Responsible officer: Director, Student Administration

Approval: Deputy Vice Chancellor

Related policies:

• Assessment Policy (draft)
• Student Conduct and Discipline Policy 
• Student Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Policy

Procedures

1. Central examination timetabling

1.1 Student Administration is responsible for producing the central examination timetable which includes the end of semester exam period and the special and supplementary exam period.

1.2 Course Coordinators are responsible for advising the Examinations Officer by the end of Week 4 in a semester the requirements for any examination that they wish to be centrally scheduled in that semester.

1.3 Special timetable requests from individual Course Coordinators must be approved by the Dean (or delegate) and submitted to Examination Officer by the end of Week 4, prior to commencement of timetabling.

1.4 The Examination Officer is responsible for producing a preliminary end of semester exam timetable during Week 6. Course coordinators are provided with the preliminary exam timetable in Week 6 to ensure that the information on exam duration complies with their instruction.

1.5 Any changes to the preliminary end of semester exam timetable must be approved by the Dean and forwarded to the Examination Officer within 3 working days of the published date for release of the exam timetable.

1.6 The final end of semester exam timetable will be released to students on SOLAR at least 6 weeks prior to the examination period.

1.7 In order to ensure an environment that allows students to perform to their potential and minimise disadvantage to students, the exam timetable will be prepared as far as practicable according to the following guidelines:
1.7.1 examinations may be held between the hours of 8am and 9pm on weekdays, and 8am and 6pm on Saturdays and public holidays (if required)
1.7.2 examinations will not be held on Sundays
1.7.3 wherever possible, examinations for courses with high enrolments will generally be scheduled towards the beginning of the examination period (with the exception of exams entirely based on multiple choice and/or utilising mark-sense technology for marking)
1.7.4 students should not be required to undertake more than two examinations in a single examination day
1.7.5 students should not be required to undertake examinations in which total working time exceeds six hours in a single examination day
1.7.6 there should be a minimum break of one hour between examinations for students with consecutive exams held on the same day
1.7.7 students should not normally be required to undertake examinations on more than three days in succession, and should not normally be required to take more than four examinations in three successive days
1.7.8 wherever possible, examinations should be held on the campus or delivery site where teaching in the course concerned is normally conducted
1.7.9 where courses are taught at more than one campus or delivery site, the same exam paper is normally set and the examinations will take place simultaneously
1.7.10 when allocating rooms, Student Administration will attempt to schedule examinations in locations with the most appropriate facilities
1.7.11 centrally scheduled examinations for students enrolled in intensive June/July or Summer courses will be held during the centrally scheduled special and supplementary examination period
1.7.12 reasonable adjustments to examination durations will be made arising from students' special needs, provided students have given advance notification
1.7.13 students will be eligible to apply for a special examination if their central examination timetable requires them to undertake:

• three examinations within a 24 hour period, or
• examinations on more than three days in succession, or
• more than four exams in three successive days

1.8 Students should notify the Examinations Officer if they have two exams scheduled at the same time. The Examinations Officer will consult with the faculty to determine a solution for the student.

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2. Special and supplementary examinations

2.1 Student Administration is responsible for organising the special and supplementary examinations. The faculty forwards approved Application for Special Examination for End of Semester Examination forms to Student Administration prior to the End of Semester Board of Examiners meeting.

2.2 Student Administration is responsible for producing the special and supplementary central exam timetable. It is developed after the End of Semester Board of Examiners meetings when the complete list of students granted supplementary exams is known.

2.3 The special and supplementary exam timetable normally will be available for students three (3) working days after the release of final exam results.

2.4 The following would be accepted as grounds for approval of a special examination by a Course Coordinator provided relevant independent supporting documentation is provided:

• illness or serious health problem
• serious personal trauma
• a sporting or cultural commitment at state, national or international representative level
• serious incapacity during the final central exam
• students with religious obligations
• an exam timetable situation as outlined in 1.7.13

Approval to sit a special examination would not be granted where a student could reasonably have been expected to avoid the circumstances of missing or performing poorly in an exam, for example

• holiday arrangements including international students returning home
• misreading an exam timetable
• social and leisure events including sporting or cultural commitments not at state, national or international representative level
• applications made more than five (5) days after the final central exam

3. Conduct of Exams

3.1 Student Administration is responsible for organising the central examinations (includes end of semester and special and supplementary exams). Student Administration engages the service of invigilators and is responsible for selection, training and monitoring of performance of invigilators.

3.2 Students require a current student identification card or another form of photographic identification to obtain admission to the examination room. Students without such identification are not permitted to enter the exam room until Student Administration staff are satisfied with their identification.

