Education planning and administration handbook - Chapter 8

Assessment (exams) and compulsory components

8.1 Starting points
8.2 Assessments and grading
8.3 Exam procedures
8.4 Compulsory components
8.5 Special reasons
8.6 Reporting results and documentation
8.7 Feedback and disclosing exam material
8.8 Alternative exam session
8.9 Resits

Shortcuts to other parts of the handbook

8.1 Starting points

The summative assessment of a course must be clearly linked to the learning outcomes and teaching activities, and should offer the best possible conditions for the teacher to assess the students’ knowledge and skills. The assessment should also be seen as an opportunity for students to learn. The Educational Development Unit can offer advice on modes of assessment.

Important concepts

Exam Services (TS) is the central unit for exam management. They assist departments in carrying out exams in accordance with SLU rules.

Submit blank means a student chooses to submit a written examination without answers. See Section 8.6 Reporting results and documentation for how to assess blank exam papers.

Students with a permanent disability may request an adapted assessment. Adapting an assessment can include giving the student extra time to take the exam, the use of a computer with speech synthesis and spell checker software, or allowing them to sit the exam in a smaller group. See Section 3.5 Studying with a disability.

Each time a student sits an exam connected to a specific course or component counts as an exam session. An exam which the student has started counts as a spent exam session.

There are various forms of examinations. A course may be assessed through more than one examination using different assessment formats. Common modes of assessment at SLU:

Moderated written exam 

A moderated exam takes place at a designated exam venue. A written exam can be either hard copy (on paper) or taken using software for digital exams. For students to register for an exam, there must be a Ladok activity session.

Oral exam

An oral exam can be digital or face-to-face. To make it easier to document the exam, recording is allowed as long as it does not take place in the student’s home. If an exam is recorded, students must be informed beforehand. It also possible to do an oral exam with more than one student, e.g. one sits the exam and another student observes.

Practical exams

To the extent possible, the same rules that apply to written exams apply to practical exams. Anonymity codes must be used whenever possible. A Ladok activity session can be created for students to register.

Written assignments and take-home exams

Take-home exams are done off campus and students are not monitored; students can submit exam papers either through a digital system or by submitting a hardcopy exam paper. Written assignments are tasks, projects, etc. carried out by individual students or groups, presented in a way that allows the work to be assessed.

Independent project (degree project)

See Chapter 9. Independent project (degree project).

Other modes of assessment

Additional modes of assessment may be used at SLU.

Policy

On SLU campuses where there is an Exam Services Unit, they are responsible for booking exam venues, providing invigilators and coordinating exams. Special instructions apply for exams organised by Exam Services.

SLU rules

SLU rules apply to all exams, including those not organised by Exam Services.

Moderated written exams

All moderated exams must have invigilators. All invigilators must have successfully completed the training for invigilators.

Examiners and co-grading teachers may not serve as invigilators.

Written assignments

Assignments submitted after the deadline can be assessed at the next exam session, but will count as two attempts to sit the exam. If the delay was caused by special reasons (see Section 8.5 Special reasons) or technical problems, the examiner should assess assignments submitted after the deadline.

If the student is expected to write their assignment or take-home exam individually, this must be clearly stated. An examiner may request that a student provides an oral report of their individual work on a take-home exam after the assignment has been submitted.

Answers to take-home exams must be checked using a plagiarism checker. The examiner is responsible for ensuring that this is done.

To minimise the risk of cheating, it is not advisable to use take-home exams and written assignments as the only mode of assessment on a course.

8.2 Assessments and grading

Policy

Student performance must be assessed as soon as possible after an exam. An exam can be made up of several parts, e.g. several written assignments. As a rule, results (grades) for such exams are not communicated until all parts have been completed. However, the results for each part can be noted in the Ladok course module, see Section 6.6 Course modules.

National rules

‘Unless otherwise provided by the higher education institution, a grade shall be awarded on completion of a course’, Chapter 6 Section 18, the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100).

