Absence from Exams due to Illness 

Extracts from the General Regulations 

Definition

Exceptional circumstances, for the purposes of assessment decisions, are defined as unforeseen factors, and/or factors outside a student’s control which have a negative impact on his or her performance. Chronic conditions for which students have received support and reasonable adjustments do not constitute exceptional circumstances, though a worsening of a condition may do so.

Regulations Governing Absence

General

i. During illness, and especially if they know that they are going to miss an examination because of illness, students should inform the relevant School Office by telephone or letter of their enforced absence, either personally or, if too ill, via someone on their behalf.

ii. The Head of School may require any student to be examined by the University’s Occupational Health Service.

iii. Repeated self-certification may result in referral to the University’s Occupational Health Service. 

Adverse Weather Conditions

In the event of adverse weather conditions during the examination period, students are advised to allocate additional time for travel to the University to ensure they leave plenty of time for their journey. 

In the unlikely event of University closure due to weather, this will be communicated to all students via their University email with as much notice as possible.

Anonymous Examining

The administration of all formal written examinations is conducted by anonymous methods. Academic staff do not invigilate formal examinations. The University's invigilation team is made up of people with experience of invigilating in other educational institutions.

Students are allocated a unique 5-digit code number which is used with their seat number (referring to the relevant exam) for identification purposes on all examination stationery.

Invigilation lists are the responsibility of the Senior Invigilator only. Invigilation lists are printed in 3 part sets. The first and second copies include unique codes, seats and student names. The third copy excludes names. The top copy (containing student names) is returned to the Examinations Office.The second copy (containing names) is placed in a confidential envelope, sealed and returned to the Examinations Office. The Examination Liaison Officer associated with the School has responsibility for the collection and security of the lists while marking is in progress. The third copy (excluding names) is inserted with the scripts for the marker. Anonymity is broken as close to the examination board meeting as is administratively possible.

Fit to Sit

From section 4 of Exceptional Circumstances Procedure.

4.1 A ‘Fit to Sit’ regulation operates for all assessments (See Study Regulations for Taught Programmes, Regulation 3.1.5). It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that they undertake the assessment only if they are fit to do so.

4.2 By submitting or attempting an assessment, the student is confirming that there is no reason why their performance would be adversely affected or why they may subsequently bring forward a request for exceptional circumstances. Therefore, this procedure should not be used if the student has attempted the examination or made a final submission of continuous assessment/coursework.

4.3 A student who experiences significant disruption during an examination (for example, taking ill unexpectedly, or technical issues during an online exam) must immediately report this to the invigilator for this to be recorded. For remote examinations, the issue must be immediately reported to the relevant School.  The student may submit an exceptional circumstances application to have this taken into consideration. 

Late Arrival to an Exam

Students should arrive no later than 15 minutes before the start of their examination. 

To ensure exam integrity, students who arrive late may not be permitted to sit their exam and will be recorded as absent. 

If a student has an exceptional circumstance for being late, they should contact their school immediately for further advice.

Policy for dealing with Interruptions to Examinations*

1. Where an examination running simultaneously in two or more venues is interrupted, the following policy applies only to the venue(s) affected by the interruption.
2. Interruptions to clinical or practical examinations, e.g. oral examinations for language students, will be dealt with according to guidelines available from the relevant Schools.
3. When an examination is interrupted due to an evacuation which lasts for 45 minutes or more, it will be terminated.
4. When the termination occurs before 75% of the time allocated has passed it will be rescheduled within the original examinations cycle.
5. When the termination occurs after 75% or more of the time allocated has passed it is the decision of the Chair of the relevant Board of Examiners, in consultation with appropriate colleagues and taking into account the nature of the paper, to assess the candidates on the basis of the work completed in the examination. Where this option is not available due to the requirements of an external accrediting body, a re-examination may have to be scheduled within the original examinations cycle.

It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Board of Examiners to communicate the decision to students via email within 48 hours of the terminated examination. Candidates are responsible for checking their Examination Timetable on Queen’s Online to confirm the date and the venue for a rescheduled examination.  Candidates are required to be available for rescheduled examinations.

*To facilitate the successful implementation of this Policy, Schools will be required to prepare and submit first and supplementary papers together, in respect of all examinations – failure to do so will make the Policy inoperable.

Senior Invigilator Protocol for dealing with Interruptions to Examinations

Unless otherwise stated, the procedural protocol for dealing with interruptions to examinations will be as set out below: 

1. In the event of fire alarms being sounded during an examination, or other such emergency situation resulting in the interruption of the examination, candidates should be instructed to stop writing and the time noted.
2. The Senior Invigilator will advise candidates that answer booklets, other examination materials and personal belongings should not be removed from the venue and that they remain under examination conditions during evacuation.
3. Candidates should be informed of the location of the assembly point and requested to evacuate the venue.
4. Invigilators should escort candidates to the assembly point and monitor them to ensure, as far as is practical, they are not engaging in any activity which would undermine the integrity of the examination. 
5. If the examination is interrupted for less than 45 minutes, including the time required for exiting the hall, then candidates should be advised that the examination will resume and escorted back into the venue. An appropriate amount of time should be added to the end of the examination (including the time taken to exit, re-enter and settle students).
6. If the examination is interrupted for 45 minutes or more, including the time required for exiting the hall, the examination will be terminated, and candidates advised that examination conditions no longer apply.
7. The Senior Invigilator will advise candidates that they will be informed by their School by email within 48 hours of the interrupted examination of the arrangements for dealing with the consequences of the termination. Candidates should be informed that they may be required to attend a re-scheduled examination later in the examination period.
8. All answer booklets and other examination materials should be collected by invigilators prior to re-admitting students to a venue to collect their personal items, in order to prevent any irregularity.