Essential rules for all students: 

• Ensure you submit all assessments for each course, including resits. Failing to submit an assessment could result in failing the overall degree. This is true, regardless of the assessment value, even if the assessment is only worth 10% (or less) of the overall course mark.

• You have three opportunities to pass a first year course.

• Unless you are on the LLB programme, you have only two opportunities to pass a second, third or fourth year course. If you are on the LLB programme you have three opportunities to pass all courses.

• If you fail a course, you must resubmit all failed assessments within that course; whilst the resit mark will appear on your academic transcript, your overall grade (e.g. Pass, Third, Lower Second, Upper Second, First) for that course will be capped at Pass when calculating your overall degree classification.

• If you find yourself unable to submit a non-observed assessment (for example, a blog, case study, essay, policy paper, portfolio, poster, project, research proposal) by the stated deadline you should follow the extension request procedure. See the “processes to support your studies” section below. 

• If you find yourself unable to attempt an observed assessment (for example, an in-class test, a presentation, an unseen exam), or, your extension request has been rejected, or approved but you feel you still do not have enough time to complete the assessment, you should follow the deferral procedure. See the “processes to support your studies” section below. 

• Deferring an assessment: You must submit your deferral request no later than 24 hours before the assessment deadline or start time of an exam (it is possible to submit evidence within 2 weeks after this). For postgraduate students, or final year undergraduate students, deferring an assessment will mean that you complete your degree programme later than scheduled. The In-Year Resit and Deferred Assessment Periods (IRDAP) take place in August for undergraduate courses (and IRDAP enabled postgraduate courses) and in January for all other postgraduate courses.

• When you submit an assessment, the School will consider you have declared yourself fit enough to do so. Therefore, if you have experienced circumstances that you feel have impacted your academic performance, you should carefully consider the extension or deferral procedures as above.

• If you were unable to follow the extension or deferral procedures, but you feel you have experienced circumstances that have impacted your academic performance you should submit an Exceptional Circumstances (EC) form with corroborating evidence. See the “processes to support your studies” section below.

• If you are enrolled on a three year degree programme, you must complete the programme in no more than five years in total. If you are enrolled on a four year programme, you must complete the programme in no more than six years in total. This even includes where you have deferred assessment(s) or taken a break (known as an interruption)in studies.

Progression

• In order to progress to year two, you must pass at least three out of four first year course units excluding LSE100.

• In order to progress to year three, you must pass at least seven out of eight course units taken across these two years, excluding LSE100.

• In order to progress to year four of the BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics programme, you must pass eleven out of twelve course units taken across the first three years of the programme.

Final year students; understanding the Classification Scheme

Your overall degree classification (links to classification schemes can be found below) is calculated using the marks you receive for:

• The average of your best three full unit first year marks (which can include LSE100).

• All of your second and third year (and fourth year if applicable) marks.

• These are known as Classification Marks. The classification scheme for your programme sets out how many Classification Marks within each grade boundary are needed to receive a particular degree classification of Pass, Third Class, Lower Second Class, Upper Second Class or First Class.

The classification scheme also sets out penalty rules which can be applied once you have completed all of your courses:

• You will drop down one degree classification if you are carrying more than one unit of fail marks after completing all courses.

• The overall classification will be capped at Pass if you are carrying three units of fail marks after completing all courses.

• You will be awarded the degree as soon as you have met the minimum requirements after completing all of your courses. This means that, if you have failed courses in your final year, you may not be eligible to resit them and you will be awarded a degree classification based on the courses you have passed; this typically means if you have passed at least 11 course units for a three year programme or 13 course units for a four year programme.

Common reasons for academic failure and non-completion of a degree

• Failing to submit all required assessments within each course and running out of resit opportunities to do so.

• Failing to meet the progression rules and running out of resit opportunities to do so.

• Submitting an assessment when not fit to do so and receiving a fail or absent mark when it may have been possible to receive an extension or deferral. 

Regulations

Essential rules for all students:

• Ensure you submit all assessments for each course, including resits. Failing to submit an assessment, regardless of the weighting (e.g. even if it is only worth 10% of the overall course mark) can result in a “Zero Absent” or “Zero Incomplete” mark which means you would be required to resubmit in order to receive a mark and grade for that course.

• You have two opportunities to pass a course.

• If you find yourself unable to submit a non-observed assessment (for example, a blog, case study, essay, policy paper, portfolio, poster, project, research proposal) by the stated deadline you should follow the extension request procedure. See the “processes to support your studies” section below. 

• If you find yourself unable to attempt an observed assessment (for example, an in-class test, a presentation, an unseen exam), or, your extension request has been rejected, or approved but you feel you still do not have enough time to complete the assessment, you should follow the deferral procedure. See the “processes to support your studies” section below.

