EECS Student Handbook 2023/24

Section 1 - Front Cover

SCHOOL OF ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE (EECS)

This handbook is for all undergraduate and taught postgraduate students in all Electronic Engineering and Computer Science

Section 2 - Disclaimer and Alternative Formats

This section includes:

• How to use this handbook
• Use of Personal Data
• Safety and Emergency

2.1 How to use this handbook

This Handbook should be used together with the Academic Regulations and the Student Guide. This Handbook provides information specific to the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, while https://arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/ gives information common to all students at Queen Mary. The Academic Regulations provide detailed information on progression, award and classification requirements.

Nothing in this Handbook overrides the Academic Regulations, which always take precedence. 

The Academic Regulations are available online at: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/policy/

QM cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of information given in third-party publications or websites referred to in this Handbook.

For a large-font version, please use the zoom control in your web browser to zoom in.

For a printed version please use your web browser to print in your desired format. 

If you have other requirements for the Handbook, please also contact the EECS Student Support Officer sso@lists.eecs.qmul.ac.uk

2.2 Use of Personal Data

2.3 Safety and Emergency

You should familiarise yourself with emergency procedures for all areas in which you work, noting the location of emergency exits, assembly points and equipment. In case of a fire, immediately leave the building by the nearest exit point. Do not use the lifts. Fire action notices are displayed in corridors and by fire escapes.

In an emergency, dial 3333 from any internal phone or 020 7882 3333 from any other phone and clearly state the nature and location of the problem, your name, and the number you are calling from (if known). If this College number does not respond, call 999 and follow the normal procedure. You should ensure that corridors and doorways are not obstructed and that fire fighting equipment is not removed from its station.

First aid assistance for minor accidents can be obtained by dialling 3333 from an internal phone, or 020 7882 3333 from any other telephone.

For overseas students please be aware that the emergency number to call fire/police/ambulance services in the UK is 999.

Section 3 - Preliminary information

This section includes:

• Message From Head Of School
• Mission Statement
• EECS Aims and Objectives
• Accreditation and Professional Bodies
• Key Dates
• Safety Rules for the Electronic Labs
• Your ID Card
• Things I need to do as student

3.1 Message From Head Of School

Welcome to the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at Queen Mary

University of London! You have chosen an exciting yet fast-evolving and demanding discipline, which plays an increasingly central role in our lives. Thank you for choosing us! By doing this, you have selected one of the great places in the UK to study. According to the latest Research Exercise Framework (REF) carried in 2021 (https://www.ref.ac.uk/), EECS is ranked top 8 in the UK for CS and engineering as a whole discipline is ranked 7th in the UK.

As we're moving away from the Covid-19 pandemic, our educational provision is based on a largely in-person provision, complemented by online activities where appropriate. Studying at University is very different from other learning environments. Indeed, at University, you have to find out how best you learn, so a large part of what you do and how you do it is your choice. Let me make a few suggestions to help you make the most of your time at University.

First, work consistently from the start: It isn't easy to catch up if you get behind. Keeping up with the materials and assessments is therefore critical. Being organised is an essential life skill you must learn and master during your time with us.

Take advantage of all activities, in-person and online, e.g., discussions, forums, and keep regular contact with your fellow students, module lecturers and advisor. Engage with the material, by asking questions: teachers are here to help you learn, but you must ask questions if you want answers.

Next, be informed: Read the information in this handbook and on the College and School web-pages. Also, please read your email, especially communications from your teachers and teaching services. These communications exist to inform you and save you time. Not reading them will waste everyone's time, both on the part of the staff and yours. It is a matter of respect, courtesy, and professionalism that we all are informed.

It is never too soon to start thinking about life after University. You will learn many skills while at University, beyond purely technical ones, to help you with your future career. The University and School take Graduate Attributes very seriously, to find out more, please visit the School student intranet or go to the following link: http://www.qmul.ac.uk/docs/gacep/38598.pdf

Equality, diversity and Inclusion are things we value significantly within EECS and QMUL as a whole. In EECS, you should feel at home regardless of gender, sexuality, gender identity, race, or religious beliefs. We expect and require all students to behave in line with these values. We expect students to show respect towards each other and our staff, whether in person or online. A range of disciplinary measures exist and will be applied if necessary in cases of misbehaviour.

Most of our students go on to successful careers and have a remarkably satisfying experience studying with us. We hope your studies will go smoothly, but please come and tell us sooner rather than later if you have any problems. We will always try to help.

We believe that Electronic Engineering and Computer Science are enjoyable and rewarding disciplines. We hope that you will share our beliefs. Take an interest in what is happening in the School; for instance, attend some of the regular talks given by visiting experts during term-time. Take time to appreciate other aspects of University life, such as the Students' Union's activities.

Best Wishes,

Professor Uhlig

Head Of School

3.2 Mission Statement

3.3 EECS Aims and Objectives

• To ensure that when you graduate you have the skills most likely to be useful to you and your employers. These Graduate Attributes include the ability to apply logical and analytical thinking, creativity, design and programming skills to come up with innovative solutions;
• To foster practical and industrially-relevant skills relating to techniques and practices in the field with the aim of enabling you to develop rapidly into engineering and computing professionals;
• To help you build up more general skills and sound habits. These include the ability to plan your work, to work independently and in groups, to explain your work to others and to use computers and the Internet effectively and responsibly;
• To challenge and encourage you, within a friendly, stimulating and responsive environment;
• To deliver sound assessment of your work in order to keep you informed of your progress during your studies and in order to reflect your overall achievements in your class of degree;
• An additional aim for the master’s degree is to provide domain-specific knowledge of current state-of-the-art and the ability to critically assess design, evaluation and research methodologies with the aim of preparing you for specialised employment in a variety of fields, or for research study.

• All graduates will be wanting to achieve sustainable solutions to problems and have strategies for being creative and innovative and be able to overcome any difficulties by employing their knowledge in a flexible manner;
• All graduates will be able to provide an awareness of the environmental, social, legal, economic and regulatory contexts within which engineers operate;
• All graduates will have the competency to develop a variety of electronic, computer and software systems;
• Graduates of the MSc programmes should also develop knowledge of a range of modelling, evaluation and design methods used in research. Additionally, these students gain skills in applying these critical and analytical abilities in a research-oriented project embedded in the specific domain of study.

3.4 Accreditations and Professional Bodies - Part 1

Many of our programmes are accredited by professional bodies in the UK, helping you stand out from the rest and kick start your career with Chartered status.

Accreditation means that if you graduate with a MEng/MSc/MSci degree at the required standard, you will have fully met all the educational requirements that you need to register as a:

• Chartered Engineer (CEng)

• Chartered IT Professional (CITP)

• Incorporated Engineer (IEng)

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) brings over 25 years' experience of programme accreditation against professional standards for IEng and CEng status and can help you with achieving professional registration. The following programmes have received IET accreditation and exemption.

• BEng Computer Systems Engineering FT / with Industrial Experience

• BEng Electronic and Electrical Engineering FT / with Industrial Experience

• BEng Electronic Engineering FT / with Industrial Experience

• BSc Computer Science FT / with Industrial Experience 

The programmes below are CEng accredited and fulfil the educational requirements for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

• MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering

• MSci Computer Science

The programmes are CEng accredited and fulfil the educational requirements for registration as a Chartered Engineer when presented with a CEng accredited Bachelors programme.

• MSc Electronic Engineering by Research FT

• MSc Internet of Things (Data) FT / PT 

• MSc Telecommunication and Wireless Systems FT / PT

BCS (Chartered Institute for IT)

These programmes below have been accredited by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. An accredited degree will provide you with some or all of the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills for eventual registration as a Chartered IT Professional (CITP); an Incorporated (IEng) or Chartered Engineer (CEng); Chartered Scientist (CSci).

• MSc Big Data Science FT / PT 

• MSc Computer Science FT / PT (condition: students must take module ECS728P Business Technology Strategy)

• MSc Machine Learning with Visual Data Analytics FT / PT 

• MSc Computing and Information Systems FT / PT 

• MSci Computer Science

3.5 UG - Accreditations and Professional Bodies

All students should be aware of the special academic regulations linked to the requirement of the accrediting body. Failure to meet this will result in your been transferred to a different degree title

3.6 Msc - Accreditations and Professional Bodies

All students should be aware of the special academic regulations linked to the requirement of the accrediting body. Failure to meet this will result in your been transferred to a different degree title

Accredited and non accredited degree titles 2022 cohort and onwards 

3.7 Key Dates

Semester 1

• Teaching begins on 25th September 2023
• Teaching ends on 15 December 2023

Semester 1 - Examination Period

• Examinations: 8th January - 19th January 2024

Semester 2

• Teaching begins on 22nd January 2024
• Teaching ends on  12th April 2024
• Bank holidays: 29th March and 1st April 2024

Examination period for Semester 2 & Year Long Modules

• Examinations: 2nd May - 31st May 2024 
• Bank holidays: 6th May and 27th May 2024

Late Summer Resit Period

• 5th August - 16th August 2024
  

Key Queen Mary dates are available on the ARCS homepage (www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk) and here: http://www.qmul.ac.uk/about/calendar/

Examination boards are the committees responsible for the management of assessment, progression and award decisions. Queen Mary has a two-tier examination board system; school, institute or discipline-based Subject Examination Boards (SEBs) set assessments, approve assessment results and progression outcomes, and make award recommendations to the award-based Degree Examination Boards (DEBs).

All classifications are verified at a QMUL Degree Exam Board (DEB).

EECS have a number of Sub meeting, as well as main Subject Exam Board (SEBs).

There are 3 meeting periods of boards and sub meetings:

1. Semester A January Exam period.
2. Semester B and Year long Examination period.
3. Late Summer Exam (LSE) Period.
   

Meetings generally take place within a week prior to the examination period or a couple of weeks after the end of the examination period, depending on the context of the meeting.

UG Official publication of results: 11/7/2024

3.8 Safety Rules for the Electronics Laboratory

3.9 Your ID Card

3.10 Things I need to do as a student

• Read this handbook and the Queen Mary Student Guide carefully at the start of the year.

• Read through the EECS Student Support page carefully and refer to throughout the year.

• Familiarise yourself with the relevant sections of the Academic Regulations: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/media/arcs/policyzone/

• We will communicate with you by email. You must check the email sent to your qmul.ac.uk address on a daily basis.

• Visit your Adviser at the start of each semester and at least once again per semester.

