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No-detriment explained and University update

We hope you, your friends and families are all continuing to keep safe and well and that you managed to have a break over the vacation alongside studying and revising and all your other responsibilities.

As well as marking the start of the Summer Term on Monday, I am writing to let you know that additional information has been added to our student coronavirus webpages, much of it in response to your feedback at our recent WebChats and through your Kent Union representatives.

No-detriment policy explained

In particular, we are aware of how much you want to understand more fully how the no-detriment approach will work. There is a new section entitled ‘No-detriment policy explained’ that we would strongly encourage you to read.

The no-detriment approach assures all students, whether you are an undergraduate or postgraduate, that we will take account of how Covid-19 may be impacting your performance in assessed work.

Whilst further detail is in the FAQs, the key message is that we have a number of elements to the University’s no-detriment policy:

  1. A ‘safety net’ calculation based on your performance up to Saturday 14 March. We’ve published more info on this today and will add more detail on the calculation itself very soon.
  2. Additional mitigations put in place since Saturday 14 March such as extensions to deadlines and 48hr exam windows
  3. Guidance to Boards of Examiners to ensure they can and will take the disruption created by covid-19 into account in agreeing your final marks and/or degree classification.

We have also added new pages for those who have studied abroad this year or plan to next year. There are also new pages for taught postgraduates and research students.

Advice and support

Following the successful launch of the new and informal series of Kent Student WebChats delivered via Zoom earlier in April, we are planning to hold these weekly at 10.00 on Fridays. We look forwarding to engaging with you as part of these chats as they will help us identify how we can best support you.

This forms part of our extension of virtual services and online support. All of the University’s services remain open.

To help you make the most of our services and support, we are redeveloping and refreshing the Student Guide and putting together another issue of our student update e-newsletter to be sent out early next week.

In the mean time you can read about access to online and remote support in our Guide to getting support from the University and Kent Union including Student Support and Wellbeing, the Student Learning Advisory Service, IT Service Desk and both the Kent Union and GK Unions advice centres. We also urge you to make full use of our study guides for online examinations and the Kent Union De-stress zone.

There’s also more information about our continuing services for students who remain on the Canterbury campus and the Kent Union Food Bank and Kent Union Co-op shop also remain open. See their website for the opening times.

University and Kent Union staff and Full-Time Officers continue to remain available to support you throughout this period so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

On behalf of all the staff at the University, Kent Union and Full-Time Officers we wish you all the very best luck with your examinations, dissertations and final year-end assessments.

Best wishes,

Christina and Sasha

Professor Christina Hughes                                          Sasha Langeveldt
Interim Director of Student Services                           Students’ Union President of Kent Union