1. Purpose

1.1 These procedures provide guidance for the conduct and design of central examinations.

1.2 These procedures must be read in conjunction with the linked Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs - Academic Policy.

2. Scope and application

2.1 These procedures refer to examinations identified as centrally scheduled examinations in the course outline.

2.2 These procedures apply to all students enrolled in coursework studies, and all staff involved in the administration and delivery of examinations within a centrally scheduled examination period.

3. Definitions

3.1 Refer to the University’s Glossary of Terms for definitions as they specifically relate to policy documents.

4. Design

4.1 Each Dean of School is responsible for the design processes that ensures the quality of examinations.

4.2 To maintain academic integrity of examinations, Course Coordinators are responsible for ensuring that they:

(a) regularly change or refresh examination topics or questions;

(b) carefully design assessment to support academic integrity;

(c) design assessment tasks and topics around authentic activities relating to a work context or recent/current events;

(d) personalise the assessment topics by inviting the student to draw on their own experience where relevant; and

(e) design assessment tasks that assess the student’s process to complete the task.

4.3 Standards for online examinations:

(a) online examinations are delivered through the Learning Management System (LMS);

(b) alternatives to examinations are to be considered in the first instance;

(c) online exams must reflect learning-centred pedagogy and assessment;

(d) authentic assessment choices are required;

(f) open book examinations are assigned to encourage teaching and assessing of higher order skills; and

(g) moderation of examination questions must occur prior to every iteration of the examination.

4.4 The design and administration of examinations is consistent with the Curriculum Design Principles, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan and Universal Design for Learning principles, in that Course Coordinators must:

(a) be responsive with individual students’ circumstances and provide support for students’ requirements and reasonable adjustments;

(b) provide practice examinations for students in the online environment;

(c) provide support for and communication with students leading up to and during the examination period;

(d) provide students with an opportunity to look through the examination prior to completing answers, if appropriate;

(e) consider allowing ‘backtracking’ to be available in timed examinations; and

(f) provide concentrated support during peak assessment times such as Information Technology or Education Technology support or having Course Coordinators or tutors available.

5. Scheduling

5.1 Course Coordinators must request an exam to be centrally scheduled by Student Business Services and advise of exam conditions no later than the census date for each teaching period.

5.2. Student Business Services ensure that a final central examination timetable is produced and published no later than Week 9 of each semester or trimester and week 4 in sessions.

5.3 Students must make themselves available to undertake their examinations at the scheduled date, time and venue (including an online sitting), unless unavailable due to extenuating circumstances (refer to Deferred Examinations - Procedures) or approved alternative sitting at another venue.

5.4 A student’s examination timetable can include different types of examinations including on-campus and online examinations.

5.5 Scheduling guidelines

5.5.1 In order to ensure an environment which allows a student to perform to their potential, the examination timetable is prepared, as far as practicable, according to the following guidelines:

(a) examinations must be scheduled to commence between the hours of 8am and 9pm (AEST) on weekdays and between 8am and 5pm (AEST) on Saturdays;

(b) examinations for courses with high enrolments, other than those with multiple choice examinations, are scheduled towards the beginning of the examination period;

(c) students cannot be required to undertake more than two examinations on a single examination day;

(d) a minimum break of one hour between examinations is required for students with consecutive examinations held on a single examination day;

(e) students cannot undertake examinations on more than three days in succession and must not be required to take more than four examinations in three successive days. Any exceptions must be managed by Student Business Services and the student contacted prior to the examinations taking place;

(f) on-campus examinations must be held on the campus or delivery site where teaching in the course concerned is normally conducted. Any exceptions are based on the suitability of location and available facilities and determined by Student Business Services;

(g) when courses are taught at more than one campus or delivery site, the same examination questions (or bank of questions) must be set and where possible the examinations must take place simultaneously and under comparable conditions;