• Keep your Adviser and the Student Support Officer informed of any problems you may experience as soon as possible.

• It is your responsibility to keep your contact details up to date at http://mysis.qmul.ac.uk

• You must punctually attend all lectures and labs.

• Submit all assessments required for each module by the deadline set.

• Ensure that you are registered for the correct Programme of Study.

• Ensure that you know and respect your Adviser’s and lecturers’ surgery hours. You can find these details on the intranet at https://intranet.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/people

• Respect the College’s bullying and harassment policies, which states that all members of the College are entitled to work within an environment where they are treated with dignity and respect and where harassment of any kind is unacceptable. Queen Mary takes a Zero Tolerance approach to all forms of bullying and harassment.  

• Do not smoke anywhere on the campus.

• Respect all labs as professional teaching and learning spaces.

• Food is NOT permitted in any of our labs at any time.

Section 4 - School Information

This section contains:

• School Information (Location, opening times etc)
• EECS Facilities
• School Website, Timetable and Communications
• Getting Advice and Support
• Key Staff Members

4.1 School Location

EECS School Office

Your main point of contact for administrative matters is the Teaching Services Office located on the top floor of the Temporary building.

The office opening hours during term time are Monday to Friday 10:00 to 16:00, expect for first two week of each semester where counter is open 09:00 - 17:00. More limited hours may apply during vacations.

Teaching Services Team members are also available via advanced bookable appointments.

The School is located across three buildings; the third and fourth floors of the Peter Landin Building, the east end of the ground, first and second floors of the Engineering building and the temporary building opposite the graduate center.

Maps are available online at: http://www.qmul.ac.uk/about/howtofindus/

4.2 Contacting Staff In School Office

Students should use the EECS school office shared email inboxes below, these are monitored on a daily basis and it's the quickest way to get a response to your query.

Please avoid sending multiple emails of same query, if you have urgent matter then visit the school office reception in Temporary building. 

4.2 EECS Facilities

IT facilities
The school has three main areas for student computing:-

•  EECS Teaching Lab - Temporary Building

• Computers in the Electronics Laboratory (third floor Engineering building) that are mainly for hardware associated laboratory work.

• Electronics Lab (Eng 3.52 and 3.56).

EECS Teaching Lab - Temporary Building is used for all scheduled software-based computer laboratory sessions (i.e. those associated with taught modules).

The school has an Electronics lab which is primarily used for hardware teaching and hardware student projects. There is a suite of 24 standard EECS computers which all students can use when labs sessions are not in progress. These machines are linked to hardware testing equipment and lab power supplies.

There are printing facilities in all School computing areas. Please visit the library website for information on how to top up print credit: http://library.qmul.ac.uk/using-the-library/pcs-printing-and-photocopying/printing/

Opening times for laboratories

EECS Teaching Lab - Temporary Building  (Mon - Fri = 08:00 -  23:00 and Sat - Sun =  09:00 - 18:00)

Electronics Lab (Eng 3.52 and 3.56) (Mon - Fri 09:00 - 17:00)

4.3 School Website, Timetables and Communication

All information about the School, especially relevant, degree programmes we offer, upcoming activities, seminars and research news can be found at:- www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk. 

More specific information about your studies can be found on the student intranet at https://intranet.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/ Please visit the intranet frequently.

Other key websites are the QM student portal at www.my.qmul.ac.uk, the QM Student Information System (MySIS) at https://mysis.qmul.ac.uk  and QMPlus https://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/. You will need to log into MySIS and QMPlus using your QM username and password.  We use QMPlus to support all of our modules.  Logging into QMPlus also gives you access to additional online library facilities.

All information relating to modules, reading lists, timetables, etc, can be found on the School Intranet as well as QMplus. 

Your EECS intranet landing page includes key information.  A list of the modules you will take this year, useful quick links, etc, will be available on your landing page as well as programme descriptors include recommended books and learning outcomes: https://intranet.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/courses/descriptor.

The teaching timetable will provide information about the time, day and location of your lectures and lab sessions.  We try to organise the timetable so that students can have optimum choice. However, there may be times when some elective modules will clash.  In such circumstances, you may need to review your module choice.

Timetables are available on the intranet at: https://timetables.qmul.ac.uk/default.aspx

You can also access them from your EECS Landing page under quick links. 

Please note the timetable may be subject to change and we strongly recommend that you regularly check your timetable for the first 3 weeks each semester to ensure you have the most up to date information.

Under current circumstance, for all teaching activities for each module please check the relevant QMPlus Module page for the definitive teaching activities.

QMUL will communicate with you in a variety of ways. Formal correspondence will be sent to you by electronic letter, and it is important that you keep Queen Mary up to date with your personal details and address. You can do this online via the MySIS record system: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/mysis-record/index.html. A name change however must be done in person at the Student Enquiry Centre with accompanying identification. 

It is most common for EECS, Queen Mary and the Students’ Union to contact you by your @QMUL email. You are assigned a university email address when you enrol, and you are responsible for checking this account on a daily basis. All major notifications and updates will be sent to you by email first. 

You can access your email account by logging on to a QMUL computer, or, if you are not on campus, at: http://mail.qmul.ac.uk. 

4.4 Getting Advice and Support

The key staff listed on the previous chapter deal with all general queries and should be your first point of call.  In addition, you will be allocated a personal academic adviser.

All students are allocated a personal adviser for the duration of your studies. Advisers are members of academic staff who provide advice and support to students. They have two main roles: academic and pastoral.

In their academic capacity, advisers advise on, and approve, programmes of study. If you are considering changing your programme of study, or taking a module that does not appear on your recommended programme, you must discuss this with your adviser. Any other academic-related concerns, e.g. general academic progress, should be discussed with your adviser in the first instance. Please note that, in this School, the role of adviser is separate from that of Senior Tutor.

In their pastoral capacity, advisers are the first point of contact in case of personal problems or concerns. Advisers recognise that personal problems can severely affect a student’s academic performance, and they will provide a sympathetic and non-judgmental ear, as well as practical help. They can also direct students to other QM support services, where appropriate. Discussions with students will always be treated in confidence. However, in cases where academic performance is affected by personal problems, the School must be officially informed, and advisers can also guide students through the correct procedures for doing this. 

Advisers can be asked to provide academic references for students for job and other applications after leaving university, and this is another good reason for building and maintaining a good student/adviser relationship. 

If your Adviser, Year Tutor, or Senior Tutor is not available you should contact the Student Support Officer.

How do I know who my Adviser is?

The name of your adviser will be shown on your EECS landing page.  A time will be set for you to meet with your adviser within the first 2 weeks of term. First year students will meet regularly with their adviser throughout the first and second semester. It is your responsibility as a student to attend these meetings.

The Advice and Counselling Service offers a free and confidential service to all Queen Mary students.  This should be the first point of call for international students with visa issues.  Advice and Counselling are located on the ground floor of the Geography Building at Mile End and are open on weekdays throughout the year, including most vacations.  Further information can be found at http://www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk

We encourage all students to feedback to us and we are keen to hear and act on student voices.

The School has five ways in which feedback can be given:

•  Meeting with your personal advisor

• Student Support page

•  Student Representatives who are a voice for your programme, details can be found at - https://www.qmsu.org/reps/coursereps/ and https://intranet.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/admin/sslc.

• Student Staff Liaison committees (SSLC) which are held twice a semester and your student reps attend these on your behalf to give feedback to the School, the reps will contact you, usually via email, so please do feedback to them.

• Module feedback questionnaire – you will be given an opportunity to give anonymous feedback at module level in each semester.

The above should be seen as the main avenue for giving feedback on your module, programme and experience at university.  We encourage you to make this as constructive as possible, i.e. if you have a problem, suggest a solution

4.5 Key Staff

Contacting Staff

It is usually best to contact academic staff by email. You may also visit academic staff in their offices during their surgery hours. There will be a notice on the academic’s office door stating their surgery hours. This information will also be available on their landing pages on the EECS intranet. It is advisable to email staff and make an appointment to see them before embarking on a long journey to Queen Mary. Staff contact details are available on the School Intranet.

Section 5 - School Procedures

This section includes:

• Attendance and De-registration
• Interruption and Withdrawal of Studies
• Appeals and Complains
• Extenuating Circumstances
• Co-curricular Opportunities and Employability
• Learner Engagement Analytics
• Representation and Feedback
• Student Conduct

5.1 Attendance and Deregistration

5.2 Interruption & Withdrawal of Studies

Permission to interrupt from your studies on the grounds of illness or another good cause may be granted by the school. You may only interrupt for a maximum of two years in total; longer interruptions will be granted only in highly exceptional circumstances with the express permission of the Academic Registrar. 

If this applies to you, you should contact the Student Support Officer and/or the Senior Tutor to discuss your circumstances and allow the school to provide you with the appropriate support. You will need to complete the withdrawal form which you can obtain from the Teaching Services office in the ITL. The form will need to be signed off by a member of the Teaching Services Team.Prior to your return, the school will contact you to support you with transitioning back into University. You should also contact Advice and Welfare for further support https://www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk/. ;

Interrupting your studies means that although you remain registered you cease to be an enrolled student of Queen Mary University of London; this has consequences for your student status, funding, (and right to remain in the UK if you are an international student):

• You will not be entitled to attend lectures

• Students are not normally allowed to live in College residences during periods of interruption

• Your Transport for London discount may be revoked

• Students holding a Tier 4 visa where Queen Mary University of London issued a CAS cannot interrupt to gain work experience or to earn money to pay for their studies. Tier 4 students who interrupt their studies may be required to leave the UK, even if they are interrupting because of personal or medical reasons. The college is required to notify the Home Office of interruptions of study for students sponsored under Tier 4 of the Points Based Immigration System where QMUL issued a CAS

If you do interrupt your studies the Academic Regulations in place at the time of your initial registration remain in effect. You are advised to contact your tutor and read the relevant Advice and Counselling Service advice guides before interrupting. 

ASSESSMENTS

If you choose to interrupt from your degree programme and you have completed the teaching for your first semester modules and have summer exams, you can chose to sit those exams whilst you have interrupted.  Please note that the Academic Regulations state that you must elect to either attempt all of the assessments for the modules you have completed the teaching for or attempt none of them. If you are uncertain of your options please discuss them with your academic department. 

