On the 17th of February 2021, students at City received an email regarding the university's decision to introduce scaling under No Detriment. This means that our scores as a cohort will be compared to scores of previous years to see if there has been a drop in the average mark. If there is a drop, grade boundaries will be shifted so that grades are in line with previous years. However, this can also work the opposite way, whereby, if scores are higher than previous years then grades may be scaled down.

On behalf of the students, we are petitioning to express our concern regarding the No Detriment policy and the university’s decision with scaling. There are a number of us who are not happy with this decision as this was not what we asked for. 

We feel it is an injustice, that those who have worked hard and performed well this year will have their grades pushed back due to scaling. As you can imagine, this has negatively impacted our mental health and motivation, especially with the summer exams approaching.

Furthermore, Russell group universities such as University College London, are offering students the ‘best of’ option. This scaling decision may negatively affect a lot of third year students who are going on to do Post Graduates and Masters, as they will be competing with other students who were able to get the ‘best of’ their grades, whilst we would be marked down due to shifts in grade boundaries. Additionally, this will also affect future job opportunities and employability. We understand the university is concerned about the ‘best of’ approach due to ‘future employers’’ perception of a transcript’. However, other universities have already adopted this approach and the students from these universities will be our competition for these jobs, which puts us at a great disadvantage.

We known that the VP Education lobbied for scaling to only be applied positively, we also know that she has lobbied for alternative and additional elements to be included in No Detriment, and will continue to do this. We know that the SU have pushed for the work to happen much more quickly because this will reassure students who are extremely anxious about their grades at the moment. The University has chosen to move slowly with this work and wait much longer to release their No Detriment policy than other universities. 

City should provide appropriate academic support to students, especially during a global pandemic. However, we feel City’s attitude has been far from supportive. We requested for a Safety Net policy / No Detriment policy, and instead got something different, which not only affects our academic success but our overall mental wellbeing. We are all suffering from immense stress and uncertainty because of this situation, and having to put our time into fighting for what is best for us, as students, something that the university should be doing. We have to question whether City University still has the mental health and best interests of students in the pandemic at the heart of their work.

We strongly urge City to acknowledge our concerns as students, and reconsider the No Detriment package.