PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION – ENGLISH LITERATURE COMBINED HONOURS
Primary purpose:
External subject quality review & internal programme management and quality assurance
Secondary purpose:
Detailed information for students (particularly current students), staff, and employers
11.
Awarding Institution or Body
2. Teaching Institution
University of Portsmouth
3. Programme Accreditation
University of Portsmouth
4.
Final Award
None
5. Programme Name (Title)
ENGLISH LITERATURE is currently offered in combination with:
 American Studies
 Creative Writing
 Drama
 English Language
 Film Studies
 History
 Journalism
 Media Studies
 Psychology minor route
BA (Hons)
6. UCAS Code and HEMIS Codes
7. QAA Benchmark Group(s)
English & American Studies – C1663, QT37
English & Creative Writing – QW38, C1611
English & Drama - C1612, QW34
English Language & Literature – Q300, C1045
English & Film Studies – C1551, QW36
English & History – C1095, VQ13
English Literature & Journalism - QP3M, C1872
English & Media Studies – C1255, QP33
English with Psychology – C1666, Q3C8
8a. Document Control Information
English
Version 10, revised September 2009
8b. Effective Session
2009/2010
8d. Faculty
8c. Author
Bronwen Price
8e. Department or School
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
School of Social, Historical and Literary Studies
9. Educational Aims
a. The Combined Honours Degree Programme:
 To provide a challenging and stimulating study environment.
 To provide a framework allowing students to follow a flexible coherent programme of study.
 To enable students to study two subject areas and develop specialist interests and knowledge.
 To provide an opportunity for students to create links between two different subject areas.
 To provide students with the opportunity to study up to a maximum of 30 credits worth of elective units.
 To provide students with the opportunity to develop key skills.
 To equip graduates with the necessary transferable skills for lifelong learning and flexibility in the context of changing labour
markets.
 To provide students with the skills and knowledge required to maximise career and postgraduate study opportunities.
b. The English Literature route of the Combined Honours Degree Programme:
 To provide a broad knowledge of literature and literary language from a range of periods of literary history.
 To provide a detailed understanding of principle genres such as prose, poetry and drama
 To provide an understanding of the relationship between text and its cultural and socio-historical context, and the role of literary
texts in articulating and shaping values, ideas and identities.
 To provide the opportunity to study a range of literary and fictional texts, including popular forms and other literatures in English.
 To develop an understanding of a variety of theoretical and critical approaches, and an awareness of the role of critical traditions
in shaping interpretation.
 To develop an awareness of the imaginative power of literary texts.
 To enable students to develop a high level of skill in textual analysis, and in the comprehension and evaluation of ideas and
theoretical concepts.
 To enable students to develop a high standard of literacy, communication skills, and skills of critical argument.
DISCLAIMER: The University of Portsmouth has checked the information given in this Programme Specification and believes it to be correct. We will endeavour to
deliver the programme(s) in keeping with this Programme Specification but reserve the right to change the content, timetabling and administration of the programme(s)
whilst maintaining equivalent academic standards and quality.
Programme Specification, September 2009
English Literature Combined
c.
English Literature is currently offered in the Combined Honours Degree Programme with:

American Studies – The combination of English and American Studies will provide students with two complementary courses of
study. This combination will bring together the culture, history and contemporary societies of North America and Latin America
and the study of literature and film in the English-speaking world.

Creative Writing – This is a course that brings together the study of English Literature and the practical experience of Creative
Writing. The two halves of the degree compliment each other, with the critical lessons of literature informing the creative
experiments in writing.

Drama - The study of English and Drama involves a fruitful and challenging series of questions concerning authorship, meaning
and value. Students are able to locate the study of literary texts within a broader picture of cultural production. Questions of
genre and form are common to each part of the programme and the critical and theoretical debates involved can be approached
from the position of both ‘practitioner’ and ‘reader’.