TUITION FEE LIABILITY

Until you have formally interrupted from your studies you will officially remain a student of Queen Mary and you will be responsible for payment of part of or the full year's tuition fee and where appropriate, residence fees. As funding regulations change frequently it is important that you understand how your decision might affect your entitlements in the future. If you have any concerns regarding this, the Advice and Counselling Service have some useful guides to help you and their Welfare Advisors can provide you with up to date advice on your eligibility for student finance.

The deadline for the submission of an interruption form is the day before the start of the revision week in April. 

If you are thinking of withdrawing from your studies, you should contact the Student Support Officer and/or the Senior Tutor to discuss your circumstances and allow the school to provide you with the appropriate support. You will need to complete the withdrawal form which you can obtain from the Teaching Services office in the ITL. The form will need to be signed off by a member of the Teaching Services Team. You should also contact Advice and Welfare for further support https://www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk/. ;

Withdrawal from the College means that you are leaving the College with no intention of returning, the implications of this are:

• It is extremely difficult to return to College once you have withdrawn as your record will have been terminated and your funding body, the Home Office and Transport for London will be advised accordingly
• Your entitlement to financial support from your funding body may be affected in the long term - you are strongly advised to seek advice from your tutor and read the relevant Advice and Counselling Service advice guide before making your decision.

Until you have formally withdrawn from your studies you will officially remain a student of Queen Mary and you will be responsible for payment of part of or the full year's tuition fee and where appropriate, residence fees. As funding regulations change frequently it is important that you understand how your decision might affect your entitlements in the future. If you have any concerns regarding this, the Advice and Counselling Service have some useful guides to help you and their Welfare Advisors can provide you with up to date advice on your eligibility for student finance in the future.

Please note that the Registry deadlines for both forms to be signed off by students registered on the majority of programmes are 4 January 2023 and 3 May 2023 (students who sign forms after these dates will remain registered for examinations in either the January or May examination periods and failure to attend may result in marks of 0 being entered and being used towards progression and award outcomes). 

Information on interruption & withdrawal of studies, including links to the relevant forms, found here:

http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/study/interrupting/index.html

http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/study/withdrawing/index.html

5.3 Appeals and Complaints

Appeals

A Formal Appeal is a request to review a decision about progression, assessment or award.

Before you submit a Formal Appeal, speak to your School/Institute about the decision you wish to appeal as many issues can be resolved without the need for a lengthy formal process.

Your School/Institute will be able to provide you with feedback on your marks, or degree classification, and to answer any queries. Please note that a Formal Appeal  cannot provide feedback on academic work.

Appeals against academic judgment are not permitted, this means you cannot appeal simply because you think the mark you have received is too low.

There are two grounds for appeal:

• procedural error: Where the process leading to the decision being appealed against was not conducted in accordance with Queen Mary’s procedure, such that there is reasonable doubt as to whether the outcome might have been different had the error not occurred. Procedural error shall include alleged administrative or clerical error, and bias in the operation of the procedure.

• that exceptional circumstances, illness, or other relevant factors were not made known at the time for good reason, or were not properly taken into account.

A Formal Appeal must be received within 14 calendar days of the notification of the decision you want to appeal and should be submitted from your Queen Mary email to appeals@qmul.ac.uk.

Further information about how to appeal and the appeal form can be found on the Queen Mary website: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/appeals/index.html

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your appeal you may submit a Final Review for consideration by the Principal’s nominee. Once a Final Review is complete you will be sent a Completion of Procedures letter which outlines the final decision of Queen Mary and the reasons for the decision.

Complaints

Before submitting a Formal Complaint you are advised to speak to a member of staff in your School/Institute as most issues can be resolved informally without the need for a formal complaint.

If your issue is not resolved through the informal process then you will need to complete the Formal Complaint form and submit this to the relevant School/Institute/Professional Services Head for investigation under the Student Complaints Policy:

http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/complaints/index.html

Most complaints are resolved at the Formal Complaint stage but if your matter is still not resolved then there is one review stage to the policy.

When the complaint process is finished you will be issued with a Completion of Procedures letter explaining the final decision and the reasons for it.

Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA)

If you are unhappy with the outcome of an appeal or complaint then you may submit a complaint to the OIA within 12 months of receiving your Completion of Procedures letter. The OIA is the independent body set up to review student complaints and is free to students. For further information regarding the OIA please visit their website: http://www.oiahe.org.uk/

5.4 Extenuating Circumstances

Definition of Extenuating Circumstances:

Extenuating circumstances are defined by Queen Mary as:

Circumstances that are outside a student’s control which may have a negative impact on a student’s ability to undertake or complete any assessment so as to cast doubt on the likely validity of the assessment as a measure of the student’s achievement.

Extenuating circumstances are usually personal or health problems. Health problems include your emotional wellbeing and mental health, as well as your physical health. Extenuating circumstances do not include computer problems, misreading your exam timetable, planned holidays or events, or local transport delays.

Fit to Sit Policy:

Queen Mary operates a fit to sit policy, which covers all assessments including coursework and exams. If you sit an exam or submit a piece of coursework you are deemed to be fit to do so. In such instances a request for extenuating circumstances will not normally be considered. If you do not feel you are well enough to attend an invigilated exam then you should not attend and should submit a claim for extenuating circumstances instead. You will need to attend a medical consultation within three days of the date of your exam that you missed. Similarly if you get sick during an exam and have to leave you will need to attend a medical consultation within three days. 

How to Submit an Extenuating Circumstance Request:

To submit an extenuating circumstance request you must log a claim through the online extenuating circumstances task on MySIS following the instructions there. Claims must be submitted by deadlines outlined in reminder emails and on the EECS Student Support page. If you have queries contact - eecs-sst@qmul.ac.uk. 

Required Supporting Evidence:

Your claim must be accompanied by relevant supporting evidence (for example medical certification, death certificate, police report and crime number, or other written evidence from a person in authority). Please note that although accompanying documentation can be submitted after the claim, claims without any evidence cannot be considered except in the limited cases permitted for self-certification, below. It is in your best interest to provide evidence and supporting documentation that is as comprehensive as possible.

Self-Certification Option:

You are entitled to self-certify on up to three occasions each academic year; each self-certification can cover a period of up to seven calendar days. This means completing and submitting the Queen Mary self-certification form in place of independent evidence. Please note that self-certification does not mean automatic approval of a claim – your school/institute will consider it in the normal way and will need to be satisfied of the validity of the claim, and satisfied that it justifies the outcome. Any claims beyond those three must be accompanied by evidence, as described above.

When you submit an extenuating circumstance claim you will receive a formal acknowledgement , you must keep this safe for the duration of your studies. 

Submission Deadline:

All claims must be received no later than three working days before the relevant examination board meeting [give date] otherwise they cannot be considered.

Confidentiality:

All extenuating circumstances claims are kept confidential until they are considered by a subcommittee of the School/Institute’s Subject Examination Board. All proceedings of the subcommittee are strictly confidential, and will not normally be discussed at the full examination board meeting. 

Responsibility for Submitting Claims:

It is your own responsibility to submit any claims for extenuating circumstances, not that of your tutor. Please ensure that if you have what you believe is a valid case, you complete the submission process in accordance with the School/Institute guidelines and deadlines.

Retrospective Claims:

It is not possible to make a retrospective claim for extenuating circumstances, specifically once you know your results. Therefore claims submitted after the deadline will not be considered by the examination board. Please refer to the full guidance notes on extenuating circumstances from the Advice and Counselling service or online at https://www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk/guides-and-forms/student-advice-guides ;

5.5 Co-curricular opportunities and employability

At Queen Mary we have designed our courses, as well as many of the offerings provided to students through our Careers and Enterprise team, to broaden opportunities for you as a Queen Mary undergraduate, within and beyond higher education, so that you will be supported in planning and managing your ongoing professional development. Our approach is firmly grounded in the core Queen Mary values of respect for, and engagement with, the local area and communities, with a distinctive focus on enabling you to make a genuine societal impact through leadership in your chosen field. We have organised various modules and opportunities around the key themes of networking, multi- and inter-disciplinarity, international perspectives, and enterprising perspectives to assist you with fully realising your potential.

There will be a menu of such modules available for you to choose from, together with a range of extra opportunities available to you through Careers and Enterprise .  All have been designed to offer you a wide range of experiences, and many can be included in the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR). This allows you to demonstrate to employers the learning gained from your involvement in co-curricular activities. 

Your Advisor will work with you to support an individualised approach, to assist you to realise your ambition and full potential.

5.6 Learner Engagement Analytics

What is Learner Engagement Analytics and what does it have to do with me?

 Let’s begin with the basics! Learner Engagement Analytics is a term that is used to describe the data the University holds about your engagement with various services, as well as your demographic data. Learner Engagement Analytics is often referred to as LEA, so you may also have heard about it under that name. Currently, your engagement data comes from the digital footprints that you leave when you use QMPlus and other University systems and data about your grades and academic history. When all this data about you is brought together in one system, it’s called Learner Engagement Analytics.

 The following types of data may be used for the LEA system at Queen Mary:

·         Background information: your name, identifiers used by the University, contact details, and a link to the photo we hold of you.

·         Details about your course, the modules you are taking, the credits you have achieved and your advisers.

·         Details of your assessments, marks and grades obtained.

·         Details of your activity in QMPlus and other digital systems: such as logins, resources viewed,  and assessments submitted and graded.

·         Details about your engagement with teaching activities, such as attendance.

·         Any extenuating circumstances that have been approved.

·         As part of the ongoing development of the LEA platform we will be including some data about your use of reading lists.

·         We may link data for Statistical Purposes only to your date of birth, ethnicity, gender, declared disabilities, entry qualifications, whether your parents were in higher education, your socio-economic background, and whether you are an overseas student. Two of these data types are what is known as special category personal data: Ethnicity and Disability.  They are being included within our models to improve our monitoring of equality of opportunity and improve the accuracy of the models. By conducting statistical analyses, we can distinguish various engagement patterns among different groups without identifying individuals. These analyses will be conducted anonymously.

 As you can see, LEA has a lot to do with you – it’s data about you! The University has collected this data about you for a long time, but the University has decided to create a system that brings your data from different sources together, and this system is going to be used to analyse your data to better understand and support your journey through the University.

 What will my data be used for?

 It’s good to be careful with your personal data, and we can assure you that your data will only be used to improve the student experience and provide tailored support when you need it. For example, in Schools where LEA has been implemented, if we can see that your engagement has decreased, your Advisor and the student support staff in your School might reach out to you to see if you need a bit of extra support to get back on track. Another benefit is that the engagement data from all the students in your cohort can help academic staff to improve their learning materials. If a lecturer can see that most students in your class aren’t opening the resources on QMPlus, it might be sign that they need to redesign the QMPlus page, so it is easier for you to access the right resources at the right time.

