Assessment and Award Regulations

at-Taʾṣīl (التأصيل) · Foundation Diploma in Islamic Studies · International Islamic College, Leicester

Ref: TSL-POL-005 · Version: 1.0 (draft) · Date: 7 September 2026 · Owner: Programme Lead (Ustādh Emran Ahmed) · Review: before the Programme opens, then annually.

1. Purpose

These regulations state how work on the Foundation Diploma is assessed, how marking and feedback are handled, how the award is decided, and how the College protects the integrity of both. They are written to be read by students: nothing about the Diploma should come as a surprise at the end of the year.

2. Scope

These regulations apply to every enrolled student of the 2026–27 cohort, brothers and sisters alike, including students aged 16–17 attending with written parental consent. They govern the six assessment components, marking and feedback, moderation, extenuating circumstances, academic integrity, the award and its endorsement, and academic appeals. They are read alongside the Programme Syllabus and Scheme of Work (TSL-SYL-001), the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment, the Fees and Refunds Policy, and the Complaints and Academic Appeals Policy (TSL-POL-006).

3. Regulations — A. The assessment scheme

1. The Diploma is assessed through six components, weighted as follows:

• 2. Grades. Distinction is awarded at 80% and above, Merit at 65% and above, Pass at 50% and above.
• 3. The memorisation rule. The tasmīʿ component must be passed in every case, whatever the overall total: no student receives the Diploma on the strength of written work alone.
• 4. Missed papers. A student who misses an examination paper through illness sits it within a fortnight.
• 5. Attendance. Illness is handled under Section C, never as a disciplinary matter. Parents of students aged 16–17 are told of every absence.

B. Marking, feedback and moderation

• 6. The Programme Lead teaches every strand and marks all assessed work.
• 7. Feedback turnaround. Weekly coursework and termly essays are returned with written feedback within two weeks of submission. Tasmīʿ is corrected on the spot, in the sitting.
• 8. A running record of marks is kept for each student, who may see their own record at any reasonable time.
• 9. Moderation. Because one person teaches and marks, a second pair of eyes is built in: the Academic Lead, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq at-Turkmānī — who is independent of the teaching of this Programme — samples the structured essays each term and the final examinations at the end of the year. Where sampling shows a marking standard needs adjusting, the adjustment is applied consistently across the whole cohort, never to one student alone.

C. Extenuating circumstances

• 10. A student affected by illness, bereavement, school or university examinations, or another serious circumstance tells the Programme Lead — in person, by message, or by email to info@theiic.uk. A short account in the student's own words is enough; no form is required. For a student under 18, the message comes from, or is copied to, the parent or guardian, in line with the electronic-contact rules in the Safeguarding Policy (TSL-POL-007).
• 11. Evidence is proportionate: self-declaration suffices for short illness; independent evidence is asked for only where the impact is extended.
• 12. The Programme Lead decides promptly, normally within five working days, and records the decision. Available outcomes include: a missed paper sat within a fortnight; a coursework extension; a rescheduled tasmīʿ; and a fair adjustment of the attendance component so that a genuine circumstance never costs a grade.

D. Academic integrity

• 13. Coursework and essays must be the student's own work. Submitting another person's writing as one's own — copied from a book or website, written by a friend, or generated by an AI tool — is plagiarism. Students may use books, teachers and tools to study and to understand; the words they submit must be their own.
• 14. The response is proportionate and educational first. A first instance is treated as a teaching matter: the Programme Lead talks it through with the student, and the piece is redone and resubmitted.
• 15. Repeated or deliberate plagiarism results in a mark of zero for the piece concerned. A serious or persistent case is handled under the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment, with the appeal route in the Complaints and Academic Appeals Policy (TSL-POL-006) available throughout.
• 16. Tasmīʿ, examinations and the practical prayer assessment take place in person, in class, with the teacher — so identity and authenticity are never in question there.

E. The award

• 17. The Foundation Diploma is awarded by the International Islamic College at Pass, Merit or Distinction. The certificate names the texts completed and the Arabic level achieved.
• 18. The Diploma is awarded when a student has completed the six components, reached at least the Pass boundary overall, passed the tasmīʿ component under regulation 3, and sat and passed the summer examination series under regulation 19.
• 19. Entering the summer examinations. Sitting the summer examination series — the third-term papers and the Arabic Level 1 written and oral examinations — is the student's choice, made in the summer term on payment of the £50 examination fee — which, with the £440 tuition, makes up the £490 full-year price (Fees and Refunds Policy, section 3.2). The Diploma is awarded only to students who sit and pass the series. A student who chooses not to enter receives, without charge, a transcript of the year's study and marks — not the Diploma. The fee is refunded in full if the student withdraws before sitting, or if the College cancels the sitting.
• 20. Ḥāfiẓ al-Mutūn endorsement. A student who recites the three creed texts and the Forty Ḥadīth in full receives the Ḥāfiẓ al-Mutūn endorsement. The endorsement rests on recitation alone: it does not depend on entering the summer examination series or paying the examination fee. For a student awarded the Diploma, the endorsement appears on the certificate; for a student who does not enter the summer examinations, it is recorded on the transcript issued under regulation 19.
• 21. Certificates are presented at the Diploma ceremony in the week of 12 July 2027.
• 22. A student who does not complete the year is not recorded as a "fail" anywhere; on request, the College confirms in writing what the student did complete.
• 23. The Foundation Diploma is the College's own award. The College is independent: the award is not a regulated qualification, is not accredited, and carries no university credit.

F. Academic appeals

• 24. The Programme Lead's scholarly and academic judgement — a mark, a grade, an assessment of recitation — is not appealable on its merits.
• 25. An appeal lies on procedural grounds only: that these regulations were not followed, that a relevant extenuating circumstance could not reasonably have been raised in time, or that there is evidence of demonstrable bias.
• 26. Appeals go to the Academic Lead, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq at-Turkmānī, under the procedure and timescales in the Complaints and Academic Appeals Policy (TSL-POL-006).

4. Responsibilities

• Programme Lead (Ustādh Emran Ahmed) — teaching, marking, feedback within the stated turnaround, extenuating-circumstances decisions, the award decision, and keeping the marks record.
• Academic Lead (Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq at-Turkmānī) — termly and end-of-year moderation; hearing academic appeals on procedural grounds.
• Students — attendance, timely notification of difficulties, and honesty in all submitted work.
• Parents of students aged 16–17 — written consent to enrolment; they are told of every absence.

5. References

Programme Syllabus and Scheme of Work (TSL-SYL-001) · Terms and Conditions of Enrolment · Fees and Refunds Policy · Complaints and Academic Appeals Policy (TSL-POL-006) · Privacy Notice.

Revision history

International Islamic College, Leicester · 07436 436363 · info@theiic.uk · theiic.uk