Sections 36–39 in the Administrative Procedure Act (2017:900) provide rules on correcting and amending decisions by public authorities. The basic principle is that a favourable decision may not be changed in a way that is less favourable for the individual concerned.

Changes to a grade

• Chapter 6 Section 23 of the Higher Education Ordinance stipulates that ‘a decision under Section 36 of the Administrative Procedure Act (2017:900) on rectification of a typographical error or similar concerning a grade must be made by an examiner’. Such an amendment can involve giving either a lower or a higher grade. The typographical or similar error must be obvious.
• Grades (and other decisions) may be negatively changed if it is turns out a mistake has been made because of other circumstances than those mentioned in Section 36 of the Administrative Procedure Act (2017:900). This applies e.g. in cases where cheating has been discovered after the grade was communicated, see Chapter 10 Cheating and disciplinary measures.

See also the section Procedure for changing grades below.

Reviewing grades

• Grading decisions cannot be appealed (Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 12), however a student has the right to ask the examiner for a grade review.

• ‘If an examiner finds that a grading decision is obviously incorrect due to changed circumstances or for some other reason, they must change the decision if this can be done quickly and easily and does not mean lowering the grade’, Chapter 6 Section 24, Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100).

SLU rules

The examiner will grade a student’s performance based on the course syllabus objectives, see Section 4.5 Examiners. This means making a qualitative assessment of the student’s knowledge, skills and abilities, based on one or several exams. The course requirements may also include a quantitative assessment such as attending compulsory components.

The examiner will communicate the results of an exam no later than 15 working days after the scheduled exam date, and no later than 10 working days before the next resit date.

General information

Unless otherwise stated in the course syllabus, the exam language is the same as the language of instruction. However, as Swedish is the official language of public authorities, students have the right to submit answers in Swedish on a course taught in English. This may, however, lead to difficulties fulfulling any internationalisation objectives in the course syllabus.

A student cannot sit an exam for which they have been awarded a pass grade a second time in order to achieve a higher grade.

The listed grading criteria may differ between instances of the same course. A student who completes a course following leave is assessed in accordance with the criteria that apply when the course is completed, regardless of the criteria that applied when the student first registered for the course.

For programmes offered in collaboration with another higher education institution, other terms may apply to exams. Normally, the rules of the institution of the responsible department apply.

Procedure for changing grades

Cases concerning the correction of grades are handled promptly. Before a grade is changed to the student's disadvantage, the student must be given the opportunity to comment in writing on the change. The student must respond within 14 days. If the case is particularly urgent, for example because of an upcoming admission, this time limit may be reduced to 7 days. When the student has made their comments, or the deadline for comments has expired, the examiner makes a decision in writing on the correction. Contact the Legal Affairs Unit for a decision template. When the decision has been registered in Public 360, the grade is changed in Ladok and the decision is sent to the student. Decisions on the correction of grades cannot be appealed.

Individual assessment

Exams may be held with an individual student or a group but must be devised in such a way that each individual can be assessed. Group assignments, for example, must be presented in such a way that the examiner can distinguish the contributions of individual students.

If it is necessary to assess individual performance, the examiner may request that a student give a supplementary presentation.

Governing course syllabus

All course syllabuses include information on the modes of assessment and course requirements that form the basis for assessing student performance, see Section 6.2 Course syllabuses. If a course syllabus is changed, adaptations may be made to the mode of assessment for students admitted under the previous course syllabus, or a previous version of it.

Bonus assignments

A course can include bonus assignments not listed in the course syllabus. However, such bonus assignments must not be required for a student to pass the course. The examiner is responsible for providing information on bonus-giving assignments when the course starts.

Time limits for higher grades than pass

For a student to be awarded a higher grade than pass (4 or 5), they may be required to complete the course by a deadline set by the examiner. If so, this must be clear from the grading criteria for the higher grade levels.

