Page 39
13.
I
NFORMATION FOR
F
IRST
-Y
EAR
S
TUDENTS
Year 1 Modules (Level 4)
You are required to take 120 credits at Level 4 in your first year. Compulsory and optional modules
for your degree programme are listed in the Module Catalogue. You will be given advice at induction
and enrolment about your choice of modules.
A brief description of each module, together with the name of the module organiser, an outline of
the module structure and its schedule of assessment may be found in the School’s Module
Catalogue. For students without a grade A in Mathematics A Level (or equivalent), the School will
oblige you to take PX1125 Mathematical Practice for Physical Sciences as your option module in the
Autumn Semester.
Teaching Arrangements
Laboratory Classes
For modules PX1123 Experimental Physics I and PX1223 Experimental Physics II, laboratory classes
will be held on Mondays, Tuesdays or Thursdays from 1.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. (you attend only one
class). Details of the afternoon on which you will be required to attend the laboratory will be
available at the beginning of the session, and on that first afternoon you should assemble in the
Year 1 Laboratory (N/1.34).
For module PX1224 Computational Skills for Problem Solving, 2-hour laboratory classes will be held in
the Computing Laboratory (N/1.30); you again attend only one of the three scheduled classes each
week. Details of the times which you will be required to attend the laboratory will be available at the
beginning of the Spring semester.
Tutorials
Academic tutorials of one hour duration will be held weekly in your Tutor’s office in the Autumn and
Spring semesters (see timetable). In Year 1 the same member of staff acts as your Academic and
Personal Tutor. Personal tutorials are held in Week 6 of the Autumn and Spring semesters. A list of
students and their tutors will be published at the start of the session. The responsibility for attending
scheduled meetings rests with you.
Exercises
For some modules, exercise sheets will be provided each week. You are required to attempt these
exercises and to hand in your work for marking. Exercises must be handed in by the deadline stated
on the exercise sheet in the appropriate “post boxes” near the General Office, Room N/1.04. These
exercises will be marked and returned through your tutor.
Exercise solutions handed in late will not be marked. However, where a student has been absent
through good cause and has submitted appropriate extenuating circumstances, extensions to
deadlines or alternatives assessments can usually be provided.
Solutions will be provided electronically via Learning Central.
Page 40
Progression to Year 2
University Regulations state that to progress from Year 1 to Year 2 you must accumulate at least 100
credits at Level 4, i.e. you must pass in the equivalent of at least 10 single modules. The School offers
resits in the Summer Resit Period to all Year 1 students who fail to accumulate 120 credits but who
have accumulated at least 60 credits. It is wise to work hard for your initial examinations, however,
because there are penalties associated with resists. The Summer Resit Period is normally set in mid
August, interrupting holiday plans, and, unless there are extenuating circumstances which have been
reported to the Examining Board, the maximum mark obtainable in a resit will be 40%. If you still fail
to progress you are normally offered an opportunity to retake failed modules in a repeat year.
Students who have failed to accumulate at least 20 credits at the end of their first year of study will
be required to withdraw.
MPhys Degree Programmes
The performance of students registered for MPhys degree schemes is monitored at the end of Years
1 and 2, where students are expected to obtain a minimum average mark of 55% in each year. A
final decision about entry to the MPhys programmes is made at the end of Year 2, where failure to
achieve 55% may result in candidates being required to transfer to an equivalent BSc programme.
Changing Degree Programmes
You may already have looked at the modules available in subsequent years. As you progress through
your first year you may have possibly considered changing your degree programme. You should be
aware that you need make no final decision about your intended degree programme until after the
publication of the results of the Spring-semester examinations in May/June (though there may be
restrictions about which programme you are able to transfer). At the end of your first year you will
have ample opportunity to discuss your progression into the second year. Advice will be available on
the various three-year and four-year degree programmes when you pre-enrol in April for your
second year.
School Requirements for Year 1 Students
•
You must attend laboratory classes, tutorials, exercise classes and course tests where
appropriate.
•
You must carry out and write up all necessary practical work and work required by your
Academic Tutor.
•
You must attempt the weekly exercise sheets and hand in your work to be marked.
•
You are required to attend the first lecture of all modules. You are strongly advised to attend
all other lectures.
•
Failure to meet any of the above requirements may lead to a recommendation for exclusion
from further study at the University.
•
Students who exhibit grossly unsatisfactory attendance or effort in practical and exercise
work may not be allowed to progress to Year 2.