LFA Assessment

LFA Examination Information
ECA (Exceptional Circumstances)
Past papers

LFA Examination Information

LFA end-of-year examinations

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Credit students (i.e. students taking an LFA module as part of their degree)
Non-credit students (i.e. students taking an LFA module on an extracurricular basis, members of the public, staff and students from other universities)
LFA Statement of Assessment

Credit students

Examination format

LFA Examinations (all languages except Classical and Medieval Latin) consist of one written exam (worth 70% of the overall mark) and one oral exam (worth 30% of the overall mark). Modules taught in-presence will be assessed in-presence in term 3, whereas modules taught online will be assessed online in term 3.

However, please be aware that different conditions might apply to credit students studying online.

Examination schedule

LFA examinations are usually scheduled in Weeks 4-7 of Term 3 and may include Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays.

Individual arrangements

If you have a Student Support Plan (SSP) that specifies any individual arrangements for examinations, you must inform LFA as soon as you can via email (lls-ssp-group@york.ac.uk). Please note: if you do not have an SSP but may require special arrangements, please contact Disability Services at disabilityservices@york.ac.uk at the beginning of the academic year for further guidance . Please click here for further information.

Please note: individual arrangements for examinations cannot be made unless you have an SSP.

What to do if you are unable to take the LFA exam on the set dates

Unless you have approved documented Exceptional Circumstances affecting Assessment (ECA), you will not be able to reschedule any of your LFA examinations. Any application for ECA should be submitted to your home department. If your claim is successful, you will be offered the opportunity to sit the exam ‘as if for the first time’ during the August resit period. Please note: LFA examinations cannot be rescheduled outside the August resit examination period.

Results

Students taking an LFA module for credit will receive their results once marks have been ratified by the Board of Examiners of their home department.

Enquiries

If you have any queries about the LFA exams please contact the LLS Reception office at lfa@york.ac.uk.

Non-credit students:

Registering for the end-of-year examination

If you choose to take the LFA examination, you must register in advance. A link to a registration form will be sent to all students in Week 6 of Term 2. The registration form will need to be completed and submitted by the end of week 9. You will not be able to register for the examinations after this date.

Examination format

However, please be aware that different conditions might apply to credit students studying online.

Examination schedule

LFA examinations are usually scheduled in Weeks 4-7 of Term 3 and may include Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays.

Individual arrangements

Please note: individual arrangements for examinations cannot be made unless you have an SSP.

What to do if you are unable to take the LFA exam on the set dates

If you are unable to take the LFA examination on the set dates, please notify the LFA administrator as soon as possible at lfa@york.ac.uk. Please be aware that if you are a student of the University of York taking LFA as an extra-curricular module or an external participant, unless you have approved documented Exceptional Circumstances affecting Assessment (ECA), you will not be able to reschedule your LFA examinations. To apply for ECA, please read the guidelines and download the claim form from the LFA ECA webpage. LFA examinations cannot be rescheduled outside the Summer Common Assessment Period and the August resit examination period.

If you are not able to attend the scheduled exams and have not applied for ECA, a Certificate of Attendance for the LFA programme will be provided on request at the end of Term 3 from the LFA office. To receive the Certificate of Attendance you must have an attendance record of minimum 75% of the course.

Results

Extra-curricular students will receive communication of their exam results via email at the end of week 10 Term 3. Certificates are provided on request for all LFA students.

Enquiries

If you have any queries about the LFA exams please contact the LLS Reception office at lfa@york.ac.uk or call in Monday – Friday 9.30am - 12.30pm and 1.30pm – 3.30 pm (Vanbrugh C Block, V/C/013).

ECA (Exceptional Circumstances)

The University recognises that sometimes students are unable to undertake examinations due to unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances, such as illness, traumatic life events, personal difficulties, etc. These are known as ‘exceptional circumstances’, and there are guidelines in place to allow you to recover if you are affected during an assessment period.

1. What is an Exceptional Circumstance?

Circumstances acceptable under this policy must be exceptional (i.e. serious and unusual) relative to the normal daily challenges that academic study presents, and unpredictable in that you could not reasonably have been expected either to avoid them, or to allow for them in planning the assessment work or preparation. For example, it is recognised that the assessment process itself can cause students to be more anxious or stressed than at other times of the academic year, and this should be considered to be one of the normal challenges that academic study presents. Therefore, such responses would not be considered as a valid exceptional circumstance, with the exception of a very small number of cases, where the impact is serious and incapacitating.

If you think you have been affected by exceptional circumstances during the Languages for All (LFA) examination period, you can make a claim to have these circumstances considered.

2. Exceptional circumstances affecting assessment policy

For information about exceptional circumstances, including those that relate to the continued Covid-19 pandemic, please visit the ECA Student page.

For detailed information on what qualifies as valid exceptional circumstances, examples of evidence that would support a claim, reasons for non-acceptance of exceptional circumstances and the general claim process, please refer to the University guidance document: Exceptional Circumstances affecting Assessment Policy.