In general, the following applies:

• Exams: It must always be possible to be awarded a higher grade than pass (4 or 5) at the first resit of the course instance (where applicable). Further resits do not normally offer this possibility if there is a deadline for higher grades than pass. However, if there are special reasons (see Section 8.5 Special reasons), a grade higher than pass may be possible at later resits as well.
• Written assignments (or equivalent): The time limits for handing in written assignments are specified at the beginning of the course. If there are special reasons (see Section 8.5 Special reasons), an extension of the deadline must be granted and it must still be possible to be awarded a higher grade than pass (4 or 5), where applicable.
• Independent projects (degree projects): See Chapter 9 Independent project (degree project).

Grade reviews

• Grade review requests must be submitted as soon as possible, in writing, stating the reason why a review is requested (use the form in the link list).
• For resits while a review is in progress, see Section 8.11 Resit opportunities.

Instructions

In accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance, only obviously incorrect decisions can be reviewed. Normally, a review does not involve reassessing an exam that has already been assessed. However, a review may be done if, in a written examination, the student wrote their answer to a question in the space intended for another answer and this was not picked up on during the assessment.

Links

Form for requesting a grade review

Modules

In Ladok, a course can be split into modules, see Section 6.6 Course modules. Several results can be reported for a single module. When all results have been reported, the course module is listed as passed in Ladok.

Who is responsible for what?

The examiner decides on grading criteria, see Section 4.5 Examiners. Grading criteria for independent projects are described in Chapter 9 Independent projects (degree projects).

The examiner who decided on a grade must also decide on any changes to it. In exceptional cases, another examiner can be appointed to decide on such a change.

Students are personally responsible for submitting written assignments and take-home exams to the examiner before the deadline.

8.3 Exam procedures

Policy

Moderated written exams on campus should be handled by Exam Services on campuses where they have a presence. Exam Services have a mandate to decide on procedures and instructions required to ensure that written exams take place in a fair and equal manner for all students. Any changes to procedures and instructions are done after consulting with Sluss, see Section 3.14 Student influence.

Read more about Exam Services and rules and instructions for written exams on campus. Other rules may apply for contracted courses, programmes run jointly with other higher education institutions or exams taken at another higher education institution or at another location.

SLU rules

Compulsory registration for exams

• For exams where registration is offered, it is compulsory to register. The department responsible for the course, usually the course coordinator, is responsible for making information about whether registration is required and how to register available to students. Only students who have registered for an exam before the deadline can sit the exam.
• Registration for moderated exams must take place no later than 10 working days before the exam.
• Students who have been granted study support for students with disabilities and wish to request an adapted assessment must apply for this no later than 15 working days before the exam session. 

If registering is not done in Ladok, students need to submit their decision on study support to the course course coordinator or the course administrator in good time, but not later than 15 working days before the exam. The examiner decides what adaptions are possible.

Anonymity and id checks

• Moderated exams should be carried out in a way that prevents the examiner/co-grading teacher from finding out the identity of students when they assess their answers. This is normally done by assigning each student a code. Where possible, the same procedure should be used for other modes of assessment.
• Students sitting moderated exams must have a valid ID with photo and present this when they arrive at the exam venue.
• To sit an on-campus e-exam, students must also have an active student account and know their login details.

Exam time and venue

• First sittings for courses taught on campus normally take place weekdays during the course instance period.
• It should be possible to do take-home exams and assignments on weekdays between 8 and 17, even if they cover several days within a course instance period.
• Resits and and exams with alternative modes of assessment may take place during other times than weekdays between 8 and 17, within the course instance.
• As a rule, exams are not held between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, or during the month of July. However, summer courses may schedule exams in July.
• The department responsible for the course, usually the course coordinator, is responsible for informing students about where they can find information about the exam venue.
• Students arriving after the scheduled start time may enter only at the designated second entry point, 30 minutes into the exam. After that, no further entry will be permitted.
• At moderated exams, students may not leave the exam venue during the first 45 minutes of the exam.
• Late changes of venue or time due to unforeseen events may mean that SLU has to offer a resit opportunity if a student is prevented from travelling to the venue in time. This does not apply to changes of venue on the same ampus.