• When you submit an assessment, the School will consider you have declared yourself fit enough to do so. Therefore, if you have experienced circumstances that you feel have impacted your academic performance, you should carefully consider the extension or deferral procedures as above.

• If, having submitted an assessment because you were unable to follow the above procedures, but you feel you have experienced circumstances that have impacted your academic performance you should submit an Exceptional Circumstances form with corroborating evidence. See the “processes to support your studies” section below. 

Essential rules for all students:

• Ensure you submit all assessments for each course, including resits. Failing to submit an assessment could result in failing the overall degree. This is true regardless of the assessment value, even if the assessment is only worth 10% (or less) of the overall course mark.

• You have two opportunities to pass a course.

• There are two types of fail grades (the pass mark of 50) for students that receive marks of 49 or below; a Bad Fail or non-Bad Fail. Each Department will set a Bad Fail course mark. If you receive a Bad Fail course mark it means you must resubmit all failed assessments within that course in order to be eligible to complete your degree, regardless of your other marks. If you receive a Bad Fail mark at resit it will mean you have failed the degree.

• If you receive a non-Bad Fail course mark in a half unit only but pass all other courses, you can be awarded the degree without the need to resubmit the failed course. If you receive a non-Bad Fail mark in one unit only, it might be possible to compensate for this one unit of fail with your other marks. This might depend on whether your Department has any local rules which may set out specific marks that you need to achieve to compensate for a non-Bad Fail course unit. Aside from compensation, local rules may also set out specific marks you need to achieve in order to be awarded an overall Merit or Distinction. If your Department has no specific local rules than you would need to satisfy the compensation or requirements for the overall award of Pass, Merit or Distinction as set out within the classification scheme for your programme only. 

• If you receive a Bad Fail course mark or are unable to compensate for a failed mark with your other passing marks, you must resubmit all failed assessments within that course; whilst the resit mark will appear on your student record, your overall grade for that course will be capped at Pass when calculating your overall degree classification.

• If you find yourself unable to submit a non-observed assessment (for example, a blog, case study, essay, policy paper, portfolio, poster, project, research proposal) by the stated deadline you should follow the extension request procedure. See the “processes to support your studies” section below.

• If you find yourself unable to attempt an observed assessment (for example, an in-class test, a presentation, an unseen exam), or, your extension request has been rejected, or approved but you feel you still do not have enough time to complete the assessment, you should follow the deferral procedure. See the “processes to support your studies” section below.

• Deferring an assessment: You must submit your deferral request no later than 24 hours before the assessment deadline or start time of an exam (it is possible to submit evidence within 2 weeks after this). For postgraduate students, or final year undergraduate students, deferring an assessment will mean that you complete your degree programme later than scheduled. The In-Year Resit and Deferred Assessment Periods (IRDAP) take place in August for undergraduate courses (and IRDAP enabled postgraduate courses) and January for all other postgraduate courses.

• When you submit an assessment, the School will consider you have declared yourself fit enough to do so. Therefore, if you have experienced circumstances that you feel have impacted your academic performance, you should carefully consider the extension or deferral procedures as above.

• If, having submitted an assessment because you were unable to follow the above procedures, but you feel you have experienced circumstances that have impacted your academic performance you should submit an Exceptional Circumstances form with corroborating evidence. See the “processes to support your studies” section below. 

• If you are enrolled on a 9, 10 or 12 month degree programme, you must complete the programme in no more than three years in total. For 24 month or part-time programmes, you must complete the programme in no more than four years in total.

Understanding the Classification Scheme

• Your overall degree classification (links to classification schemes can be found below) is not based on the average of your marks; rather, the classification scheme for your programme sets out how many Classification Marks within each grade boundary are needed to achieve a particular degree classification of Pass, Merit or Distinction.

The classification scheme also sets out what happens in the case of fail marks:

• You must resubmit if you receive a Bad Fail course mark.

• You must resubmit if you receive more than one unit of fail marks.

• You must resit if you have received one unit of fail marks and do not have enough other marks to compensate for that fail mark.

Your overall degree classification will drop down by one classification (i.e. from Distinction to Merit or Merit to Pass) if:

• You have to resubmit as a result of receiving a Bad Fail mark; or

• You have to compensate one unit of fail marks.

Common reasons for academic failure

• Failing to submit all assessments within each course and running out of resit opportunities to do so.

• Receiving a Bad Fail mark and running out of resit opportunities.

• Deciding not to submit an extension or deferral request and failing or being absent and running out of resit opportunities.

