These requirements apply to all formal University Examinations
GENERAL
Any breach of the following requirements relating to examinations and assessments, whether committed intentionally or unintentionally may be regarded as "misconduct", and dealt with under Discipline procedure of the University.
Any person committing a breach of the following rules and requirements who is not an officially enrolled student of the University shall be dealt with according to the law.
- Seat numbers
- Entering and leaving time
- Identification cards
- Students with Disabilities and Medical Conditions
- Reading time
- Writing time
- Allowable Materials
- Unauthorised material
- Mobile Phones / Other Electronic Media
- Examination answer booklets
- Notes, rough work
- Behaviour during an examination
- Exclusion from an examination
- Absence from an examination
- Failure to attend an examination
- Smoking
- Food and drink
- Special consideration because of illness or other cause
- Special Examination Application
- Alternative Examination Time Application
- Extension of Time during Examinations
- Use of dictionaries
- Examination clashes
You may also wish to view the official definitions of terms such as student, invigilator, examination room, during an examination and good cause.
Examination seat numbers will be published on the Internet and official notice boards at the Exam venues. Students must know their seat number before entering the examination room. Any student who has not been allocated a seat number should inform Student Administration and complete the appropriate form/s prior to sitting the examination.
Students are not permitted to enter the examination room more than half an hour after the commencement of the session.
Students are not permitted to leave the examination room until half an hour after the start of the session or during the last fifteen minutes of the session, except with the Special permission of the invigilator in charge of the examination who will report on the circumstances to Student Administration.
For all Victoria University examinations, students must bring photographic identification with them to their exam. Acceptable photographic identification includes Student ID card, Drivers Licence or Passport
Students with Disabilities and Medical Conditions
Consideration will be given to requests for Special examination arrangements to be made for students with a Disability (including Chronic Medical Condition). As soon as possible after the start of the Semester these students, accompanied by supporting evidence substantiating the Disability or disadvantage, must be registered with the Disability Services (DS) - Equity and Social Justice Branch. It is solely the student's responsibility to ensure they are registered. Students must register with DS at least 4 weeks prior to commencement of the examination period.
Reading time is normally permitted prior to each examination at the discretion of the examiners concerned.This usually commences at the scheduled examination start time as indicated on the examination timetable. No writing including marking, scratching with pen, pencil, finger, thumbnail, spit, rings, bangles or any other material is permitted during this time. Folding or creasing of exam paper to mark answers or the use of any other equipment i.e. calculators etc., to calculate or document anything is also not permitted during this time.
All writing, including the entry of names or other information on the examination paper, examination answer booklets, or the numbering of questions must be completed during the examination time, but only after the completion of reading time as indicated by the invigilator in charge.
The allowable materials of each unit if study is displayed on the Examination timetable and on the Examination paper.
It is the students' responsibility to ensure they are aware of the allowable materials for each exam.
Students should bring their own pens, pencils, rulers & erasers with them to their exam.
Students must not take into the examination room any books, writing paper, notes, manuscripts, electronic media (including electronic dictionaries), pagers, any form of stored or recorded information, or any other material except with the Special permission of the invigilator in charge and where they are specifically required for an examination and expressly authorised by the examiners. For details go to Regulations.
Religious materials such as Prayer Books, Korans and Bibles etc are not permitted to be taken into the examination venue, as they are not considered to be authorised materials.
Back to TopMobile Phones / Other Electronic Media
Mobile phones are not permitted in the exam venue unless they are switched off and placed underneath the student's desk. Invigilators will advise students during the amnesty period of this procedure before commencement of each examination.
If a mobile phone is found switched on in a student's possession after the amnesty period in the examination venue, it will be deemed as a Breach of Examination rules. This may result in the matter being referred to the Hear of School for further action in accordance with the Discipline Regulations.
Invigilators will advise the student that the phone will be held as unauthorised material and returned to the student at the end of that examination.
Palm pilots, pagers, PDA's and similar electronic media are not permitted into the Examination venue.
Examination answer booklets must be submitted intact. No part of an examination booklet may be defaced, removed or destroyed.
All notes, rough work and calculations must be done in the examination answer booklet.
Behaviour during an examination
Students must not communicate in any way with any person other than an examiner or an invigilator during an examination. Any other communication will be deemed as a Breach of Examination Rules.
An invigilator shall have the power to exclude a student from an examination for good cause and shall submit a written report on the circumstances to Student Administration immediately after the conclusion of the examination.
Any student needing to leave an examination room during an examination and return to the examination room later must obtain permission from an Invigilator. Such students must be kept under supervision and be accompanied by an Invigilator during their absence from the examination venue.
Failure to attend an examination
A student who fails to attend an examination at the time and place published in the final timetable, except where prevented from doing so by illness or other acceptable reason, will be deemed to have failed that part of the assessment.
Smoking is not permitted in an examination room.
Food and/or drink will not be permitted in an examination room without the Special permission of the invigilator in charge.
Special consideration because of illness or other cause
Students whose performance at an examination is seriously affected by illness or other Special causes should complete Special Consideration Application
Students who are prevented from attending an examination by illness or other Special causes should complete a Special Examination Application
Students need to contact their Medical Practitioner or an external Counsellor to have them complete the relevant section of the form, or see a Student Counsellor at the Student Support Branch to discuss support for their application and what additional evidence may need to lodged with their form.
