Information about Choosing Your Modules in the School of English and Drama

Introduction

In the School of English and Drama we want to make the process of choosing what you study next year as straightforward and clear as possible. There are three main parts to the process:

1. READ THE MODULE DIRECTORY and discuss the modules you'd like to take next year with your Advisor;

2. visit the MODULE FAIRS in ArtsOne on Wednesday 13 March;

3. COMPLETE YOUR MODULE PREFERENCES FORM (MPF) and submit it online by 11 April 2024.

While we work hard to allocate you to the modules you most want to take, it is not always possible to do so for all students. The most popular modules may be oversubscribed, meaning that not all students are able to take them. The Module Preferences Form (MPF) allows you to identify a range of modules you’d like to take, and to submit your "ideal" and "reserve" preferences. Wherever possible, we assign you to the modules you list as "ideal" preferences.

Queen Mary centrally timetables all taught modules across the University. The timetable will only be generated after students' module registrations have been confirmed by academic Schools. In cases of timetable clashes, we may occasionally need to revise a student's module registrations at that stage (the School of English and Drama will contact you by email if that is the case).

The School of English and Drama does not open the MySIS module registration task for students on its programmes. (Once we have allocated you to your modules, we will register you on them directly in MySIS.) Students taking joint programmes with other Schools must follow the joint School's instructions for selecting those modules run by History/SLLF.

Use these web-pages to find out how to:

• Choose your modules in the School of English and Drama
• Ensure your module selections fulfil the requirements of your degree programme
• for students in Year 1
• for students in Year 2
• for students in Year F
• Complete the online Module Preferences Form
• Understand what academic 'Levels' are and how they work
• Understand the information contained in this Module Directory

If you need additional help at any stage during the process of choosing your modules for 2024/25 get in touch with any one of the following:

• your Advisor(s)
• the Administrative Team at sed-information@qmul.ac.uk
• administrative or academic staff members in your other School (if you’re a joint honours student)

Choosing your Modules in the School of English and Drama

This page outlines how to choose your modules for next year in the School of English and Drama.

1. From Wednesday 13 March read the online Module Directory for 2024/25 to find out more about the modules we plan to offer and how to choose them.
2. On Wednesday 13 March go along to the Module Fairs on the Ground Floor of ArtsOne:
   
• Drama Module Fairs:
• Drama (Level 5): Students going into their second year should attend at 1.15pm in Rehearsal Room One
• Drama (Level 6): Students going into their final year should attend at 2.30pm in Rehearsal Room One
• English Module Fairs:
• English (Level 5): Students going into their second year should attend at 2.30pm in Rehearsal Room Two + BLOC Black Box
• English (Level 6): Students going into their final year should attend at 1.15pm in Rehearsal Room Two + BLOC Black Box
3. Between Monday 18 March and Thursday 28 March you should meet your Advisor during their normal drop-in hours to discuss your module preferences.
4. From Monday 18 March complete the online Module Preferences Form (there are step-by-step instructions for how to do this).
5. Submit your module preferences before the online MPF closes at 11.59pm on Thursday 11 April.
6. Once the School of English and Drama has received your MPF, this information will be collated and processed for all students. Please remember that finalising student module allocations is an extensive process that must take multiple factors into account. The School will determine each student's approved module allocation, and then enter this information into MySIS.
7. The School of English and Drama aims to communicate your provisional module allocations to you in early May. Later in the summer you can check MySIS to see your confirmed modules for the next academic year.
8. On rare occasions the School may have to cancel a module. This may happen, for example, if the member of staff designated as the module convenor wins research funding and will therefore be absent during the next academic year. If this happens, you’ll be assigned to one of your reserve module choices. Where appropriate the School will write directly to affected students in order to explain the situation.

If you’re taking a joint degree with the School of History or with the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film, please make sure you know what arrangements your other School has put in place.

Students EXTERNAL to the School of English and Drama should follow the module selection process required by their Home School, and request any SED module(s) they wish to take via the MySIS module selection task (or as otherwise directed).

How to Complete the Module Preferences Form (MPF)

• Students within the School of English and Drama
• Students Intending to Study on a Year Abroad
• Students within the School of English and Drama during Semester One Only
• Students Returning from Interruption next January
• Students External to the School of English and Drama