 Now that you know what we do with your data, we also want to make it clear that your data will never be used for assessment unless you have explicitly been told that this is the case (this is only the case for a small minority of courses that have relied on engagement data for assessment for a long time, so this isn’t a new feature of the LEA system). Similarly, if we can see that you have disengaged, the LEA system will never be used to make any automatic decisions about your progression. Finally, your data will never (not now, not in the future) be used for the purpose of the Prevent scheme.

 Your data – like all other kinds of data the University collects about you – will be processed in accordance with the University’s Data Protection Policy and Student Privacy Notice.

 Who will have access to my data?

 We know that you probably don’t want lots of people to see your data, and only a small group of people will have access to your data. Only two groups of people will have access to your data. The first group is staff whose job it is to support you and your learning. This includes your Advisers, academic staff and student support staff. Only staff that work directly with you (so not all staff across all parts of the university) have access to see your data. The second group is staff whose job it is to develop and maintain the LEA software. This may include IT staff and staff from external software suppliers. When staff from both of these groups access your data, they must adhere to strict data protection rules. Your data will also be combined with other students’ data to find trends and enable comparison. When your data is used this way, it will not be possible to identify you.

 What will happen if my LEA data shows a lack of engagement?

 Our first step will always be to try to get in contact with you to find out what is going on. Usually, your Advisor or someone from your Schools’ student support team will contact you. If you’re going through a difficult period or you are struggling to keep up with your academic work, the staff member will signpost you to relevant support services and see if any additional support needs to be put in place.

We know that all students have different study habits, so if you feel the LEA data doesn’t accurately reflect your engagement, you can discuss this with the staff member that contacts you.

 Your LEA data will never be used to make automatic decisions about your progression – a staff member will always reach out to you before any decisions are made!

 What’s the future of LEA?

 First of all, we’re working on a dashboard that will give students a simple way to see their own Learner and Engagement Analytics. The intention is that students can choose to use this data to monitor their progress and get an accurate idea of their progress compared to the rest of their cohort. It will of course not be compulsory to check your LEA Analytics data – it’s a tool you can choose to use if you find it helpful.

As the LEA system develops, the system will also be able to make predictions based on the data that comes into the system. This feature is not available yet, but when it becomes available, it will allow staff to identify if you might need a bit more support. It will also be a way for you and your Advisor to discuss your expectations for your academic results and see if you need to adjust your engagement to make it more likely that you can achieve the results you want.

I have a concern or a question. Who can I contact?

We want to be completely transparent about the way LEA works at Queen Mary, so don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have a concern or a question. In the first instance, please contact your Adviser.

5.7 Representation and Feedback

Your views are important to the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science and Queen Mary. There are a variety of ways in which you can tell us what you think and share your ideas for improvement. Student representatives who are elected by students also speak on behalf of the student body at School, Faculty and QM-wide level via various committees, groups and meetings.

The SSLCs provide a channel for students to air their views on all aspects of the modules and facilities run by the School.  The committee includes key members of staff involved in teaching, representatives of the systems and administrative staff, the subject librarian, and representatives for each year group. The SSLCs meet formally twice per semester. Feedback from the committees is valuable in the improvement of teaching in the School, and students are encouraged to contribute wherever possible.

The SSLC student representatives are elected by their peers. Early in the first semester, students will be asked to volunteer, or to nominate other students to stand.  An election is then held for students who consent to stand. All students are encouraged to vote for the representatives for their student group.

Although individual students are free to discuss any issue with members of staff, they may choose to channel such feedback through their SSLC representatives, especially if the issue is of widespread interest or concern to many students. Student representatives are thus active throughout the year, not just at the SSLC meetings. If an issue requires immediate discussion, rather than waiting until the next SSLC meeting, students and/or student representatives should approach their tutor or the Senior Tutor in the first instance.

Details of the SSLC representatives and minutes of SSLC meetings will be available on the School Intranet.

For each module, students will be asked to fill in an anonymous online module feedback questionnaire, which solicits feedback on the delivery, content, workload and support of the module. This data is analysed and studied by module organisers, and passed to College for quality assurance monitoring.

Towards the end of each module you will be sent an email that contains a link to an online form for each of your registered modules.

NOTE: All student feedback is given anonymously.

All final-year undergraduate students at UK institutions take part in the National Student Survey (NSS). The NSS is a nationally recognised annual survey of mostly final-year undergraduates in the UK. The survey gives you an opportunity to give your opinions on what you liked about your time at Queen Mary as well as things that you feel could have been improved.

If you are a finalist, you will usually be contacted by email early in the spring term. Please do complete the NSS, and fill it in honestly.

The NSS results are made publicly available to help prospective students make informed decisions of where and what to study. QMUL and the Students’ Union will also use the data to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses to help effect change and bring about enhancements to improve the student experience for future generations of students. Data from previous surveys are available on Unistats. http://my.qmul.ac.uk/surveys/

This undergraduate survey is completed by students returning to QMUL at the beginning of an academic year, and asks you to reflect on the previous year at QMUL. It gives you the opportunity to tell us your thoughts in order to help us make the changes that you need. http://my.qmul.ac.uk/qmss/

The Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) is conducted every year. It gives you, as a postgraduate taught student, an opportunity to give your opinions on what you like about your time at QMUL, as well as those aspects that you feel could be improved. Please do consider completing the survey; your feedback really is invaluable and will help us make a difference for future generations of QMUL students. http://my.qmul.ac.uk/surveys/postgrads/

5.8 Student Conduct

Both the School and the College have high expectations of student behaviour. Many of the points addressed below are discussed in more detail in the College Student Guide and the College’s Code of Student Discipline, which are available online from Academic Registry. Specifically, the School and College expect that students will treat everyone, whether a member of staff or a fellow student, with dignity and respect at all times. Harassment of any kind, whether verbal or written, implicit or explicit, on account of a person’s race, ethnicity, sex, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability, or any other factor, is completely unacceptable.

It is expected that students will help to maintain a pleasant atmosphere suitable for serious study throughout their programme of study. Any behaviour that prevents other students from studying will result in disciplinary action by the School. Persistent offenders will be referred to College for further disciplinary action and possible deregistration.

Mobile phones should always be switched off during taught classes, in the Library, and in any tests or examinations. Any student whose mobile phone rings during a taught class or in the Library may be asked to leave. Any student whose mobile phone rings during a test or examination will be referred to College for disciplinary action. This may lead to a mark of zero being awarded for that particular assessment, and more serious penalties for a subsequent offence.

 QMUL Netiquette - Student guidelines for communicating in online contexts - https://www.qmul.ac.uk/queenmaryacademy/media/qm-academy/netiquette-guide-v5.pdf

The College code on student discipline can be found at:  http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/misconduct/

A School enforces a strict lab code of conduct for the benefit of all students. The lab code can be found at https://intranet.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/

Conduct in the Laboratories

As a general guide, here are the most important points to remember:

•                     Help to maintain a studious atmosphere in the laboratory

•                     Observe all security arrangements

•                     Do not take food or drink into the ITL or Electronics Lab

•                     Keep your password secret

 A major risk to the computers is from food and drink. Drinks, and in particular fizzy drinks, can damage things beyond repair when spilled. We cannot afford to replace the PCs if they are damaged by food or drink. Please don’t take food or drink into the ITL, and do what you can to discourage others from doing so. If any liquid is spilled on a machine, please tell a member of staff immediately: the quicker we find out, the more chance we have of saving the machinery. The Infusion shop and cafe is close to the ITL, and there are many other places to eat and relax. Save the labs for work.

Mobile phones must not be allowed to ring, and must be used considerately. They may not be used during supervised labs. Make and take your calls outside the building. The College doesn’t intend any of its computers to be used for games. The School provides laboratories as places for study. Please respect others’ need to concentrate and respect the effort by lecturers and teaching assistants put into the labs.

We are funded to maintain, service and replace the machinery for use by our students alone. It is possible for people from other departments to wander in and use up resources to which they are not entitled. The building is not staffed full time and we expect that you will help keep out intruders.

Section 6 - Assessments and Exams

This section contains:

• Assessment Types, Progression and Feedback
• Examination, Results and Grading
• Coursework submissions and Penalties
• QM+ Assessment
• Incorrect submission File
• Unable to submit
• Project Module and Submission
• Religious Observance
• Plagiarism and Referencing 

6.1 Assessment types, Progression and feedback

Most modules are assessed by a mixture of examination and coursework. Some modules include a small-scale project or in-term tests as part of the coursework. The weighting of examination and coursework is different for individual modules and is decided by the module organiser. Students are usually required to perform to a satisfactory standard in both examination and coursework components in order to obtain an overall pass for the module, but each module has its own specific assessment requirement.

Project modules are usually assessed by means of a project report and an oral examination (viva), including a demonstration of system software where appropriate. Students should refer to the module web pages or ask the module organiser for details of the way in which different coursework elements in a module contribute to the final module assessment.

There are some modules, which have a specific assessment requirement, which is normally a condition to achieve an overall mark of at least 40%. If a module has a coursework or exam hurdle requirement the module descriptor will show the specific condition.

Example displayed on the EECS Module descriptors:

A minimum total mark of 40% is required to pass this module.
A minimum examination mark of 40% is required to pass this module.

Undergraduate overall module pass mark is 40%

Postgraduate, MSc, MEng /MSci level 7  overall module pass mark is 50%

If you think that a particular piece of coursework has not been marked correctly then you should bring it to the attention of the Module Organiser for that particular module. However, you need to be certain that your complaint is justified because it is possible that your mark could be reduced on review. Requests to review coursework marks should be made within two weeks of the mark being made available to you (i.e. no later than two weeks after the published cut-off date). If it appears that a mark has not been recorded correctly, then please contact the coursework administrator.

6.2 Examinations, Results and Grading

Your individual examination timetable will be available on MySIS towards the end of December 2022 for your Semester A exams and April 2023 for your Semester B exams.  You must check the timetable and report any errors to Registry. Please note that Registry is responsible for producing the timetable.  It is not possible to re-arrange examinations.

We will try and provide your provisional results via MySIS by the end of June. Confirmed results will be made available via MySIS once the Degree Examination Board has approved them. 

