Exams
How do you find out the timing and location of your exams?
- The dates for examinations and resit examinations for Health Sciences exams can be found on the Assessment Schedule for your programme.
- For Centrally run examinations, the examination time & venue will be published on your teaching timetable. It is you responsibilty to keep checking this up until the exam to ensure that you go to the correct venue. Please note, some exams are held in multiple venues across the University and therefore you may not be in the same room as other members of the same cohort.
- For assessments run internally, you will be notified via the VLE of the date, venue and timing of the assessment by the Department’s Student Assessment Office.
- Misreading of the examination timing is never accepted as a mitigating circumstance and will count as a fail if you do not attend.
Exam rules and regulations
Many of the examinations fall outside the central examination periods, and the Department is exempt from the University common reassessment examination periods (refer to the Assessment Schedule for the reassessment date for your module). Therefore this should be taken into account when referring to information on the University webpages.
Indentity in exams
Multi-choice exams
Absence from exams
What happens if I am late for, or miss, my exam?
In the event of running late for an exam you must immediately contact the departmental Student Information, Guidance and Help Team by telephone who log your call and the information you provide (01904 321321). Where possible you should attempt to attend the exam although the senior invigilator may not allow you to enter 30-minutes after the start of the exam.
You will not be given any extra time if you arrive late for an exam.
However if the circumstances were beyond your control you should apply for this to be taken into account through the Exceptional Circumstances procedure, for which you would be required to provide evidence.
If you fail to attend or miss a ‘first attempt’ for your exam and, and do not submit valid mitigating circumstances, you will usually be offered a re-sit opportunity but eligibility is dependent on performance in other modules. You will not be given a further attempt if you miss a resit exam and do not have valid exceptional circumstances.
What should I do if I am ill on the day of an exam?
For further information on the mitigation procedure refer to the Exceptional Circumstances information. Claims for mitigaton in relation to performance or missing an exam due to illness must be submitted within one week of the exam date.
Access to exam scripts
Students may request supervised access to their own exam answer scripts as a means of feedback. How to initiate the process is detailed below (route of access to script differs slightly dependant on which course you are on):
Undergraduate Nursing & Midwifery Students
Students registered on Undergraduate Nursing & Midwifery routes are advised to initiate the request through your personal supervisor who will negotiate a time for you and a suitable member of the team to review this together.
Postgraduate Students
Students are advised to contact your personal supervisor or the module leader who will arrange a suitable time for you and a member of the module team to review this together.
SSPRD & Students on a Freestanding Module Route
Students are advised to contact the module leader who will arrange a suitable time for you both to review this together.
Once a suitable time to meet has been identified the personal supervisor, module leader or member of academic team identified to meet with you will liaise with Student Assessment Office to obtain access to the specified exam script.
Scripts may not be copied and taken away with you, and can only be viewed with a member of academic staff present.
OSCEs
OSCE information
OSCE stands for Objective Structured Clinical Examination. This is a practical assessment that is held under exam conditions. The purpose of an OSCE is to assess your ability to demonstrate knowledge and skills relevant to clinical practice whilst being observed by an examiner. It is a flexible test format often based on a circuit of stations.
During the OSCE you would perform an assessment, or range of assessments, to demonstrate specified skills. Some OSCE examinations involve the use of a simulated patient (a simulated patient is an actor who has taken on the role of a person with the particular clinical condition being examined). OSCE stations can vary in length and number depending on the knowledge and skills being tested.
The key themes tested in an OSCE have specific marking criteria against which an examiner assesses student performance. The criteria denote safe and competent practice and these must be observed and/or heard by the examiner during the assessment. You will receive specific information from you module leader if a module involves an OSCE.
OSCE examinations are taken under exam conditions and the University rules regarding access to phones, electronic equipment, toilet visits, academic misconduct etc all apply. Whilst you wait for your OCSE you will be located in a chaperoned area and will not be permitted to communicate with students who have completed their OSCEs. You may, whilst waiting, read notes and talk to other students in the room who are waiting to take their OSCE. You may not access the internet, a laptop, ipad or other electronic equipment. You are advised to bring a drink and/or snack with you to the chaperone room as you may not leave the room to access these.
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