Students within the School of English and Drama

1. Before identifying your module preferences for next year, make sure you’ve read and understood your degree programme requirements:
• for students in Year 1
• for students in Year 2
• for students in Year F
2. Consult your Advisor in the School during their regular drop-in hours about your module preferences in advance of completing your online Module Preferences Form. You can ask them about any aspect of the process, including your programme requirements. A list of academic staff drop-in hours is available via QMplus.
3. The online Module Preferences Form (MPF) will be open for you to complete between the morning of Monday 18 March, and will close at 11.59pm on Thursday 11 April. Links to the form will be available via the QMplus Module Directory. You will only be able to log into the form that is relevant to your programme and year of study. There is no advantage to you in completing the MPF early: all forms submitted by the deadline will be treated equally.
4. Access the online MPF by clicking through from the Module Directory landing page on QMplus. You will need to log in using the following credentials:
• your ‘Username’ is the IT Services username you use to log into QMplus and other College services (e.g. le12345): please note that this is case-sensitive, and must only contain lower-case letters ('le12345' NOT 'LE12345' or 'Le12345')
• your ‘Password’ is your 9 digit Student Code (e.g. 123456789) that can be found on your student ID card (note that this is different from your usual Queen Mary password)
5. Complete the online MPF, following the on-screen instructions. There is no need to enter your name or programme of study: this information is automatically recorded.
6. You must answer every question on the Module Preferences Form, and will not be able to submit the form until you have done so.  Note that the online software will ‘time-out’ after 30 minutes, so you must complete and submit your form within 30 minutes of logging in. (The process shouldn't normally take more than 15 minutes in total.)
7. Submit your Module Preferences Form by clicking ‘Finish’ at the bottom of the page. Once you have clicked ‘Finish’ the information you provide will be submitted and can no longer be changed.
8. Save or print your completed MPF. You do this by using the ‘Download My Responses’ feature, which is available to you for 15 minutes after you have submitted the form. Click 'My Responses' and then save the web-page that loads and/or click 'Download as PDF'.
9. The Module Preferences Form will close at 11.59pm on Thursday 11 April. You must complete the online form by this deadline.

Students Studying on a Year Abroad

If you are applying to study abroad for the whole of your second year (on a 'with a Year Abroad' programme) we strongly recommend that you still complete the relevant online Module Preferences Form as if you will be studying at QMUL for the entire year. This is to make sure you are allocated to modules of your choice in the event that you are unable (or ultimately choose not) to study abroad next year. Please also use the 'Additional Information' box on the Module Preferences Form to explain your intention to study abroad in 2024/25 should your application be successful. (If you do not complete a Module Preferences Form and then do not study abroad next year, we will only be able to allocate you to modules that still have spaces.

Students Studying in Semester ONE Only

If you are applying to study abroad in Semester 1 of your second year, you must still complete the relevant online Module Preferences Form as if you will be studying at QMUL for the entire year. This is because places to study abroad are not formally confirmed until after the module selection process closes. However, please also use the 'Additional Information' box on the Module Preferences Form to indicate which 60 credits you wish to study in Semester 2 of 2024/25 should your application to study abroad be successful.

Students Returning from Interruption in January 2025

If you are returning from a period of interruption in January 2025 you do NOT need to complete the Module Preferences Form as if you will be studying at QMUL for the entire year. The School of English and Drama will re-register you the modules you had selected during the academic year when your period of interruption commenced and will contact you directly about this process if necessary (e.g. if any of the modules you originally selected are not running on this occasion).

Students External to the School of English and Drama

Students on QMUL programmes outside the School of English and Drama should follow their Home School's process for selecting modules. Use the MySIS module selection task to list any SED module(s) you wish to take unless your Home School has alternative arrangements in place (you will need to ask them). We will then approve or reject your SED module request in time for your Home School to make its final decision about your overall module allocation.

A note about the online Module Preferences Form: the School’s online Module Preferences Forms are hosted via JISC Online Surveys, an online surveys and form tool used predominantly by UK Higher Education Institutions and other public bodies. Queen Mary subscribes to JISC Online Surveys via an account administered by the e-Learning Unit. Data that you submit via the Module Preferences Form is stored in secure facilities within the UK. There is more information on the JISC Online Surveys website.

Year One Programmes: Module Requirements

Year Two Programmes: Module Requirements

Final Year Programmes: Module Requirements

Academic Levels Explained

All modules taken by undergraduate students at Queen Mary are allocated a ‘Level’:

• Modules that you take in your first year are at Level 4.
• Modules that you take in your second year are at Level 5.
• Modules that you take in your final year are at Level 6.

Levels are used to design modules and forms of assessment. They relate to three main areas of the learning process: context (the framework within which responsibility for learning is managed, the intellectual parameters of study); cognition (knowledge and understanding, and the skills required to apply them); transferable skills (which include communication and presentation, and group skills). 

Levels are formulated on the assumption that as you acquire more competence, you will be able to work more independently, to perform evaluative and comparative tasks more effectively, to acquire more specialised kinds of knowledge, and to apply your skills to ends that involve a higher degree of intellectual challenge and sophistication.

How to Use This Module Directory

This Module Directory contains listings for all undergraduate modules that the School intends to teach during the coming academic session.  You can navigate by Department (Drama or English), and by academic Level (4, 5, and 6). There are also overview indexes that list modules at Levels 5 and 6 according to Keyword (Drama) or Subject Area (English).