English Language – The BA (Hons) English Language & Literature degree provides students with an excellent opportunity to
study two inter-related subjects in depth. The study of English Language is designed to develop students’ awareness and
understanding of the fundamentals of language and linguistic study, with a strong emphasis on the link between language, culture
and communication. This complements the study of English Literature, which focuses primarily on analysing texts in their literary
and cultural contexts. Students are also given the opportunity to specialise in the teaching of English as a Foreign Language and
to apply for a supplementary unit (at a modest fee) to complete the Trinity College London Certificate in TESOL.

Film Studies - English and Film Studies are cognate disciplines, which complement one another when taken in combination.
Both centre on questions of form, representation, and cultural meaning, and encourage a critical questioning of generic history
and the relationship between audience/reader and text. Literary Studies has traditionally provided analytical frameworks and
vocabularies for broader cultural analysis, including Film Studies. Film Studies has taken up literary concerns for authorship,
identity and signification, while also examining the institutional, technical, aesthetic and political conditions of production and
reception specific to film.

Journalism – To provide a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of literary forms and their usage, especially relating to
journalism. Central to both subjects is the question of the rhetorical function of language. Literary studies focuses on the
strategies by which a range of writers - of narrative prose in particular - organize their material, how their texts work, and how they
work on the reader. Studying the practice of journalism complements this analysis, as students are able to consider how language
and form function as communicative tools, describing events and shaping stories.

Media Studies - English and Media Studies are cognate disciplines, which complement one another when taken in combination.
Both centre on questions of form, representation, and cultural meaning, and encourage a critical questioning of generic history
and the relationship between audience/reader and text. Literary Studies has traditionally provided analytical frameworks and
vocabularies for broader cultural analysis, while also lending a historical dimension to the discussion of contemporary mass
media. Media Studies involves an extended range of media forms and institutional contexts, while also offering new approaches
to the central questions of value and social meaning that have traditionally been explored through literary criticism.

History – This combination offers students the opportunity to study two text-based disciplines, increasingly closely allied through
the historicising and theorising dimensions of contemporary humanities-oriented study, and to supplement the theoretical and
practical insights of each with materials and practices drawn from the other.

Psychology – The study of English with Psychology allows a student interested in English literature to explore the links between
authors, narratives, representation and meaning, and the conscious and unconscious aspects of the human mind and personality.
Programme Specification, September 2009
English Literature Combined
10.1 Programme Learning Outcomes - Reference Points: Subject Benchmark Statements and Other Reference Elements
a. The Combined Honours Degree Programme:
Generic Learning Outcomes of the Programme (independent of route of study):
Students will be able to demonstrate an ability to:
 Understand the key aspects of two subject areas
 Apply appropriate techniques of analysis to two subject areas
 Research topics and devise and sustain arguments related to two specific subject areas
 Discuss current research and scholarship related to two subject areas
 Discuss the current limits of knowledge in specific subject areas
 Take responsibility for their own learning in a combined Honours degree programme
 Carry out an extended piece of independent enquiry into one or more subject areas
 Communicate information in a manner appropriate to the subject and the intended audience
 Show initiative and be able to make and justify decisions.
b.





