Sustaining Success Cover Sheet

Your university student number:	Your university email address:
Proposed degree:	Are you retaking the foundation year? Yes/No
Are you thinking of changing your degree choice?	Yes/No/Perhaps
Possible alternative progression to:

Your work during this part of the module will account for approximately 50 hours of your time

The 50 hours includes lectures, private and group study, and preparation of the portfolio

Please hand in a cover section plus at least five evidence pages and five matching reflection pages

Complete your portfolio using this document, then print it and hand it in

1) Check that you understand how the portfolio is assessed

2) Check that you have handed in all the required material

3) Provide the marker with information to ensure that you get useful and relevant feedback

Checking your hand in	Tick below to confirm
I have read and understand the assessment criteria (below on this cover sheet)
I am handing in a complete portfolio (not an essay)
I have completed every section of the portfolio with up to one page per section
What mark range do you think the work might get? (estimate using on the grid below)

The basic mark scheme for the portfolio is as follows:

25% all sections of the portfolio present and complete: cover sheet evidence pages & reflection pages (Y/N)

75% according to mark scheme below (marks may be spread across criteria)

100-70: A+, A, A-	69-60: B+, B, B-	59-40: C+, C, C-	<40: D/Fail
Evidence, of self-reflection, actions and planning	I have provided clear evidence I have reflected on that evidence and written about my reflections I have identified a number of issues, and have written about what I could do to address them In some cases, I have followed through and addressed those issues and explained in the portfolio what I did and what has changed as a consequence I have written about my plans of what I will do to ensure my future success throughout my degree, and how my academic and professional career might develop	I have provided some evidence I have reflected on that evidence and written about my reflections I have identified some issues and written about what I could do to address them I have not yet followed through and addressed any of those issues. I have not written about my plans in any great detail. I have not really explained what I will do to ensure my future success. I am very vague about my plans for my degree, and how my academic and professional career might develop	I have provided very little evidence. What I have written is very short and does not go into any great detail. I have described a few things, and, in some places, there are gaps. I have not identified any issues, so I don’t have anything to write about in terms of how I might make changes to how I study. I have written little or nothing about my future plans	Any of the following: I have left sections of the portfolio blank. I have not used the template. I have not written about any reflections or plans I want to make NOTE: A fail mark will be awarded in the following cases. Student did not attend interview (and there was not good reason to schedule an alternative) Student submitted an essay instead of the portfolio
What are the strengths of your submission? What are the weaknesses of your submission?

Guidance This part of routes to success requires that you submit a reflective portfolio. In the classes, you will: Take part in activities designed to help you Learn ways to identify and document ‘evidence’ and generate reflections Write and record thinking that will be suitable for including in the portfolio. The questions in the portfolio shown under each sub-heading will act as “thinking prompts”to help you in the reflective process. Questions are designed to help you identify evidence on which to reflect. You need to: Answer ach question in turn Write honestly Note: It will probably be quicker and easier in the first place to complete this activity by hand Before completing each page of your reflection, you will find it helpful to complete an evidence page. Record your evidence via each set of questions and comment space. The questions are designed to prompt you to think about your experience (reflect). You can then use your evidence, written on each evidence page to help you To think about the topic Write your reflections The completed portfolio must consist of five completed evidence pages and five completed reflection pages. You will receive marks for completeness, evidence and reflection, which will make up your total mark. Check the question box on the front page to make sure you have completed all the work needed for this assessment. UNDERSTAND: an essay style reflection will not pass. You must hand in a complete portfolio that matches the template.

Your engagement with RTS3

Please answer the questions below honestly; they will not affect your final mark.

They will help us to:
i) Give you appropriate feedback and

ii) Refine how we continue to develop the module for future students.

The interview feedback we provide will vary according to your personal circumstances.

Please answer the questions below to help us calibrate that feedback.

Ranking your scores between 1 (strongly disagree) and 4 (strongly agree)

Context: Your engagement to the RTS3	Strongly disagree	1	2	3	4	Strongly agree
I worked through all of the suggested resources
I attended all the lectures and kept myself up to date
I managed my own time and caught up by the end
Overall, I found the video resources interesting
Overall, I found the written materials interesting
I found RTS-3 more interesting than I expected

Any other comments

Evidence page

1. Ambitions and motivations	Strongly disagree	1	2	3	4	Strongly agree
I found this section easy to complete
I put a lot of work into preparing this section
My work in this section is 2:1 quality or higher

On this page tell us about a) your history and ambitions; and b) your day to day motivations

For example…

What are your reasons for taking the foundation year?