Submitting an exam

• Students are not allowed to leave the venue permanently without submitting their exam to the invigilator/in the digital exam system. They must submit their exam even if it is ‘blank’, i.e. with no answers filled in.
• All students must provide ID when submitting an exam.
• All material must be returned at the end of the exam, unless the department/course coordinator has indicated on the exam paper that material may leave the exam venue. See also Section 8.7 Feedback and disclosing exam material.

Adapted assessment

Students may request an adapted assessment. This requires a recommendation from one of SLU’s coordinators for study support for students with disabilities. For moderated exams managed by Exam Services, the adaptations listed below can be implemented without Exam Services contacting the examiner. If the examiner believes that one of these measures should not be allowed at an exam, they must inform Exam Services of this when they book the exam.

• extra time
• using a computer with speech synthesis and spell checker software
• taking the exam in a smaller group or alone
• using physical aids
• short break(s) under the supervision of an invigilator. During such breaks, students and invigilators may not speak.

Students who sit exams with any of these adaptions do not need to present their support recommendation to the course coordinator or course administrator, provided the exam is arranged by Exam Services. If a lack of resources means that the approved adaptations cannot be made in full, Exam Services are entitled to arrange the most suitable alternative adaptation.

For other exams, see Section 3.5 Studying with a disability.

Incidents during exams

In case of an emergency, such as a fire alarm, all students must evacuate the room. In case of an evacuation, the exam is concluded immediately.

In case of technical problems that mean one or more students cannot take a moderated exam, the exam may be cancelled for the students concerned.

The examiner decides which exam papers, if any, should be assessed; all papers or only those submitted before the evacuation. Students should be offered a new opportunity to sit the exam, replacing the cancelled exam, see Section 8.8 Alternative exam session. The course coordinator is responsible for informing the students about when the alternative session will take place.

If an invigilator or other staff suspects that a student is cheating, i.e. is using prohibited aids or other forms of deception during the exam, the following measures must be taken:

• note the student’s name and personal identity number;
• encourage the student to submit any evidence;
• note any observations related to the suspected cheating;
• report the incident to the head of the department organising the course.

Students can be encouraged but not forced to submit any evidence.

Body searches or other coercive measures are not allowed.

When suspected of cheating, a student may not be dismissed or forced to stop taking the exam.

The incident will be investigated after the exam, see Section 10.3 Measures against cheating. Disciplinary measures and management of disciplinary cases are described in section 10.4 Disciplinary measures.

If a student disturbs an exam, they can be told to leave the room immediately. Such incidents are treated as disciplinary cases, see Section 10.4 Disciplinary measures.

Off-campus moderated exams for individual students

Moderated exams should primarily take place at the SLU site where the course has been delivered. SLU students can apply to sit an exam at a different location, or at another higher education institution. An application will only be approved if equal conditions and fairness can be guaranteed and it does not involve significant extra costs. For any given exam, all students must take the same exam at the same time.

The reason for taking an exam at another location may be that the student:

• has special reasons to do so – see Section 8.5 Special reasons;
• is on exchange studies abroad;
• has been on exchange at SLU but is now abroad;
• is studying at another SLU campus than the one where the exam is offered;
• has been granted status as an EVL student (elite-sports-friendly university).

When registering for an exam, it is the student's responsibility to first check if there is a responsible administrator or equivalent, an invigilator or equivalent and an exam room at the location where the student wishes to sit the exam. Students who wish to sit an exam at one of SLU's main campuses should contact Exam Services at the relevant campus to check the availability of a room and invigilators.

Once the student has received a positive response, they can submit the completed request form to the course coordinator or examiner.

• For sites where Exam Services staff are not available, the form must be submitted no later than 15 working days before the exam date (for the form, see Links)
• For sites where Exam Services staff are available, the form must be submitted no later than 10 working days before the exam date (for the form, see Links).

The final decision on approval is taken by the examiner. The student must be registered for the exam at the original campus at least 10 working days before the exam date.

More about sitting exams at SLU.