The English Literature route of the Combined Honours Degree Programme:
The programme and outcomes have been developed taking account of:
The University of Portsmouth Curricula Framework Document (September 2006)
The scholarship and research expertise of academic members of staff
The National Qualifications Framework and the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications
The Benchmark Statement for English
Those cross-referencing directly to the English benchmark statements are shown with an (E).
10.2 Programme Learning Outcomes - Details of the learning that students should be able to demonstrate
A. Knowledge and Understanding of:
1. Central issues and terminologies in contemporary literary study (E)
2. The relationship between text and context within particular periods of literary history (E)
3. Generic conventions and formal structure, and understanding of their role in shaping the imaginative and communicative potential
of literary language. (E)
4. The ongoing process of literary historical change and development (E)
5. The role of critical approaches in setting the parameters of analysis and in the production of knowledge (E)
6. How literary texts function to represent particular ideas, values and identities, and how cultural assumptions and values shape
critical interpretation and evaluation. (E)
Teaching and Learning Strategies and Methods:
Basic information about the subject area is conveyed through a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops. Source materials
either in English or English translation is used as appropriate. In addition, students engage in individual and/or group projects in order
to pursue their own interests within the broader framework of the programme. These are guided by various formal or informal unit
requirements. Reading and language skills and critical or interpretative skills embedded in learning outcomes such as A3 are
underpinned by seminar activity, while the teaching and learning of subject knowledge and critical approaches entailed by learning
outcomes such as A1, A2 and A4 draw more heavily on lecture provision, especially at Level 1 and 2. A5 and A6 rest on a
combination of lecture and seminar provision. Study Skills and Textual and Critical Skills at Level 1 support key and subject specific
skills acquisition.
Assessment:
Level 1 and 2 work is assessed primarily through close-reading exercises, short critical commentaries on key terms and concepts, and
essays. Level 3 work is assessed through close-reading exercises, essays and the dissertation.
B. Cognitive (Intellectual or Thinking) Skills, able to:
1. Analyse and critically examine different forms of discourse (E)
2. Assimilate complex information from diverse sources, and integrate and organise that information in
3. relation to defined goals (E)
4. Demonstrate capacity for independent judgement, critical reasoning and imaginative response (E)
5. Deploy information and argument effectively and in a self-reflective manner, and to evaluate alternative perspectives or points of
view (E)
6. Understand, interrogate and apply different theoretical positions, and to develop an awareness of their applicability in different
contexts (E)
7. Plan and execute essays and project-work (E)
Programme Specification, September 2009
English Literature Combined
Teaching and Learning Strategies and Methods:
Intellectual skills are developed through seminars and group discussion (student- or tutor-led) and student presentations. Students are
familiarised with a variety of primary and secondary data sources. Students are trained in Research Methods.
Assessment:
Essays, close-reading exercises, short critical commentaries on key terms and concepts, research proposal, dissertation.
C. Practical, Professional or Subject Specific Skills, able to:
1. Use critical skills in close reading and analysis of texts (E)
2. Articulate knowledge and understanding of texts, concepts and theories relating to English studies (E)
3. Demonstrate sensitivity to the role of linguistic form and structure in the creation of meaning and in determining the affective power
of language (E)
4. Show awareness of the role of social and cultural context in shaping the production and reception of meaning (E)
5. Demonstrate command of appropriate critical and conceptual vocabularies, and the ability to apply them in critical analysis (E)
6. Be aware of the social and cultural processes informing critical evaluation and judgement
7. Be sensitive to the semantic, affective and imaginative complexity of literary language, and the role of different critical approaches
in its understanding (E)
8. Use bibliographical skills appropriate to the discipline, including accurate and consistent use of scholarly conventions of
presentation (E)
Teaching and Learning Strategies and Methods:
Communication skills are developed through engagement in tutorials, group work, seminar presentations and directed private study.
Assessment:
Where appropriate, assessment criteria make specific reference to practical skills.
D. Transferable and Key Skills, able to:
1. Demonstrate advanced literacy, oral and written communication skills, including the ability to present a rhetorically effective,
coherent, well supported, and sustained argument (E)
2. Identify and interrogate questions or problems, and propose interpretative or explanatory solutions (E)
3. Participate in critical discussion, work in relation to others, and negotiate responses and solutions (E)