Late summer resits will be available to all students. If you are eligible for a late summer resit you will automatically be registered.  You cannot withdraw and if you are absent it will count as a fail.  Late summer resits usually take place during the first two weeks of August and the timetable will be available in MySIS around mid July. Resits are now free of charge. 

QMUL takes assessment and examination offences very seriously and so must you.  In general, calculators are not allowed in examinations, if there is an exception then this will be stated clearly in the examination rubric.  If you use a calculator where it is not permitted, you should expect to receive a mark of zero for the examination.  It is also an offence to take any notes or mobile phones into the examination room.

To view your marks for assessment, log-in to MySIS (your personal area of SIS) with your usual computer log-in, where they will be listed. These marks are provisional and subject to change until they are agreed by the appropriate subject examination board. MySIS will indicate whether the results are provisional or confirmed. Guides on checking your results on MySis are available on the Student Enquiry website (http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/mysis-record/provisional-results/index.html)

Examination boards may use a borderline policy when making recommendations for final degree classifications. The following criteria are used

1. Students with College Marks within one per cent of a borderline (except at the pass/fail border) shall be determined to fall within the ‘zone of consideration’;

2. Students with College Marks within 1.5 per cent of a borderline and with significant extenuating circumstances in the final year not taken into account elsewhere may be determined to fall within the zone of consideration. However, if this approach is taken then the extenuating circumstances may not also be used as a reason to raise the classification itself;

3. All students falling within a zone of consideration shall be considered as possible cases for application of the borderline policy;

4. Students falling within the zone of consideration and with at least half of their final year credits (half of all credits at PG level) with marks at the level of the upper classification (or higher), shall be raised to the higher classification. The dissertation/project does not have to be among the credits at the higher level;

5. Students falling within the one per cent zone of consideration and not meeting the requirements of point 4, but with significant extenuating circumstances in the final year not taken into account elsewhere shall be raised to the higher classification provided the SEB is confident that – without the effect of the extenuating circumstances – the student would have achieved the higher classification.

Further information on progression can be found in the Academic Regulations:

Before submitting an appeal please speak to your School/Institute about the decision you wish to appeal as many issues can be resolved without the need for an appeal. If you wish to submit an appeal then you must complete the appeal form within 14 days of the notification of the decision you want to challenge.

Information about how to appeal and the appeal form can be found on the QMUL website:

 http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/appeals/index.html

6.3 Coursework (Submission & Penalties)

It is important to familiarise yourself with the assessment  submission requirements,  leaving things to the last minute may cause delays and ultimately result in late penalties.

There is 1 formal electronic submission methods in EECS  - via the relevant Module page on QMplus. 

Each Modules QMplus page will consist of a breakdown of all assessments and submission links.

6.4 QMPlus Assessments

Most of EECS submissions will be via QMPlus module pages.

You should follow the module organisers instructions for any QMPlus assessment submissions. 

Pay close attention to the instructions given.  Check the file format requested, any word length required, file sizes, if group submission or individual submission is required.

Where the submission permits a draft submission uploaded prior to final submission you must make sure you formally submit . The submission may include  a submit button for the final submission to be formally accepted. If you do not formally submit and the file shows as Draft (not submitted) the assessment may not be marked by the module organiser, zero fail will be obtained.  If a Draft (not submitted) file is uploaded prior to the deadline and is marked a minimum 5% penalty will be applied. If the Draft (not submitted) file is submitted after the deadline but before the cut off date and is marked, the relevant late days penalty PLUS a minimum 5% penalty will be applied

QMPlus submitted assessments are subject to the School late penalty policy.  Any submissions received after the set deadline will receive a late penalty.

Please note, the QM+ late time indication is not the full and final penalty to be applied. Example, it may show as 1 day late, however, the actual timestamp will be 1 day and X seconds,  in this case 2 late days penalties will be applied.

QMPlus group submissions.

You may be required to join a group prior to submission, it is your responsibility to ensure you are in the correct group prior to submission. Not joining a group may result in not receiving marks for an assessment.  It is good practice to ensure all group members names are listed on a group submission unless you are specifically asked to not include names.

If you have issues with group members contribution you should inform the module organiser or demonstrators.

6.5 Incorrect submission file

It is a student’s responsibility to submit the correct file via the correct method.

Pay attention to the assessment requirements. The submission should be in the correct file format as requested in the assessment requirements.

The Module Organiser can only mark what has been submitted via the formal method.  Module Organisers cannot mark a submission if the file is not readable or if the submission is not via the formal method (QM+ or EECS submission system).  

If you know you submitted the wrong file please bring it to the attention of the Module Organiser as soon as possible.

For each case below, If the wrong file is submitted to QM+, and is brought to the attention of the Module Organisers :-

• Before the deadline, the incorrect file will be reverted back to Draft and you can resubmit. Penalties may still apply if the file is submitted after the deadline or  the file has time stamp after the deadline.
• After the deadline and prior to the cut off (generally 7 days after deadline),  you may be able to resubmit but the relevant penalties will apply.
• After the cut off deadline,  no further submissions or changes will be accepted.

 This is only to be considered where one has submitted the wrong file , e.g.  an assessment for a different module. Please note, this is not for cases where you have continued to work after the submission has been formally submitted. If the wrong file replacement does not have a last edit timestamp prior to the original file submission, then no further submission may be permitted.

6.6 Unable to Submit

If you have any extenuating circumstances that will result in your coursework being late or you having to miss a scheduled lab session, you must report them to the School office within 5 days of the coursework deadline.

Any such claim MUST be supported by documentary evidence e.g. an original medical certificate covering the date(s) in question, accompanied by an extenuating circumstances form available from the Student Support Officer eecs-sst@qmul.ac.uk,  Any claim will not be considered, under any circumstances, without supporting documents.

Please note that students with extenuating circumstances cannot be given extra marks. Marks will only be given for the work actually produced, not what might have been done if extenuating circumstances had not arisen.

Please look here for further details about the Extenuating Circumstances procedure. 

6.7 Penalties for late submission of coursework

If an assignment is submitted after the specified deadline it shall be recorded as late and a penalty shall be applied, as detailed below. If  there are valid extenuating circumstances then a penalty may be fully or partially waived.

              i.        For every period of 24 hours, or part thereof, that an assignment is overdue there shall be a deduction of five per cent of the total marks available (i.e. five marks for an assessment marked out of 100). After seven calendar days (168 hours or more late) the mark shall be reduced to zero, and recorded as 0FL (zero, fail, late).

            ii.       A student may submit work of passing standard but fail the module because of the late submission penalty. Where the student is eligible for a resit attempt in such a case, the student shall not be required to resubmit the assessment; instead, the pre-deduction mark from the first attempt shall be entered for the resit. Where a student is not eligible for a resit, this provision does not apply.

              iii.        Certain assessments may cease to be a valid measure of a module’s learning outcomes prior to the seven working day cut-off. For example, where feedback has been provided to the class, any submission made after that point would not be an accurate measure of attainment. In such cases, the late submission policy shall apply as normal up to the day on which feedback is given; at that point, a mark of zero (0FL) shall be applied, even if this is within seven calendar days of the deadline. Schools and Institutes must make clear to students in advance where this variant policy applies, or else the general policy shall be applied.

            iv.       A late work penalty may be removed where a student provides good reason for the late submission under the extenuating circumstances policy. A student must submit a formal claim with supporting evidence in line with that policy in order for the circumstances to be considered.

          v.        Schools and Institutes may award extensions to submission deadlines. This is at the discretion of the School/Institute. Where a School/Institute does consider the award of an extension, a student must apply before the submission date with an extenuating circumstances claim and supporting evidence. In no circumstances shall an extension set a new deadline beyond the next meeting of the relevant Subject Examination Board (though a first sit may be awarded).

6.8 Project module and submissions

All EECS programmes have an individual project module. The project module is a core module for all EECS programmes. Core modules must be passed as a requirement of the academic regulations.

Late submission of projects will be penalised in the same way as for other coursework. Please note that submission deadline for final project reports will be stated on QMplus assessment submission.

A detailed project handbook is available on the project QMplus page.

UG students in their penultimate year (second year for three year programmes, third year for four year programmes) will have a pre project lecture to help prepare for the final project module.

6.9 Religious Observance

Queen Mary is a diverse community of over 25,000 students and staff. With a variety of faiths and beliefs represented on campus, we are committed to tolerance, understanding and co-operation, as well as to ensuring as far as possible that our policies are consistent across all needs. Many religions and beliefs require their members to pray at specific times during the day, or have special festivals or spiritual observance days. We recognise therefore that students at Queen Mary often strike a balance between their educational and religious commitments.

One of Queen Mary’s fundamental aims is to provide an education that is judged internationally to be of the highest quality. It would be both impractical and inconsistent with our aims as a university to suspend teaching for reasons of religious observance, but we will accommodate students’ religious commitments where we reasonably can do so. This may include providing learning materials (potentially including QReview recordings) online and permitting students to attend classes at different times where there is availability.

Students are expected to stay engaged and up-to-date with their studies throughout their time at Queen Mary. Schools and Institutes should make their expectations for attendance and submission of coursework clear to students at the beginning of their studies, and students should inform themselves beforehand about the potential implications of missing learning and teaching activities. Students must also inform their school or institute beforehand if they intend to miss any teaching. We will take religious commitments into reasonable account when reviewing students’ attendance, but we expect students to plan their studies so that they can submit coursework on time.

The following procedures apply in the event that a special festival or spiritual observance day would result in absence from a scheduled assessment.

• In the case of an in-class test, students may request permission in advance from their Head of School or Institute to be absent on that occasion. The Head of School or Institute will consider whether reasonable adjustments can be made, for example by permitting late submission or rearranging the test. It is important to submit requests well in advance, in case reasonable adjustments cannot be made.

• Students may notify Queen Mary of any special festivals or spiritual observance days that fall during formal examination periods by submitting the relevant form by the deadline specified in the Academic Calendar. We will accommodate such requests where we reasonably can do so. We are not able to make allowances for routine religious observance during formal examination periods

Queen Mary is proud of its diverse multicultural population. With a variety of faiths among staff and students, our facilities are designed to be places where people of all faiths are welcome to use the spaces for contemplation, reflection, meditation and worship.