What were your objectives and ambitions choosing your degree subject? Have you done anything special to further your ambitions?

What do you want to achieve as a result of successfully completing your degree?

What are your personal drivers in life? How does your degree fit in with your life plans?

How would you describe your levels of motivation? Are you always highly motivated?

Does your level of motivation vary, and if so, what are the likely triggers for that variation?

How does university life affect your study and your motivation?

How does your personal and social life affect your study and your motivation?

How good are you at achieving a life work balance?

Have you done anything specific to improve your motivation?

Remember to include any other evidence you can think of below

On this page reflect on what you wrote under ambition and motivations

What have you learned about yourself during the year so far?

Do you feel you have a clear idea of your ambitions and motivations?

Now what are the things you might do to ensure your day-to-day motivation remains high and to help you achieve your long-term ambitions?

So what have you done, or how have you changed your behaviour to help improve your motivation and/or clarify your ambitions?

Remember to include any further reflections you can think of below

Evidence Page

2. Feedback: tests, assignments and exams	Strongly disagree	1	2	3	4	Strongly agree
I found this section easy to complete
I put a lot of work into preparing this section
My work in this section is 2:1 quality or higher

On this page tell us about your experience of studying and how you have used any feedback from classes, tests, assignments and exams

NB: Identify each of the modules you are studying (comma separated list)

How much do you like the topic? How relevant do you think it is to your chosen degree? How difficult are you finding the module? How much effort are you putting into the module? What have your marks been like so far? What deadlines have you met or missed?	What are your strong points? What are your weak points? How have you used the feedback you have received? How often do you think about your progress? How do you judge how well you are progressing? If you are repeating the year, what are you doing differently this year compared to last year?

For each of the topics you study, in turn:
provide a summary of the evidence – using the structure of the table below, then answer the text questions

copy and paste the table and sub headings for each module

Module name	Like 1-5	How relevant 1-5	How difficult 1-5	Your effort 1-5	Marks (avg %)	Dead lines met	Dead lines missed	Repeat yr? Y/N

For this module

What are your strong points?

What are your weak points?

What feedback have you received?

How have you used the feedback you have received?

How often do you think about your progress?

How do you judge how well you are progressing?

If you are repeating the year, what are you doing differently this year compared to last year?

Finally – reflecting on the evidence of all your modules:

How accurate are you in predicting your performance in assessed tasks?

Remember to include any other evidence you can think of below

On this page write a summary reflection on your experience of studying and how you have used any feedback from classes, tests, assignments and exams

What have you learned about yourself during the year so far?

What are the things you could do to further your academic progress and success?

What have you done, or how have you changed your behaviour to further your academic progress and success?

Remember to include any further reflections you can think of below

Evidence Page

3. Exams: revision, preparation, exam, reflection	Strongly disagree	1	2	3	4	Strongly agree
I found this section easy to complete
I put a lot of work into preparing this section
My work in this section is 2:1 quality or higher

On this page focus on your experience of the exam cycle: revision, preparation, exam, reflection

Repeat students should provide evidence for their whole previous FY experience, with sub-heading for each exam you took. This evidence will run to more than one page, copy and paste the sub headings

First time students will be able to write about the Maths A exam only – although you can include further evidence from previous study before the Foundation Year

What marks did you think you would get for the exam?

What is your approach to revision?

When did you begin revision?

How did you go about revision?

What mark did you think you would get for the exam?

When you began revision

Immediately before each exam

Immediately after each exam

What marks did you actually achieve?

How accurate were your predictions?

Overall:

Explain what you think are the reasons for your accuracy/inaccuracy

Remember to include any other evidence you can think of below

On this page reflect overall on your experience of the exam cycle: revision, preparation, exam, reflection

What have you learned about yourself during the year so far?

What are the things you could do to improve your exam performance, and your approach to exams?

What have you done, or how have you changed your behaviour to improve or refine your approach to exams?

Remember to include any further reflections you can think of below

4. Progression: study and university life	Strongly disagree	1	2	3	4	Strongly agree
I found this section easy to complete
I put a lot of work into preparing this section
My work in this section is 2:1 quality or higher

On this page write about becoming a successful student: study and life work balance

How would you describe initially settling in?

