Information about what to expect and what you need to do before your exams.
If you have an illness or disability you may require some form of adjustment to your examinations. Any adjustment will depend on the nature and severity of your illness or disability. For example, you may be granted additional time if you have a disability or medical condition that could prevent you from completing your examination within the specified time. Similarly, if you have a visual impairment your question papers can be produced in an alternative format such as Braille or copied in large type.
To receive an examination adjustment or to request an alternative mode of assessment, students must make an application for an examination arrangement via their College. A Student Support Document issued by the Disability Resource Centre (DRC), or other appropriate medical evidence, is required as supporting documentation. Examination adjustments do not carry forward from year to year.Thus, students are strongly encouraged to discuss their requirements with their Tutor or Tutorial Office early in Michaelmas Term for them to have enough time before their examinations to obtain the appropriate supporting documentation and practice with the approved adjustment (where appropriate). You should be aware that the deadline for submitting applications for examination arrangements is 13 February for the Main examination period.
The Examination Arrangements – Student Guidance Notes contains information about the process for making an application, examples of adjustments that can be requested, and links to further sources of information.
Further information can be found on the DRC website and advice for staff can be found here.
Additional information relating to undergraduate exams may be available from College websites or your Senior Tutor.
If you have think that the scheduled examination period might coincide with a religious observance that restricts work, then you should inform your College as early on as possible. Please read the further guidance on this website.
Examination enrolment (entry for exams) normally takes place during Michaelmas Term. Some enrolments are carried out in Lent Term. Students (who do not have any choice in their examination papers) are automatically enrolled. Other students who have optional papers will be required to enrol on-line via their CamSIS Student Self-Service page. In some instances students may need to enrol for modules in their Faculty or Department. If you are required to self-enrol, you should receive an email from your College Tutorial Office with instructions about what to do next. Before enrolling, you should speak to your Director of Studies (DoS) about your choice of papers, to ensure that your DoS approves of your choices.
A full list of enrolment and verification dates by subject can be found online. A video on how to enrol for examinations is also available.
If you need to change your choice of examination papers after completing the initial enrolment, then you should speak to your DoS immediately. If your DoS approves of the change then you should contact your College Tutorial Office who will process the change for you.
Changes to your examination enrolment are possible until you verify your exam entry in the Lent Term. Once the verification deadline has passed, no further changes can be made.
Examination Verification normally takes place during the Lent Term. When you are required to verify your examination entry, you should receive an email from your College Tutorial Office with instructions about how to verify your examination entry in CamSIS self-service and confirm that it is correct. If you need to change your choice of examination papers, then you should speak to your DoS immediately. If your DoS approves of the change then you should contact your College Tutorial Office who will process the change for you. Please note there will be a verification deadline after which no further changes can be made to your examination entry - the deadline will be included in the email from the College Tutorial Office.
A video on how to verify your examination entry is also available.
You will receive a hard-copy of your Examination Entry Confirmation Form (ECF) from your College Tutorial Office at the start of Easter Term by the date stated in the Statutes and Ordinances. The ECF is a double-sided document containing important information including your examination timetable, examination procedures and individual Examination Candidate Number. Students must check their ECF upon receipt to ensure that it contains details of all their expected examinations. If your name is omitted, or printed inaccurately, or the details of the papers for which you are marked as being a candidate are incorrect, you should at once inform your College Tutorial Office. Please ensure that you have read the important information concerning examination procedures, printed on the reverse of your ECF.
The ECF should be taken with you to all exams. Students who have lost or mislaid their ECF should contact their College’s Tutorial Office which will issue a replacement.
Please note that you can also view your examination timetable via your CamSIS self-service page, but be aware that your candidate number is not shown in CamSIS, it is only available on the hardcopy of the ECF. The University examination timetable, which lists information for all exams, can also be viewed online.
The examination timetable will list the times and venues of each examination. Ensure that you are familiar with the venue where your examination is being held and how to get there well in advance of the day of the examination. In nearly all cases, it is necessary to arrive at least 20 minutes before the advertised start time. In exams, where extra time or reading time is given then you may be expected to arrive earlier than this.
Well ahead of your first exam, it is necessary to ensure that you have understood the examination procedure. Information about what you need to do in advance of your exams and conduct during your exams can be found on the back of the Examination Confirmation Form and on the University Proctors website.
Well ahead of time, it is necessary to ensure that you have understood the practical instructions for the examination. A list of items that must be brought to the examination hall, and items that are and are not permitted can be found here.
You should take with you to the examination room writing implements, but not geometrical instruments unless these are likely to be required. Tables and any other printed information necessary will normally be provided, but candidates for some examinations may be given notice that they are expected to bring their own copies of certain publications. In some examinations candidates are permitted to bring a calculator, either of a type specified by Notice or, in most cases, marked and sold by the University for the purpose.
If illness or other severe extenuating circumstance before your exam seriously affects your exam preparation, then you should get in contact with your Tutor at the earliest possible opportunity.
Your Tutor may submit an Examination Warning to the University's Exam Access and Mitigation Committee.
Where a candidate becomes ill or has severe extenuating circumstances preventing them from completing the year and taking their examinations the General Board may grant leave to disregard terms for the purpose of standing to enable them to go out of residence and take the examination the following year. The University's policy is not to repeat years and where a student has completed two thirds of the academic year the University would not normally grant leave to disregard terms for the purpose of standing. The General Board delegates decisions on these matters to its Exam Access and Mitigation Committee.