+ What are the minimum entry requirements for the Advanced Diploma course?

Awa Business School will look for the following:

• school-leaving qualifications equivalent to A level and/or
• relevant work experience, or a
• National certificate or diploma

+ How do i pay my fees?

By bank (electronic) transfer. The Awa Business School bank account is as follows:

• Sort code: 09-01-29
• Account number: 26087276
• IBAN number: GB58ABBY09012926087276
• SWIFT code: ABBYGB2LXXX

Reference: your name

You must obtain a receipt from your bank confirming the transfer and send a copy of this by scanned email attachment to contact@awabusiness.school

+ Can I pay fees in installments?

• Yes, students have to ensure a minimum payment of 60% (1st Instalment) of tuition fee is received immediately after they have received an offer, with the balance of your fees (2nd Instalment) to be paid by the last day of the first month after which course commences.

+ When do I pay the processing fee?

• You will have to pay the processing fee to accept your offer.

+ What is the duration of the Advanced Diploma course?

• The course can be completed in 9, 12 or 24 months.

+ What is the duration of the Fast track route of the Advanced Diploma course?

• 9 months.

+ Can I save money with the fast track diploma?

• Yes, the Fast track route is cheaper (see course page: https://www.awabusiness.school/accelerated-degree for fees comparision).

+ What is the difference between the Diploma and Advanced Diploma courses?

• When we refer to a Diploma course, we mean the Advanced Diploma course.

+ Do I need formal qualifications to take course?

• It depends on the course. More information is available on the course page.

+ Where do courses take place?

• All Awa Business School courses can be taken online at awabusiness.school. Unless otherwise stated on the course page.

+ When do courses start?

• Courses are available from midnight on Mondays (00:00 BST) on the day shown on the course page. Each week contains several activities built from a sequence of easy to follow steps. You can study each week's topic at your own pace.

• Once a course has started, you will be able to access the course material and study at any time you like. Where weekly sessions are being delivered by a lead instructor, you don’t have to be online at the same time as the lead instructor or other students.

+ Can anyone signup for a course?

• Yes anyone can signup online at awabusiness.school as long as they are 13 years or older.

+ How will i do my exams?

• All exams this will be undertaken as online assessments.

• The assessment may take the form of the exam paper as already written or, where the existing exam paper is not amenable to being undertaken online, it may be an alternative assessment designed by your module team specifically for this purpose.

• In exceptional circumstances, where it is not possible to assess the learning outcomes for the module by means of an online assessment, your exam will be deferred until such a time as it is possible to undertake the assessment. If that is the case, you will be contacted by your Module Leader via Moodle.

• The online assessment will be released to students via Moodle at the time and date that the exam is scheduled on the exam timetable. For example, if your exam is scheduled for 10am on 14 April, that is when it will be released to you on Moodle. The exam timetable will be published on Moodle.

• For most modules, you will have 24 hours in which to complete and upload your work, using the Moodle submission link. For some modules, where the nature of the assessment requires it, you will have less than 24 hours in which to complete and submit your work. Full details will be provided to you by your Module Leader. You should note that your exam is not expected to take longer to complete than the originally planned time (2 or 3hrs for example). The 24 hours provides a window of time for you to complete and upload as required.

• Your Module Leader will be available on Moodle during the first hour of the online exam in order to answer any questions you might have, and will check in periodically throughout the submission period to address any other issues that have been raised.

How to open and submit your online timed assessments on Moodle?

There are three main steps that you need to follow:

• Step 1: Login to Moodle and go to the relevant Moodle module site where you will find a dedicated menu area for the Timed Assessment for that module.

• Step 2: Inside this area, you will find the online timed assessment paper which includes the questions and any instructions. This will become available to you at the time that the online timed assessment is set to start and remain available for 24-hours. Some online timed assessments will need to be completed in less than 24 hours, your Module Leader will confirm if this applies to your assessment.

  You may be able download the online timed assessment paper to open it offline on your computer.

  Please remember, however, that you can remain online and use the Discussion Board with the Timed Assessment area in the Moodle site if you have any queries for the module leader relevant to the assessment.

• Step 3: In the Timed Assessment area of the Moodle site you will also find an assignment submission link. This will be available to you for 24-hours from the time that the online timed assessment starts. Some online timed assessments will need to be completed in less than 24 hours, your module leader will confirm if this applies to your assessment.

  To submit your response to the assessment, login to Moodle and go back to the Moodle site for the module and click to enter the Timed Assessment area in the site. Click on the submission link and follow the instructions you will see on-screen to submit your exam.

  You must submit within the 24-hour period given to you (or alternative time period allowed as advised by your module leader). Please ensure you follow all the steps to get a digital receipt of your submission. Only one attempt at this assessment will be graded. However, if you accidentally attach the wrong file, you have one further opportunity to submit the correct file before the deadline. Only the last file submitted will be accepted for grading and you cannot amend the file after the deadline has passed.

  We advise that you use either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers to submit your work. Please avoid using the Safari browser or Microsoft Edge.

How do I find my online timed assessments on Moodle?

• Your exam will be available on your module Moodle site accessible via the ‘Timed Assessment’ link in the left hand navigation panel of the module’s Moodle site.

• What if I’m ill/caring for someone? If you are unwell or unable complete an academic assessment, you should use the mitigating circumstances procedure.

What if I have a disability and concerned about my upcoming timed assessment?