As well as the official module code and module title, each individual module entry contains the following information. Please refer to the guidance below in order to understand what this information tells you.

Standard and Synoptic Reassessment Explained

The module directory indicates whether the Mode of Reassessment on any given module is Standard or Synoptic (the two different reassessment models used at Queen Mary). Although you’ll select your modules for a number of personal and intellectual reasons, it is also important to take into account the reassessment arrangements in each case. Hopefully reassessment will not apply to you because you’ll pass all your modules. But if something goes wrong and you don’t, it’s important that you understand what these models mean (particularly synoptic reassessment).

Reassessment

Students must achieve a module mark of 40.0 or above to pass a module. Most instances of students not passing a module occur because one or more elements of assessment were not submitted, and therefore receive a mark of 0 (zero); although sometimes students fail a module by submitting work that fails to meet the assessment criteria for a pass.

If you do not pass a module at the first attempt, you will normally be offered a further opportunity to complete the module assessment. This is called reassessment, and may take the form of resits or first sits:

• In general, reassessment takes the form of resits. A 'resit' is your second and final opportunity to complete the module assessment. If you resit a module, it will mean your module mark is capped at 40.0, regardless of the academic quality of your work.
• If you do not submit all the elements of assessment at the first attempt, and the Subject Examination Board accepts your Extenuating Circumstances application, you may be awarded first sits. First sit submissions are not capped at 40.0, and are formally considered to be your 'first' rather than your second and final opportunity to complete the module assessment.

Mode of Reassessment

Reassessment is in one of two modes, Standard or Synoptic. First sits always take the form of Standard reassessment, but resits sometimes take the form of Synoptic reassessment (depending on the arrangements made for the module in question).

• STANDARD REASSESSMENT observes the standard module assessment body. In other words, it requires you to complete the same assignments (or exam) as students completing the module at the first attempt. For this reason, first sits take the form of standard reassessment. The marks for any elements of assessment that you have already submitted and passed will be retained (you will not be eligible to re-submit them). You will only be asked to complete those assignments that you did not pass or did not submit on the previous attempt.
• SYNOPTIC REASSESSMENT observes a module assessment body which constitutes a general summary or 'synopsis' of your work. You will be asked to complete a single major assignment (or exam), and the mark that you are awarded for that single submission will be considered as the outcome for the module as a whole. Any marks you have previously attained for other elements of assessment within the module (however high) will be disregarded, and replaced by the synoptic reassessment mark.

Students in the School of English and Drama can find further information about Reassessment in the online undergraduate handbook.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the deadline for submitting my Module Preferences Form (MPF)?

• A: The deadline for submission is 11.59pm on Thursday 11 April.

Q: Do I need to speak with my Advisor in advance of submitting my MPF?

• A: You are strongly encouraged to discuss your module preferences with your Advisor in advance of submitting your MPF. They are best placed to advise you about the modules that will enable your learning and development.

Q: When will I hear back about my module choices?

• A: The School of English and Drama aims to communicate provisionally with students about their module allocations in early May. You will be able to check MySIS later in the summer for your confirmed module choices.

Q: What if I am unhappy with the modules I have been allocated? What if one of the modules I want to study is full?

• A: We hope that you’re happy with your module allocation and that you have an exciting and enjoyable year ahead of you. A process will be made available to allow you to request to change modules during the first two weeks of each teaching semester in the new academic year. Please note that a number of modules will inevitably be oversubscribed meaning that a place is not available for you. In these instances you will be able to check with us after semester starts to see whether or not a space has opened up for you.

Q: How will you decide which modules I'm allocated?

• A: The School of English and Drama will look at the modules you've listed as your "ideal" and "reserve" preferences, in the contexts of your specific programme requirements and all the other requests that students have made to take modules in SED. We will assign you where possible to the modules you have listed as your ideal preferences, ensuring an even balance of credits across both semesters. Where a module is oversubscribed in terms of the number of individual students who have listed it as a preference, we will use a random allocation process to decide which students can take it and who will instead be allocated to a reserve preference module.

Q: Can I rank my module preferences from highest to lowest?

• A: No. We ask you to list two groups of modules that you would like to take next year, your "ideal" and "reserve" preferences. The two lists must be completely different from one another. All of your ideal module preferences will be considered equally and we will allocate you to them if possible.

Q: What if I can’t submit my MPF by the deadline?

• A: An online form for the submission of late module preferences will open shortly after the main MPF deadline. It is important to note that priority will be given to students who complete their MPF on time (in other words, if you submit late module preferences you may not be allocated to your ideal preferences, and you may even be allocated to modules that you didn't list). If you submit a late MPF due to a pressing personal or medical reason, please alert us to that fact by emailing sed-information@qmul.ac.uk (noting that you may be asked to supply reasonable documentary evidence).