• Deciding to submit assessments when not fit to do so resulting in fail or absent marks (Exceptional Circumstances will not be accepted where a student was aware of their circumstances in advance of an assessment).

• Failing to formally opt out of a resit and failing to sit/submit the resit assessment.

Regulations

The School has a “fit to sit” policy that applies to all students. If you submit an assessment, or sit an exam, the School considers you have declared yourself well enough to do so.

If you experience disruption to your studies prior to the assessment (e.g. due to personal difficulties, crime, bereavement, illness etc.) you must think carefully about whether you should attempt it or whether you should apply for an extension or request to defer. 

If you experience circumstances which are sudden, unforeseen, outside of your control close to when an assessment is due for submission, you should consider requesting an extension. This may be appropriate for an essay, project or dissertation. You need to submit your extension request in advance of the submission deadline.

If you feel you require more time to submit the work than an extension would normally allow, or the assessment in question has a static deadline e.g. an exam or take home assessment released on a specific date, you  should consider requesting a deferral. You must submit the deferral form and evidence in advance of the submission deadline or starting time of an exam.

For postgraduate students, or final year undergraduate students, deferring an assessment will mean that you complete your degree programme later than scheduled. The In-Year Resit and Deferred Assessment Periods (IRDAP) take place in August for undergraduate courses (and IRDAP enabled postgraduate courses) and January for all other postgraduate courses.

More information about taking deferred assessments can be found here.

If having submitted an assessment or attempted an exam, you feel your performance was directly impacted by circumstances which were sudden, unforeseen, and outside of your control, you should submit Exceptional Circumstances (ECs) in order to allow the Exam Board to take your circumstances into account. 

However, ECs are unlikely to be accepted if it was possible for you to request an extension or deferral in advance of the assessment deadline. Please read the Student Guidance on ECs before submitting your exceptional circumstances form.

In all cases, when requesting an extension, deferral or submitting ECs, you must submit appropriate corroborating evidence.

Student Advice and Engagement Team

The Student Advice and Engagement Team provides advice to students on academic matters, UK student immigration, UKVI compliance and manage the front-facing Student Services Centre counter.

Departmental Senior Student Advice Team

There’s lots of support available to you. Appointments are available online and in-person.

Our Departmental Senior Student Advisers are here to support you during your time at LSE, helping you to navigate (alongside your Academic Mentor and other departmental colleagues) the advice and support services available to you, and to assist with your wellbeing needs.

Up to 30 mins appointments are available in-person and online for several departments - see below for your adviser's details and availability. If your home department is not listed, support will be offered in a different way - talk to your Academic Mentor or check your home department's web pages for further information.

You may also like to seek advice from your Programme Manager/administrator and/or Academic Mentor, particularly if your Department does not have a Departmental Senior Student Adviser.

If you need urgent mental health support, please visit our webpages. 

Help with academic writing

You are advised to carefully read all assessment instructions for every single assessment, you should also ensure you are familiar with the information relating to assessment submissions within your Department handbook and any relevant Departmental webpages.

• You can also find help and individually tailored advice through Learning Lab here.
  

• Advice for submitting on-line assessments to LSE can be found here.

You can find detailed and helpful advice from the LSE Library as follows:

Your department librarians are available online to assist with referencing or research resource questions as you prepare for your online assessments. 

Read our Citing and referencing guidance  to help you ensure that you will be citing your sources accurately and consistently. 

The resource Cite them right is a resource containing advice on how to reference different resources, according to different academic citation styles such as MLA or APA. The Cite them Right Tutorial and Basics section covers the most common questions.  

The Library will be running regular referencing sessions online in Spring term which can be booked on the LSE Training system. 

Materials from our workshops are in Moodle - LSE Life: finding and referencing sources.

The Student Wellbeing Service works with you and the wider school to explore and manage challenges relating to disability, and to support your wellbeing so you can make the most of your LSE experience.

School regulations allow for Central Exam Adjustments (CEAs) to be made if you have a documented medical, physical or mental health condition and/or a Specific Learning Difficulty such as dyslexia or dyspraxia. 

The purpose of CEAs is to provide an environment that gives all students an equal opportunity in exams. These adjustments are confidential and will not be listed on your transcript or degree certificate.

If you need details of where your exam will be taking place visit CEA and Late Entry Daily Arrangements.

My Adjustments (MAs) are LSE’s system of recording the adjustments and support available to disabled students. It is a document tailored to your individual circumstances and needs, and outlines the reasonable adjustments which the School will put in place to support your study.

Your MAs are based on formal medical evidence and completed in collaboration with you. We will work with you to establish how best we can provide appropriate support.

If you want to view your current MAs, or need to review and approve an adjustment request you can do so by logging into the My Adjustments Portal.