• If you have a disability and are registered with the Disability and Learning Support Team and have concerns about your upcoming timed assessment, please get in touch with your module leader.

Do I have to complete it online, or can I upload files?

• You should upload your submission in a Microsoft Word format (unless otherwise advised by the module leader) using the assignment submission link in the Timed Assessment area of the relevant Moodle site. Your module leader will provide specific instructions if you have to embed pictures or diagrams.

What if I don’t understand what I have to do? Where do I get help?

• Your Module Leader will be available via the Discussion Board in the Timed Assessment area of the relevant Moodle site during the first hour of the timed assessment period to answer any queries you may have about the examination. Staff will also check the discussion board at periodic intervals during the 24-hour period in order to support students in different time zones.

What if I can’t get online, or if my connection drops?

• You should use the mitigating circumstances procedure to request a deferral for the assessments that you are not able to complete.

How long should I take? – I can’t spend 24 hours!

• Your module leader will provide information on the amount of time you should spend on the examination within the 24-hour window. You should however not leave submitting your answers until the very last minute. We recommend that you start the submission process at least one hour before the end of the 24-hour period.

Can I write as much as I want?

• Your module leader will provide an indicative word count for each question to give you a guide on how much you should be writing.

Will you check for plagiarism?

• Yes, plagiarism detection software will be in use. As you will have access to resources to complete your assessment any content you use from external source materials will need to be referenced correctly. Whenever you directly quote, paraphrase, or summarise someone else’s ideas, you have a responsibility to give due credit to that person for their work. Support can be found on the Referencing your work page.

• Where the School believes that academic misconduct has taken place the School will investigate the case and apply academic penalties.

Can I work with others to complete the exam?

• This is an individual piece of work so do not collude with others on your answers as this is an academic offence.

• Where the School believes that academic misconduct has taken place the School will investigate the case and apply academic penalties.

Can I submit my work after the deadline?

• Work submitted after the deadline will not be marked and will automatically be given a mark of zero.

+ What are assessments under open book conditions?

• In many of the assessment methods for coursework, an ‘open book’ (free access to resources) approach to resources should be taken at some stages of the assessment. It is likely to be the case during planning and preparation stages that prepare candidates for any final write-up, practical activity, performance etc. In a minority of coursework assessments, candidates are permitted access to open resources throughout their assessment.

• For open book assessments, you will be given approximately three weeks for research and preparation and a further week to present, in a report, your solution to a problem. The assessment takes place toward the end of the delivery period for your course and will not be released to you before this time.

+ What are assessments under controlled conditions?

• In write-ups under controlled conditions, candidates are given time to research tasks in advance, but they produce a proportion of their assessment work in a supervised environment and partly under centre invigilated conditions.

• Candidates are: (a) given the task beforehand and are told of any time constraints on the research allocated to the task; (b) allowed access to prescribed resources; (c) informed about any restrictions on the notes of their research activities — eg they might be limited to a given number of words or pages; (d) informed of the time allocations for the write-up for each session.

• In some subjects candidates may have access to materials other than the assessment instrument itself. Examples of such permitted materials might include a dictionary or prepared notes, such as a Resource Sheet. These must never contain a pre-prepared write-up.

• Subject-specific documentation provides details of permitted materials; this should include the type (eg book, notes, tables), the amount (eg 200 words of notes, two textbooks) and any more specific information on the materials (eg a French dictionary).

• You must check subject-specific documentation to identify the resources which are permitted in your subject.

+ What are assessments under closed book conditions?

• Under closed-book conditions, no materials other than the assessment instrument are available to candidates. (However, the assessment instrument may contain, for example, a vocabulary list or a data sheet.)

+ I am overseas, how will i be able to complete exams and assessments?

• As all assessment will be undertaken online, you will be able to complete your assessment anywhere in the world, provided that you have access to a reliable internet connection. As, in most cases, you will have a 24-hour window in which to complete and submit your online exam, it will not matter in which time zone you are undertaking the assessment.

+ I am unable to complete my assessment due to circumstances beyond my control. What can i do?

• If you are unable to complete your assessment, you should submit a mitigating circumstances claim, and request either an extension (available for coursework only) or a deferral (available for both coursework and exams).

+ I have a presentation or practical assessment. How will that work?

• Presentations can be undertaken using Moodle, Google Classroom or Zoom. Alternatively, you may be asked to record your presentation using Panopto, and to submit the recording to Moodle.

• Group presentations will usually be modified to make them individual presentations.

• Practical assessments that cannot be submitted online will usually be modified to an alternative assessment that can be undertaken online. Alternatively, where this is not possible, the assessment will be deferred until such a time as it is possible to undertake the assessment.

• Your Module Leader will keep you fully informed about the arrangements for your assessment.

+ What will happen if i require individual examination arrangement?

• If you are normally entitled to additional time in an exam, this additional time is already accounted for within those online assessments which have a 24-hour submission window – no further time will be allowed or required.

• If your exam is a much shorter time-limited assessment, your Module Leader will advise on these arrangements. However, please be reassured that you will not be disadvantaged.

• If you would expect to have a scribe/amanuensis, the Disability Learning Services team will work with you to support you in undertaking your assessments. Ensure to contact the Disability Learning Services team about this in advance.

+ Will I get a Certificate or Diploma at the end of the course?

• Yes you will get a certificate or diploma at the end of the course. More information is available on the course page.

+ Will I get digital and printed Certificates or Diplomas?

• Yes, you can request for your Certificate in printed and digital formats.