Who is responsible for what?

The student is responsible for checking availability and resources at the location where they want to sit the exam before submitting the form to the course coordinator or examiner. Students are also responsible for ensuring that they are registered for the exam at the original campus at least 10 working days before the exam date.

The department offering the course is responsible for making sure the procedures for moderated exams are followed.

Exam Services are responsible for carrying out the exam, provided the procedures for moderated exams have been followed. SLU is obligated to ensure that exams are conducted with due process. This may not be the case if procedures are not followed.

Links

Form for applying to sit an exam in a different location (pdf)

Form for applying to sit an exam in Uppsala or Alnarp (pdf)

Web pages

Exam management for course coordinators and course administrators

Moderated exams organised by Exam Services

Moderated e-exams organised by Exam Services 

For students sitting exams at SLU 

8.4 Compulsory components

Important concepts

Compulsory components include placements, laboratory sessions, seminars, excursions or visits to clinics.

Policy

Compulsory components must be justifiable in relation to the intended learning outcomes, the course content or the programme syllabus and the learning outcomes for the degree in question.

SLU rules

General information

The course syllabus must state if a course has compulsory components, and all requirements to pass the course must be clarified no later than when the course starts. See Section 7.4 Start of a course. Once the course has started, moving or adding compulsory components is normally not allowed.

In exceptional cases, compulsory components can be moved to after the course starts; students who cannot participate due to the change must then be allowed to submit a replacement assignment during the course period.

The right to instruction

A student who has been admitted to and registered on a course is entitled to receive instruction and/or supervision for the course they were admitted to.

Students who cannot participate in a compulsory component due to special reasons (see Section 8.5 Special reasons) must be given the opportunity make up for this in an appropriate manner – the examiner decides how. If possible, this will be during the course instance in question, but it may not be possible to offer some compulsory components until the next course instance.

A student who is absent from a compulsory component without special reasons cannot expect to be offered any special solution to the problems that may follow.

The possibility to make up compulsory components may be limited if a course is terminated, see below.

Replacement assignments

The examiner may decide that a supplementary assignment can replace a compulsory component, if there are reasons for this and if it is possible considering the intended learning outcomes and resources available to the course. The content and scope of the assignment must correspond to the component it is replacing.

Future course instances

A student’s absence from a compulsory component may mean that they have to take part of the missed component during a future course instance.

• A student who had special reasons for their absence (see Section 8.5 Special reasons) during the first course instance is entitled to take the course component they missed at the next course instance.
• A student who cannot give special reasons for their absence during the first course instance can take a component they have missed at future course instances, provided there is a place available.

Terminated courses

When a decision is taken to terminate a course, transitional provisions must be established for how students who did not pass the course can complete compulsory components. The scope of these provisions depends on the number of students and the type of components are affected.

Students must be offered at least one opportunity to fulfil compulsory requirements within two years after the final course instance or the date the decision to terminate the course was taken, depending on what is most favourable to the student.

If there are special reasons, a student may be given a further opportunity to complete a compulsory component. Special reasons are listed in Section 8.5 Special reasons, longer periods of studies abroad can also count as special reasons.

Who is responsible for what?

When a course is terminated, the body that decides on course syllabuses or course syllabus revisions must also decide on transitional provisions, see Section 6.2 Course syllabuses.

The responsible department, together with the programme director of studies for programme students, is responsible for informing students of their options for completing compulsory components on a course that has been terminated.

Students who wish to complete compulsory components must submit a written application where they justify this. The decision to offer additional opportunities to take compuslory components is taken by the faculty to which the responsible department belongs. The decision is made by the member of the faculty management responsible for education at first- and second-cycle level, unless the faculty decides otherwise.

Instructions

Students who wish to take part of teaching, including compulsory components, after the first course instance they were registered on is completed, must re-register. Re-registration may also be done for a course which is no longer offered. Students who only wish to sit an exam again do not need to re-register, but must register for the exam itself.

