Beyond skill development, there are a number of tangible benefits that students can gain from Rise, most notably our unique way of offering additional academic credit for additional learning. Below we also outline options that are available for all students, but might be of particular value to audiences who are not eligible for the assessment.
Claiming Course Credit
Students on eligible courses (typically, most standard UG courses and many PGT courses) may use their points to claim full classificatory credit. Programmes are eligible if there are no strong professional body restrictions preventing modules from being replaced. Eligibility is managed by the Curriculum team so queries about programmes’ eligibility should be directed towards them. Individual students can check their personal pattern of eligibility by visiting rise.mmu.ac.uk/assessment.
To claim credit, students will need to reach 300 points and ‘opt in’ to submitting an assessment. This will ‘cash in’ a chunk of their points (we will still award practice credits for the remainder).
They will then follow our assessment process, in which they must produce a reflective portfolio (2250 – 4500-word equivalent depending on credit eligibility) evidencing the following learning outcomes;
- Manage your own personal and professional development.
- Make connections to your main programme of study
- Communicate the value of experience to a relevant audience
- Place learning in a broader academic or professional context (30-credits only)
- Plan for future development. (30-credits only)
How students meet these outcomes is negotiable, and they have an opportunity to submit at the end of April in each academic year. If a student is eligible in multiple years they can make multiple submissions (one per year) but must reflect on a different 300 points-worth of activities.
Students can also access this information directly by following the URL below, so if they have questions about this specific aspect it’s best to direct them to this page:
https://rise.mmu.ac.uk/assessment/
Using Course Credit
Completing the assessment earns students a mark in (usually) an additional 30 credit module, giving them a total of 150 credits for the academic year. Their overall grade for the year is calculated using their ‘best’ 120 credits, meaning that their Rise grade may raise their overall grade.
In the vast majority of cases, a student will be eligible for 30 credits at some point during their degree programme, usually at Level 5 or 6 (or both). Students are very rarely eligible for 15, and cannot opt in to taking 15 credits if they are eligible for 30, even if their course has 15 credit-sized modules.
Credits will sit on a student’s profile and be used within progression and classification calculations if the mark attained is greater than that of one of the students other optional units. Rise credits can not compensate for units that are labelled as non-compensatable by Curriculum. In cases where optional modules are 15 credit-sized, the Rise grade will replace the average grade of the two lowest scoring units, thus replacing 30 credits.
The Rise team manages the support for assignments, marking and moderation – together with quality-assurance processes (such as external examination). If your students have any queries about their course eligibility please direct them to the Rise site in the first instance. Please do not assume that their course is eligible or ineligible for credit as this can change.
Members of staff running Rise activities do not have to do anything around the assessment process, and do not need to check that students have submitted or received a grade to ‘complete’ their activity. Any student queries about Rise credit should be answered by the Rise assessment page in the first instance, so please send them there for up-to-date information.
Gaining Transcript Recognition
All students gaining more than 150 Rise Points will be awarded additional practice credits on their degree transcript. These recognise effort rather than academic performance and do not impact classification or progression. They are attached to the student at their final progression board, which will add 15 practice credits for every 150 points earned (there is no upper limit to this).
All students – from Foundation Year to PhD, standard UG to Degree Apprentice – can access this benefit.
The Rise site also produces an enhanced Rise transcript, which effectively acts as a record of everything that students have done to earn their Rise points, and which is shareable and printable. For this reason, students should be encouraged to use Rise as much as possible to capture all of their additional learning and development so it is all in one place.
Other Benefits
Beyond classificatory and practice credit, students can also gain:
- Digital credentials, via our suite of digital badges which are explained on the next page.
- Externally-recognised accreditation, in particular through our programme of certifications for digital skills. These are administered through the Rise site and have real currency in the world beyond university.