All Things SED

Queen Mary remains committed to supporting students at this difficult time. Please refer to the University’s Advice and Counselling website or use the Big White Wall for online support. There is also information on what to do if you’re worried about coronavirus on Queen Mary’s dedicated web-pages and on the UK’s NHS website.

All academic Schools at Queen Mary are cancelling face-to-face teaching on their programmes from 5pm on Thursday 19 March.

In place of face-to-face provision, teaching and learning activities are being migrated online, principally via QMplus. In the School of English and Drama we took the decision to stop face-to-face teaching and migrate online from Friday 13 March.

This is in order to address multiple concerns about student and staff wellbeing, and to ensure a parity of experience for all students, including those who have been forced to absent themselves from class and/or return home due to the current pandemic.

Our joint honours partner Schools have made similar decisions, replacing face-to-face teaching with online teaching: the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film has cancelled all face-to-face teaching from Monday 16 March and the School of History has cancelled all face-to-face teaching from Tuesday 17 March.

Our decision is supported by the Principal of Queen Mary, Professor Colin Bailey.

No student will be required to come onto the Mile End campus for face-to-face teaching in the School of English and Drama for the remainder of this semester (until Thursday 9 April) or for examinations or other assessments in May.

No, although the School of English and Drama has closed physically the School’s administrative team remain available to support you remotely during normal working hours (Monday-Friday, 9am-1pm and 2-5pm); please contact sed-information@qmul.ac.uk. Your teachers and advisors are available remotely for you for online teaching, supervision and support.

No. We have been advised that the ArtsOne building has been temporarily closed to all but essential staff.

Academic staff have been asked to make the best possible arrangements for their modules in terms of providing online content, and to be available remotely for students in their classes during the normal timetabled teaching slots. These arrangements will necessarily vary, and you will need to watch out for specific announcements from your teachers about your lectures, seminars, and practice-based classes. In general we anticipate that online teaching materials will be available for you via QMplus for each class not affected by industrial action.

Please attend online classes at the scheduled UK time. If this isn’t possible (e.g. you’re asleep), please review the work and tasks for the assigned week at a convenient time, as close to the original class as possible.

Yes, as far as possible lecture content will be made available to you. Often this will mean reviewing a lecture from last year’s module via QReview, although sometimes teaching staff may post new video or audio content, or upload scripts. Copies of lecture slides and handouts will be uploaded to QMplus as normal.

Your teachers will advise you about what will happen in particular online sessions. You might, for example, be asked to email questions, contribute to online forum discussions, work through preparation questions, complete research tasks, etc. Copies of classroom slides and handouts will be uploaded to QMplus as normal.

You should prepare for class in the usual way as far as possible by following existing (or updated) information on QMplus and/or in module packs. Look out for specific instructions from teaching staff, and take a look at this list of suggestions for how to prepare for online teaching and learning.

Download our advice document

In the first instance please contact your seminar/workshop leader or module convenor. They will be best placed to advise you what arrangements are in place for online learning on your module. Please be patient with your teachers as they adjust to this new way of working. You shouldn’t necessarily expect to find any additional online materials for the class until the date/time at which it is due to start.

The requirements for online learning in the School of English and Drama will be the same as your normal access to QMplus. However, if you do have concerns about your capacity to participate due to technical limitations, please get in touch for advice at sed-information@qmul.ac.uk. If you do not have access to a computer due to financial hardship can apply for support through the Financial Assistance Fund. Please also advise your teachers of your concerns.

Queen Mary’s Library at Mile End and the University of London’s Senate House Library have been temporarily physically closed; please review their websites for up to date opening information. Both libraries offer online resources (e.g. journals, ebooks, databases) and you are strongly encouraged to make use of these resources, along with those on QMplus and other online sources, as appropriate (e.g. museums, galleries, artists, theatres etc.). Please be in touch with your teacher if you have concerns about access to resources.

Please only travel in accordance with UK government guidelines; if you’re outside the UK, please consult local guidelines.

You are not required to attend performances, exhibitions or undertake independent fieldwork in the UK set for your modules. Your teachers will advise of alternative learning activities and any assessment-related adjustments, where appropriate.