Transitional provisions must be included in the course syllabus, see Section 6.2 Course syllabuses. See also Section 8.9 Resits.

8.5 Special reasons

Policy

For shorter periods of time, individual instances and when other sections of the Education Planning and Administration Handbook refer to this section, special reasons are defined as follows:

• illness or accident, including medical appointments
• medical reasons connected to a student’s pregnancy
• family matters
• extended family matters
• documented disability
• students' union commission
• public commission
• call-up for duty in civil or total defence services
• granted status as an EVL student (elite sports-friendly university).

Special reasons when applying for deferment or approved leave from studies are described in Section 3.13 Approved leave from studies and non-completion.

Family matters refers to the birth of a child, temporary care of a sick child, and serious illnesses as well as deaths and funerals within the immediate family.

Serious illness refers to an illness which requires the student to be present. The student’s immediate family includes the student’s spouse, common law spouse, children and common law spouse’s children.

Extended family matters refers to more serious illness, imminent or occurred deaths, and funerals within the extended family.

More serious illness means life-threatening or acute illnesses requiring the student’s presence. The student’s extended family includes the student’s parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, foster parents and siblings. A cohabiting partner’s parents are regarded as parents-in-law.

Students' union commisison refers to a commission as student representative in one of SLU’s administrative bodies, Sluss’ bodies or joint committees.

Public commission refers to a commission (not employment) as lay judge, a commission at a national or municipal authority, or a commission related to general or municipal elections.

Who is responsible for what?

The student should notify the responsible department (course coordinator or equivalent) in advance if they cannot sit an exam or take part of a compulsory component due to special reasons.

The examiner may request documentation to support the student’s claim of special reasons.

8.6 Reporting results and documentation

Important concepts

A course module is a part of a course in the form of credits. A course module can consist of several result notes.

SLU rules

Examination results must be reported in Ladok no later than three weekdays after the examiner has completed their assessment. However, during the period 1 July–15 August and 24 December–6 January, reporting results may take up to seven weekdays.

In Ladok, the date the student sat the exam is entered. It is not the date when the examiner completed their assessment of the student’s achievement and determined the grade that is stated in Ladok.

Failed examination results (U) must also be reported in Ladok. Examination results for courses that are not divided into course modules can only be reported once all exams are completed. 

For courses with only one module, the module grade is the grade for the whole course. 

If a student fails a module, the grade U should normally be reported in Ladok. For courses divided into modules, reporting is done for each module, not the course as a whole. In the following situtations, no U grade should be reported on the module, i.e. nothing is reported: 

• No-show at an exam
• Not taking part in a compulsory component
• Written assignment not submitted
• Additional work is required for an independent project (degree project)

Submitting a blank exam paper counts as a spent exam session. If there is a deadline, assignments/take-home exams submitted after the deadline has passed may also count as one exam session. In both cases, a U grade must be reported in Ladok. 

Several results can be reported for a single module, see Section 6.6 Course modules. Such a module is reported as approved in Ladok once all results are available.

Special rules apply to independent projects (degree projects), see Chapter 9 Independent projects (degree projects).

As a decision on credit transfer is not a new assessment, no grade is reported. If study performance counts as part of a course, the examiner needs to weigh this in when grading the course as a whole.

If a student has been reported on the suspicion of cheating, they will not receive any grades before the matter has been settled by the vice-chancellor or the disciplinary board, see Chapter 10 Cheating and disciplinary measures. This must not affect the reporting of grades for other students who sat the exam.

Who is responsible for what?

The grading decision must specify the name of the examiner. The decision must also specify any other teachers who participated in the assessment (co-grading teacher).

The responsible department must archive exam documents in accordance with the rules on archiving. 

8.7 Feedback and disclosing exam material

Policy

The department (examiner or course coordinator) running a course should offer students the chance to provide feedback on the exam in connection with the course instance.

National rules

Feedback

Students have the right to:

• discuss issues concerning the exam assessment with the examiner;
• learn why they received the grade they did;
• be informed about what, if anything, remains before they can be awarded a pass grade.