These forms need to be submitted to the Faculty Office within three working days of the examination.
This form is available on the Internet, from Faculty Offices or Student Service Centres.Special Examination Application
Students who are prevented from attending an examination by illness or other Special cause should complete a Special Examination Application.
Students need to contact their Medical Practitioner or an external Counsellor to have them complete the relevant section of the form, or see a Student Counsellor at the Student Support Branch to discuss support for their application and what additional evidence may need to be lodged with their form.
These forms need to be submitted to the Faculty Office within three working days of the examination.
This form is available on the Internet, from Faculty Offices or Student Service Centres.Alternative Examination Time Application
Students are expected to be available for the duration of the published examination periods.
In exceptional circumstances, a student can apply to sit an exam at an alternative time during the examination period.
A separate form is required for each unit of study in which an alternative exam time is requested. The completed form must be received by Student Administration at least 7 days prior to the commencement of the examination period.
Alternative Examinations will only be approved in the following circumstances:
- Medical or compassionate grounds, such as confinement, surgery or illness (supporting documentary evidence must be attached to the application form)
- Military service, supporting documentary evidence must be attached to the application form
- Work commitments, circumstances beyond control (a letter on company letterhead from an employer confirming this must be attached to the application form)
- Competitive sporting events, at state, national or international level (a letter on company letterhead from the sporting body confirming this must be attached to the application form)
- Wedding, only student's own or that of a close relative (a Statutory Declaration must accompany the application)
- Religious convictions, a letter from a religious leader must accompany the application
- Other exceptional circumstances, (e.g jury service, a students exam timetable falls outside the timetabling guidelines), a statutory declaration should accompany this application
Applications for alternative examinations will not be approved unless they fall within one of the above categories or in exceptional circumstances beyond the students control and supporting documentation is provided.
Applications for alternative examinations will not be approved where students wish to return home early, except on compassionate grounds and supporting documentation is provided.
Booking plane/train/boat tickets for overseas or domestic travel is not considered an adequate reason for an alternative examination .
This form is available on the Internet, from Faculty Offices or Student Service Centres.
Extension of Time during Examinations
Extension of Time may be granted to students from a non-English speaking background in the first two years of their enrolment at Victoria University.
Recommendation of Extension of time in an exam is solely at the discretion of the Unit of Study Lecturer & Course Co-ordinator, on the basis of the provision of documentary evidence supporting a valid reason for Extension of time.
Documentary evidence that is to be provided
- Student arrived in Australia within the last five years from a non-English speaking country, and
- The immediate prior course of study was in a language other than English
In addition, co-ordiantors may require students to provide their ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) results that were submitted with their application for entry into their course, as an indicator of their English Language proficiency.
The recommended maximum additional time in an exam is 15 minutes.
Students who have a Disability or medical condition should register with Equity & Social Justice Branch
This form is available on the Internet, from Faculty Offices or Student Service Centres.Students whose first language is other than English (NESB- non English speaking background) can apply to use a foreign language translation dictionary, without annotations in an examination.
To register a dictionary, students must take their Dictionary to a Student Service Centre and complete a Dictionary Use in an Examination Application . Student Service Centre staff will then register the dictionary and the student must take the form to their Unit of Study Lecturer for final approval
A separate form must be used for each exam the student is sitting.
The registration form must be presented at the examination with the Dictionary
Dictionaries must be registered each semester.
No other type of Dictionaries (English, Medical, Accounting etc) are allowed to be used in an examination unless specified in the allowable materials for the relevant exam.
Electronic Dictionaries will not be approved.
This form is available only from Student Service Centres
Students who are timetabled to sit two examinations on the same day and time must complete a Clash of Examinations advice form. This form should be lodged at a Student Service Centre at least two (2) weeks prior to the commencement of the examination period.
Clash Students will receive a letter from the Examinations Unit confirming their exam details, including new seat numbers. Seat numbers displayed on the Internet should be disregarded.
Clash students are required to sit both examinations on the same day (morning and afternoon sessions) and will be supervised throughout the lunch period (lunch will need to be brought by the student as they will not be permitted to leave the Examination room during the lunch period).
This form is available on the Internet, from Faculty Offices or Student Service Centres.
Definitions / Glossary
The word "student" when appearing in the above clauses means any person officially enrolled in a unit of study or course taught jointly between the University and any other institution.
The word "invigilator" when appearing in the above clauses means members of the University's academic or general staff or any other person authorised to assume responsibility for supervision and/or organisation of a University examination.
The words "examination room" when appearing in the above clauses mean any place in which a University examination shall be or is being conducted.
The term "during an examination" when appearing in the above clauses means the period of the time from the start of an examination until its conclusion, and includes any time allowed for reading an examination paper. These rules and regulations where appropriate, will also apply outside an examination room.
The term "good cause" when applied to Exclusion from an examination room in the above text will mean any breach of the requirements or any conduct on the part of a student which can be classified as "misconduct" under University Discipline Statutes or Regulations.