6.10 Plagiarism and Referencing

Plagiarism is the failure to credit the writings or ideas of another person that you have used in your own work. In such cases you are, deliberately or inadvertently, attempting to pass their work off as your own. Plagiarism is a serious offence, and can carry severe consequences, from failure of the module to deregistration from the College. You may also commit plagiarism by failing to reference your own work that you have already used in a previous essay, or by failing to credit the input of other students on group projects.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand plagiarism and how to avoid it. The recommendations below can help you in avoiding plagiarism.

• Be sure to record your sources when taking notes, and to cite these if you use ideas or, especially, quotations from the original source. Be particularly careful if you are cutting and pasting information between two documents, and ensure that references are not lost in the process.
• Be sensible in referencing ideas – commonly held views that are generally accepted do not always require acknowledgment to particular sources. However, it is best to be safe to avoid plagiarism.
• Be particularly careful with quotations and paraphrasing.
• Be aware that technology is now available at Queen Mary and elsewhere that can automatically detect plagiarism.
• Ensure that all works used are referenced appropriately in the text of your work and fully credited in your bibliography.
• If in doubt, ask for further guidance from your adviser or module tutor.

The material that you submit for assessment, whether in an answer script in a written examination or as assessed coursework, must be your own unaided work. Cheating in written examinations and plagiarism in assessed coursework are examination offences.

Plagiarism in assessed coursework - this is the use or presentation of the work of another person, including another student, as your own work (or as part of your own work) without acknowledging the source. Plagiarism therefore includes submitting the work of someone else as your own, and extensive copying from someone else's work in your own paper or report.

Brief quotations from the published or unpublished work of other persons may be used, but must always be clearly indicated by being placed inside quotation marks, with the source indicated in some way, and the work listed in the bibliography at the end of your own piece of work.

It can also be plagiarism to summarise another person's ideas or judgements without reference to the source.

·         Copying material from web pages without acknowledgement is plagiarism.

 ·        Copying programs (for example from the Internet) without explanation of where they are from or how much you have modified the programs is also plagiarism

 ·         Copying from another student (with or without their consent) is plagiarism and both parties will be subject to investigation and possible penalty.

 ·         Do not copy and do not allow others to copy from you.

When you are taking notes for a paper or piece of coursework, it is important to include all the sources you have used, and to indicate any quotations so that you can make the necessary references when you come to write the paper. "Unconscious plagiarism", including an un-attributed quotation because you did not identify quotations in your notes, is as much an examination offence as deliberate plagiarism, and will be dealt with in the same way as any other examination offence. 

You can find more information on study support provided by Student Services:

http://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/subjects_support

http://www.learningdevelopment.qmul.ac.uk/

Section 7 - Programmes and modules of study

This section contains:

• Programme and Modules of Study
• Change of Programmes and Module Selection
• Module Registration
• UG & PG Final Year Projects
• Teaching Methods
• Turnitin Statement for EECS
• Working Hours and Study

7.1 Programmes and modules of study

The BSc, BSc (Eng) and BEng degree are three-year programmes of study structured into six semesters. The MEng/MSci is a four-year programme structured into eight semesters. The two semesters in each year are referred to as Semester A (starting in September) and Semester B (starting in January).

Students are enrolled onto a specific degree programme or programme of study; the programme code corresponds to the UCAS code under which they were admitted into the School.  Most modules are worth 15 academic credits or a multiple of this value.

Each programme of study specifies a set of required modules that must be taken each year, and possibly a set of optional modules, from which students may choose.  This set is referred to as the recommended programme.

Full details of the programmes of study and modules can be found on the Student Intranet https://intranet.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/admin/programmes Information about programmes and modules offered by other Schools may be obtained from the appropriate School office or intranet.

NOTE: Recommended programmes are updated each year and may be subject to change. There may also be restrictions on which optional modules are available to students, according to factors such as the level (i.e. degree of difficulty) of the module, and resource and timetabling constraints. 

Students are enrolled onto a specific degree programme or programme of study. The full- time Master’s degree is a one-year programme of study structured into three semesters. The semesters in each year are referred to as Semester A (starting in September), Semester B (starting in January), and Semester C (starting in June after the exam period). Students are strongly discouraged from being away from College during their dissertation, and where this is unavoidable, permission needs to be obtained well in advance.

Most modules are worth 15 academic credits or a multiple of this value. A full-time specialist or generalist Masters student takes twelve 15-credit modules in the academic year, comprising a taught component of eight 15-credit modules followed by a dissertation/project worth four 15-credit modules.

Each programme of study specifies a set of required modules that must be taken each year, and possibly a set of optional modules, from which students may choose. It is sometimes possible to follow a limited number of modules outside the recommended programme of study, but students must always consult their Adviser and seek approval from the Postgraduate, Senior Tutor. It may also be possible to follow a module outside the College at another University of London college, if a corresponding module is not available at Queen Mary, but, again, students must consult the Senior Tutor about this.

Full details of the programmes of study and modules can be found in the Computer Science recommended programmes (see the School intranet:  https://intranet.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/courses) Information about programmes and modules offered by other Schools may be obtained from the appropriate departmental office or intranet.

NOTE: Recommended programmes are updated each year and may be subject to change. There may also be restrictions on which optional modules are available to students, according to factors such as the level (i.e. degree of difficulty) of the module, and resource and timetabling constraints. 

For details of classifications please review the Academic Regulations for your specific programme of study.

The College runs an American Universities exchange programme, under which the second year of a three-year programme of study is spent abroad. Students should note that it is necessary to initiate arrangements for this early on in the first year. However, the scheme is usually only open to students who achieve an overall grade of 60% or above, and entry to the programme is at the discretion of the Head of School. The School also participates in ERASMUS, an exchange programme administered by the European Union, under which students may study for a period of several months, or up to a year, at a university in another country within the Union. For advice and guidance, all students should talk to the ERASMUS Coordinator in the first instance. More information can also be found on the website at http://www.qmul.ac.uk/international/studyabroad/

All of the three-year bachelors degrees offered in our School include the chance to spend a year in industry with our industrial experience option. The Industrial Experience (IE) year consists of one year spent working in industry in a role that relates directly to your field of study. This option means you take four years to complete your degree, with your third year spent working in a role directly related to your studies.  If you are not registered on a ‘with IE’ degree programme you may still be able to transfer to the programme by the end of the second year.  In order to do this you must have passed your first and second year with an overall 2.2 result (50% or above - met the requirements to progress to the next level).  For further information about the IE degrees please contact the Placements Team (see below for contact details).

**For further information about the IE degrees please contact the Placements Team

Dola Aina,  Industrial Placement Manager - d.aina@qmul.ac.uk

Craig McWilliam,  Industrial Placement Assistant - c.mcwilliam@qmul.ac.uk

7.2 Change of Programmes and Module Selection

The programme of study you enrol on when you start Queen Mary is the same as the course for which QM accepted you. Full details of all EECS programmes can be found at https://intranet.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/admin/programmes   These descriptors specify the modules which have been programmed in the Student Information System (SIS) and you must take.

Please note we do not permit any first year change of programme requests. This policy has been set and approved by the School Senior Management Team and our Director of Recruitment and Admissions. 

If you would like to discuss adding IE to your programme of study after your first year of study please email eecsprogadm@qmul.ac.uk directly.

If the new programme of study is run by another department, you will also be referred to the designated member of staff in the department responsible for the new programme. If the change is approved by all departments involved, a College Change of Programme of Study form are available from the Academic Registry website at https://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/study/changing-programme/index.html must be completed and signed by a member of the Teaching Services Team and the designated member of staff from any other department involved. The student may be assigned a new tutor/Adviser as a result of the change.

Module registration is handled online by the QMUL Student Information System (SIS). You should choose or confirm your modules for the whole academic year before or during the enrolment period at the start on Semester A. You will have the opportunity to change the choices you made for Semester B at the start on the new term in January.

To register for your modules you will need to login to MySIS http://mysis.qmul.ac.uk using your QMUL computer login details and select ‘Module Registration’ from the menu on the left.  Any core or compulsory modules will already be preselected and you will not be able to change them. Elective modules can be selected from the lists.

Once you have made your module selection and are happy with your choices you should click the ‘Submit Selections’ button. This is an important step and if it is not followed through your module choices will not go through the system. Your module selections will then be available to the Teaching Services Team.

It is essential that you check your QMUL email daily and respond quickly if any of your modules registrations are rejected. Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure that there are no timetable clashes for the modules you have selected. Module registration must be completed within the first 2 weeks of teaching.

We do have some modules that have limited spaces and priority will be given to students who are required to take these as part of their recommended programme.

It is possible for you to modify your choices up until the second week of each semester. To do so you will need to speak to a member of the Teaching Services Team and ask them to reject your selection.

Undergradate students can take a module at another UoL college such as Kings College London, University College London, London School of Economics and the School of Oriental and African Studies.

To register for one of these modules you will need to contact Registry and complete the appropriate form and get approval from your academic School or Institute, as well as approval from the other college.

• Registry Website
• Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7882 5005
• Module Registration form

7.3 Module Registration

To register for your modules you will log-in to MySIS (your personal area of SIS) with your usual computer log-in, and make preliminary choices from a list using the descriptions to tell you what the modules are about. Any core or compulsory modules will be preselected and you cannot change these. 

Once you are happy with your choices, these will automatically be sent to your department or School for approval (e.g. they will make sure there aren’t any timetable clashes and you have a balance of modules in each semester) – you can send comments to them with the selection if you wish. All of your selections must be confirmed and approved by the specified deadline. The final outcome of your choices will be confirmed to you by email. Module registration has to be completed by the specified deadline (normally early-October within the first two weeks of teaching).

All modules have a limited number of places, and priority is given to students who are required to take them for their programmes. Therefore it is important that you choose your electives and complete module registration as soon as possible.

Please note, new students register for modules in September whereas some continuing students will register for modules before they come back to university in September i.e. continuing students  may have the opportunity to register in April 2024 and can review these selections at the start of the academic year beginning September 2024.

7.4 UG & PG Final Projects

The project coordinator for undergraduate projects is Dr Usman Naeem eecs-ug-project-coordinator@lists.eecs.qmul.ac.uk. A number of timetabled support sessions will be given throughout the year by the project coordinator to guide you through the various stages of the project.

The final year project carries 30 credits and is the centrepiece of your degree. It gives you the opportunity to apply what you have learned in your course, as well as to learn new things, in order to produce a significant piece of individual work and a substantial report that documents it.

Information about available topics and supervisors, and about the process for finding a supervisor, will be published on the QM+ pages for projects.

