Your exam timetable with the room locations will be emailed to your student email a few weeks prior to the exam period. Unless instructed, you must attend in person and always ensure you arrive 20 minutes before your exam start time.

What to know before sitting your exam

Exam Conditions

  • Before you can begin your exam, you must read and accept the UNSW College Academic Integrity Pledge.
  • Ensure you have a fully charged laptop and charger.
  • If you arrive 20 minutes late you will not be permitted into the exam room.
  • You will not be permitted to leave the exam venue within the first 30 minutes of the start time of the exam or within the last 30 minutes of the exam.
  • A check for unauthorised materials and notes will be completed by an exam supervisor when you enter the exam room.
  • Your student ID card must remain visible on your desk for the duration of the exam.
  • You must complete your examination with a UNSW College exam supervisor.
  • You will be allocated a desk by the exam supervisor.
  • At all times you must listen to your exam supervisor for instructions.
  • The exam supervisor will notify you when you are permitted to navigate to your Moodle.
  • If you have questions or issues, raise your hand and wait to be assisted.
  • You are responsible for deciding before the exam start time whether you are fit to sit (refer to the section Special Consideration (Illness and Misadventure) further below for more information) the exam.
  • Exam materials must not be removed from the exam venue. This includes exam papers, script books, multiple choice answer sheets and supplied materials.

Exam Rules and Regulations

  • Your laptop must be set in English with no AI, language, or translation tools.
  • Remain at your desk for the duration of the exam.
  • You may have a pen and paper for notetaking.
  • You cannot speak or communicate (i.e., gestures, facial signals, passing of notes) with anyone in the exam unless that person is the exam supervisor.
  • You must not access any unauthorised/unapproved learning materials during the exam.
  • You must not record any part of the exam.
  • You must not copy or share any exam questions or answers, during or after the exam.
  • You must obey all instructions communicated by an exam supervisor.
  • You are not permitted to eat, drink or smoke during an exam.
  • Your phone must be turned off and placed under your desk during an exam. Having a phone on during an exam will be reported as a suspected breach of academic integrity.
  • In regards to browsers:
    • All browsers must be closed prior to entry into an exam room. No add-ons, plugins, pop-ups or additional browser apps should be enabled before or during an exam. If you are caught with open browsers on your laptop during an exam this will be considered a breach of the exam instructions and rules, and the matter will be referred to the UNSW College Academic Integrity Team for investigation.
    • All predictive text and predictive keyboard settings must be turned off before you enter the exam room. These settings must be turned off for the full duration of an exam.
    • For computer-based exams, you must disconnect your computer from WI-FI once you take your seat. You can only re-connect to Eduroam Wi-FI.
      If you experience a technical difficultly, please raise your hand and speak with the examination supervisor (invigilator). You are not allowed to connect to another internet wireless network unless directed by an exam supervisor.
    • For computer-based exams that use a lockdown browser, please check that your laptop and the desktop application for your lockdown browser has been installed and checked prior to entering your examination.
    • You are prohibited from opening additional browsers, tabs, programs or applications during an exam. This includes, but is not limited to, grammar-checking apps, translation apps or English assistance apps. If you are caught with open browsers on your laptop during an exam this will be considered a breach of the exam rules, and the matter will be referred to the UNSW College Academic Integrity Team for investigation.
    • You are prohibited from using question and answer sites, social media, messaging apps, email, sharing forums or anything else that allows you to communicate or share exam information with others. If you are caught with or using these sites during an exam this will be considered a breach of the exam rules, and the matter will be referred to the UNSW College Academic Integrity Team for investigation.
  • If you need a bathroom, raise your hand and an exam supervisor will accompany you.