4. Demonstrate time–management and organisational skills, including the ability to plan and work to clear goals and objectives (E)
5. Review progress in pursuing objectives, identify strategies for improvement, and reflect on the transferability of skills, strategies and
approaches (E)
6. Demonstrate Word-processing skills and familiarity with electronic search tools (E)
Teaching and Learning Strategies and Methods:
Study Skills units at level 1 facilitate the setting of learning objectives related to the student’s selection of unit pathways within the
programme. Students plan for career progression through the compulsory careers unit at level 2.
Assessment:
Where appropriate, assessment criteria include attention to transferable/key skills.
11. Programme Structure, Progression and Award Requirements:
11.1 Overview
One credit is equivalent to 10 hours of learning. Each level comprises of a minimum of 120 credits. Units are offered as 10 and 20
credits, with the final year dissertation being 40 credits.
English Literature is offered as a Single Honours (not included here) and as a Combined Honours pathway. It is offered in full time (3
year) mode. At stage 1 & 2, except for the minor pathway, students study approximately equal amounts of English Literature and their
complementary subject (40 credits core English Literature, 40 credits core complementary subject at each level, plus 10 credits study
skills). At the end of Stage 2, students must submit a dissertation proposal in either English Literature or the complementary subject.
The exit award will be the original title of the course on which the student is registered (eg BA (Hons) English Literature and Journalism)
with the transcript recording the major subject based on the choice of dissertation.
Elective units totalling 30 credits are offered in level 1 and level 2 and provide and opportunity for students to study a variety of topics
(including languages and/or key skills) outside of their two main subject areas.
Programme Specification, September 2009
English Literature Combined
11.2 Employability Statement
Students on the English Combined Honours pathway will, as a result of their engagement with the curriculum, develop employability
skills, such as managing a range of tasks, working with others, managing a range of information from a variety of sources, managing
themselves and their learning. Varied assessment patterns will assess students’ ability to deliver oral presentations and deliver an
argument in prose.
All English Combined Honours students engage on formal PDP tasks at all levels via the Personal Tutoring system. At level 2 all
students take the compulsory Careers & Research Management unit which asks them to reflect on their employability and selfpresentational methods of securing employment. It is delivered on a seminar/personal tutoring basis and includes sessions on career
management skills, help with producing/improving a CV, writing letters of application for employment.
The Personal Tutor system adopted at each level ensures that each student has at least one member of academic staff who monitors
their progress and can write references if required. Accredited Institution-Wide Electives (including Learning from Experience (LiFE)
units, work-based learning units and particular “employability units” are offered to English Combined Honours students.
11.3 Unit Details
Code
U03245
U13283
U12265
U13287
U13748
U16893
U15254
U13286
Level 3
U16755
U16756
U16757
U03246
U10123
U10122
U16758
U16796
U16759
U15253
U09315
Title
20 credits from (timetabling
priorities are shown with an *)
 Renaissance Period Study*
 Postmodernism & Fiction
 Literature, Style & Change
1890-1930
 European Literary Decadence
 Margaret Atwood (10)
 Margaret Atwood (20)
 Romantic Movements: Politics
and Poetics 1978-1850
 War and Modern Memory
20 credits from (timetabling
priorities are shown with an *):
 Abroad: Travel Writing and
Cultural Identity
 Enlightenment: Literature,
Culture and Modernity
 The Post-Modern Historical
Novel
 Renaissance Special Study:
C17th Poetry
 Post-war American Writing –
1945 onwards*
 Tracing Borders, Pushing
Boundaries: Women &
Writing*
 Victorian Literature and the
Visual Arts
 Charlotte Bronte (10)
 Charlotte Bronte (20)
 Tropical Gothic: Terror and
Desire in Post-Colonial Fiction
Dissertation
Programme Specification, September 2009
English Literature Combined
Sem
Type
Cred
Ex/CW
1
1
1
SCO
SCO
SCO
20
20
20
0/100
0/100
0/100
1
1
1
1
SCO
SCO
SCO
SCO
20
10
20
20
0/100
0/100
0/100
0/100
1
SCO
20
0/100
2
SCO
20
0/100
2
SCO
20
0/100
2
SCO
20
50/50
2
SCO
20
0/100
2
SCO
20
0/100
2
SCO
20
0/100
2
SCO
20
2
2
2
SCO
SCO
SCO
10
20
20
0/100
0/100
0/100
1&2
O
40
0/100
0/100
Comments
Exit Award (3):
NQF (level): Level H (HE level 3)
Award Requirement:
BA/BSc with honours requires 360 credits, with
at least 110 at level 3 and a maximum of 120
at level 1, no more than 30 at level X.
Ordinary Degree – 300 credits.
Code
U12264C
U15252
Title
 Writing the Nineteenth Century
Plus up to 20 credits from the
following (timetabling permitting):
 The Gothic (SCO with Psy)
Evenings only
 Literary Detectives *(SCO with
Psy)
 Magic Realism
 Sense and Sensibility: from
Defoe to Austen (20)
 The Bible and Literature
 Travel, Adventure and Empire
(SCO with Psy)
 Travel, Adventure and Empire
 Writing America: 1776-1900
 Contemporary European
Thought*
 Renaissance Drama
U16752
U16753
U16072