In order to successfully complete your project, you need to:

• Think of an idea for your project.
  
• Find a supervisor and agree a project title – make sure that you have been ‘claimed’.
  
• Work with your supervisor to agree and submit the project title and proposal.
  
• Submit the Project Definition
• See your supervisor regularly (weekly) when possible.  Make appointments in advance, keep them, and find out when your supervisor will be on holiday or away teaching/at conferences.
• Submit your final report on time, with your PowerPoint presentation and other supporting material.
  
• Give a good presentation.
  

if you are unhappy with your supervisor you need to contact the project coordinator.

Please note that IET Accreditation Body have a requirement that the major individual project (BSc/BEng/MSci/MEng/MSc) and group project (MSci/MEng) must be passed at the first attempt in order to graduate with an IET accredited degree. The BCS have a requirement that the major individual project has to be a problem solving project and passed at the first attempt in order to obtain the BCS Accreditation.  

The project coordinator for MSc projects is Dr Usman Naeem.   The project will give you the opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned in the taught part of the course and to produce original and publishable work.  You have to pass both the taught courses component and the project to be awarded an MSc.  You will be required to produce various documents to given deadlines throughout the duration of the project.  You will also be required to give an oral presentation (and where appropriate a demonstration) of your project at a prescribed place and time.

The oral examination (viva) will be assessed by your supervisor and a second examiner.  It will take place during the first two weeks of September.

7.5 Teaching Methods

Lectures

The principal method of communicating material in most modules is by 2 - 3 hours of lectures per week. During lectures, the lecturer presents material to the whole class, usually using teaching aids such as data projectors, white-boards, videos and computer demonstrations. Lecturers have individual styles of teaching: some may offer lecture slides or notes (handed out in the lecture, downloadable from the module website or available from reception for a small fee to cover printing costs), while others will expect students to take all their own notes, or to supplement supplied notes with their own additions. 

Students should re-read their lecture notes, where possible, before the next lecture, so that they can ask any questions or clarification before the next set of material is handed out. It is worth remembering that notes will be the basis of revision for exams, so it is wise to put some effort into making them as good as possible.

Labs

Many modules use weekly laboratory classes (labs) in order to give students practical experience of applying or testing concepts discussed during lectures. Practical skills, e.g. programming, are best developed in this type of environment. Teaching Assistants (typically members of staff or postgraduate research students) will be on hand to answer questions and help with practical problems. The support staff will not solve the problem on the student’s behalf, but will try to guide them towards finding a solution themselves. Set tasks are usually assigned in advance, and students should look at them before the class, if possible, and identify any problems, so that they can ask about these during the lab. 

A module will often have several time-slots set aside for labs, and each student will be assigned to a lab group, which has an individual time-slot. Labs are usually run in a particular section of the Temporary uilding, depending on the level of the module and the number of students. Lab groups and time-slots for individual modules are usually available on your EECS landing page under quick links. If a student wishes to change lab groups or time-slots, s/he must have good reason, e.g. a timetable clash. Changes cannot be made for other, more minor reasons; it is the student’s responsibility to be available during timetabled hours in term-time.

Modules that involve hardware also usually have several laboratory sessions as part of the module. The schedule for your laboratory sessions will be available on your EECS landing page. It is important that you prepare for the laboratory sessions in advance of the session. 

Tutorial Exercise classes

Like labs, some modules use exercise classes in order to give students practical experience of applying concepts discussed during lectures. Classes are usually held in a seminar room, and are often based on pen-and-paper tasks. Teaching Assistants (typically members of staff or postgraduate research students) will be on hand to answer questions and check solutions. The Teaching Assistants will not solve the problem on the student’s behalf, but will try to guide them towards finding a solution themselves. Set tasks are usually assigned in advance, and students should look at them before the class, if possible, and identify any problems, so that they can ask about these during the exercise class. Students should attempt to complete the tasks while help is at hand; if the work cannot be finished in the timetabled exercise class slot, students may finish it in their own time (but without the help of teaching Assistants).

A module will often have several time-slots set aside for exercise classes, and each student will be assigned to a group, which has an individual time-slot. Exercise classes are often run in the Temporary building, or in small seminar or lecture rooms elsewhere in the College. Groups and time-slots for individual modules are usually posted on your landing page or QM Plus. If a student wishes to change groups or time-slots, s/he must have good reason, e.g. a timetable clash. Changes cannot be made for other, more minor reasons; it is the student’s responsibility to be available during timetabled hours in term-time.

Project meetings (second, third and final year, and Masters students)

Some second, third, final year and Masters modules are project-based (e.g. group projects and the final year project). Support for these modules is often in the form of weekly project meetings, either in groups or individually. During these meetings, the student, or group of students, meets with a project supervisor or consultant, who is usually a member of academic staff. This provides the student(s) with an opportunity to summarise progress since the previous project meeting, discuss any problems and possible solutions, and plan the work to be carried out before the next project meeting. The project supervisor or consultant has two main roles: academic, ensuring that the intellectual content of the work is rigorous and well considered, and project management, ensuring that a satisfactory time-plan is formed and followed.

Independent study

In addition to the timetabled classes, students should plan to spend at least 5 hours per week on private study for each module they are studying. The division of this time between study tasks may vary with the nature of individual modules, e.g. a substantial part of the additional study time on a programming module may be spent in the lab, while other modules may demand more time spent on reading background material or solving exercise sheets. A variety of sources of material may be recommended: lecture slides and/or notes (for information tailored towards the individual module concerned), text-books (for basic, factual information), journals (for in-depth exploration of recent research trends), and conference proceedings (for cutting-edge research in progress). Some of this scientific material may be authored by the module teaching staff.

7.6 Turnitin Statement for the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science

1           How Turnitin works

1.1          A Turnitin assignment is set up by a member of staff, either on QMplus or directly on Turnitin’s own website. You then access this assignment online and upload your work before the due date.  Turnitin will analyse the submitted work to identify text matches with other sources and will compare the work against:

• the current and archived web; 
  
• previously submitted work; 
  
• books and journals.
  

Details of how to reference the material that you have used in assessed coursework are available from our Key Skills web page.  You should make sure that you are familiar with all the advice contained here especially if you are submitting written work for the first time. (http://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/referencing)

If plagiarism is suspected in an item of assessed coursework worth 30% or less of the overall course mark, then the work will be subject to a School investigation.  Students will be invited to comment on any allegations of plagiarism.  Penalties that can be imposed range from a formal warning to failure in the coursework element without any opportunity to re-submit. 

A major item of assessed coursework is one that is worth more than 25% of the total course mark.  This includes your project report.  If plagiarism is suspected in a major piece of coursework, then the case will be referred by the School directly to the Academic Secretary who in turn will bring it to the attention of the Chair of the Examination Offences panel.  The Chair and the panel are able to deal more severe penalties which include failure in the module, failure of the year or even expulsion from College.

7.7 Working Hours and Attendance

Full-time students should treat their studies as the equivalent of a full-time job, and should, therefore, expect to spend at least 40 hours per week on the combination of taught classes and additional study time. Students have a responsibility towards College and towards their funding body, where relevant, to display the same effort and commitment as they would towards an employer. Any student who consistently spends less than this amount of time on their studies can expect to experience problems.

Students must be free to attend classes between the hours of 9.00 am and 6.00 pm Mondays to Fridays during term-time. Attendance at ALL classes is compulsory, and will be formally monitored by a variety of means. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that any absence is explained, in advance where possible, to the relevant staff and to their adviser, and that any necessary forms and supporting documentation are submitted. The consequences of any failure to do so may be serious, and may include deregistration from College and notification of deregistration to grant-awarding Local Education Authorities (LEAs) or the Student Loans Company (SLC). This may lead to the LEA or SLC ceasing payment and requiring some, if not all, of any grant to be repaid.

If absence affects a substantial period of time, especially submission of assessed coursework or attendance at in-term tests or end-of-year examinations, the student must ensure that an appropriate Extenuating Circumstances Form is submitted together with supporting documents, alternatively Interruption of Studies should be considered in extreme circumstances. Discuss options with your Advisor or Student Support Team. Further information on interruption of studies -  http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/study/interrupting/

7.8 Time Management

One of the most important skills that will determine a student’s success is their ability to manage their time effectively. This is important both in the context of taught classes (e.g. labs and tutorials), where students need to make the best possible use of the dedicated time and resources available to them, and of private study time. Students are advised to take time management seriously right from the beginning of their studies; failure to do so will make it much more difficult to catch up at a later date. 

When planning study time, students should take into account extra-curricular activities and any part-time employment they hold. It is now very common for students to hold a part- time job for financial reasons while studying. However, it should be remembered that this is the equivalent of holding down both a full-time and an additional part-time job. Students must balance the demands of their studies, which are paramount, with their financial needs; while students are not prohibited from part-time employment, this should never interfere with attendance at scheduled classes or the allocation of sufficient private study time. Part- time employment will not be accepted as a valid excuse for missing compulsory classes or any assessed coursework, tests or examinations. Students should also be aware that working anti-social hours, e.g. late nights, can interfere with concentration and study performance.

International students studying on a student visa should seek advice from the College Advice and Counselling Service – https://www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk/

Section 8 - Student Services

This section contains:

• Student Enquiry Centre
• Bursaries, Grants and Scholarship
• Advice and Counselling
• Careers and Enterprise
• Disability and Dyslexia Services
• Faith at QMUL
• IT Services
• Library Services
• Music

8.1 Student Enquiry Centre

Student Enquiry Centre

We provide support to all Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught students and we can help with a wide variety of queries. If you are not sure about something or do not know who to contact, ask us!

We are located on the ground floor of the Scape East building.

Contact

Student Enquiry Centre Online (accessed via MySIS - http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/sec/sec-online/)

Email: studentenquiry@qmul.ac.uk

Telephone: 020 7882 5005

8.2 Bursaries, Grants and Scholarships

If you have applied for funds from Student Finance then you will receive the first instalment once you have enrolled fully for the academic year. If your payments do not arrive and you cannot remedy the problem with Student Finance yourself, please contact the Student Enquiry Centre,  http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/sec/ . They will be able to assess for any actions needed by Queen Mary and advise you of the next steps.

Queen Mary Bursaries are assessed using the household income information provided to us from Student Finance.

If you do not wish to take out student funding, such as loans, but still wish to be assessed for a Queen Mary Bursary you will still need to apply for a household income assessment, full details on how to do this are on the Advice and Counselling Service website.

