ACGR Information

Field = Mode of Assessment / Method of Assessment

The "Mode of Assessment” and “Method of Assessment” fields are compulsory.

The Mode is the highest level categorisation and Akari includes four options summarising the conditions under which assessments take place: Exam, Assignment, In-class, Dissertation.

The following level of categorisation is the Method, which describes the most common methods of assessment in use at the School.

The Mode will determine which Methods are available to select.

Where can I find a term that I used to use for assessment in CAPIS?

Following a thorough review by the Education Committee in October 2023, the assessment terminology previously used in CAPIS was updated for Akari. Some generic terms were removed, and new ones added.

As a result, certain terms you previously used, such as Coursework, Take-Home Assessment, and Other, are no longer available in the dropdown menu.

During the data migration from CAPIS to Akari, some assessments could not be mapped to an existing term. If no equivalent term exists, it will appear as “Pre-Akari historic data” and will need updating. If you cannot find an exact match in the Method of Assessment dropdown, select the closest option and provide additional details in the “Summative Assessment: Additional Information for the Course Guide” text box at the bottom of the screen.

Note: The “Assessment Description” text box at the top of the screen is for internal use only and will not appear in course guides.

How do I enter a take-home assessment?

If the course has a take-home exam (previously listed as "take home assessment" in CAPIS), you will need to select a different description by following the steps below, as this terminology no longer exists in Akari:

1. For the “Mode of Assessment” do not select any of the Exam options, as these should only be selected for centrally scheduled exams (run by the SSC). Instead, select Assignment.
2. Then for the “Method of Assessment” select the most suitable option from the dropdown based on the types of questions asked in the take home assessment.
3. Provide the weighting of the assessment (0-100%).
4. Leave the “Exam Timetabling Period” as Not Applicable as this is not a centrally timetabled Exam.
5. Select the “Start date” and “End Date (Due Date)” of the assessment period if relevant, using the calendar grids. (This will not appear in the course guide.)
6. Select the “Timing of Submission” either by choosing a specific week such as AT Week 6, or by choosing the relevant month of submission (June, July, etc). This information will be included in the course guide if provided.
7. For the “Expected Effort”, select the number of hours expected. (This will not appear in the course guide.)
8. Fill in any of the other fields if/as necessary.
9. Click the green tick to save the assessment record.
10. At the very bottom of the assessment screen, under the “Summative Assessment: Additional Content for the Course Guide” please add any additional relevant information that you want published in the course guide for students, such as the start/end dates of the assessment and the hours of expected effort.

How do I enter a centrally scheduled exam?

1. For the “Mode of Assessment”, select one of the Exam options: Exam (Paper), Exam (E-exam BYOD), Exam (Online exam time-limited within 24 hour window), Exam (Online exam timed with set start/end time), Exam (Online exam 24 hour window). (The Mode will be published in course guides).
2. Then for the “Method of Assessment” select the most suitable option from the dropdown based on the types of questions asked in the exam. (The Method will not be published in course guides for Exams).
3. Provide the weighting of the assessment (0-100%).
4. Select the “Exam Timetabling Period” as either January or Spring.
5. Select the “Start date” and “End Date (Due Date)” of the assessment period if relevant, using the calendar grids. (This will not appear in the course guide.)
6. Leave the “Timing of Submission” as Not Set.
7. Provide the “Exam Reading Time” if relevant.
8. For the “Expected Effort”, select the number of hours expected, if relevant. (This will not appear in the course guide.)
9. Fill in any of the other fields if/as necessary.
10. Click the green tick to save the assessment record.
11. At the very bottom of the assessment screen, under the “Summative Assessment: Additional Content for the Course Guide” please add any additional relevant information that you want published in the course guide for students.

Field = Formative tick box

How do I enter formative assessment?

In CAPIS, the formative and summative assessment information was contained on separate tabs. In Akari, it is all contained within the Assessments tab.

For courses with standard grading or pass/fail grading schemes, please enter a separate assessment item for each piece of assessment for the course, including formative assessment.

To add formative assessment in Akari please take the following steps:

1. Click on the Assessment Breakdown “nested field” icon (green box with white cross).
2.  Enter the relevant information.
3. Ensure the Formative tick box is selected.
4. Click the “tick” icon (green box with white tick).
5. Complete a separate assessment entry for each assessment task. For example, if the course has a summative Exam, Presentation and Class Participation, and a formative Essay, please complete four entries: 1) Exam, 2) Presentation 3) Class Participation, 4) Essay (with formative tick box selected).

Field = Resit Format

How do I complete the Resit Format field?

If all assessment items for this course have the same resit format as the original assessment, you do not need to enter any resit information. The system will automatically default to "Same as Original."

However, if any assessment item is non-repeatable and requires a different resit format, you must manually enter resit details for all assessment items, even those that remain unchanged. This ensures the resit components add up to 100%.

Only select "Non-repeatable" as the resit format if the original assessment itself is non-repeatable, such as in-class assessments or group work.

Field = Group Participation

How do I record Group Work in Akari?

Please note that while the assessment descriptions in CAPIS included group options (e.g. Group Essay, Group Presentation), the assessment descriptions in the Mode and Method of Assessment fields in Akari do not include group options.

