Topic outline
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The Medical School has developed and designed an assessment system weighted towards educational impact that drives learning of all students. The assessment system does not just identify academic progress but drives deep, contextual and constructive learning that will last a lifetime.
The University of Buckingham Medical School is committed to ensuring that methods of assessment are effective in measuring student attainment of the intended learning outcomes and that assessment policy and practices are effective in monitoring the validity, equality and reliability of assessment.
The primary purpose of summative assessment at the University of Buckingham Medical School is to assure the Medical School, the individual student, future employers, the General Medical Council and the public that each student has achieved all of the 'outcomes for graduates' defined in 'Tomorrow's Doctors' (2009) by the end of the course and that students earlier in the course are making satisfactory progress towards those outcomes.
As most students will reach the outcomes through consistently satisfactory performance in assessments, however, the other main purpose of the assessment system is to drive the learning of all students, and the medical school has therefore chosen to place a high weight on educational impact in the design of the assessment system. The aim is to assess students in ways that will drive deep, contextual & constructive learning that will last into life-long practice, not just to identify those few students who are not reaching the outcomes.
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In Phase 1, there will be an End of Term Assessment (ETA) at the end of each term. In Phase 2, there will be an assessment at the end of each rotation. The Key Assessment dates are below. Results will be posted shortly after the exam board has met.
2023 / 2024 Academic Year
(All dates and venues are provisional and may be subject to change)
Cohort Assessment Location
BuckinghamLocation
CreweExam Day Exam Board M20 PSA1 UoB n/a 02/02/2024 F n/a M20 FPEA UoB n/a 11/03/2024 M TBC M20 FPEB UoB n/a 12/03/2024 T M20 OSCE4A WH n/a 13/03/2024 W M20 OSCE4B WH n/a 14/03/2024 TH M20 PSA3 MKUH A/C n/a 23/04/2024 T n/a M20 Y4 QE A MKUH A/C n/a 20/05/2024 M TBC M20 Y4 QE B MKUH A/C n/a 21/05/2024 T M20 Y4 QE OSCE A MKUH A/C n/a 23/05/2024 TH M20 Y4 QE OSCE B MKUH A/C n/a 24/05/2024 F M20 PSA4 MKUH A/C n/a 31/05/2024 F n/a Cohort Assessment Location
BuckinghamLocation
CreweExam Day Exam Board M21 MIPE CRB Wellness Centre 16/11/2023 Th n/a M21 IPEA WH GYM 26/02/2024 M TBC M21 IPEB WH GYM 27/02/2024 T M21 IPEC WH GYM 28/02/2024 W M21 OSCE3A WH Wellness Centre 29/02/2024 TH M21 OSCE3B WH Wellness Centre 01/03/2024 F M21 Y3 QE A MKUH A/C GYM 08/04/2024 M TBC M21 Y3 QE B MKUH A/C GYM 09/04/2024 T M21 Y3 QE C MKUH A/C GYM 10/04/2024 W M21 Y3 QE OSCE A MKUH A/C Wellness Centre 11/04/2024 TH M21 Y3 QE OSCE B MKUH A/C Wellness Centre 12/04/2024 F Cohort Assessment Location
BuckinghamLocation
CreweExam Day Exam Board M22 ETA5 Kent's Hill GYM 08/08/2023 T 30/08/2023 M22 OSCE2 CRB Wellness Centre 24/10/2023 T 09/11/2023 M22 ETA6A CRB GYM 26/10/2023 TH M22 ETA6B CRB GYM 27/10/2023 F M22 QE2A CRB GYM 11/12/2023 M 18/01/2024 M22 QE2B CRB GYM 12/12/2023 T M22 QE2 OSCE CRB Wellness Centre 15/12/2023 F Cohort Assessment Location
BuckinghamLocation