3.3 A student who arrives at an exam no later than 30 minutes after the official commencement time must present themselves to an invigilator and will be allowed to complete their exam within the scheduled exam time period. The invigilator will record details on an Incident Report that is provided to the Course Coordinator. If a student arrives later than 30 minutes after the official commencement time they will not be allowed entry to the exam room and will be referred to their faculty office.

3.4 A person other than a candidate, an invigilator or a person authorised by the Examinations Officer may not enter an examination room, except with the permission of the chief invigilator during an exam period.

3.5 The Course Coordinator should be at the exam room(s) or contactable by phone (in the situation where the exam is being run at another delivery site simultaneously) immediately prior to (5 minutes) and inclusive of any perusal time of an exam and available by telephone during the duration of an exam to answer questions.

3.6 Permitted materials for exams are specified on the cover of the exam paper. It is the responsibility of the Course Coordinator to advise students during the teaching period the materials that they will be permitted to have during the exam. No other material will be allowed and invigilators will scrutinise permitted materials at their discretion and remove material that is not specified.

3.7 Students may be allowed access to a dual language dictionary provided the student meets the requirements for non-English speaking background (NESB) as defined by Department of Education, Science and Training:

• born outside Australia
• arrived in Australia less than 10 years previously, and
• speak a language other than English at home

A list of eligible students as held on the University student system is provided for invigilators at each venue.

All dictionaries shall be hard copy only and the dictionary may be examined by an invigilator to confirm it is unannotated and does not contain any other materials prior to the start of the exam.

3.8 Electronic devices such as mobile phones, hand-held computers or dictionaries are not allowed in the exam room. If taken into the exam room they need to be surrendered to an invigilator and collected after the end of the exam.

3.9 Personal items such as purses, wallets, sunglasses and pencil cases or removed clothing are permitted in the exam room but must be placed under the desk or beneath the chair.

3.10 Food and drink are not to be taken into the exam room except for water in a clear unlabelled bottle.

3.11 Any item not compliant with 3.7–3.10 will be removed by an invigilator and can be collected by the student at Student Administration after the exam has finished.

3.12 All bags are to be left in the secured area provided by the University. Students concerned about the security of any valuable items should make alternative arrangements for their care, as the University does not guarantee the safe keeping of a student’s personal items during an exam.

3.13 Students are not permitted to leave the exam room in the first 30 minutes after official commencement time or the last 15 minutes of an exam. Students are allowed to leave the exam room only at the discretion of the invigilator for a visit to the toilet or illness.

3.14 The Examination Officer is authorised to take action to prevent misconduct in an exam room and to determine the immediate action to be taken when an alleged misconduct is discovered. If required, the Examinations Officer will consult with the Course Coordinator before proceeding. A report on the alleged breach will be sent to the Course Coordinator and the Dean of the faculty. The Dean (or delegate) will discuss the alleged case of misconduct informally with the student and determine further action in accordance with Student Conduct and Discipline Policy.

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4. Examination Papers

4.1 The length of time allowed for exams will not normally exceed three (3) hours in duration and perusal (if allowed) will be 10 minutes.

4.2 The printed exam papers will be delivered to Student Administration two (2) weeks prior to the start of the study period.

4.3 Student Administration will provide each Course Coordinator with a copy of the examination paper. The Course Coordinator shall certify on the Examination Paper Authorisation form that the exam paper has been checked for errors and is accordance with exam requirements. The Faculty shall organise for reprinting of any exam papers in error and advise the Examination Officer immediately of the reprint and delay.

4.4 Completed examination papers are counted at the exam venue. Course Coordinators are responsible for collecting the exam papers from Student Administration at the advised times and confirming the count of the exam papers is correct prior to taking them from Student Administration.

4.5 The Faculty is responsible for releasing exam papers to interested students after the conclusion of the special and supplementary exam period at the discretion of the Course Coordinator.

5. Definitions

Candidate: a person who has entered an examination area for the purpose of sitting for the examination
Central examination: an invigilated assessment item for students to complete in the official
End of Semester examination period
Chief invigilator: a person appointed by the Examination Officer to be the chief supervisor of examinations in an area in which a final exam is held
End of semester examination period: the official exam period held at the end of each university teaching period
Examination Officer: Coordinator Academic Administration, Student Administration
Invigilator: a person appointed by the Examination Officer to be a supervisor of examinations in an area in which a final exam is held
Semester: may be interpreted as session or semester
Special examination: a final exam for a course approved for reasons acceptable by the Course Coordinator to a student who is unable to sit the scheduled final exam. The content of a special exam will be different from the examination in the scheduled final exam period
Supplementary examination: a final exam awarded by the Dean to a student who has failed to receive a passing grade in a course following the completion of all assessment. The content of a supplementary exam will be different from the original exam

Last amended: 30 November 2006
Approved: 30 November 2006