this change to protect student data and avoid bias.

How can we ensure the correct outcome is made for students if they are anonymised?

The outcome is calculated by looking at the results, the student ID is not required in order to calculate outcomes based off the Academic Regulations.

If we need to check anomalies on the profiles, how can these be checked etc if the student is anonymous?

Any anomalies will be checked by the Secretary during their prep - they are retaining access to student data in order to continue checking SITS calculated outcomes.

When do academics now get the opportunity to discuss problematic/unusual profiles?

During the Examination Board, profiles that require discussion will be shown.

Why are students calculating as AFEXIT (Exited due to academic failure) when they have resits?

The Academic Regulations Section 3b 5.7.2 states: The Examination Board concludes you have failed to make adequate academic progress if you have not achieved any credit and overall unit results are below 30 during the previous period of study. For Block pattern, this will be over two previous blocks of study. For students studying on a part time basis, this will be after you have completed 60 credits of study. The Examination Board will confer the highest award that you are eligible for.
Examination Boards may change this outcome to allow the student to continue with resits. This will highlight the number of students that are failing and yet allowed to continue. Reporting can then be produced on whether the policy benefits the university and student experience before the Academic Regulation is reviewed.

How do boards now check fitness to practice or Gateway requirements?

These are not board processes and need reviewing prior.

What is the order of events?

First the board record gets generated using relevant student data in SITS (units and period dates). Then the Academic teams enter marks and verify in the Mark Entry & Verification tool. Once all units for a student is verified, the Examination Board outcome can be calculated. The Administrator will ensure all relevant members and students are on the board, then they will check the calculated outcomes. The prep meeting will take place in the week before the Examination Board, the prep meeting is mandatory between the Chair, Portfolio Leader and Secretary. The Examination Board can then take place. The Secretary will upload the Chair and EE sign off's to confirm the board is approved. If no calculated outcome has been amended by the board, the students results will be released that night. If there are changes, the assessment overseer will review these changes before releasing results to all students. The Chair's actions process will then begin (should there be any).

Does the platform send out invites or alerts?

No, the administrators will continue to invite you on Teams. No alerts send from the platform, please monitor the Chair's Action dashboard.

What if the Chair cannot attend?

The administrators are able to amend the Chair on the Dashboard.

What is the 'prep meeting'?

The prep-meeting has replaced the pre-board and reduced the membership and responsibility. It is a formal meeting that is held between the Chair, Portfolio Leaders(s) and Secretary to discuss any issues with results or student outcomes.

Why is it so important for a student to have registered unit assessments?

A student without units cannot be assigned to a board.

Why is it so important to have verified the unit results?

No students with any unverfied unit will receive an Examination Board outcome. They will need to be resolved via Chairs action. To reduce the volume of these, please ensure you are following the mark entry and verification process.

Can a unit lead go in and verify results during an Examination Board?

No, the Secretary will close all marking prior to the board.

When do students see the results on e:Vision?

Examination Board outcomes will be released to students (via email) the night the results are released for each individual board. They will be asked to check 'My Units and Assessments' which will show their outcome. Students who were not able to receive outcomes will not be contacted.

I have a mark to enter or change after the results have been released, what do I do?

Please use the Chairs Actions process found in 'Our Students' under 'Assessments'. This will allow you to process any changes on a student level, rather than a unit level.

What is the Chair's Actions process?

Unit leaders enter marks through Chair's Action dashboard for individual students. The storing of these marks automatically calculates and verifies for the student. The unit leader then flags the units as Externally Moderated. The Secretary will review the outcome, then the Chair will approve before results can be released.

As the board report is anonymised, how do I know who has a Chair's action?

The Chair's Action dashboard will retrieve all students (with student ID's) who need a Chair's Action.

How can I view a students Examination Board Outcome?

Please use the Single Student Lookup container in 'Our Students' under 'Student Lookup'. Then, select 'Units & Assessments'. This will show you their latest Examination Board Outcome and results.

Does this mean students will not see any results until after board?

Students can view their results at anytime in their My Units and Assessments view.

What happens with shared units?

The student will be assigned to a course, that course will be assigned to a Portfolio which will be the Examination they appear at, regardless of if they have taken shared units. Shared units will appear in the ME&V tool if you search by board, or if you go through Board Actions.

How will a student with mitigation be presented?

Mitigation outcomes will not be presented at Examination Boards. Mitigation can be viewed for each unit on the Mark Entry & Verification tool.

Will units that are not compensatable be ignored?

The Regulation Indicators flags will trigger an automatic update to the student result to mark it up as 'must pass', this means the student data updates will skip this unit, should the student be permitted to be compensated on another unit.

If Board Sign-off is not completed, will this delay results?

Yes, the board sign-off is a critical pre-requisite to the students receiving their results. Your Administrator will send the Chair and EE's a sign off document. As a minimum, the Chair and 1 EE must sign this document. If the EE does not agree with the board outcomes, this will need to be raised to the Registrar.

I am a course lead and would like to attend the Prep-Meeting

The Prep-Meeting membership is the Chair, Portfolio lead(s) and Secretary and no other members will gain access, unless the membership changes through formal request to relevant committee(s).

Can other staff be members to a board?