CreweExam Day Exam Board M23 ETA2A Kent's Hill GYM 11/07/2023 T 02/08/2023 M23 ETA2B Kent's Hill GYM 12/07/2023 W M23 MOSCE CRB Wellness Centre 17/08/2023 TH n/a M23 ETA3A CRB GYM 16/10/2023 M 02/11/2023 M23 ETA3B CRB GYM 17/10/2023 T M23 OSCE1.1 CRB Wellness Centre 19/10/2023 TH M23 OSCE1.2 CRB Wellness Centre 20/10/2023 F M23 QE1A CRB GYM 11/12/2023 M 10/01/2024 M23 QE1B CRB GYM 12/12/2023 T M23 QE1 OSCE CRB Wellness Centre 14/12/2023 TH M23 ETA4 CRB GYM 09/04/2024 T TBC M23 ETA5 CRB GYM 17/07/2024 W TBC M23 ETA6A CRB GYM 23/10/2024 W TBC M23 ETA6B CRB GYM 24/10/2024 TH M23 OSCE2.1 CRB Wellness Centre 30/10/2024 W M23 OSCE2.2 CRB Wellness Centre 31/10/2024 TH M23 QE2A CRB GYM 16/12/2024 M TBC M23 QE2B CRB GYM 17/12/2024 T M23 QE2 OSCE CRB Wellness Centre 19/12/2024 TH Cohort Assessment Location
BuckinghamLocation
CreweExam Day Exam Board M24 META1 CRB GYM 05/03/2024 T n/a M24 ETA1 CRB GYM 08/04/2024 M TBC M24 ETA2A CRB GYM 15/07/2024 M TBC M24 ETA2B CRB GYM 16/07/2024 T M24 MOSCE CRB Wellness Centre 22/08/2024 W n/a M24 ETA3A CRB GYM 21/10/2024 M TBC M24 ETA3B CRB GYM 22/10/2024 T M24 OSCE1.1 CRB Wellness Centre 28/10/2024 M M24 OSCE1.2 CRB Wellness Centre 29/10/2024 T M24 QE1A CRB GYM 09/12/2024 M TBC M24 QE1B CRB GYM 10/12/2024 T M24 QE1 OSCE CRB Wellness Centre 12/12/2024 TH
************************************************************Dates are indicative only and may be subject to change.
Written exams may be in the morning or afternoon.
Times and location will be confirmed two weeks before the exam by email.
Results are usually released within two working days of the Exam Board meeting.
Results of assessment maybe withheld if a student has outstanding tuition fees.
Students need to be available for the whole day for OSCEs.
Students who do not meet the requirements to progress automatically, can take the qualifying exam (QE).
Further detail regarding assessment arrangements are described in the Assessment Code Of Practice.
For information on Mitigating Circumstances, please click here
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Assessment Location Date Exam day Exam Board Sept 2022 BSc Biomed Science / Cert HE L4 Paper A GYM 30/05/2023 TU pm tbc Sept 2022 BSc Biomed Science / Cert HE L4 Paper B GYM 31/05/2023 W pm tbc Sept 2022 BSc Biomed Science / Cert HE L4 Paper C GYM 01/06/2023 TH am tbc Sept 2022 BSc Biomed Science L5 Paper A GYM 19/12/2023 TU am tbc Sept 2022 BSc Biomed Science L5 Paper B GYM 21/12/2023 TH am tbc Assessment Location Date Exam day Exam Board Sept 2021 BSc Biomed Science L6 Paper A GYM 11/07/2023 TU am tbc Sept 2021 BSc Biomed Science L6 Paper B GYM 13/07/2023 TH pm tbc -
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This version of the Code of Practice no longer applies to any cohorts from Feb 2018.
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Code of Practice for Assessment
Approved November 2016
This version of the Code of Practice will apply to students entering the course in 2017 from the beginning of their course (subject to any changes made subsequently). It will also apply to students who entered the course in 2016, starting from the beginning of their Phase 2 in February 2018, and to students who entered the course in 2015, starting from January 2018.
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This version of the Code of Practice will apply to students entering the course in 2018 from the beginning of their course (subject to any changes made subsequently). It will also apply to students who entered the course in 2017, starting from the beginning of their Phase 2 in February 2018, and to students who entered the course in 2015 or 2016, starting from January 2019.
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This version of the Code of Practice will apply to students entering the course in 2020 from the beginning of their course (subject to any changes made subsequently). It will also apply to students who entered the course in 2018, starting from the beginning of their Phase 2 in March 2020, and to students who entered the course in 2016, 2017 or 2019, starting from January 2020.
