Make the Grade – Fit to Submit
UAL’s new Online Student Engagement Policy for Course Teams recommends ‘having a discussion of assessment criteria and near-completed work as “fit to submit”’ (2020, p. 4). This refers to a practice introduced and subsequently developed as ‘Make the Grade’ by Terry Finnigan, Head of Student Attainment at LCF (more background in this case study).
Make the Grade has since been promoted widely through UAL’s Blueprint initiative as an example formative assessment intervention, and through the Academic Enhancement Model (AEM) team, who include Make the Grade in their guide to Reducing Referrals and Resubmissions.
There has been much appetite from LCC course teams for Make the Grade, and the approach is recognised as a valuable way of supporting student progress and attainment with current teaching and assessment adaptations.
The AEM guide outlines the three ‘Make the Grade’ steps to 1) Unpack the assignment, 2) Build a checklist and 3) Run a Make the Grade workshop, which can all be done remotely, synchronously or asynchronously.
Course teams can use the guide as a model for devising appropriate interventions to ensure their students are ‘fit to submit’. And any course adopting AEM can get assistance from Academic Support in co-facilitating the process. Read more about this here and to arrange contact LCC’s Head of Academic Support Christie Johnson (christie.johnson@lcc.arts.ac.uk), or AEM Lead Emily Salines (e.salines@arts.ac.uk).
Useful links
UAL Online Student Engagement Policy (2020):
Online student engagement policy
Inclusive Attainment Case Study: Make the Grade (2017):
Examples of aims and interventions: Blueprint 2019-20:
UAL AEM guide to Reducing Referrals and Resubmissions:
Make the Grade Student Workshops – Guidance for Course Teams and Academic Support staff :