Disclosing and preserving exam questions

• Once the exam has taken place, the exam questions generally become a public document.
• A copy of the exam assignment/exam form must be disclosed to whoever requests it. Secrecy may only be applied in cases defined in the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, e.g. Chapter 17 Section 4 about secrecy applying to information that is part of or forms the basis of knowledge tests or psychological tests organised by a public authority, if it can be assumed that disclosing the information would counteract the purpose of the test.
• A copy of the exam assignment/exam form must always be preserved by the department offering the course.

Disclosing and disposing of exam answers

• A student’s exam answers become official documents once the grade has been communicated (i.e. the case has been concluded).
• A copy of the exam answers must be disclosed to whoever requests it as long as the original is still kept at the department.
• The original exam answers may only be returned to the student concerned.
• If a student has not asked to have the original answers returned, they may and should be disposed of two years after the grading was concluded, in accordande with the regulations of the National Archives of Sweden.

SLU rules

Publishing exam results

When the exam results are published, on a noticeboard or on the course page, only student codes may be listed with the results, not the students’ names and/or personal identity numbers.

Disclosing exam questions

If secrecy is an issue when disclosing exam questions, the course coordinator must inform students of this through a special decision, following consultation with the Legal Affairs Unit.

Disclosing exam answers

Before the original exam containing the student’s answers (applies to hardcopy exam papers) has been returned, the student has the right to receive a copy if they request it. This may be advisable if, e.g., the student wants to request a review of the examiner’s decision. The student thereby avoids any suspicion that changes or additions were made to the original after receipt. If the student requests a grade review, answers should be disposed of two years after the reassessment was concluded.

For on-campus e-exams, the answers can be returned to the student once the processing is complete.

The department has the right to charge a fee for copying, see Section 3.8 Student costs and reimbursements.

Who is responsible for what?

The department offering the course:

• is responsible for handing back exams/forms;
• decides how to provide feedback on how the exam was carried out, this must be done before the first resit;
• is responsible for returning a hardcopy written exam in original to the student in a way that ensures no-one else has access to the original;
• is responsible for disposing, in accordance with the regulations of the National Archives of Sweden, of hardcopy originals that have not been returned to students. For on-campus e-exams, student answers are preserved for two years and then automatically deleted.

8.8 Alternative exam session

SLU rules

In the following cases, the responsible department must offer students an alternative exam session:

• The student is a student representative on an SLU body, and they notify the person in charge that a scheduled exam session will coincide with an advertised meeting or other activity relating to the body.
• A scheduled exam session cannot be carried out due to circumstances that SLU are responsible for.
• A student’s answers to an exam or equivalent go missing due to a mistake made by SLU.
• The exam venue is evacuated due to an emergency and the exam session cancelled.
• On-campus e-exams where the exam has been interrupted due to technical problems.

Alternative exam sessions must be offered no later than a week after the scheduled session, or no later than a week after it was discovered that a student’s answers to an exam had gone missing.

Date and time for the alternative exam session are fixed following consultation with the students concerned.

Special rules apply to compulsory components, see Section 8.4 Compulsory components.

8.9 Resits

Policy

SLU offers three exam sessions per course instance and year:

1. one session in connection with the course instance;
2. one resit in connection with the course instance;
3. another resit within a year of the course start.

In total, SLU offers at least five exam sessions per course (see National rules below). For information on discontinuing a course /withdrawing a course syllabus, see Section 6.7 Discontinuing a course. 

National rules

‘The resources available shall be used effectively to sustain a high standard of operation (Higher Education Act, Chapter 1 Section 4). If a higher education institution limits the number of sessions in which a student may take an examination in order to complete a course or part of a course, the number of sessions laid down shall be at least five. If satisfactory completion of a course or part of a course requires successful completion by the student of a placement or corresponding training, the number of prescribed periods of placement or corresponding training shall be at least two’ (Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 6 Section 21).

Any such limitation of the total amount of exam sessions must be specified in the course syllabus.