U13280
U10042
U12259B
U16073
U16752
U12263
Level 2
U13289
U15968
U06343B
U16761
U11211B
U15251
U11426B
U10754
U16754
U15969
U15970
Code
U12250B
U09107D
U12253C
Level 1
U10949D
U12254B
U16791
The Bible and Literature
National Identities: Englishness
Sense and Sensibility: from
Defoe to Austin (10)
 Publics & Privates: Literary
Sexualities 1700-1830 (20) (SCO
with Psy)
 Rewriting Literary History
 Noir: Fiction & Film
 The Language of Literature
 Career & Research Management
(or equivalent)
 Contemporary Postcolonial
Fiction
 American Literature
 Guilty Pleasures: Queer Theory
and the Erotic Imagination
Elective (language or other unit) 2x10
credit unit in year 2)
Title
 Introduction to Literary History:
Authorship
 Study Skills
 Introduction to Literary History:
Narrative Forms
 Textual & Critical Skills (Core
with Psy)
Plus up to 10 credits from
(timetabling priorities are shown with
an *)
 Popular Fiction * (Except with
Journalism, Core with Psy, )
Up to 10 credits from:
 Shakespeare and PostRenaissance Drama
Elective (language or other unit)
1 x 10 credit unit in year 1)
Programme Specification, September 2009
English Literature Combined
Sem
1
Type
C
Cred
20
Ex/CW
0/100
Comments
Exit Award (2):
NQF (level): Level I (HE level 2)
1
SCO/O
20
0/100
1
SCO/O
20
0/100
1
SCO/O
10
0/100
1
1
SCO/O
SCO/O
20
20
0/100
0/100
1
1
1
SCO/O
SCO/O
SCO/O
20
20
20
0/100
0/100
1
O
10
0/100
1
1
1
O
O
O
10
20
10
0/100
0/100
0/100
1
O
10
0/100
1
2
2
2
SCO/O
C
O
O
20
20
10
10
0/100
0/100
0/100
0/100
2
C
10
0/100
2
2
O
O
10
10
0/100
100/0
2
O
10
0/100
E
Type
10
Cred
Ex/CW
1
1
C
C
20
10
0/100
0/100
2
2
C
C/SCO
20
10
0/100
0/100
1&2
Sem
Dip HE – 240 credits (maximum 120 level 1)
Progression Requirements:
240 credits, no more than 120 at level 1, but
can progress with 1 unit not yet passed.
Comments
Exit Award (1):
NQF (level): Level C
(HE level 1)
Cert HE – 120 credits
Progression Requirements:
120 credits but can progress with 1 unit not
yet passed.
1
C/O
10
0/100
2
O
10
100/0
1/2
E
10
Amend as necessary
C = Compulsory unit
O = Optional unit
SCO = Subject core option
E = Elective unit
B = Both Semester
S = Spanning Semesters
N = Not Semesterised
1 = Semester 1 etc
12. Support for Student Learning
 The Combined Honours Degree is managed by a Course Leader from one subject area and Deputy Course Leader from the other.
 Extensive induction programme introduces the student to the University and their course.
 Each student has a personal, responsible for pastoral support and guidance.
 University support services include - careers, financial advice, housing, counselling etc.
 A new Student Centre incorporating Students Union and Student Services.
 Excellent library facilities.
 The University of Portsmouth has consistently been awarded an excellent rating for student support and guidance in a number of
Quality Assurance Agency inspections
 Student course and unit handbooks provide information about the course structure, local regulations etc.
 Key Skills opportunities are incorporated into all units.
 Written feedback is provided for all assessments.
13. Admission Criteria
a. Academic Admissions Criteria
 Students are recruited with a variety of different qualifications, the exact requirements for English Literature as a Major/Joint will
depend upon what subject is taken with it.
General guidance:
 A-levels: should include 2 x 6 units, including English Literature or English Language at A level.
 GNVQ: students must have achieved at least a C grade for a single 12-unit GNVQ in a relevant area.
 Students may also offer more varied GNVQ and A/AS combinations, including 6-unit and 3-unit GNVQ awards.
 Professional qualifications & experience: considered positively
 Access courses: 60% overall, including Literary component.
 Other qualifications: Yes
 Mature and International students are welcomed
b. Disability
The University makes no distinction in its admissions policy with regard to disability and will endeavour to make all reasonable
adjustments in order to make it possible for students to study at Portsmouth on a course of their choice.
14. Evaluation and Enhancement of Quality and Standards in Learning and Teaching
a. Mechanisms for review and evaluation
 Head of Department’s Annual Standards and Quality Evaluative Review to Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and Faculty Executive.
 Unit and Course Level student feedback considered at Board of Studies.
 Unit Assessment Board consideration of student performance for each programme.
 Head of Department’s Annual Quality and Standards Evaluative Review to Pro Vice-chancellor (Academic) and Faculty Executive.
 Combined Honours Management Board considers overall student and staff experience.
 Annual Standards and Quality Report to Board of Studies, including consideration of Subject and Award External Examiner
Reports.
 Head of Academic Development’s Annual Report to QAC on Combined Honours Degree Programme.
 Annual Staff Appraisal.
 Peer Teaching Observation.
 Faculty Learning and Teaching Committee.
Programme Specification, September 2009
English Literature Combined
b.









