1. Introduction
This policy outlines the expectations regarding the online submission of coursework at St Mary's University and supersedes the Online Submission Policy.
1.1 Purpose:
- This document provides clear guidance, principles, and operational procedures in support of online submission outlined in the University’s Assessment Policy.
- This policy defines the settings and practices used for online submission.
- This policy defines rights and responsibilities of both staff and students.
1.2 Scope:
- This policy covers all online coursework submissions, including written coursework, projects, and dissertations.
- This policy does not apply to assessment elements such as timed and terminal examinations.
- This policy applies to all academics and students.
- For the purposes of this policy, ‘online submission’ refers to any coursework uploaded and submitted electronically via a St Mary’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
2. Policy/Procedure/Process
2.1 The university currently centrally supports the platforms outlined in section 3 for all coursework submissions.
2.2 Platforms listed in Section 3 must be accessed by staff and students via St Mary’s Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). For on campus teaching, Moodle is the VLE. For St Mary’s Online, Canvas is the VLE.
2.3 Platforms used and not listed below cannot be supported by central university services (The Hub, IT Service Desk, TEL) and may not be GDPR, and accessibility compliant.
2.4 Students who submit assessments to platforms not listed in Section 3 and outside the VLE cannot be supported by central university services.
2.5 All academic writing assignments such as essays, dissertations, reports, creative writing, reflective work, personal logs, journals, that are submitted in text format e.g. PDF or Word, must be uploaded to Turnitin via Moodle or Canvas (St Mary’s Online).
2.6 Video and audio assessments should be submitted via the Panopto Student Submission activity in the VLE.
2.7 Practical assessments that do not require a submission (such as practical drama examinations, and other performative assessments) should have a Moodle Assignment submission inbox for feedback and marks.
2.8 For Moodle users, images, weblinks, Mahara portfolios, and other non-text- based assignments should be submitted via Moodle Assignment. For St Mary’s Online non-text-based assignments can be submitted using Canvas Assignment.
2.9 The University does not require both a physical (‘hard copy’) and an online submission from students, including dissertations. If dual submission or hard copy submission is required, a rationale should be clearly outlined to students in the assignment brief. Hard copy and online submissions will have the same submission deadline.
3. SMU Centrally Supported Platforms
The University currently centrally supports the following submission methods:
- Canvas Assignment (St Mary’s Online)
- Canvas e-Portfolio (St Mary’s Online)
- Turnitin Assignment
- Moodle Assignment
- Mahara Portfolio
- Panopto Student Submission
4. Roles and Responsibilities
4.1 Student’s Responsibilities:
4.1.1 A student must submit their own work via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Submissions made outside of the VLE cannot be supported by central university services (The Hub, IT Service Desk, TEL, St Mary’s Online Student Success team. For St Mary’s Online work submitted outside of the VLE cannot be accepted for marking and must be submitted in the format specified in the student handbook.
4.1.2 Submissions made on the students’ behalf will not be accepted, including submissions made by faculty staff or, in the case of St Mary’s Online (SMUO), via Student Success Coordinators.
4.1.3 Work submitted must be done in accordance with the specified online submission method as detailed on the VLE. Email is not a valid form of submission and cannot be assessed.
4.1.4 It is a student’s responsibility to submit the correct file and to ensure they leave sufficient time for files to complete uploading ahead of the deadline. Large files may take longer to process. A submission made too close to the deadline that has not completed uploading cannot be considered a successful submission and cannot be accepted for marking.
4.1.5 Correct file formats must be submitted, and file size must fall within appropriate parameters. Guidance for Moodle users can be found via the article Turnitin: Submission Errors and via the student handbook for SMUO students.
4.1.6 It is the student's responsibility to ensure that they have an Internet connection sufficient in bandwidth and speed to upload their work ahead of deadline. A contingency plan must be in place for any failures in personal equipment. This also applies to the device being used to submit work. Technical issues that are not a fault of the university will not be accepted for Extenuating Circumstances.
4.1.7 The Student Essentials page on Moodle must be checked in advance of submission for any university wide technical failures. For St Mary’s Online students, notification will be given via Canvas announcements and CanvasMail.
