Final Exams
The Policy on Assessment of Student Learning provides that
- Students must be provided with a high-level description of the format and content of examinations reasonably in advance of the scheduled date (9.4)
- All students in the same course must be provided with the same access to examination instructions, regardless of where the exam takes place, eg. at home, in an accommodation space, etc. (9.5)
- Final exams will be worth at least 25% and at most 75% of the final grade (9.6)
- The Faculty is responsible for deferred, supplemental, and special examinations not the University (9.7)
Some faculties, such as Law, administer their own final exams through their Student Affairs offices. In those cases, students may be subject to additional regulations from their Faculties. If you are unsure, contact your Faculty Student Affairs office for more information, and, as always, reach out to studentrights@ssmu.ca if you think your student rights are being violated.
CONFLICTS
Exam scheduling and conflict resolution is dealt with by the Exams Office, except in the case of Faculty-administered exams, such as in the Faculty of Law.
There are 2 kinds of exam conflict that must be accommodated: religious and academic.
A religious conflict occurs when
a student is unable to attend a regularly scheduled exam due to religious obligations or if if one or more of their exams are scheduled on religious holy days.
An academic conflict occurs when there are:
- Two exams on the same day, at the same time
- Three exams in one day (morning at 9 a.m., afternoon at 2 p.m., and evening at 6 p.m.)
- Three exams in a row in 24 hours as follows:
- One in the afternoon at 2 p.m., one in the evening at 6 p.m. of the same day, and one the following morning at 9 a.m.
- One in the evening at 6 p.m., one the following morning at 9 a.m., and one the following afternoon at 2 p.m.
- Four exams in two days
- Five exams in three days
Accommodations may include:
- Accommodating the exam within the examination period, or
- Providing a special deferred examination as soon as possible, or
- Granting permission to write a regular deferred examination.
Students who are experiencing conflicts should submit a Final Exam Conflict Form four (4) weeks before the start of the exam period.
If your Faculty has its own exam process, it will also have a Faculty exam conflict form. Please be sure to fill out the correct conflict form, or contact the Student Affairs Office for your Faculty for assistance.
If you require guidance or are facing difficulties in addressing a conflict, contact the Exams Office directly.
Deferrals
For classes in the Faculties of Arts and Science: Final exam deferrals can be requested through the Deferred Exam Application under the Minerva Student Records menu.
For all other Faculties: Consult Quick Links & Contacts for links to deferral forms and the contact information for your Faculty Student Affairs Office.
Students in all programs except Medicine, Dentistry, and Continuing Studies can have an exam deferred for the first time without needing to provide supporting documentation. This means that your first exam can be deferred without a medical note.
Third Party Review
“Students have a right to an impartial and competent review of any mark”
— Charter of Students’ Rights 25
Students may request review of any assessment task (PASL 8.1).
The process will depend on your Faculty, but in all cases you must request the re-read within 10 working days of the date the graded material was returned (PASL 8.1, 8.2).
Consult this page for more details on requesting your re-read.
No penalty may be imposed for requesting an explanation of a grade or a re-read.
If you are having issues accessing third party review, or the review process is conducted in violation of university policy, contact studentrights@ssmu.ca.