Important Information about Spring Exams and Assessments

+++

Reminder about academic misconduct

Please bear in mind that the normal rules of academic conduct apply for online exams as well as for in-person exams. Please check these rules carefully as the penalties for not following them, even unintentionally, can have a serious impact on your degree.

You should also watch this brief video.

Student Conduct - Exams

You may be expected to sit online exams without referring to internet sources, books, notes or any other material that would not normally be allowed in an in-person examination. In other cases, online examinations will be taken under ‘Open Book’ conditions. This will be made clear on the front page of your exam paper and you must carefully read the instructions sent to you for each examination. Note that Open Book is not the same as 'Open Exam within 24 hours'. Not all examinations will have identical instructions, and some may allow access to specific materials. 

Please remember that your answers must be all your own work. You must not ask another person to take the examination for you, you must not consult with other students about the examination, and you must not share your work with anyone else. Do not use jointly produced work or shared notes, as this will result in similarity being detected between your work and the work of other students'. Posting questions to, or using answers from, online 'homework' or Q&A sites, or using AI-generated answers, is also strictly prohibited.

Do not be tempted to copy or translate material from other sources. Following submission, examination answers can be submitted to specialist software for similarity checking or students could be asked to take part in a viva examination. The purpose of assessment is to demonstrate your understanding of the course. Copying or translating from other sources does not allow that. Further guidance is available on the Good Academic Practice Moodle.

Any suspicion of copying, plagiarism or collaboration will be reported to the Student Conduct Team under the Code of Student Conduct, as will any other allegation of behaviour that contravenes the instructions for your examination. If you are reported for suspected misconduct, you will be asked to attend an interview, or to submit a written statement in response to the allegation. Attendance will be remote, via Zoom.

If you are sitting your examinations in-person, in an examination hall on campus or in an off-campus venue, you must ensure that you do not bring any prohibited materials or items into the exam hall. Prohibited materials include, but are not limited to, mobile phones or tablets, smart watches and sports watches, notes, unauthorised types of calculator, unauthorised types of dictionaries, or annotations on any material or item. Note also that bringing any of these prohibited materials into an examination hall represents a violation of the Code of Student Conduct regardless of whether they are brought intentionally or are used during the examination.

Please, do not put your degree at risk. The penalties applied under the Code of Student Conduct can lower your GPA, cause you to fail a course and prevent you from achieving your award.

---

+++

What happens if illness or other adverse circumstances affects any of your exams or other assessments

If you have been ill or had other adverse circumstances which you believe have affected your assessment, this can be considered through our regulations on 'Good Cause'.

If you want us to take such circumstances into account, you must submit a Good Cause claim through MyCampus. This can be in relation to:

  • a missed exam;
  • an online exam submitted late for which you wish to request waiver of the ‘late’ grade ‘H’;
  • a piece of coursework that you were unable to submit;
  • any assessment in which you feel your performance has been significantly impaired;
  • a piece of coursework for which you wish to request an extension to the submission deadline of more than five working days.

The Good Cause process is explained in our 'Key FAQs for students'.

How to submit a Good Cause claim

In your Good Cause claim, you must explain clearly:

  • Your illness or other adverse circumstances: you should include reference to the timing of the assessment(s) affected and the duration of the relevant circumstances.
  • How your ability to complete the specific assessment(s) was affected.
Supporting evidence

A Good Cause claim should be supported by evidence, such as a report that describes the medical condition or other adverse personal circumstances. Information about appropriate supporting evidence is available in the Good Cause FAQs.

---

Advice, information and technical support before and during your online assessments 

You might be required to sit your exams entirely online, entirely in person, or a mixture of both.

If your exams are in person then you will be able to seek assistance from the invigilators present in the examination halls.

For online exams, if you have questions about the contents of your paper, or you require technical assistance, you will be able to contact our virtual invigilation team at the University of Glasgow Helpdesk. 

Technical support for online exams will be available during the exam period. To ensure timely responses and that all students receive the same information, you will be asked not to contact academic staff directly but instead use the Helpdesk.  

---