Q: What happens if I make a mistake or change my mind once I have submitted my MPF?

• A: It's really important that you think carefully about your module preferences and complete your MPF accordingly. Once you have submitted your MPF it is not always possible to accommodate any later changes you wish to make. However, if you feel that you've made a genuine error in the completion of the form, you should seek assistance from the School of English and Drama Administrative Team by emailing sed-information@qmul.ac.uk at your first opportunity. 

Q: Joint Honours students: do I have to take a 50-50 split of modules between my subjects?

• A: Students may usually, with the agreement of their Advisor for each subject, choose a credit balance of 45 credits in one discipline and 75 credits in the other.

Q: Must I take an even balance of 60 credits in each semester (120 for the year)?

• A: Yes, as a general rule. However, if your particular module choice combination is only available by taking 75 credits in one semester, and 45 credits in the other, it is sometimes possible to agree this, although such requests cannot be prioritised in the module allocation process. You will need to secure the agreement of your Advisor and then email us at sed-information@qmul.ac.uk in order to propose such an arrangement.

Q: Can I take modules for a Level of Study different from that which I am about to enter?

• A: Students are encouraged to take modules designed for their Level of Study (Level 5 for Year 2 students, Level 6 for Year F students). However, with the approval of your Advisor, you may select up to 30 credits from a different Level. Year 2 students can take up to 30 credits in total from Level 6 and/or Level 4, although at Level 4 you may only take languages (up to 30 credits). Year F students can take 30 credits at Level 5. Note that priority will be given to students applying for modules designed for their year of study.

Q: Can I take modules from a different School?

• A: Yes, with the approval of your Advisor you may select modules up to the value of 30 credits from a programme offered by another School. You will need to contact the School offering the module you wish to select in order to find out how to apply for a place (the other School is likely to give priority for places on their modules to students within their School, and your Advisor’s approval is not a guarantee that you will be allocated a place on the module).

Q: Can I take modules from another Institution at the University of London?

• A: Yes, with the approval of your Head of Department you may select modules up to the value of 30 credits from another institution of the University of London. You will need to explain why this module provides a learning opportunity which is not available through an existing module offered within the School of English and Drama. You will also be responsible for making all relevant arrangements with the institution in question.

Q: Can I request to be taught by a certain member of academic staff? Can I request to be put in a particular seminar group on a certain day/time?

• A: As a guideline, requests due to preference for a particular staff member are not accommodated. The teaching timetable at Queen Mary is generated only once module registrations have been confirmed for students by academic Schools. Once the QMUL timetable has been generated, please contact the School by emailing sed-information@qmul.ac.uk if you have any genuinely urgent requests for changes (e.g. relating to caring responsibilities). In some cases, you may need to request to change your module selection. Requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Q: Can I take more (or fewer) than 120 credits per year?

• A: No, Queen Mary’s academic guidelines stipulate that all students must take 120 credits per year.

Q: Can I drop a compulsory module to accommodate an optional module?

• A: No, you must take all compulsory modules.

Q: I am a student from another School in Queen Mary: can I request to take one of your modules?

• A: Yes. Follow your own School's module selection process, ensuring that you enter the SED module(s) you wish to take as part of completing the MySIS Module Selection task. The School of English and Drama will Approve or Reject your module request via MySIS in time for your Home School to confirm your overall module allocation.

Q: I am a student who is returning from interruption in January 2025 and I cannot submit my MPF as it asks me for a full year’s choices. What should I do?

• A: If you are returning from a period of interruption next January you do not need to complete the Module Preferences Form. The School will re-register you on the modules you had selected during the academic year when your period of interruption commenced, and will contact you directly about this process if necessary (e.g. if the modules you originally selected are not running next year).

Q: I am a student who will be studying abroad during Semester 1 of my second year (this coming September-December). What should I do?

• A: If you are applying to study abroad in Semester 1 of your second year, you must still complete the relevant online Module Preferences Form as if you will be studying at QMUL for the entire year. This is because places to study abroad are not formally confirmed until after the module selection process closes. However, please also use the 'Additional Information' box on the Module Preferences Form to indicate which 60 credits you wish to study in Semester 2 next year should your application to study abroad be successful.

Q: I am a second-year student who is planning to switch onto a 4 year programme with a Year Abroad during 2024/25. What should I do?

• A: If you are applying to change programmes and study abroad during your third year you are still strongly advised to complete the relevant online Module Preferences Form as if you will be remaining at QMUL. This is because your application to change programmes will not be formally confirmed until after the module selection process closes. When completing the Module Preferences Form, please use the 'Additional Information' box to indicate your application to change programmes and to take your Year Abroad in 2024/25 should this be successful.