4.1.8 All published submission deadlines are issued in accordance with with UK Time (British Summer Time/Greenwich Mean Time). The submission deadline is regarded as the last opportunity for a student to submit their work by and should not be considered the target date for submitting.
4.1.9 A copy of the digital receipt from Turnitin must be retained following successful submission. For all other submission methods, the student should take a screenshot of their submission page. For students using Moodle, guidance on how to retain evidence of submission can be found via the article Moodle: How to save evidence of your submission. SMUO students can refer to the Student Handbook or contact their Associate Lecturer.
4.1.10 A copy of submitted work must be downloaded, including any feedback once available. Guidance and information on access to submitted work and feedback can be found in the article Moodle: Finding my grades and feedback. SMUO students receive feedback via Canvas. Further information on how to access this can be found in subject-specific student handbooks.
4.1.11 Any submission must be done during business hours in order to be eligible for support from central university services (The Hub, IT Service Desk, TEL, SMUO Student Success team).
4.2 Academic’s Responsibilities:
4.2.1 Submission inboxes for summative assessments must be set up at the start of semester (on campus), or prior to module release (SMUO).
4.2.2 For on-campus Programmes all assessment sections of the Moodle Module Template must be completed by the start of term. For St Mary’s Online the Assessment Briefing section must be completed prior to module release.
4.2.3 Turnitin (via either Moodle or Canvas) must be used for all written, text-based submissions such as essays, dissertations, reports, creative writing, reflective work, personal logs, journals.
4.2.4 Non-text-based submissions should not be submitted via Turnitin, or with Turnitin enabled. For Moodle users, guidance on non-text-based submissions can be found via the article Moodle: Submitting to Moodle Assignment.
4.2.5 For on-campus programmes the following titling convention must be used for all submission inboxes: [Module code, Assignment title].
4.2.6 Each module should have two separate submission inboxes per assessment correctly set up and configured to accept submissions from students (See link Creating a Turnitin Assignment for guidance):
i.The first submission inbox is set up and configured with the initial deadline and published in accordance with the Assessment Brief.
ii. The second submission inbox is set up and configured for students with Extenuating Circumstances. Guidance can be found via the ExtenuatingCircumstances Policy webpages. This can be done during the course of the semester when extenuating circumstances are accepted.
iii.The following titling format must be used for EC Submission inboxes “[Module code, Assignment title] (Extenuating Circumstances)”.
4.2.7 Submission inboxes must be maintained during the period of teaching. Any errors identified for Moodle users must be edited by academic members of staff, and for St Mary’s Online via the Digital Learning Specialist.
4.2.8 For Moodle users, Module Conveners should identify an additional academic staff member to support the maintenance of submission inboxes to cover any periods of absence or illness.
4.2.9 Extending or changing the date (except for correcting errors, and/or in the instance of system failure) of a submission inbox from the date originally published to students is not permitted. This also applies to re-opening a submission inbox following a deadline.
4.2.10 For Moodle users, central university services (The Hub, IT Service Desk, TEL) and administrative staff can support with guidance and advice on amending submission inboxes but are not permitted to modify or amend a submission inbox. This work must be carried out by an academic member of staff.
4.2.11 If a university-wide technical fault occurs 12 hours prior to the submission deadline it is the responsibility of the academic teaching team to communicate any new submission deadlines and to revise submission inboxes. See below “Section 11. System Failure” for further guidance. For SMUO, the revision of submission inboxes must be completed by the Digital Learning Specialist.
4.2.12 It is the responsibility of teaching teams to understand and interpret the use and purpose of reports generated by Turnitin. Guidance can be found on the Managing Assessments page on the Hub Online. Moodle users should also seek support from the Academic Integrity Leads. Moodle users should also seek support from the Academic Integrity Leads.
4.2.13 For Moodle users, it is the responsibility of the Course Lead to:
i. Ensure Module Convenors set up their submission inboxes in accordance with this policy.
ii. Ensure new staff who are involved in teaching complete the mandatory training Getting Started with Library and Digital Support.
iii. Ensure the option to submit late is available to all students through appropriate setup procedures when creating submission inboxes. See section 6 for details regarding late submissions.