Overall has there been any pattern to your attendance?

Overall has there been any pattern in your achievements?

Have you been able to adopt or maintain a healthy life work balance?

How do you find or organise time for social or sporting activities?

Do you have any individual or specific educational needs that affect your study or university life? How have you accommodated them?

Are there any external factors, outside academic study that have affected either your settling in, or your progress during the year?

Have you kept a diary or in any other way logged your university life and progress?

Do you have a close friend, confidante or mentor with whom you routinely discuss your progress or circumstances?

Did the Foundation year turn out the way you imagined?

Have you made as much progress as you imagined? Has your experience matched your objectives?

Have you been surprised, satisfied, pleased or disappointed in the way university life has turned out?

Remember to include any other evidence you can think of below

On this page write about your reflections on becoming a successful student: study and life work balance

What have you learned about yourself during the year so far?

What are the things you could do to make the best of your study and university life?

What have you done, or how have you changed your behaviour to make the best of your study and university life?

Remember to include any further reflections you can think of below

5. Future objectives	Strongly disagree	1	2	3	4	Strongly agree
I found this section easy to complete
I put a lot of work into preparing this section
My work in this section is 2:1 quality or higher

On this page write about your future objectives

Do you still want to do the same degree?

Have your ambitions changed since you started the degree?

Do you have any other overarching priorities or ambitions?

Write down top three short term priorities (before the end of this academic year)?

Write down top three midterm priorities (before the end of your degree)?

Write down you top three long term priorities (the five years following your degree)?

Remember to include evidence you can think of below

On this page write something about your overall reflections

So What?

What have you learned about yourself during the year so far?

How do you think these ambitions will affect your life at university and beyond?

Do you feel these are realistic, which will be hard to achieve and why?

How do you feel your progress during the year, as evidenced in sections 1-4, helps or hinders you achieving your objectives?

Now What?

What have you done, or how have you changed your behaviour to identify and refine your future objectives?

What are the things you could do to help better identify and refine your future objectives?

Remember to include any further reflections you can think of below

How much to write - Example page

What you are reading here is a sentence of twenty-five words which I have included to help you understand how much you have to write. If you include a series of twenty-one sentences of twenty-five words you will find that it is approximately enough to fill a page.

Sub heading 1

What you are reading here is a sentence of twenty-five words which I have included to help you understand how much you have to write. If you include a series of twenty-one sentences of twenty-five words you will find that it is approximately enough to fill a page.

Sub heading 2

What you are reading here is a sentence of twenty-five words which I have included to help you understand how much you have to write. If you include a series of twenty-one sentences of twenty-five words you will find that it is approximately enough to fill a page.

Sub heading 3

What you are reading here is a sentence of twenty-five words which I have included to help you understand how much you have to write. If you include a series of twenty-one sentences of twenty-five words you will find that it is approximately enough to fill a page.

Sub heading 4

What you are reading here is a sentence of twenty-five words which I have included to help you understand how much you have to write. If you include a series of twenty-one sentences of twenty-five words you will find that it is approximately enough to fill a page.

Sub heading 5

What you are reading here is a sentence of twenty-five words which I have included to help you understand how much you have to write. If you include a series of twenty-one sentences of twenty-five words you will find that it is approximately enough to fill a page.

Sub heading 6

What you are reading here is a sentence of twenty-five words which I have included to help you understand how much you have to write. If you include a series of twenty-one sentences of twenty-five words you will find that it is approximately enough to fill a page.

Sub heading 7

What you are reading here is a sentence of twenty-five words which I have included to help you understand how much you have to write. If you include a series of twenty-one sentences of twenty-five words you will find that it is approximately enough to fill a page.

Sub heading 8

What you are reading here is a sentence of twenty-five words which I have included to help you understand how much you have to write. If you include a series of twenty-one sentences of twenty-five words you will find that it is approximately enough to fill a page.

Final Sub heading 9

What you are reading here is a sentence of twenty-five words which I have included to help you understand how much you have to write. If you include a series of twenty-one sentences of twenty-five words you will find that it is approximately enough to fill a page. The final sentence, also has twenty-five words, this includes is one heading, nine sub-heading, ten paragraphs and 569 words to make the total.