Please only travel in accordance with UK government guidelines; if you’re outside the UK, please consult local guidelines.

Please only travel in accordance with UK government guidelines; if you’re outside the UK, please consult local guidelines.

Please refer (as appropriate) to QMUL's "Advice about travel" FAQs and the guidance for PhD students from the Doctoral College. Students concerned about disruption to plans relating to international (or domestic) travel relating to their research are also encouraged to consult their supervisor(s), module convenor, MA Course Convenor and/or Director of Graduate Studies (in the case of PhD students), as appropriate.

Yes. All teaching staff are expected to retain their existing drop-in hours and to offer remote meetings via email, telephone, and/or video conferencing, advising of you of any changes to availability where necessary. Staff are expected to use the same mechanisms to offer dissertation supervision as normal. Please feel free to contact your advisor, teacher and/or dissertation supervisor to find out what arrangements they have made and to book a remote appointment.

Online renewal: You can renew your books online. Please consult The Library’s self-service webpage for details. If you experience any problems renewing, please contact library@qmul.ac.uk

Loan periods: The Library is working to extend loan periods for items already on loan. Please check the Library website for updates.

Fines: All fines have been waived as of Monday 16 March, and no further fines will be incurred during the closure period.

Holds (reservations): These have ceased as of Wednesday 18 March.  See the Library website for information on access to resources (books) and further information on alternative ways to access resources during the closure period.

Please consult the Library website for more details of digital support and services.

Yes. Please consult the FAQs on the Doctoral College webpage and contact your supervisor and/or Director of Graduate Studies by email for further details.

We expect the process to follow the timetable set out in the module directory.

Yes. We expect all students to complete their written assignments. You should submit this work to QMplus as normal.  

You will be asked to complete any assessed individual presentations via telephone or video conferencing (e.g. Skype, FaceTime), or written alternative where this has been agreed with your teacher. Your teacher will be in touch to arrange this in due course.

In the case of any assessed group presentations, you will be set an individual alternative assignment directly relating to your presentation (e.g. written script or notes, powerpoint slides, podcast, video). Again, your teacher will be in touch with further details. You will need to make your submission online to QMplus (in the same way as a written assignment) and a dedicated submission point will be set up. The deadlines for these alternative assessments will be no less than two weeks after the date on which a group presentation was due to take place.

Specific arrangements for alternative assessments will be made for each practice-based Drama module this semester, where practical projects had been scheduled between 16 March—9 April and in the Exam Period (May 2020). Your teacher will be in touch with further details as soon as possible.

Queen Mary has cancelled in-person examinations this May/June, including for ESH101 Shakespeare and ESH110 Literatures in Time. However, you will still be expected to complete formal assessment for these modules, and details of the alternative arrangement to the in-person examination will be made available by your teachers as soon as possible.

Only if your assignment is more than 14 days (or 336 hours) late. In light of the coronavirus pandemic (as well as the effects of the recent industrial action), the School of English and Drama will not apply Late Work Penalties to any assignment submitted within two weeks (14 days, or 336 hours) of the deadline. You therefore do not need to submit a Late Work Report application for any written assignment submitted less than two weeks late.

This 14-day “grace-period” applies to all assignments due in Semester 2 and during the Semester 2 Exam Period. In other words, all assignments with deadlines that fall between 16 February 2020 and 31 May 2020, and MA dissertations (due in August), can be submitted up to two weeks late, without penalty. It does not apply to the formal alternative examination arrangements for ESH101 Shakespeare and ESH110 Literatures in Time (details to follow from the convenors shortly), which are subject to different assessment regulations. 

Only in particular circumstances: You can replace your assignment on QMplus up to 14 days (or 336 hours) after the deadline without needing to submit a Late Work Report application. Please take care, though: any replacement submission you make more than 14 days after the deadline will mean that the assignment is considered late (even if you had originally made an on-time submission).  

If you submit an assignment more than 14 days after the deadline, you should follow the School’s existing processes relating to late work.  Students with extenuating circumstances specifically related to coronavirus/COVID-19 should contact studenthealth@qmul.ac.uk.

