Attendance for all sessions is compulsory throughout the year. Students are expected to attend all sessions according to their timetable and for other sessions as requested by their lecturers or College Administration.
All lecturers keep a record of attendance for every session.
There are very serious consequences for students who are habitually absent without justification.
Students will only be exempted when sick or for a valid reason as specified in the sections below.
Habitual latecomers are liable to be marked absent.
Official attendance records are kept by the Student Services Office (SSO) and students should direct queries related to attendance/absenteeism to this Office.
Any communication from SSO regarding attendance, absenteeism and exemptions is forwarded by email/mail. It is therefore the responsibility of the student to check the University Junior College email account daily.
Students may request to be exempted from attending sessions for a valid reason. Exemption Forms are available from the Junior College website and must be downloaded and duly filled in and sent as a pdf/jpg file to: studentservices.jc@um.edu.mt.
Students must take full responsibility for all work covered during the requested period of exemption in accordance with the study programme.
Students with a chronic medical condition, a disability, or require special arrangements, are strongly advised to inform the College administration in writing, at the beginning of the year or as soon as the case arises. Parents/guardians can inform the College administration themselves. In such circumstances, a certificate from a specialist/consultant is required. This information will be treated in the strictest confidence.
Absences from sessions for one day for medical reasons/appointments have to be justified within three working days by completing Exemption Form A which can be downloaded from the Junior College website and sent by email to the SSO as a pdf/jpg file.
Absences from sessions for two or more days, are to be covered by Exemption Form A which can be downloaded from the Junior College website, signed by a parent/guardian together with the National Insurance medical certificate (blue). The Exemption form and the medical certificate, are to be sent as a pdf/jpg file, by email to the SSO, within three (3) working days of the certificate’s closing date.
The total number of days covered by medical certificates and one-day exemptions must not exceed fifteen College days during each academic year.
It is strongly recommended that in cases of prolonged sickness and/or hospitalisation, the Junior College is immediately informed. In such cases, Exemption Form A is required together with an open medical certificate within the first three days of sickness. A closing medical certificate must be sent as a pdf/jpg file, within three working days from return of the student to College by email to SSO. The total number of days covered by this medical certification must not exceed the number stipulated in the previous paragraph.
Students who feel unwell while at the College or need to leave for a valid reason must inform the Office of the Principal before going home. Once home, they are required to fill Exemption Form A and together with a medical certificate, when applicable, send a scanned copy as a pdf/jpg file by email to the SSO within three (3) working days of returning to the College.
During the Christmas and Easter recesses, the SSO remains open to receive medical certificates and exemption forms.
Students requesting an exemption from attending the College due to examinations, interviews or other important appointments, are to fill in Exemption Form B which can be downloaded from the Junior College website. The form should reach the SSOprior to when the exemption is required. The student has to take full responsibility for all work covered during the requested period.
Students should plan their holidays and travel abroad to coincide with College recess periods which may be found in the Calendar section of the Prospectus as well as on the College website. Students should consult the SSObefore any travel arrangements are made. Students will only be exempted to travel abroad during the academic year in exceptional circumstances and would normally forfeit their stipend for the requested period. Exemption Form B together with the relevant information should reach the SSO at least one week ahead of their departure.
Student athletes enrolled in the Study Programme for National Team Athletes may request to be exempted from attending the College due to sport events held locally or abroad, by filling in Exemption Form C which can be downloaded from the Junior College website.
The form should reach the SSOprior to when the exemption is required together with an official letter from the relevant National Sport Association justifying the request.
Students participating in official College activities are normally exempted from attending sessions.
It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that the coordinator of the activity has included their name on the exemption list.
Exemption Form D will be duly filled in by the coordinator of the activity.
The Junior College Administration gives notification of cancelled or postponed lectures via email to the students' personal Junior College account, as well as via text message, in the case of information relayed at short notice. Students may opt out of this text messaging facility at any time, should they wish to do so. Students who would like to opt out of the text messaging facility are to send an email to the SSO.
In the case of a session cancelled due to an activity organised by the Junior College Administration, students are still expected to attend that activity.
Classes are dismissed in the case of a lecturer not turning up within ten minutes from commencement of lecture time. Students are to obtain permission for dismissal from the respective Subject Coordinator or the Office of the Principal. Students who do not request permission will be considered as having been absent for the session.
The Junior College Administration also conveys additional notices to students on the Visual Display Monitors in the Foyer.
Students who are regularly absent without a valid reason may not be allowed to take part in official College activities.
Students who throughout the course of study show unsatisfactory progress and/or are regularly absent from sessions without justification, may be called by the administration and have their registration terminated.
Students who exhibit an irregular pattern of absences will receive a Cautionary letter. This letter is also sent to parents/guardians for their information and to take the necessary action.
Students, who fail to attend a considerable number of sessions without justification during an attendance period of four weeks, receive a Notification of Unauthorised Absences letter. This letter is also sent to parents/guardians for their information and for them to take necessary action. The student will also forfeit the maintenance grant for that period.
When the level of unauthorised absences from the beginning of the academic year starts increasing, students will initially receive a First Warning letter. When the level is close to 10 per of the total number of sessions that should be attended in one academic year, students receive a Second Warning letter. Both letters are also sent to parents/guardians for their information and to take necessary action.
Students who fail to attend 10 per cent of their sessions during the academic year without justification, will be considered to have abandoned their course and will not be allowed to sit for their end-of-year examinations. Students and parents/guardians will be informed accordingly in a Dismissal letter.
Students who fail to attend for a whole attendance period without justification will automatically be considered to have abandoned the course.