To record that an assessment requires group work in Akari please take the following steps:

1. Click on the Assessment Breakdown “nested field” icon (green box with white cross).
2. Enter the relevant information in each field.
3. Select an option from the Group Participation field (this field will not appear in course guides).
4. Click the “tick” icon (green box with white tick).
5. Add any additional information about the group requirement to the “Summative Assessment: Additional Information for the Course Guide” field, so that students are informed that the assessment involves group work.

Field = Type of Marking

Do I need to complete Type of Marking?

The marking type used for each assessment will not appear in course guides.

However, departments should record the marking type for each assessment for reporting purposes.

Field = Contact Type 

What do I do if the field shows as 'not set'?

The data in this field may show as the default “Not Set” for some courses where this information could not be migrated automatically from CAPIS:

If this field shows as “Not Set”, please update the data to the correct option during the ACGR.

Field = Teaching Period

(contained within the Teaching Arrangements table)

What do I do if the field shows as 'not set'?

The data in this field may show as the default “Not Set” for some courses where this information could not be migrated automatically from CAPIS:

If this field shows as “Not Set”, please update the data to the correct option during the ACGR.

Field = Taught Across Number of Weeks (excluding reading week/s)

Why does this field show as '1 week'?

The data in this field may show as the default “1 week” for some courses where this information could not be migrated automatically from CAPIS:

If this field shows as “1 week”, please update the data to the correct option during the ACGR.

Field = Teaching Arrangements

Do I need to populate the Teaching Arrangements table?

To enable central oversight of teaching contact times and types departments are being asked to provide a breakdown of the teaching delivered for each course.

This data was temporarily removed as a consequence of the pandemic, and has not been re-entered for some courses since that time.

If the course does not have the Teaching Arrangements table populated, and instead only has text describing the teaching in the "Teaching Arrangements: Additional Content for the Course Guide" field, where possible please take the following steps:

1. Click on the Teaching Arrangements “nested field” icon (green box with white cross)
2. Enter the relevant information
3. Click the “tick” icon (green box with white tick)
4. Complete a separate teaching arrangement entry for each type of teaching in each term. For example, if the course runs lectures and seminars in Autumn Term and Winter Term, please complete four entries: 1) Lectures AT, 2) Seminars AT, 3) Lectures WT, 4) Seminars WT.

Please note the following definitions:

Compulsory Course: A course on a programme of study which a student is required to complete to fulfil the requirements for that programme.

Core Course: A course which is offered on a short list of optional courses, e.g. ‘choose one course from three’; in this case all three courses would be considered core. Such courses are detailed in the prospectus information about a programme.

Field = Affiliated Entities

This field lists all of the programmes on which the course is available, however this list cannot be updated in the course record. 

How do I make updates to course availability?

Previously, course availability changes were made through CAPIS, emails, and Department Teaching Committee minutes, then manually entered into REG - a disjointed process prone to errors.

Now, in Akari, all course availability changes must be made via the programme record. Since departments cannot edit programme records directly, please follow the Akari Support Site steps for submitting a programme change.

To streamline updates, we encourage departments to review programme regulations holistically and submit one minor change request covering all course availability updates, rather than multiple individual requests.

However, changes affecting compulsory or core courses are considered major and must be submitted before the UG/PG prospectus deadlines.

You can still update the following via course records:

✔ Outside options
✔ General course availability (UG)
✔ Capping (UG)
✔ Controlled access (PG)

Field = Course Convenor or Co-Convenors

Is the Course Convenor in Akari the same as the Teacher Responsible in CAPIS?

Yes, the Teacher Responsible is now known as the Course Convenor in Akari. Any Course Convenors or Co-Convenors listed in this section will appear in the course guide.

TQARO also plans to use the Course Convenor data to inform the course survey setup. Please be aware that the first name listed in the Course Convenor table will be selected as the course convenor for Course Surveys as default.

Please contact tqarosurveys@lse.ac.uk for more information about the Course Survey set up process if you have any questions.

Field = Learning Outcomes

In Akari, you now have the ability to update Learning Outcomes as part of the annual review - something that wasn’t possible in CAPIS.

While Learning Outcomes are not currently published in course guides, we encourage departments to review, update, or add them where needed to ensure they are accurately recorded in the system.

How can I make my Learning Outcomes display correctly?

If the course already has Learning Outcomes listed in Akari, please review them for accuracy.

Where necessary, split them into individual outcomes and edit or remove any unnecessary information that may have been included during the proposal stage.

Should I add Learning Outcomes where there are none?

If the course has no Learning Outcomes listed in Akari, we recommend adding them if available.

If they are not yet fully developed, we recommend working with the Eden Centre to create them.

What do I need to do to update this field?

As mentioned in Professor Emma McCoy’s Educate for Global Impact message to departments on 19 September 2024, all programme directors / teams have been asked to develop or review their existing programme learning outcomes (PLOs) on all taught programmes at LSE by the end of the academic year 2025/26.

Once you have undertaken this review, please submit the updated PLOs via Akari. Please refer to the Akari Support Site for how to make changes to programmes.