1999 Engineering Handbook - Assessment procedures

Assessment procedures

General
Near Pass (NP)
Final grade (honours/pass)

General

Students should note carefully the general information on assessment of students contained in the Student information handbook. The faculty uses a variety of methods for assessing the performance of enrolled students including any laboratory work, assignments, essays, oral and written examinations. The specific means for assessment for each subject are generally included within the outlines of subjects contained in this handbook. Further information, including prerequisite and corequisite requirements and reading lists may also be found there or will be distributed at the initial class for each subject.
In terms of examination grades, the faculty applies the following grades and symbols to its subjects according to marks allocated:

Subject mark	Grade
80-100	High distinction (HD)
70-79	Distinction (D)
60-69	Credit (C)
50-59	Pass (P)
45-49	Near Pass (NP) or Fail (N)
0-44	Fail (N)

At Caulfield and Clayton, in those cases where supplementary examinations are awarded, a grade of NS shall be recorded pending the result of the supplementary examination.

Near Pass (NP)

A student is permitted to count towards the degree not more than eight credit points at any one level from subjects in which a grade of NP has been obtained and shall be awarded a grade of NP for a subject in which a mark in the range 45-49% has been obtained, provided that such an award does not cause the number of credit points accumulated from subjects in which NP grades have been obtained to exceed eight. Otherwise, a grade of N shall be awarded.
Where a department believes that an NP grade in a designated subject provides an inadequate academic preparation for progressing to a further subject for which a pass in the designated subject is a prerequisite, the department may, with the approval of the faculty board, prescribe that a pass or better must be obtained in the designated subject before progressing to the further subject.

Final grade (honours/pass)

The degree of Bachelor of Engineering with honours is awarded for meritorious performance in the courses. No additional time is required. All subjects which have a numerical mark are considered in the determination of an honours result, but greater weight is given to the subjects in the later years of the course. Award level is calculated on the basis of a weighted average grade. Target grades are as follows:

Honours level	Weighted grade (engineering degrees)	Weighted grade (BCSE only)
H1	75% < 100%	78% < 100%
H2A	70% < 75%	71% < 78%
H2B	65% < 70%	65% < 71%
H3	62.5% < 65%	62.5% < 65%
Pass grade	50% < 62.5%	50% < 62.5%

Grade variation from the above targets may be a maximum of ±1% as determined by the faculty.
The honours calculation includes the weighting of each subject, that is, a level-one subject is weighted by a factor of 1, a level-two subject is weighted by a factor of 2, a level-three subject is weighted by a factor of 3 and a level-four subject is weighted by a factor of 4 at Caulfield and Clayton and 3 at Gippsland. Any result obtained after repeating a subject is reduced by 10 per cent before being weighted.