LUCY CAVENDISH COLLEGE

Academic Progress Policy

(for undergraduates and MPhil students with a College-appointed
Director of Studies)

Purpose and scope of the procedure

Once you are admitted as an undergraduate or an MPhil student, the College is committed to
working with you to ensure that you perform to the very best of your ability and fulfil your academic
potential. We recognise that as mature undergraduate and MPhil students you may have calls on
your time that standard age students do not - family commitments, homes to maintain, and so on.
Directors of Studies and Tutors will always do their best to help if personal circumstances start to
hinder your academic work and most difficulties can be settled informally if you keep your Tutor
and Director of Studies informed about your situation. The College however takes the view that no
less should be expected of mature students in terms of academic achievement than of any other
student. There are some (very rare) cases where unsatisfactory academic performance becomes
entrenched, and it is then important to have a clear procedure for handling these situations. This
procedure is set out below, and you will see that its primary aim is to get you back on track
academically at the earliest possible stage. A last resort, if all else fails, is to require a student to
leave College permanently.

Circumstances under which a student's academic progress may be brought into question

Academic performance shall be considered unsatisfactory if a student fails to complete all the
requirements of their course in a timely and satisfactory manner. This includes the following:

 Consistent failure to prepare for and/or attend lectures, seminars, tutorials or other prescribed
classes
 Consistent failure to prepare for and/or attend supervisions
 Consistent submission of poor quality work
 Consistent failure to prepare for and/or attend practical classes and fieldtrips
 Consistent failure to produce written work as required by the course regulations or at the request
of their Director of Studies, Supervisor or Tutor
 Consistent failure to meet the requirements set out by a Director of Studies, Supervisor or Tutor
 Inadequate performance in mock examinations
 Failure to successfully pass (i.e. gain at least 55%) University examinations including prelims and
professional qualifying examinations such as 2nd MB papers
In the event of unsatisfactory performance the following procedure should followed. At each stage
the student shall be given full details of why her performance is judged to be unsatisfactory and the
support necessary to improve.

The University does not normally allow students failing Tripos examinations to continue with their
studies. It is hoped that the measures described below will ensure appropriate academic support
for students so that none are at risk of examination failure.

Stage 1- Informal Action by the College

i) Throughout their courses students are set regular work assignments by their supervisors who are
expected to provide critical feedback and clear guidelines on how the work could be improved. It
is a duty of supervisors both to tell a student and to notify Directors of Study if the work of that
student is unsatisfactory. Directors of Studies should first have an informal meeting with the
student to discuss how her work could be improved and whether any extra support is required.

ii) If there is no improvement in spite of i) and a Director of Studies considers that a student’s
academic performance continues to be unsatisfactory she/he shall notify the student of the fact
and convene a meeting with the student, her Director of Studies and Tutor within 10 days. At
this meeting the student will be informed of the reasons for considering that her academic
performance is unsatisfactory and the student shall be given an opportunity to explain her own
views on the matter, and be encouraged to think about using one or more of the support services
offered by the University. It may also be appropriate to look into the possibility of applying
academic arrangements or support within College to enable the student to study more
effectively.

The student should be given clear guidelines about what needs to be done to improve her
performance and a review period should be agreed to allow the student to consider her academic
progress and to seek advice from available support services.

A written account of the meeting should be kept by the Director of Studies and a copy sent to the
student.

At the end of the agreed review period a meeting should be held to discuss the steps taken by the
student to address the concerns. If the concerns have been satisfactorily addressed this should be
noted and further meetings may be scheduled to continue to monitor and support the student.

If the concerns have not been addressed a further review period may be agreed or the student will
be referred to Stage 2 of the policy.

Stage 2- Formal action by the College

If the guidelines outlined under Stage 1 have not been successfully followed by the students, or it is
felt that the case is too serious to be dealt with informally, Stage 2 of the procedure can be invoked.

The student shall be requested to meet with her Director of Studies, her Tutor and the Senior Tutor.
Her academic progress will be reviewed and her response to the guidelines given in Stage 1 (if
applicable) discussed. The Tutor can put forward any mitigating circumstances. The student will be
set a number of clearly defined targets and dates by which these are to be met. A formal letter will
be sent to the student listing the set targets and containing a warning that should her work fail to
improve she may be asked to leave the college.
Her work will be monitored primarily by the Director of Studies who should request regular
feedback from all the relevant supervisors and regular meetings should be scheduled with the
student, her Director of Studies and her Tutor

Stage 3 – Formal action by the Tutorial Committee

This stage of the procedure will only be implemented following a referral from a Stage 2, or if in the
opinion of the Senior Tutor (having consulted as appropriate) initial concerns are raised, which are
sufficiently serious as to warrant the consideration of sending the student down, or in the case of
failure of a University examination.

The Senior Tutor shall then convene the Tutorial Committee which should be chaired by a Tutor not
previously involved with the student. The Chair will fix a date for a formal meeting of the Tutorial
Committee to hear the case and invite the student to attend to discuss the concerns and all relevant
issues. A member of the College Tutorial Office staff will act as Secretary to the Committee.

Wherever possible the student will be given at least 7 working days’ notice of the meeting of the
Tutorial Committee and will be informed of the purpose of the hearing. The Chair of the Tutorial
Committee will invite the student to submit any relevant documents and to ensure that all parties
have access to all the following:

 Supervision reports relating to the relevant year or years

 A full written report from the student’s tutor
 A full written report from the student’s Director of Studies
 Any documentation provided by the student
 Results of examinations taken ( including any College mock examinations or entrance tests)
 Extract of College Ordinances and any relevant College policy
 Record of payment of College bills
 Any other relevant documents ( e.g. medical evidence, letters from supervisors ,etc)

The student may be accompanied at the meeting by a Students' Union representative, a fellow
student or other adviser. Disabled students may also be accompanied by a support worker where
required. The student should notify the Chair of the Tutorial Committee at least 24 hours in
advance of the meeting if they are to be accompanied and by whom.

The purpose of the meeting will be to consider the evidence available, including the student's
perception of these concerns and to reach an appropriate decision, action plan or other outcome.

The decision it arrives at shall be confirmed by the Chair of the Tutorial Committee having obtained
a collective decision from members of the Panel.

The student shall be notified in writing of the decision, with reasons, within 14 working days of the
meeting of the Tutorial Committee. It is advisable that the decision is communicated in such a way
that support is available to the student at the time, preferably from the student's Tutor or Senior
Tutor.

The decision may include one or both of the following:

 To permanently send the student down

 To formally monitor the student's progress for a specified period of time. In this case the Panel
will provide the student with an agreed action plan, outlining any steps which the student will
need to take and/or any support to be provided to the student to address the concerns
identified. Regular review meetings with the student will need to be arranged with a nominated
member of staff (to ensure that the action plan is being appropriately).

Right of Appeal

If the student is not satisfied with any decision made in the implementation of the Academic
Progress Policy, she has the right of appeal to the Council within 14 days of the receipt of the
decision letter from the Chair of the Tutorial Committee.