c.




Responsibilities for monitoring and evaluation
Unit Co-ordinators for unit content and delivery.
Course Leader, Deputy Course Leader for day-to-day running of course.
Board of Studies with overall responsibilities for operation and content of course.
Student Representatives and Staff Student Liaison Committees
Heads of the Departments
Associate Dean (Academic)
Associate Dean (Students)
Quality Assurance Committee
Unit, Award and Progression Board of Examiners
Mechanisms for gaining student feedback
Student Representation on Board of Studies
Student Staff Liaison Committees
Combined Honours Student Staff Consultative Committee
Unit and Course level student questionnaires
d. Staff Development Priorities
 Academic staff undertake activities related to research, scholarship, teaching and learning and student support and guidance
 Annual staff appraisals match development to needs.
 Managers undertake a variety of management development programmes.
 New academic staff required to undertake PgCert Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
 All academic staff encouraged to seek Institute Learning and Teaching membership.
 Academic Staff new to teaching required to undertake Initial Professional Development Programme (iPROF).
 Support Staff are encouraged to attend short courses in areas such as minute taking, and specific IT packages.
15. Assessment
15.1 Assessment Strategy
Assessment on English units is primarily coursework-based. This is to enable students to develop appropriate skills in managing
information from a range of textual sources (print, online and research database) and produce a considered piece of written prose.
Level 1 assessment primarily tests student’s ability to describe and reflect, level 2 to analyse in more depth, and level 3 to demonstrate
a broader kind of comparative and contextual analysis. A number of units (e.g. Literary Detectives at level 2 and Postmodernism and
Fiction at level 3) involve ‘formative’ assessment, using the initial mid-unit assessment to test student’s knowledge of key aspects of the
unit, and the final assessment to build this knowledge into a more wide-ranging reading of relevant material.
Level 1 includes other assessment approaches, however, in order to allow students to develop and demonstrate other skills: an in-class
test in Study Skills, to test student knowledge of referencing and writing a bibliography, as well as an oral presentation, to assess their
ability to speak publicly. At level 2, the first assessment for Careers and Research Management requires students to produce a portfolio
of documents which are suitable for presentation to an employer (rather than an academic essay), while the second is a more
demanding oral presentation, to further test students development at this form of exercise. Examinations are used across the levels at
strategic points, primarily on core units such as ‘Introduction to Literary History 1: Authorship’ and ‘Introduction to Literary History 2:
Narrative Forms’ (level 1), and ‘Writing the Nineteenth Century’ (level 2). This is because it is important to ensure students gain crucial
core knowledge in aspects of English literature which will serve them well in other units. Level 1 exams chiefly test students’ ability to
describe and reflect on key material, while level 2 exams are designed to test their ability to contextualise and compare and contrast the
material.
15.2 Assessment Regulations
a. Assessment and Classification Rules
Standard university rules apply, in summary the main points relating to assessment are as follows but the regulations must be consulted
for a full description:
 Unit overall pass mark is 40%.
 Referral is allowed for a student (in all or some assessment components) who has failed a unit or units at the first attempt to limits
prescribed in the regulations with unit overall marks capped at 40%.
 Repeat assessment is allowed to students who fail a unit or units after referral. Such students must attempt all the assessment
components specified in the assessment schedule and are usually expected to attend all class sessions. On passing the unit the
unit marks will be capped unless the student chooses to repeat the entire stage.
 At the final stage units, to limits prescribed in the regulations, failed at the first attempt may be compensated at the discretion of the
Award/Progression Board.
 Special provision may be made in approved Extenuating Circumstances cases, usually by allowing the affected assessment to be
undertaken again, as if for the first time.
Programme Specification, September 2009
English Literature Combined
b. Interpretation of Marks in Classification
Standard university rules apply, in summary the main points relating to classification are as follows but the regulations must be
consulted for a full description:





Degree classification bands:
40-49
third
50-59
lower second
60-69
upper second
70+
first
Final degree classification is based on a multi-criteria approach using the highest classification achieved from:
 Average of weighted Level 2 and Level 3 marks in the ratio 40:60
 Average of weighted Level 3 marks
Dominant grade from Level 2 and Level 3 - attainment of 50% or more credits at or above the degree classification awarded with the
requirement that 60 credits or more in the degree classification should be at Level 3.
c.


Role of Externals
Subject External Examiners – oversee unit assessment and:

approve unit assessment strategy

sample assessment artefacts

present report to Unit Assessment Boards
Award External Examiners – a Subject External Examiner who will oversee and attend award/progression Boards
16. Indicators of Quality and Standards
a. Professional Accreditation/Recognition
Not applicable
b. Previous Subject Review (or equivalent) Outcomes
 Satisfactory
c. Periodic Departmental Standards and Quality Review (or equivalent)
d. Quality Assurance Agency
QAA Institutional Audit, April 2004, ‘broad confidence’ (for full report see
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/institutional/Portsmouth04/summary.asp).
c. Others
 Staff from the English subject area contribute to RAE Unit of Assessment in European Studies.
 Result of ‘broad confidence’ in the Periodic Departmental Standards & Quality Review (PDSQR) for English and History (March
2004.
17. Other Sources of Information may be found in
 Course Approval Document.
 Student Handbook.
 University of Portsmouth Curricula Framework Document.
 University of Portsmouth Undergraduate Prospectus.
 Assessment Regulations.
 University of Portsmouth (http://www.port.ac.uk/) and (http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/academic/sshls/) website(s).
Programme Specification, September 2009
English Literature Combined