Approved Equipment for the Exam Room

  • Your fully charged PC or Mac laptop and battery pack.
  • Student ID card.
  • Blank paper and a pen for note taking.
  • Clear water bottle.
  • Disposable foam earplugs, if you require silence.
  • The permitted materials for your exam will be listed on your exam coversheet and communicated in advance by your teacher and the UNSW College Exams Team.
  • For subjects requiring a calculator, ensure you have an approved calculator:
    • Fx-82AU plus II (and older models)
    • Fx-82AU plus II 2nd edition

Other Special Instructions

Please see guidelines here with other special instructions on configuring your personal device so it is fit for use in exams such as:

  • How to disable autocorrect.
  • How to change language to English.
  • How to update time zone to Australian time.
  • How to make your laptop forget an old Wi-Fi network.

What happens if you miss an exam?

Special Consideration (Illness and Misadventure)

For a detailed introduction to Special Consideration and the evidence required to apply, please read the student guide here.

If you are ill or have a misadventure before your exam commences, you may be eligible for special consideration.

If you believe you are fit and well to sit your exam and you start it, then you will not be eligible for special consideration unless there is a technical difficulty or WIFI outage during your exam.

To apply for special consideration, complete the Request for Special Consideration Due to Illness or Misadventure Form no later than 3 days after your exam. You must complete the entire form and provide detailed supporting evidence with your form, or your request will be denied.

Please remember only local Australian medical certificates from AHPRA approved practitioners will be accepted.

Supplementary Exams

Supplementary exams are scheduled in the week immediately following the final exam for the following programs (this may coincide with a Recess Week on the academic calendar):

  • Diploma
  • Foundation Studies Term 2
  • Pre-Masters
  • Transition
  • Transnational Education (TNE)

 

Supplementary exams are scheduled in Week 1 of the following term for students from the programs below:

  • Foundation Studies Standard Plus
  • Foundation Studies Term 1

 

Students who require supplementary exams due to missing a previous exam must attend. If travel is pre-booked and the student misses the supplementary exam as a result, they will receive a zero mark. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Please note that supplementary exams are only available to students who could not sit their final exam and have successfully applied for special consideration (see the section above).

Supplementary Exams for Diploma and Pre-Masters Potential Graduands

A Diploma or Pre-Masters student in their last term of study is considered a potential graduand (Pot Grad) and may be eligible for a supplementary exam if they have failed only one course in that last term. However, there are conditions under which a student can be deemed ineligible.

These students do not need to complete a special consideration application as they will be awarded a Pot Grad Supplementary Exam at the discretion of the relevant Academic Head.

Pot Grads will be notified of their eligibility for a Pot Grad Supplementary Exam by the Assessments team and will be asked to confirm if they will sit this exam.

If students successfully pass the course as a result of the Pot Grad Supplementary Exam, their mark awarded for the course will be capped at 50%.

See below an example of how the above rules will work for Pot Grads:

 

NOTE:

  • Please familiarise yourself with key exam dates via the Key Dates page.
  • Note that the Pot Grad Supplementary Exam is at a different time from the usual Supp Exams and is normally held at the start of Week 1 of the following term.
  • No additional exam arrangements will be made if you miss this supplementary exam.

Further Assessment (only offered under exceptional circumstances)

For students (regardless of their program) who did not undertake the supplementary exam nor alternate options provided at the time, they may be granted an opportunity to retake the exam with the next intake. For example a student who missed an exam in Term 1 will sit the exam with the cohort in Term 2.

This will only be offered under exception circumstances with approval from the Director/Executive Director, Academic Programs.

  • An example of exception circumstances will be hospitalisation for an extended period that prevents a student sitting all three exams (final, supplementary, alternate)

 

Furthermore, the below conditions must be met for a student to be able to be offered further assessment:

  • Has an approved Special Consideration request
  • Circumstances that show significant impact on your academics over multiple weeks
  • Circumstances that have overlapped with all three exams (final, supplementary, alternate)
  • Has satisfactorily completed in-term assessments to date

 

NOTE:

Further assessment will NOT be offered for students who have separate short impacts coinciding with all 3 exams (not continuous/extensive). If the further assessment is missed by the student, there will be no more subsequent opportunities.

Have more questions regarding your exams?

After reading this information, if you have more questions about your exams you can:

  1. Visit the Student Enquiries Desk located on Level 1 of the UNSW College L5 Building or,
  2. Ask your teachers.