All letters and warnings sent to students and parents/guardians are accompanied by a message via SMS.
The progress, assessment and eventual progression of students are determined by their academic effort throughout the year.
Students are expected to sit for tests as scheduled and to hand in assignments and tasks, including those on VLE, within the stipulated deadline. Students are to inform their lecturers beforehand if, for a justified reason, they are unable to hand in their work in time. Repeated failure to do so will lead to disciplinary measures.
During each programme of studies, students are formally assessed three times, twice during the first year and once during the second year. Assessment and end-of-year examination marks can be viewed on the Junior College Student eSIMS portal.
Lecturers keep a meticulous record of attendance and progress reports which are then forwarded to their coordinators.
Students should make sure that any work or project they submit is not plagiarised.
Legal Notice 132 of 1996 Education Act states that “... a student whose progress (as assessed through periodical assessment procedures) is deemed to be unsatisfactory, or who is not attending regularly, will forfeit the right to receive the allowance until such time as the principal of the school concerned certifies that such student is making satisfactory progress, or that he is attending regularly.” If a student fails to obtain a pass mark in three or more subjects in any of their assessments, they may forfeit their maintenance grant until progress is registered in the successive assessment.
Students must respect assessment task deadlines diligently.
Tutors shall reserve the right to apply the following sanctions whenever an assessment task is handed in late accompanied by a written justification.
If a task is handed in:
up to two working days late, a 5% mark penalty may apply
up to five working days late, a 10% mark penalty may apply
up to ten working days late, a 30% mark penalty may apply
No assignments will be accepted beyond ten working days past the deadline.
During the End of Year and resit examinations, students are given an index number which is unique and randomly assigned. The index number is the key identifier on the scripts and helps to protect the identity of students.
Students are allowed five (5) minutes reading and noting time prior to the beginning of examinations. Students will be allowed to start writing on the examination script once this is made available.
Students who require access arrangements during their time at the College should submit their request to the SSO in writing and submit supporting documents from specialists by the end of October, or as soon as the case arises. Such requests will be forwarded to the University ACCESS-Disability Support Unit so that access arrangements can be made for the end-of-year examinations.
It is the responsibility of students to apply for access arrangements during MATSEC examinations, with the ACCESS-Disability Support Unit for access arrangements, at the same time when applying for these examinations.
Students who absent themselves from an end-of-year examination/s are required to inform the SSO on telephone number +356 2590 7150, by not later than one hour after the commencement of an examination. A written letter giving the reason for absence, together with any documents in support of the claim must be presented to the SSO, within the next 24 hours. For more information, contact the SSO on +356 2590 7150 or email.
In case of absence due to illness, the medical certificate should be in the form of a letter explaining the cause of absence. The medical certificate should be legible and should include the name and the medical registration number of the medical doctor, printed clearly. Certificates issued by a family member of the student or National Insurance medical certificates are not accepted for this purpose.
Students are promoted to Second Year on the basis of their performance in their assessments and End of Year Examinations.
Assessments and End of Year Examination marks for each subject are awarded out of 100.
Each of the assessments carries 20% of the final subject mark, while the End of Year Examination has a weighting of 60% for each subject.
Total 100 marks per subject = 20% first assessment mark + 20% second assessment mark + 60% examination mark.
Each subject contributes to the global mark which is the sum total of all the marks of the subject the student has. This means that:
a student having six subjects may potentially obtain a global mark of 600
a student with five subjects may obtain a maximum of 500 and so on.
In order to proceed to Second Year, a student must obtain at least 45% in their global mark. This means that:
the pass mark for a student with six subjects is 270
a student with five subjects has a pass mark equal to 225 and so on.
Students who fail to obtain a pass may resit the worst two subjects in the Second Examination Session in September. In this case the resit mark will substitute the examination mark in point 2 above and a new global mark is calculated. Students obtaining at least 45% in their global mark will be promoted to second-year.
A student failing to obtain at least 45% in their global mark will have the opportunity to restart first-year in the following year.
The Junior College is committed to provide an ordered and safe learning environment within the College Campus and during College activities. Students are expected to behave in a courteous and orderly manner - in face-to-face interaction, on emails and other internet facilities - and to show respect for all persons and property both on College campus and during College activities. The Code of Behaviour at JC aims at promoting the environment mentioned above without overriding or superseding current University of Malta Regulations or others, which may come into force in the future.
Junior College students are provided with a digital student card on My UM app, the official app of the Junior College and University of Malta.
The digital card displays the photo stored in your e-ID account issued by Identità. Maltese and international students registered with Identità are required to connect to their e-ID account so that the e-ID photo can be used for the JC Student Card. Please follow these steps:
Download My UM app. Note that your photo will be available on My UM app once your registration process is complete. Kindly allow five (5) working days.
If you do not qualify for an e-ID Account, please send a JPG scan of a recent passport size headshot picture to Student Services Office. As subject of the email please write: Picture for JC Student Card. In the email indicate clearly your name, surname and identification document number you enrolled with at JC.
Should you have difficulties, visit the Student Services Office in the Be-Block, Floor 2 for assistance.
Students must be in a position to present the JC Student ID Card at all times, while on College Campus and are to present it whenever required to do so by College staff and security officers. Students will not be allowed to remain on the College Campus if they are not able to present the JC Student ID card.
Students caught misusing the JC Student ID Card will face disciplinary measures.
It is important that students and staff alike familiarise themselves with the College’s evacuation plans, meeting points, other health and safety measures, and notifications which will be communicated from time to time.