The latest date by which you can submit a late assignment that is due in Semester 2 or in the Exam Period is 1 June 2020 at 12.00 noon.

1 June at 12.00 noon is also the deadline to submit any Late Work Report applications for assignments due in Semester 2 or in the Exam Period.

Yes. The deadline for you to submit your outstanding assignment is now 1 June 12:00 noon.

Yes. The final deadline for you to submit your resit assignment is now 1 June 12:00 noon.  

The School of English and Drama recognises that this an area of key concern for students. Your teachers are working on preparing alternative assignments as a priority and will advise you as soon as possible (this will vary according to staff participation in industrial action). In the meantime, please keep working on your original assignments, as far as is possible, in relation to your personal circumstances (alternative assignments will draw on this work).

All students collaborating on group assignments will asked to make an individual submission for that piece of assessment to QMplus. Where circumstances permit, you may continue to collaborate with others in your group, in person or remotely, depending on your personal circumstances. Where you are unable to continue collaborating, please inform the rest of your group and continue working independently on the assignment instead. Where a member of your group is no longer able to collaborate, please respect their decision and continue to work with the remaining members of your group. All members of a group may make identical written submissions to a group assignment when you are drawing on collective work. Please ask your teacher for further advice if you are uncertain.

Your mark for participation (where this applies to a module you are taking) will be generated on the basis of the teaching you have received. Your teachers will grade your participation sympathetically, especially in cases where you may have had absences or online access difficulties.

No. Undergraduate and MA dissertations are now only due electronically via QMPlus by the original deadline (date and time).

All assignments will now be submitted electronically via QMplus.  Your teacher will advise on any revisions to the assignment brief (e.g. submitting photographs of objects you have made rather than submitting the object itself).

If you have missing assignments at the end of the academic year, you should follow the School’s existing processes relating to extenuating circumstances.  Students with extenuating circumstances specifically related to COVID-19 should contact studenthealth@qmul.ac.uk.

The deadline to submit your Extenuating Circumstances application is 1 June 2020 at 12 noon.

The School of English and Drama is committed to ensuring that no student is disadvantaged in their assessment outcomes as a consequence of the current pandemic, industrial action and the transition to online teaching. Members of staff in the School have been instructed to mark your work on the basis of the teaching you have received and the resources that you’ve been able to access, and asked to adjust their expectations as necessary.

In advance of the Subject Examination Boards in English and Drama that confirm your final marks for the year, the School will take extra measures to review student achievement and progression in order to ensure that all students are being treated equally and sympathetically.

The School of English and Drama is seeking clarification on this question and we will update you when we have more information.  

Your Year Abroad does not count in the calculation of your degree classification (it’s a pass/fail element of your programme, which you only need to ‘pass’ in order to progress to your final year). We expect that students in the School of English and Drama who are studying abroad for the 2019-20 academic year will receive a pass grade for the Year Abroad. 

The School of English and Drama is waiting for further guidance on this matter. In the meantime, the School can, though, promise finalists that in preparation for our Subject Examination Boards we will take extra measures to review student achievement in order to ensure that all students are being treated equally and sympathetically.

Yes. Please consult the FAQs on the Doctoral College webpage and contact your supervisor and/or Director of Graduate Studies by email for further details.

No, not at this time for health, safety and wellbeing reasons.

Yes. You’re welcome to contact members of the team by email.

The University will provide guidance on this matter and you are advised to consult the centrally maintained FAQs for further information. It is not possible for the School of English and Drama to make its own decision about this issue.

The School of English and Drama cannot help with these questions: please contact Queen Mary’s Residential Services and Support.

No. Queen Mary has postponed summer graduation ceremonies, and will be communicating new dates as soon possible. Please consult Queen Mary’s graduation information and general FAQs for updates as they become available.

Please only travel in accordance with UK government guidelines; if you’re outside the UK, please consult local guidelines.

Please refer (as appropriate) to QMUL's "Advice about travel" FAQs and the guidance for PhD students from the Doctoral College. Students concerned about disruption to plans relating to international (or domestic) travel relating to their research are also encouraged to consult their supervisor(s), module convenor, MA Course Convenor and/or Director of Graduate Studies (in the case of PhD students), as appropriate.