Secretaties have the facility to add board members who have not automatically generated.

How can academic staff be informed of resit dates?

Please use the 'SITS Period Dates' look up in e:Vision 'Our Curriculum' under 'Academic Calendar'

Will students be informed if they are required to complete resit assessments?

Yes, they will be directed to e:Vision where they will see their latest outcome including the week commencing their resit is due.

Will unit statistics be presented?

Unit statistics is no longer a remit of the Examination Board. It was moved to SOQAC

Will we be able to view student profiles after the board?

No, student profiles cannot be downloaded and are anonymous.

How do we use the report to decide Graduation prizes?

Student awards, classifications and average mark will appear on the report. Use the report reference number for the administrators to identify these students

Will we receive a list of retake students?

Not at this time. The retake units are identified in SITS so this lays the foundation to be able to identify them.

What can the board do for a student who is calculating as exit due to non-submission of assessment but has attended?

As per the Academic Regulations, students who have not submitted a single assessment in their current period will be exited. It does not take into consideration attendance. Attendance monitoring is out of scope for Examination Boards.

How am I assigned to a board?

Administrators are assigned to boards automatically if they are set as the administrator on the route in SITS. Once the administrators plans the board (1-2 weeks in advance), Academics and External Examiners assigned to courses and units in SITS will be automatically added as a member. Administrators will also be able to add additional members if required.

I have no access to my board(s) when I retrieve by 'Mine Only', what should I do?

Please wait until the end of the period. This is when your administrator will generate members for the board. If you are still unable to access your board, please contact your Administrator.

How do I assign myself as course leader, portfolio leader or Head of School?

Instructions found here.

How do I assign myself as unit leader?

Instructions found here.

What happens if a member of the board becomes unavailable (e.g. illness)? Could someone else assume their role if needed?

The administrator is able to manually add additional board members or amend current board members. Or, using the selection criteria in the search function, you can retrieve any board associated with 1 person

What access levels do board members have?

Plan Board: only available to administrators. Mark Entry and Verification: All board members can access. This is a direct link to units being presented at the board. Calculate outcomes: only available to secretary. Prep meeting: only available to the Chair, Portfolio Lead and Secretary. View Board: All board members can access this, but it is only available once the prep meeting is complete. Release results: only available to the overseer. Board minutes: Available to the Secretary to upload, once uploaded all members can View Board Minutes. Board sign-off: only available to the Secretary. Admin view: only available to administrators. Chairs actions: All board members have access once board is signed off and there are students who require Chair's Actions.

What support has been provided to partners to help them understand the new tool?

Dedicated training, materials and support has been provided to academic partners with validated provision. Follow up support for academic partners with validated provision will be available once the tool is live.

How will examination boards for validated provision be approached?

Academic partnerships with validated provision are using the same examinatoin board platform.

Will External Examiners have access to the Examination Board platform so that they can view the board?

e:Vision access is restricted to relevant internal staff or partners. They will be able to view the report on the secretary's shared screen. The External Examiners have been contacted regarding this.

Can we download the report for the EE?

The report is in real time and cannot be downloaded.

How can the Board take place or release results if the External Examiner is absent?

Boards require attendance of at least 1 External Examiner. If none can attend, the board can still take place without an EE but there is a post board process required. If an EE attends the board but does not sign off, this will delay the results being released to students. This will need escalating internally.

What happens if external moderation is not received before the board?

There is no minimum threshold of EE moderation set in the platform before a board can take place and before a student can receive their outcomes.

Do Chair's actions require external moderation?

Please refer to your policies on External Moderation

 

What is the predicted board date?

Each period has a number of weeks after the period end date that the board should take place in. It will pick the Sunday of the week found in the AYW table. Please change this to your Exam Board date. This is very important as:

• The date of the board is against the agreed outcomes and awards.
• The student outcomes begin calculating 14 calendar days before the board date
• Members will lose access and students may be reassigned

What profiles am I showing to the board?

All profiles that require discussion: profiles where the calculated outcome has changed or is changing (Prep and main), profiles where a variation could not be encoded (Prep and main)
Prep only: all exit outcomes (AFEXIT, NSEXIT, AMEXIT) - then at the board only show those changing

What do I do if I believe a calculated outcome to be incorrect?

Please look at the results​ then look at their SCE course progression profile (do not change this) and if incorrect please raise a Service Desk SSD Incident

Why might a student not be assigned to my board?

Does an SCE exist in the current Academic Year? Does a SMO exist in the board period? Has SAS1b run? (Please check the user guide in SITS User Group - SITS Processes)

What do I do with suspended students? (SCJ status is X*)

A suspended student will have their outcome calculated and agreed like any other student, however, as part of unit agreement running overnight SUSPENDED will overwrite the agreed PIT

Does the prep meeting requires minutes?

No, only the board

Can you only add members if you are the Secretary?

No, anyone with SITS access can add members on IEM

After adding a Reduced student, does it matter if the SPI period is different to other students on this board?

No, the period will calculate using the students last period but this does not mean it won't work.

What do we still need to do manually?

Please review the training material. There is a table at the end of the presentation with manual work required.

If a Portfolio has multiple variants, can we combine the Board?

Yes, the reports will be separate but you can show them at the same board meeting.