Full details of the Queen Mary Bursary, including eligibility, amounts and payment dates can be found on our website - http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/finances/bursaries-grants-scholarships/qmul-bursaries-new/

Queen Mary Bursaries are assessed using the household income information provided to us from Student Finance.

If you do not wish to take out student funding, such as loans, but still wish to be assessed for a Queen Mary Bursary you will still need to apply for a household income assessment, full details on how to do this are on the Advice and Counselling Service website.

Full details of the Queen Mary Bursary, including eligibility, amounts and payment dates can be found on our website - http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/finances/bursaries-grants-scholarships/qmul-bursaries-new/

Contact

8.3 Advice and Counselling

Life can seem like a struggle at times, and it is normal to sometimes feel a bit low or anxious. Sometimes, though, emotional and psychological issues can become too challenging, and may have a negative effect on your studies and well-being. Our Counsellors can help you to make sense of difficult experiences and feelings by providing the opportunity to think and talk reflectively, which can bring relief and meaningful changes.

The first step is meeting confidentially with one of our Counsellors to discuss what type of support might be most useful to you. This might be short term counselling, group therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy or a referral for longer term support or specialist services outside Queen Mary  / in the NHS. For many students, just one or two sessions can really help. Our Counsellors are all highly experienced in working with students, and all types of issues.

8.4 Careers and Enterprise

8.5 Disability and Dyslexia Services

The university’s Disability and Dyslexia Service (DDS) offers advice, guidance and support for students with disabilities, including specific learning differences like dyslexia and dyspraxia, as well as mental health difficulties, from application through to graduation. The range of support that the DDS is able to provide includes:

•       Support and guidance in applying for the Disabled Student’s Allowance (DSA)

•       Support for international disabled students

•       Liaison with staff in Queen Mary’s Schools regarding ‘reasonable adjustments’

•       Support in ensuring that course materials are fully accessible

•       Diagnostic assessments for students who think that they might have specific learning differences

•       Specialist one-to-one study skills support for students with dyslexia and other specific learning differences

•       Specialist mentoring support for students with mental health difficulties and autism

•       On-site DSA needs assessments

•       Access to non-specialist human support, e.g. note-taking

•       Access to assistive technology

•       Guidance in accessing examination concessions such as additional time

Contact

Telephone: 020 7882 2756

Web: www.dds.qmul.ac.uk/

8.6 IT Services

IT Services

Our services to support students range from email and internet access, to state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities and high performance computing in support of research. There are a number of rooms around the campus that contain computers which students can use. You sign in using your Queen Mary username and password. In general, any computer you use will have all the applications that you need for your course available to you.

Your IT Account: Details of your Queen Mary username and password will be emailed to your personal address before you enrol.

The IT Service Desk is the first point of contact for all IT help, support and advice You can Live Chat with the Service Desk 24/7 http://www.its.qmul.ac.uk/contact/, call   on 020 7882 8888 or raise a ticket via the Self Service portal https://servicedesk.qmul.ac.uk/. Visit us in the Queens' Building on the Mile End Campus. Our opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8am-6pm.

 Find an available PC on campus: an interactive map showing which rooms have empty seats http://availability.stu.qmul.ac.uk/

 Print, Copy, Scan: There are printers in the computer rooms and in the Library. The larger devices in the Library also offer copying and scanning facilities alongside printing. We also offer a wireless printing service. You are charged for printing and copying by clicks (one click = one side of paper). The cost of a single side is 4p but drops to 3.5p when you print double-sided. All students get £10 each year through your iPay account for printing and copying.

 The CopyShop: A quick, professional and cost-effective photocopying and printing service. We can print a range of items for you, including: Theses/Dissertations, Lecture notes, Posters and much more.

 Book Scanning Service: The CopyShop offers students a professional scanning service. If you wish to retain a section of a publication for study use, the CopyShop produce a clear image without fingers tips, black areas and poor results for you.

We can also scan materials you wish to include in your research materials in the correct format you need, for example Research Posters for William Harvey Day….no more fuzzy images.

Wi-Fi: The wireless network you use to connect your devices is eduroam. Halls of residence are fully networked with Wi-Fi and a wired socket in each study bedroom. Access to e-mail, QMplus the online learning environment and other services relevant to your study at Queen Mary is available from the internet as a whole.

Mobile app: Queen Mary’s mobile app is available as a native app for Android (version 2.3.3 or higher) and iOS (version 6.0 and above) devices. The app allows you to do a number of things on the move, including: check your course timetables, log into QMplus and your Queen Mary email, search for and renew library books directly from your phone.

Policies: The use of IT facilities is covered by University regulations prohibiting, among other things, software piracy and unauthorised computer use. IT Services policies are published here: http://www.its.qmul.ac.uk/governance/policies/index.html

 The IT Services website contains information on a number of our services and includes a range of self-help guides http://www.its.qmul.ac.uk/support/index.html

Contact the IT Service Desk

Telephone: 020 7882 8888 (24/7)

Self Service: https://servicedesk.qmul.ac.uk/

8.7 Library Services

Library Services

Library Services at Queen Mary provide the study environments, resources and staff to support your learning during your time at the university.

For 2020 we are providing as many ebooks and other eresources as we can, so you can gain access to online readings from wherever you are. Also we have a team answering emails at library@qmul.ac.uk who we will help you use the eresources and answer any questions you may have.  For subject support please see the Library Subject Guides available from the Library Website. For support with finding, using and evaluating information and information about the academic skills services, please see our Find it! Use it! Reference it! module on QMPlus [https://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6819]

You will find more detailed information for new students on the library’s welcome page.

The online services are backed up by some socially distanced service points who will provide drop-in help. We will be offering socially distanced study space in our 3 libraries at Mile End, Whitechapel and West Smtihfield, each with a character and ambience of their own. As this is such an unusual year, we will be offering some click and collect borrowing services, and some self-service borrowing. You will find up to date details of the library services for the new academic year on the library website [https://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/]

Archives & Special Collections

Archives & Special Collections manage institutional and personal archives dating from the 18th Century to the present day, as well as collections of rare or special materials.

Digital Archives are accessible via our website.  To get started exploring the collections, try searching the  archives catalogue: http://archives-catalogue.library.qmul.ac.uk/CalmView/default.aspx.  

Visits to the Archives Reading Room on the 2nd floor, Mile End Library, are by appointment in advance; these  appointments are limited for the start of 2020/21 due to social distancing in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, but this will be reviewed and updated during the course of the year. The Archives Reading Room provides silent individual study space in which to access and research using these collections.  For more information, see the Archives website: http://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/archives.

 Other libraries

As a college of the federal University of London, Queen Mary students have access and borrowing rights at Senate House Library: https://www.senatehouselibrary.ac.uk/

Contacts

General:

Telephone: 020 7882 8800

Email: library@qmul.ac.uk  

Website: www.library.qmul.ac.uk

Twitter: QMUL Library (@QMLibrary)

Subject Support:

Humanities and Social Sciences

Email: library-hss@qmul.ac.uk

Twitter: QMUL Library HSS (@HssQmul)

Highlights news, current research and events within the disciplines of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Medicine and Dentistry

Email: library-smd@qmul.ac.uk

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/SMDlibQMUL 

Twitter feed of the Faculty Liaison Librarian for Medicine and Dentistry. 

Science and Engineering

Email: library-sande@qmul.ac.uk

Twitter: QMUL Lib Sci&Eng (@QMULLibSciEng)

Information about current research, developments and events within the disciplines of Science and Engineering.

Twitter: S&E Library Update (@seqmullibupdate) 

8.8 Music

Music at QMUL

Section 9 - Other Useful Information

This section includes:

• Residential Services
• Student Health Service
• Westfield Nursery
• Lost Property
• Parking on campus
• Smoking on campus

9.1 Residential Services

Residential Services and Support

Residential Services incorporates:

 Housing Services, based in the Housing Hub, Feilden House, Westfield Way at Mile End, deals with halls applications, room allocations, room transfer requests, summer accommodation, residential fees as well as providing a comprehensive alternative housing service.

 There is a 24 hour Reception, based in France House, Westfield Way at Mile End, handling all enquiries relating to the management of residential accommodation, including reporting of repairs and cleaning issues.

 Residential Support, also based in the Residences Reception, France House, provides support to halls residents, handles issues relating to discipline, pastoral care, social events and complaints.

 If you are a resident in College accommodation you should consult the Residents’ Handbook for comprehensive information on all hall related issues, and contact details for the relevant section of Residential Services: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/residences/handbook/.

Contact Housing Services

Email: residences@qmul.ac.uk  

Contact Residential Support

Email: residential-support@qmul.ac.uk

9.2 Student Health Service

Student Health Service

9.3 Westfield Nursery

Westfield Nursery

Westfield Nursery Queen Mary is based on the Mile End campus and provides full day care for up to 65 children per day aged three months to five years. The nursery prioritises students and staff at Queen Mary, but is also available to those outside Queen Mary. Practitioners are fully qualified and receive continuous professional training on early years practice.

It is open 48 weeks of the year, from 8.30 - 17.30 on weekdays. Early application is advised as demand is high and waiting time is usually six to twelve months. Please visit the Nursery webpage for more information and an application form.

Contact

Telephone: 020 7882 2782

Email: nursery@qmul.ac.uk  

9.4 Lost property

Lost Property

If you have left your property in the ITL building, you can speak to any of the Teaching Support staff or the building Supervisor to get your item back. Where possible, staff members will notify owners of left property. ITL staff will keep the found items in the office and at the end of each term, lost property will be handed to Queen Mary Security or destroyed depending on the nature of the item.

In all other EECS buildings, if any lost property is found, it will go to Queen Mary Security.

9.5 Parking on campus

Parking on Campus

9.6 Smoking on Campus

Smoking on Campus

As an Institution, QMUL recognises the harmful impact of cigarette and tobacco product smoking on individuals, families, health services and society. Much of our research, teaching and public engagement work seeks to eradicate smoking and help those suffering from the effects of smoking.

You cannot smoke in the QM halls of residence or any other QM building. It is not permissible to smoke by the ITL door or any QM building entrance.

Action will be taken for those found smoking in places other than designated areas.

To report problems with smoking on QMUL campuses

• To report a persistent problem, contact QMUL Security
• In case of emergency, please dial 020 7882 3333 (QMUL extension 3333).

http://www.hsd.qmul.ac.uk/a-z/smoking-policy/