3. Evidentiary requirements

A student who wishes exceptional circumstances to be considered must apply to the ECA Committee in the Department (see Section 4 for instructions for Languages For All students) and by providing the required evidence.

Timing of claims and submission of evidence

For an application of any kind to be considered at all it must be received within one calendar week after that examination itself, unless there are extenuating reasons why you cannot do so. Please note that claims which do not meet the definition of Exceptional Circumstances Affecting Assessment will be rejected.

Self-certification Policy

The University has introduced a “Self-Certification” policy in order to limit the requirements of students to access NHS resources only for evidence. This will allow qualifying students to a) extend coursework deadlines and b) defer exams without providing any supporting evidence.

The limited circumstances in which some assessments are covered by self-certification processes includes:

Exceptional Medical Circumstances (Physical Health, Mental Health, and Physical and Mental Health)
Exceptional Personal Circumstances
Inadequate IT resources

Important notice for Languages for All students: Whether you are eligible to self-certify or not will depend on the type of assessment; for instance, oral examinations do not qualify for self-certification (but you can still apply for a standard ECA claim). For a full list of the Self-certification Policy and Procedure, please refer to the Exceptional Circumstances Policy 2021-22.

For queries on self-certification for LFA assessments, please contact linguistics-ex-circs@york.ac.uk

4. How do I make an ECA claim?

Credit students:

You must apply by completing a University ECA claim form, available on the following link, at the bottom of the page and which will be received by the ECA Committee in your home department:

Exceptional Circumstances affecting Assessment

Your department will then inform us about any circumstances that have arisen which may have affected your academic performance and the decision of their ECA committee.

Non-credit students:

You are a non-credit student if you are a University of York student taking LFA as an extra-curricular module or an external participant (member of the public, member of staff or a student from other universities). If you are already aware of any exceptional circumstances that you believe may affect your ability to attend your examinations (e.g. clashes with another examination or interviews for work placements, etc.), you should submit a Language and Linguistic Science ECA form to inform us.

Exceptional Circumstances affecting Assessment for Non-credit students

If you need to make a claim at a later date, you can complete the ECA form to inform us about any circumstances that have arisen that you believe may have affected your academic performance in the examinations.

If you have any additional queries about not being able to take the LFA examination on the set dates or about how to submit an ECA claim, please write to the LFA administrator as soon as possible at lfa@york.ac.uk.

Students with Support Plans

Student Support Plans (for students with a disability) sometimes allow students the option to request an extension on a piece of work as part of their Plan's adjustments or to defer an examination attempt. The way to request such an extension or exam deferral is by completing an ECA claim form. Make sure you indicate that you are requesting an adjustment via your SSP when the form asks for this; your request will then be forwarded to your departmental Disability Officer directly.

5. Frequently asked questions about ECA

What are the possible outcomes of my claim?

If you miss or become ill during an exam and your claim is accepted, you will be offered the opportunity to resit the exam "as if for the first time" during the August resit period. If you are offered a resit and you accept this option, any mark you may have received for your original attempt becomes void and is replaced with the mark for the new attempt. If your claim is not accepted, the original mark for the assessment will stand. This mark could be a mark of zero if you have not taken the original assessment.

How will I be notified of the ECA committee’s decision?

You will receive an email notification of the ECA committee's decision. You will be informed of the reason if your claim is rejected.

Why might my claim be rejected?

The form is incomplete;
The circumstances and/or evidence do not meet the requirements of the Exceptional Circumstances affecting Assessment policy;
The timing of the circumstances cited would not have adversely affected the assessment(s);
The nature of the circumstances was not over and above the usual challenges that academic study presents, or exceptionally unpredictable;
The form was not submitted by the department deadline and the circumstances would not have prevented you making a claim by the deadline;
Sufficient adjustments are already in place for the same circumstances cited

How do I appeal against the decision of the Committee?

You can appeal to the University Special Cases Committee but only if you believe that a procedural irregularity has occurred. Students may not appeal on the basis that they disagree about the way in which exceptional circumstances were considered, unless there is clear evidence that the defined procedures were not followed by the Exceptional Circumstances Affecting Assessment Committee.

You should do this within 28 days of receiving notice of the Committee's decision.

Information and advice on appeals is available from:

Student Hub
student-hub@york.ac.uk
YUSU Advice and Support Centre
asc@yusu.org

We encourage students making an appeal to contact YUSU for assistance and support with the appeals process.

University's Academic Appeals Regulations and the Appeal Form can be found online:

Past papers

Accessing past LFA exam papers

If you have a university account (current username and password), there is a bank of past written papers available. Should you wish to access some as part of your exam revision or preparation, you can access the link to the digital library here: YorSearch

Please note: LFA exam papers are secured, therefore you will not find recent past papers in the digital library. Also, be aware that the course textbooks for language teaching may have changed a number of times over the years, so the composition of the exam may not be directly comparable, but may still provide you with some useful revision material.