Conduct of Examinations

Academic Office

Student Planning and Assessment

Note: The following regulations apply to all University examinations irrespective of their location. Deviation from them is only permitted when a specific concession has been granted.

1. Any invigilator or other official entrusted with the duty of superintendance in a University examination may immediately suspend or dismiss from an examination a candidate suspected of misconduct, but such action shall be reported immediately to the Registrar and Secretary. (Repeated behaviour such as may in the view of the invigilator prejudice the performance of other candidates will be treated as misconduct.)
2. Candidates shall observe the following rules:
   • Candidates suffering from any disability, injury or illness requiring special examination arrangements must ensure that either they or their College informs the Examinations Officer at the earliest possible opportunity.
   • Candidates must bring with them to the examination room evidence of their identity and produce it for the invigilator on request.
   • Candidates taken ill before an examination or absent from an examination through ill health must ensure that a relevant medical certificate is submitted without delay to their Board of Studies* (or for part-time and postgraduate students to the Examinations Officer).
   • Candidates who miss an examination for serious causes must ensure that their Board of Studies* (or for part-time and postgraduate students, the Examinations Officer) receives a written statement of the circumstances together with supporting evidence. (Candidates should note that their misreading of the examination timetable will not normally be deemed a serious cause.)
   • No candidates may leave the examination room until 30 minutes after the start of the examination unless feeling unwell.
   • If at any time a candidate feels ill during an examination, the invigilator must be notified at once.
   • Candidates may not leave an examination without the consent or acknowledgement of an invigilator.
   • Personal effects such as attaché cases or handbags are not allowed next to any candidate's desk. Invigilators are instructed to remove any bags etc. which candidates have at their desks.
   • Candidates are strictly forbidden to introduce to the examination room, or otherwise arrange access during the course of an examination to, any book, manuscript, loose papers or data of any kind (except those that have been approved). ("Open Note" and "Open Book" Examinations are examinations in which candidates may use such notes or reference books as may be specified in the rubric of the examination question paper.)
   • The use of English dictionaries is not permitted for candidates registered for Durham Awards unless they are specifically allowed in the regulations for a particular examination.
   • The use of electronic calculators is not permitted in University Examinations, except where specified in the rubric of the examination paper. (Approved electronic calculators must be small (pocket-sized), silent in operation and battery powered. The use of mains powered calculators will not be allowed - see further rules issued by individual Boards of Studies concerning use of electronic calculators in examinations.)
   • Taking information stored in the memory of a calculator into an examination unless specifically permitted in the rubric for a particular examination paper, will be treated as cheating thereby constituting a major offence under Section IV2(a)(viii) of the General Regulations of the University and an offence under which an invigilator may immediately suspend a candidate or dismiss him or her from an examination - see 1 above.
   • Candidates are strictly forbidden to communicate with anyone except the invigilator during the examination, or to copy from one another. (Aiding or attempting to aid another candidate, or obtaining or attempting to obtain aid from another candidate will be treated as serious misconduct.)
   • Answers to questions should be written legibly in ink. Any handwriting which the examiner is unable to decipher may not be marked.
   • Candidates must not take any examination materials, used or unused, including scrap paper, out of the examination room other than:
     • the materials brought to the examination, and
     • the question paper (subject to the approval of the invigilator).
     In particular no answer book may be taken from the examination room under any circumstances. Any script, or portion of a script, which is removed from the examination room, whether inadvertently or otherwise, will not be marked. A candidate in possession of an answer book will be liable to severe disciplinary action.
   • A candidate who does not wish to hand in an answer book at the end of the examination MUST report the fact to the invigilator.
   • Smoking is prohibited in all examination rooms.
   • Candidates arriving late for an examination or who are permitted by the invigilator a rest period during the course of the examination due to ill-health will not be allowed any extra time and the fact of their late arrival or the duration of their rest period will be recorded by the invigilator on their answer book.

Plagiarism

In formal examinations and all assessed work prescribed in degree, diploma and certificate regulations, candidates should take care to acknowledge the work and opinions of others and avoid any appearance of representing them as their own. Unacknowledged quotation or close paraphrasing of other people's writing, amounting to the presentation of other persons' thoughts or writings as one's own, is plagiarism and will be penalised. In extreme cases, plagiarism may be classed as a dishonest practice under Section IV2(a)(viii) of the General Regulations and may lead to expulsion. (See also General Regulation XI, Intellectual Property Rights).

Any student work may be uploaded to a plagiarism detection system, such as that operated by JISC, at the discretion of the department concerned if plagiarism is suspected. The system may also be used routinely to screen work for plagiarised text: for this purpose students are required to sign a declaration at registration authorising the uploading of their work onto the system.

*Course Leader at Queen Campus.