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This version of the Code of Practice will apply to students entering the course in 2024 from the beginning of their course (subject to any changes made subsequently), and to students who entered the course in 2023, from the beginning of their Phase 2 in February 2025. It will also apply to students who entered the course in 2022, starting from the beginning of their Phase 2 in February 2024, and will apply to students who entered the course in 2021, from April 2024.
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A summary of information about medical school examinations
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UBMS uses a list of presentations to ensure that students are exposed to all the presentations that a doctor will experience multiple times in their course both in teaching and assessment. Summative assessments are planned, so that students will revisit these presentations multiple times.
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The medical school bases its procedures on those of the University of Buckingham. All students sitting examinations need to be familiar with them.
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Message to students from the University regarding the use of AI in assessments
AI is a potentially powerful tool, however care must be taken in its use in an educational context. Your educators will be looking for opportunities to incorporate the use of AI into your programme of study for appropriate tasks.
As students you should adopt the default position that AI is allowed only when specifically stated. It is very unlikely that AI generated content is permitted in a summative assessment. If in any doubt, it is your responsibility to clarify the situation before you use AI.
When tasks are set it should become routinely stated whether and how the use of AI is allowed.
When you use AI, you must state that you have done so and how, referencing the source. Failure to do so will be regarded as Academic Misconduct.
During the course, students will be taught the benefits and potential issues with AI generated material and how to reference AI material properly.
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This is a webinar from the MSCAA about the AKT which will form part of the finals for all medical students from now on.
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This is the presentation from the briefing about the process for submitting your files to your NM, eportfolio or SSC Lead / Library Project Supervisor.
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Examsoft is a system that enables you to take exams on various devices. The simple set up process is outlined below.
When you are registered as an examtaker in Examsoft, you will get an automated email asking you to download the Examsoft app (called Examplify) from the app store. Ignore any references to paying a fee and system requirements.
Update: 24/10/22 Apple released its newest operating system for iPad, iPadOS 16. Examsoft are pleased to announce that the current version of Examplify for iPad (4.7) is certified as compatible with this latest operating system update.Please note that they have updated their Minimum System Requirements to reflect this support, as well as removed support for iPadOS 13.
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This presentation explains how to prepare your device to take a digital exam.
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This linked page provides a video demonstrating Examplify. It shows: how to login, download an exam, enter an exam, navigate the app, the different types of question used, and how to exit and upload an exam. It is demonstrated first on a personal computer (laptop) and then on on an iPad (from about 8 minutes).
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In Year 3 of the course students rotate around 6 Blocks (Junior Rotation). This guidance describes how to prepare for the examinations at the end of the year.
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You need to bear in mind infection control and patient safety. Even if your exam is not in a clinical area, the people you are in contact with will be going into clinical areas. For these reasons the MKUH Staff Health and Wellbeing Department provides the following guidance, based on the information in the MKUH document "Precautions for Specific Infections":
Diarrhoea (with an unknown cause): do not attend until asymptomatic for 48 hours if stools are watery (see the Bristol Stool Chart)
Vomitting (with an unknown cause): do not attend until asymptomatic for 48 hours.
Diarrhoea and/or vomitting (with known cause that is not infectious, e.g. IBS or motion sickness): you may attend if you feel well enough.
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The UK Medical Licensing Assessment (UK MLA) will be a demonstration that those UK graduates who obtain registration with a licence to practise medicine in the UK meet a common threshold for safe practice. It will go live for students graduating in the academic year 2024-25 or beyond.
The UK MLA will consist of two parts:
- The Medical Schools Applied Knowledge Test (MS AKT): a written assessment of applied clinical knowledge which will be taken by all students at UK medical schools as part of the final set of exams leading to graduation.
- The Clinical and Professional Skills Assessment (CPSA): the clinical examination run by medical schools for students in the final stage of their medical degree.
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A link to the resources about the MLA on the Medical School Council (MSC) website
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A student guide is now available on the MSC website. The guide is designed to provide a general overview of the processes relating to the MS AKT. The guide will be updated yearly.