4.2.14 Deadlines should not be set outside core business hours or during holidays and key dates of religious observance. These key dates can be found on the St Mary’s Website.
4.2.15 Programme teams that offer deadlines outside of core support hours are responsible for providing additional submission support for students and for clearly communicating that central university support is only available during business hours.
4.2.16 Programme teams that offer deadlines outside of core support hours must also be aware that planned software updates by third party providers (notably Turnitin) are often scheduled for outside of core hours.
4.2.17 For SMUO, deadlines are set across all Programmes at 14:00hrs, UK time (British Summer Time/Greenwich Mean Time), and a full list of assessment deadlines is published by the online academic team, and within student handbooks.
5. Resubmission
5.1 An unlimited number of submissions may be made by students to an online submission inbox up until the deadline.
5.2 The most recent submission successfully uploaded will be assessed.
5.3 In the event of a late submission, the option to resubmit is removed.
6. Late Submission
6.1 Please refer to the Late Submission of Coursework policy.
6.2 Guidance in support of setting up late submissions can be found via:
7. Extenuating Circumstances
7.1 Please refer to the Extenuating Circumstances policy.
8. Resit Submissions (Moodle Users Only)
8.1 Students who are eligible for resitting an assessment must submit their work to the latest expression of the module. Student access is provided by Registry who apply the “repeater flag” which enables temporary access to the latest academic year. For more information including exemptions to this policy, please see the Resit Guidance document.
8.2 It is the responsibility of the academic team to create and maintain the separate submission inbox in support of students who are eligible for re-sitting an assessment.
8.3 It is the responsibility of the student to download a copy of any submitted work and feedback (as per 4.1.10 above).
8.4 Student access to the additional expression of the module is automatically removed when student marks are entered into SITS. Students will however have access to the initial module to which they were enrolled.
9. Anonymous Marking (Moodle Users Only)
9.1 Anonymous marking is to be undertaken for all written assessment to ensure that the identity of students is not disclosed to markers with the notable exception of written work relating to the assessments of work placement activity, to avoid bias (either inadvertent or deliberate). There may be some forms of assessment not suitable for anonymous marking, e.g. group work, presentations, and dissertations, but anonymous marking should be used wherever possible.
10. Academic Misconduct
10.1 Please refer to the Academic Regulations policy, Section 29.
11. System Failure
11.1 If the University’s electronic submission system (i.e. Moodle, Canvas, Turnitin, Mahara or Panopto) or network system suffers a continuous failure or repetitive brief outage within 12 hours prior a submission deadline, an additional 24-hour extension should be granted to students.
11.2 Submission deadlines may be extended to Monday if an incident is reported on Friday.
11.3 In the event of extended and unexpected university (or wider) system failure, central university services (The Hub, IT Service Desk, TEL) will provide notification on The Hub Online, Moodle, and Canvas (when applicable). This will not contain information pertaining to specific submission inboxes or deadlines.
11.4 For Moodle users, the Module Convenor will be responsible for revising the submission deadlines accordingly and communicating to their students about the system failure with the new submission deadline. For St Mary’s Online, submission inboxes will be updated by the Digital Learning Specialist, and Associate Lecturers will confirm any changes to deadlines.
12. Review, Approval and publication
12.1 This policy is due for renewal two years from the date of approval.
12.2 The operational owner will be responsible for conducting the review and updating the policy.
12.3 The committee ultimately responsible for the approval of this policy is the Academic Strategy and Student Experience Committee.
12.4 Prior to submission to the Academic Strategy and Student Experience Committee, it will go to the following committees:
i. FSTHS QCSE
ii. FABLET QCSE
iii. Education and Student Outcomes Committee
13. Centralised document control information
The table below should be completed by the document owner.
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Document Name
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Online Coursework Submission Policy
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Executive Owner
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Kevin Braim, Chief Information Officer
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Operational Owner
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Paul Stapley, Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Manager, CIO.
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Version Number
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3
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Approval Date
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25.02.26
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Approved By
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Academic Strategy and Student Experience Committee
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Date of Commencement
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25.02.26
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Date of Last Review
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25.02.26
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Date for Next Review
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25.02.28
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