SLU rules

General information

Rules on exam resits also apply to practical tests, oral exams, take-home exams, written assignments or equivalent.

A resit opportunity must be offered, at the earliest, 10 working days after the results from the original exam were communicated but no later than the 6th Wednesday of the folloowing study period (as per the principle of fixed resit dates). Courses that take place during the latter part of the spring semester (period 4) may schedule resit dates in August.

Resit sessions in connection with a specific course instance are only offered if the students concerned need it.

A second resit must be offered within a year after the course starts, regardless of whether students from the latest course instance need it or not.

Students from previous course instances must also be given opportunity to sit the exam again.

Special rules apply to compulsory components and independent projects (degree projects), see Section 8.4 Compulsory components and Chapter 9. Independent project (degree project).

Recommendation for fixed resit dates

Recommended resit dates are published for one academic year at at time and published on the SLU web (Academic calendar) at least 6 months before the start of the autumn semester. The recommended resit dates are normally the 6th Wednesday of the two study periods following the course instance.

These Wednesdays are reserved for resits, and no first-time exams are scheduled on these days. By offering fixed resit dates, students have a better chance of sitting exams they have missed.

Resits before an assessment is concluded

An ongoing exam must be completed (with a grade/result) before the student is entitled to participate in a corresponding resit session.

Students who have requested a reassessment of an exam they failed may sit the exam a second time while the reassessment of the first exam takes place, but the resit will not be assessed before the reassessment of the first result is completed.

If the student is awarded a pass grade following reassessment, the result of the second exam will not be assessed. If the reassessment results in a fail grade, the result of the second exam will be assessed.

Changes to reading lists and grading criteria

Exams focus on the intended learning outcomes of the course and are designed based on current reading lists (or equivalent) as well as current grading criteria, including specified requirements for a pass grade.

An examiner may decide to make an exception for a student who was admitted to an earlier course instance, if there are reasons for it.

Changes to course modules

If by dividing a course into modules affects the exam, it must primarily take place in accordance with the new division of modules. If this is not possible, the students affected must be offered at least five exam sessions in accordance with the modules that applied when they were admitted to the course.

Changes to a course syllabus

When a new course syllabus is adopted, transitional provisions must be established for how students who were admitted under a previous course syllabus and did not achieve a pass grade may sit the exam, see Section 6.7 Termination of a course.

Adjustments may be needed to ensure the objectives in the previous course syllabus are met.

Terminated courses

If a course is terminated, transitional provisions must be established for the course syllabus, explaning how students who were admitted but did not achieve a pass grade may sit the exam, see Section 6.7 Discontinuing a course.

If there are special reasons, a student may be be offered another resit session for a terminated course. Accepted reasons are listed in Section 8.5 Special reasons, but they can also include longer periods of studies abroad.

Students who wish to sit the exam for a course that has been terminated – in addition to resits defined in the transitional transitional provisions – must submit a written and justified request to the programme director of studies or the department director of studies at the responsible faculty.

Compulsory components

See Section 8.4 Compulsory components.

Who is responsible for what?

The responsible department must:

• no later than when the course starts, communicate the date for the first resit in connection with the course instance;
• no later than eight (8) weeks beforehand, communicate the date for the resit that must be offered within a year of the course starting.

On the course page, the responsible department must inform about resits when:

• a course module is changed
• a course syllabus is changed
• transitional provisions are established for a terminated course.

Students who with to sit the exam must register at least 10 working days before the exam date, see Section 8.3.

If necessary, students must keep up to date with:

• changes to reading lists, grading criteria, course modules and course syllabuses that affect examinations;
• transitional provisions for exams for terminated courses.

Exam Services decide on and publish resit dates at least 6 months before the start of the academic year.

When a course is terminated, the responsible faculty must decide whether to offer another exam session – in addition to what is stated in the transitional provisions. The faculty of the responsible department decides whether to offer further resit opportunities. The decision is made by the member of the faculty management responsible for education at first- and second-cycle level, unless the faculty decides otherwise.

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