Marks Management phase II

Project Summary

This project will provide exam boards and academic departmental administrators with a system for collating assessment marks for review and compilation and for calculation of degree classification.

Functionality is being built in SITS and eVision to import marks, calculate assessment results and store them in SITS, reducing the need to use spreadsheets and manipulate the data manually.

Each department has a unique set of processes and calculations used to determine the final degree classifications. A small number of departments and degree programmes have agreed to participate in this phase of the project.

The project team has been working closely with those departments to build a pilot system in eVision, which is set to deliver marks management functionality for the exam boards for Trinity term 2024.

Expected Outcomes

• Reduction in manual effort of managing Subject Access Requests (SARs) and informal marks checks
• Supported and secure marks management functionality which offers departments confidence in award calculations, whilst retaining some flexibility to manage local assessment structures
• Assured process for managing marks and assessment results

Expected benefits of the new system

• An Oxford-specific, secure platform, which accommodates a variety of classification rules calculations in a single system and is GDPR-compliant
• The ability to share marks between departments easily
• Technical support and guidance for determining results
• An audit trail of mark changes
• Work efficiency savings due to reduced manual work, the ability to calculate results easily and from results being stored in SITS
• Efficient use of SITS student and exam data

What are the timelines

Marks management is inherently complex, so our approach has been to build it in phases. In this way, we can offer value sooner, and adapt as we learn from working with departments.  

A timeline of the implementation of Marks Management:

1. June 2022 to March 2023 [COMPLETE]
   • Definition (Analysis and Planning)
   • Supplier engagement
   • Requirements, data and process analysis
   • Solution design
2. April 2023 to December 2023 [COMPLETE]
   • Techincal delivery
   • Technical solution development
   • Testing of solution implementation
3. January 2024 to April 2024 [COMPLETE]
   • Readiness stage of delivery
   • Preparation for system roll out to users
   • Training
4. April 2024 to August 2024 [IN PROGRESS]
   • Phase 1 Go Live and Early Life Support
   • Undergraduate Final Honour School Trinity term exams and board meetings

What does this mean for me? 

If your department has agreed to participate in this phase, the project team will liaise directly with you to build a comprehensive understanding of your processes, calculations and classification rules.

You can expect a number of workshops and requirement gathering sessions to better understand the nuances of the process. After this, you can expect further engagement as the system is built, and ultimately you will be involved in extensive User Acceptance Testing ready for full use of the system in 2024.

If you have not been selected for this pilot, it means that there may be complexities around the way your department calculates its degree classifications which would require more complex development or modifications to the system or your processes, and these elements have been deemed out of scope for the first iteration.

History of the Project and its predecessors

Background and history of Marks Management projects at Oxford:

1. ARD Pilot, HT & TT21
   • Assess suitability of ARD
   • Law, Theology, PPE, Economics
   • Conclusion: system saves time and reduces risk, but ARD needs significant rework
2. Questionnaire to departments, MT21
   • Assess demand for change and current state
   • Chairs and Exam Admins
   • Demand: significant
   • Current process: high risk
3. Marks Management Project 2 starts
   • Funding allocated from IT Development Fund
   • Solution options analysis: build in eVision
   • Scope definition
4. First release May 2024
   • Marks management function launches
5. Next: Second release June 2024
   • Award calculation function launches

Project Team

For any questions please contact:

Project Manager: Gavin Ahern

Business Change Manager: John Arvanitis

Project Funding and Governance

This project is funded as part of the IT Development Fund and is being managed under the Assessment Programme of works.

Project Sponsor: Jackie Hoyle

Programme Manager: Naomi Hood