Examinations

  1. University Examinations

    The University examinations are listed in the first schedule to these regulations. Except for regulation 11 the following regulations shall not apply to examinations shown in Section A of the first schedule.

  2. Responsibility for Organising Examinations

    The examinations listed in the first schedule to these regulations shall be organised centrally by Student Services in so far as these examinations involve formal written examination, including computer-assisted assessment (CAA) tests. Other examinations are organised by those Schools which require them. The Examinations Office will provide dates for practical examinations held by the Centre for Language Study.

    Whenever it may be necessary for a candidate to take an examination paper in Southampton in other than a centrally-held examination room, or at a different time from centrally organised examinations, the Head of School must detail a member of the academic staff to deliver the question paper, collect the script and make such other arrangements including invigilation as may be necessary.

  3. Preparation and Printing of Examination Papers

    Each School is required to provide the Examinations Office with a list of all question papers to be set for the examinations which are organised centrally, together with the name and telephone number of the Author of each paper. Examinations that are administered electronically using the University's central CAA service will be delivered according to the CAA Policy and Procedures documents published by Information Systems Services (ISS).

    All examination papers will be printed by Schools and must be submitted to the Examinations Office by the deadline published by Student Services. Schools will be responsible for any reprints that may be required.

    The question papers for the following examinations shall be printed, except for papers for supplementary examinations held in August/September:

    All University examinations (First Schedule)

    A printed copy and an electronic copy (in Word or PDF format where available) of every printed examination paper shall be deposited at the University Library by Schools. Spare copies will be returned to Schools at the end of the examination period.

    Papers that use objective items (eg: multiple-choice questions), including CAA tests, will not be made available as specified above unless this is specifically requested by the School. Schools shall keep copies of the questions for record purposes; all other unused copies shall be destroyed.

    When multiple-choice question papers form part of an examination paper, they shall be set out on a separate sheet.

    Heads of School are responsible for ensuring that the law relating to copyright is complied with in the production of examination papers and associated material.

    For the purpose of this regulation `printing' includes reproduction by lithography or photocopier.

  4. Student Entry for Supplementary Examinations

    A candidate taking a supplementary examination is liable for a re-examination fee, and may be liable for an administration fee, as set out in the Fees Regulations.

    Whenever any candidate for an examination has not satisfied course requirements or other requirements laid down in Ordinances and regulations (see Ordinance 7.3 section 6), the Head of School concerned shall notify the Examinations Office that this candidate's script may not be marked.

  5. Responsibility of Members of Academic Staff during the Examination Period

    The School Examination Officer (or an authorised deputy) must be available during the whole of the examination period in case of queries, and must inform the Examinations Office of all relevant telephone numbers. He/she must remain on campus until each day's examinations have been concluded, including those held on Saturdays. School Examination Officers must obtain names and telephone numbers of all paper authors and ensure that they are on campus when their papers are being sat, including Saturdays.

  6. Conduct of Examinations Organised Centrally

    The Examinations Office will appoint a supervisor, or supervisors, for each examination room and will issue instructions to them. The Examinations Office will inform Schools of the number of invigilators required for each examination room and will issue instructions to them.

    Heads of School or tutors must refer any students with additional examination requirements to one of the three Student Support Services (Learning Differences Centre, Disability Services and Mentoring) for screening and review. The Student Support Service concerned will inform the Examination Office of any specific arrangement to be made for the student. No special arrangements will be made unless the Examinations Office is so informed by the given deadline.

    Candidates may use calculators in the examination room only as specified by the University and as permitted by the rubric of individual examination papers. All students must now use the University-approved calculator, Casio FX85, stamped with the Dolphin logo. Calculators without the logo will not be accepted.

    Candidates may use dictionaries only if the rubric allows or the candidate brings to the examination room a letter from their tutor permitting the use of a specified dictionary.

    Normally no candidate will be permitted to enter the examination room more than half an hour after an examination has begun (fifteen minutes in the case of a CAA test) or to leave the room during the first half hour (fifteen minutes in the case of a CAA test), or the last fifteen minutes of the time allowed for the examination.

    If it appears that a candidate, through circumstances beyond his/her control, deserves extra time in which to complete a paper, such extra time may be allowed only at the discretion of the Head of School or of the person nominated as his/her representative, who will arrange for invigilation during the extra time.

    Any candidate using or attempting to use unfair means to gain advantage in an examination, or any candidate suspected of cheating, will be required by the supervisor to hand in all their written work, and to resume writing in a new examination answer book.

    A candidate whom the supervisor or invigilator believes to be guilty of any other form of misbehaviour, including cheating in a CAA test, may be asked by the supervisor to leave the room at once. The scripts of any such candidate will be sent to the Head of School with a full report of the incident of suspected cheating or other form of misbehaviour, which will also be sent to the Director of Student Services.

  7. Distribution of Scripts of Examinations Organised Centrally

    Scripts may be collected by the examiner or by a person authorised by the Head of School, either from the examination room or the Examinations Office. All scripts of a single examination paper must be collected by one person, including papers sat by students with Additional Requirements. The person collecting scripts shall count the number of scripts in the examination envelope and sign a receipt showing the number of scripts collected. During the main examination period scripts will be available during office hours and up to 45 minutes after every examination session. In the case of CAA tests that are administered centrally with ISS, candidates' answers are sent to a central database electronically and the results are collected electronically by the School.

  8. Retention of Examination Scripts

    This regulation shall apply to the examinations listed in the first schedule other than sessional examinations:

    1. The School must ensure that, subject to (b) below, all written work, including examination scripts, essays, laboratory books, etc., submitted for examination shall be kept for at least 28 days after the course ends and the award to which it contributes is made. The results of centrally-run CAA tets should be retained by the School in the same way.

