University Postgraduate Awards (Amendment) Regulations, 2015

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L.N. 353 of 2015

EDUCATION ACT

(CAP. 327)

University Postgraduate Awards (Amendment) Regulations, 2015

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred upon him by articles 74 (5) and 75 (6) of the

Education Act (Cap. 327), the Chancellor of the University of Malta has promulgated

the following regulations made by the Senate of the University of Malta by virtue of

the powers conferred upon it by articles 75 (3) and 79 (b) of the said Act

Citation

These regulations may be cited as the University Postgraduate Awards

(Amendment) Regulations, 2015 and shall be read and construed as one with the

General Regulations for University Postgraduate Awards 2008, published as Legal

Notice 120 of 2008, hereinafter referred to as “the principal regulations”.

Applicability

These regulations shall be applicable from 19 June, 2015 onwards.

Amendment to regulation 53 of the principal regulations

The following paragraph (2) shall be added after paragraph (1) of

regulation 53 of the principal regulations

“(2) (i) For dissertations assigned 60 ECTS credits or more, an oral examination

shall be held.

(ii) For dissertations assigned less than 60 ECTS credits an oral

examination may be held, if this requirement is included in the method of assessment,

or if a dissertation is deemed to be of borderline quality verging on a fail, in order to

allow the Board of Examiners to decide the mark.”

Paragraphs (2) to (5) of regulation 53 of the principal regulations shall be

renumbered as paragraphs (3) to (6).

Amendment to regulation 54 of the principal regulations

For regulation 54 of the principal regulations there shall be substituted

the following

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“54. (1) (a) When an oral examination is a requirement in terms of paragraph

(2) of regulation 53, after examining the dissertation, the Board of Examiners shall

either

(i) admit the student to the oral examination if it is satisfied with the quality

of the dissertation or in cases of borderline quality dissertations verging on a fail

or where there is no clear consensus among the examiners about the quality and

standard of the dissertation; or

(ii) decide not to admit the student to the oral examination in cases of low

quality dissertations, and declare the student to have failed the dissertation with the

possibility of a resubmission once only.

(b) Following the oral examination, the Board of Examiners shall

either

(i) approve the oral performance and the dissertation unconditionally or

subject to minor corrections which shall be submitted within a time established by the

Board of Examiners and to the satisfaction of the chairman of the Board of Examiners

in consultation with the supervisor; or

(ii) approve the oral performance and the dissertation but advise major

corrections which shall be submitted within a time established by the Board

of Examiners and to the satisfaction of the chairman of Board of Examiners in

consultation with the supervisor, in which case the final mark shall not be greater than

10 marks of the preliminary mark as agreed by the Board of Examiners following the

oral examination; or

(iii) agree that the oral performance is poor although the dissertation is of

passing standard and allow the student to be re-examined orally at the first suitable

opportunity in order to allow the Board of Examiners to decide on a final mark that

shall not be greater than 10 marks of the preliminary mark as agreed by the Board of

Examiners following the oral examination; or

(iv) in the case of borderline quality dissertations verging on a fail, approve

the oral performance or, agree that the overall performance is also poor and refer the

dissertation back to the student for major revision, and resubmission within a time

established by the Board of Examiners and to the satisfaction of the chairman of the

Board of Examiners in consultation with the supervisor, in which case the mark of

50%, grade D shall be awarded.

(2) When an oral examination is not a requirement in terms of paragraph

(2) of regulation 53, after examining the dissertation, the Board of Examiners shall

either

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(i) approve the dissertation unconditionally or subject to minor corrections

which shall be submitted within a time established by the Board of Examiners and to

the satisfaction of the chairman of the Board of Examiners in consultation with the

supervisor; or

(ii) agree that the dissertation is of a passing standard but advise major

corrections which shall be submitted within a time established by the Board of

Examiners and to the satisfaction of the chairman of the Board of Examiners in

consultation with the supervisor, in which case the final mark shall not be greater than

10 marks of the preliminary mark as agreed by the Board of Examiners; or

(iii) in the case of borderline quality dissertations verging on a fail, refer the

dissertation back to the student for major revision and resubmission within a time

established by the Board of Examiners in a revised form and to the satisfaction

of the chairman of the Board of Examiners in consultation with the supervisor; the

maximum mark that may be awarded shall be of 50%, grade D. In addition, a Board

of Examiners may also call the student for an oral examination if it deems this to be

in the student’s best interests; or

(iv) in cases where the Board of Examiners agree that the dissertation is of

low quality, declare the student to have failed with the possibility of a resubmission

once only with marks being awarded as indicated in sub-paragraph (iii) above and to

the satisfaction of the chairman of the Board of Examiners in consultation with the

supervisor to ensure that the changes were effected as directed.

(3) When a Board of Examiners fails to reach consensus about the final

mark/grade they shall follow the Procedures for Boards of Examiners as stipulated in

the University Assessment Regulations, 2009.

(4) (a) A Board of Examiners shall not allow a period longer than six

months for major revisions unless there are valid reasons which shall be recorded in

the report.

(b) Students may re-submit the dissertation or be re-examined orally

once only.”

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