Review of the Academic Framework and how this affects you

Nikki Harford, Deputy Director - Academic and Student Administration (Registry), explains how some changes to the Academic Framework will support students straightaway.

The Academic Framework (a new set of rules and regulations for study) was introduced in 2020 and has recently been reviewed by Academic and Student Administration and its recommendations were approved by Academic Board in April 2024. The following four recommendations will come into effect over the next few months.

Trailing modules 

From June 2024, students will be allowed to trail a limited number of module credits (this means students will be able to study and complete these modules, which they have not passed yet, alongside modules from their next level). See detail below:

• A maximum of 30 credits at Level 4 can be trailed into Level 5 (unless professionalaccreditation requirements prohibit this). 
• A maximum of 15 credits at Level 5 can be trailed into Level 6 (unless professional accreditation requirements prohibit this). 

Table 1. Maximum eligible course credits per year

Levels	Maximum eligible credits
Level 4	120 *
Level 4 and 5 combined	150 (Level 4 max 30)
Level 5	120 *
Level 5 and 6 combined	135 (level 5 max 15)
Level 6	120 *

Please note: Programme-specific / Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Body (PSRB) requirements would take priority and prevent trailing where necessary.

*exceptional additional modules can be taken

Time limits for study

Under the Oxford Brookes Regulations for Study, students are given a maximum number of years to complete their degree programme and, until now, were also limited by the number of years they could take to complete each stage (known as a specific stage time limit) of their programme. As part of the new recommendations, these specific stage time limits will be removed, but the overall time limit will stay. 

For example, the three-year limit per stage for full-time students and the four-year time limit for part-time students from Regulation 6.13.2 and 6.13.3 will be removed, but an overall time limit for awards will remain. For example, undergraduate Honours degree students (both full-time and part-time) will have a maximum of eight years to complete their degree. Top-up degrees and undergraduate master’s programmes will also have time limits:
 

Table 2. Overall time limits for awards (Undergraduate)

Award	Total credit	Maximum period
Honours degree	360	8 years
Honours degree with Foundation	480	10 years (for progression from a Foundation year, students must pass all their module requirements within two years)
Foundation degree	240	5 years
Top-up degree	120	3 years full-time or 4 years part-time
Integrated master’s	540	10 years from Level 4

 

Table 2. Overall time limits for awards (Postgraduate)

Award	Total credit	Maximum period
Master’s degree	180	5 years

 

Table 2. Overall time limits for awards (Apprenticeships)

Award	Total credit	Maximum period
Degree Apprenticeships Master’s Apprenticeships	See relevant programme specification	See relevant programme specification

Please note: This change will take effect now, so students will not be removed during the current exam committees for exceeding the specific stage time limit.

Type D Exceptional Circumstances 

We have analysed the number of Type D Exceptional Circumstances applications that the University has received since the new Exceptional Circumstances policy began in September 2019. The review group recommended that students should be allowed to submit only two Type D Exceptional Circumstances applications per academic year and the Academic Board has approved this limit. This will come into effect from 1 September 2024.

Compensation - awarding credit  

The Academic Registrar has also recently clarified the point at which ‘compensation’ (awarding credit for a limited number of modules that a student has not passed) can be granted, which is written in 6.12 Compensation of the Regulations for Study. Please see the current wording for 6.12 in the regulations below:
 

"6.12. Compensation is the practice of awarding credit for a limited number of modules (see section 6.10) that have not been passed, on the basis of good overall academic performance in a single academic year at a specific level. ‘Good overall academic performance’ means that the student has scored 30% or above in the module/s which are eligible for compensation, and has passed all their other modules at that level. A student will only be awarded a compensated pass grade for a module once they have completed a first attempt and a re-sit; and a compensated pass is only awarded at the completion of the level of study at which it is to be applied…"
 

Please note: For the avoidance of doubt, the term “completed” means that the first attempt and resit opportunities have taken place before a compensated pass can be awarded. This does not mean that a student must have made an attempt at both of those opportunities, so a student may or may not have sat the resit.