    2. The School may permit the return of any work other than examination scripts to candidates, provided that the Head of School is satisfied that the material is required to assist in further studies or employment, and provided that the candidates concerned accept responsibility for ensuring that, in case of need, it remains available to the University as required above.

  9. Examination Records

    Detailed records of candidates' performance in examinations shall be kept by Schools for a minimum of ten years. Schools shall report to the Senate the names of all candidates who successfully complete an examination leading directly to a University qualification, and of those candidates recommended to be awarded a qualification without having completed the examination. Schools must report to Senate any recommendation for termination of course following failure of an examination. In order to facilitate the preparation of the Graduation Programme, Schools shall update the Banner record to reflect the results of final examinations as soon as these are known.

  10. Publication of Examination Results

    Schools are responsible for informing candidates of examination results, subject to confirmation by Senate in the case of results leading directly to a University qualification. Schools shall report the results of the September supplementary examinations to the Director of Student Services not later than the Monday of the penultimate week of the vacation, and shall at the same time inform the candidates concerned of their results.

  11. Certification of Awards

    Students who leave the University without returning library or other University property previously borrowed will not be issued with formal certification until they are returned. Students awarded a degree, diploma or certificate without having paid the fees prescribed or any other sums due to the University (Ordinance 7.4 notwithstanding) shall not be issued with formal certification until outstanding monies are paid.

  12. Transcripts and Certificates

    The guidelines for issuing certificate, and for making changes, are given below. Part of the reason for these is that DFE Regulations on charges to students make it illegal for us to charge for the first copy of the transcript. The charges listed under 'Fees, Charges and Expenses, All Students, paragraph 12' come into effect from 1 October 2005.

    The rationale behind theses guidelines is as follows:

    1. In general students can reasonably expect to be provided, on request, with at least a minimum level of documentation free of charge as a consequence of their registration with the University.

    2. Any charges made will only be a contribution towards the costs involved. If we attempted to recover full costs, the charges would be reasonably high. One of the purposes of charging is to signifiy to students that additional work is involved and to discourage unnecessary requests.

    3. To base charges on the amount of work involved to meet every different kind of request would lead to a long and complicated scale of charges. The scale of charges is short and intended to be reasonably easy to use.

    4. Consistency with these guidelines in all offices is important. However, Heads of Schools have the authority to amend or waive these charges in exceptional individual cases.

    5. The system should run smoothly and minimise labour, so unnecessary correspondence should be avoided. For that reason it is suggested that certificates and transcripts requested by post are supplied with a notification of the standard charge payable; defaulting payments should be followed up only once, but subsequent requests made by the same individual will not be accommodated until payment is received.

    6. Schools may collect charges in the most convenient way, but it is suggested that - for students currently within the University - the procedure for paying for certification is for the student to present payment for the necessary amount to the School Office. If paying by cheque or credit card the payment, together with a paying-in slip quoting the relevant cost code (which will vary from School to School), should then be forwarded to the Income Office. Cheques should be made payable to 'University of Southampton' and perhaps should also be coded on the reverse. If the student pays in cash, then payment must be taken in person to the Income Office (Room 2007 in the George Thomas Building [37]). The office is open during normal working hours (09.00 am - 4.00 pm).

First Schedule

A. All examinations for the degrees of Doctor, Master of Surgery and Master of Philosophy.
B. The following examinations for other Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates:

Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences
All examinations for unit courses in the Faculty

The examinations for the University Certificate

The examinations for the Foundation Degree (Arts)

The first, second, third and (where applicable) fourth year examinations for the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in the Social Sciences, Bachelor of Laws

The examinations for the Certificate of Higher Education and Diploma of Higher Education of the University of Southampton

All examinations for the degree of Master of Science (Social Sciences), Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Music, Master of Arts (Education), Master of Science (Education), Master of Laws, Master of Arts (Criminal Justice), Master of Business Administration

The examinations for the Postgraduate Diploma of the University of Southampton and related Postgraduate Certificates

The examinations for the Master of Economics.

The examinations for the Master of Social Work

The examinations for the Graduate Certificate in Social Work

The examination for the Postgraduate Certificate in Education

The examination for the Postgraduate Certificate in Educational Studies

The examinations for the Certificate in Mathematics and for the Certificate of Proficiency in Languages

The examinations for the Certificates in Environmental Studies, the History of Technology and Science, Industrial Relations, French Studies and Western European Studies
Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics
All examinations for the Engineering, Physics and Geophysics Foundation Year

All examinations for unit courses in the Faculty

The Part I, Part II and Part III examinations for the degrees of Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Science

The examinations for the Bachelor of Arts

All examinations for the degrees of Master of Chemistry, Master of Engineering, Master of Geology, Master of Geophysics, Master of Mathematics, Master of Oceanography, Master of Physics

All examinations for the degrees of Master of Arts and Master of Science, and for the Postgraduate Diploma of the University of Southampton

The examinations for the degree of Master of Research
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
All examinations for unit courses in the Faculty

The examinations for the Certificate, Advanced Diploma and Diploma of the University of Southampton

The examinations for the Foundation Diploma in Health Care

The examinations for the degree of Bachelor of Science

The examinations for the degree of Bachelor of Medicine

The examinations for the degree of Bachelor of Midwifery

The examinations for the degree of Bachelor of Nursing

The examinations for the degree of Bachelor of Nursing Studies

The examinations for the degree of Bachelor of Specialist Nursing Practice

The examinations for the degree of Master of Biomedical Sciences

The examinations for the degree of Master of Science and for the Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma of the University of Southampton