(i) when a course is offered in both on-campus and online delivery modes, the examination can be delivered online for all enrolled students. Exceptions to this occurs for courses where examinations must be invigilated for accreditation requirements. In these circumstances, on-campus students need to attend an on-campus invigilated examination and online students have an online invigilated examination;

(j) online examinations are scheduled in examination windows and can have staggered start times. Staggered start times are determined in consultation between the Course Coordinator, Centre for Support and Advancement of Learning and Teaching and Student Business Services and are noted in the examination timetable;

(k) online examinations are scheduled to be completed within one 4-hour examination window or are scheduled in an extended examination window across an 8-hour, 24-hour, 48-hour or 5-day period. Extended examination windows are noted in the examination timetable; and

(l) when an extended examination window falls across multiple examination sessions, Student Business Services must ensure there is at least one clash-free session in which the student can sit any other examinations.

5.6 Alternative venues for central examinations

5.6.1 Students are expected to sit all their examinations at the venue specified in their examination schedule.

5.6.2 When students can demonstrate that sitting a central or deferred examination at the venue specified in the examination timetable causes excessive hardship due to circumstances outside of their control they can make an application to sit the examination at an alternative venue.

5.6.3 Approval to sit an examination at an alternative venue is made by the Academic Registrar and Director, Student Services. With support from Student Services, the student is required to find and organise a suitable venue and an appropriate invigilator. Any costs that are incurred in organising a venue or utilising an invigilator is borne by the student.

5.7 Alternative examination arrangements for students with special requirements

5.7.1 Reasonable adjustments to examination durations, locations and equipment are made for students on an approved Learning Access Plan.

5.7.2 AccessAbility Services is responsible for assessing and approving Learning Access Plans and must notify Students Business Services of alternative examination arrangements via the Examinations Management System.

5.7.3 Students with approved alternative examination arrangements are sent individualised timetables by the end of Week 12 for standard semesters, or equivalent for other teaching periods.

5.7.4 Course Coordinators are notified by the end of Week 12 of alternative examination arrangements. For online examinations, the Course Coordinator is responsible for ensuring examination conditions are accounted for in the examination set-up in the LMS.

5.8 Offshore student adjustments

5.8.1 At the discretion of the Course Coordinator, adjustments to the examination start time are taken into consideration. Scheduling guidelines, must be aligned with the time zone of the student’s registered address .

5.9 Availability of the Course Coordinator

5.9.1 For on-campus examinations, the Course Coordinator, is required to:

(a) be at the main examination venue at least 10 minutes prior to the commencement of the examination;

(b) remain for the period of perusal time to clarify anomalies with aids and materials; and

(c) be available by telephone for the duration of the examination to answer any questions.

5.9.2 In the situation where an examination is being run simultaneously at another delivery site, the Course Coordinator, must be contactable by telephone.

5.9.3 For online examinations, the Course Coordinator, is required to:

(a) be available by telephone from the commencement of the examination and remain contactable for the duration of the examination;

(b) be able to access the LMS to update examination settings, if required; and

(c) provide students with details on how they can be contacted during the examination should any issues arise. This can be via phone, email or other University-approved tools (e.g. Microsoft Teams or Zoom). Where contact cannot be made, issues are escalated to the Dean of School.

5.9.4 When the Course Coordinator is unable complete their duties in accordance with these procedures these responsibilities can be assigned to another academic who is familiar with the learning outcomes of the course and the content of the examination.

6. Administration

6.1 Central examinations are held in the centrally scheduled examination period at the end of a teaching period, as published on the online academic calendar. These central examination periods have associated supplementary and deferred examination periods.

6.2 Centrally scheduled-administered examinations

6.2.1 For on-campus examinations, the Course Coordinator is responsible for generating the examination cover sheet and questions, and must ensure that:

(a) the UniSC approved cover sheet and examination questions are submitted to Student Business Services no later than three weeks prior to the start of the examination period;

(b) the UniSC cover sheet clearly identifies the materials that are permitted in the examination; and

(c) examination questions conform with the University’s guidelines on format and presentation.

6.2.2 Student Business Services is responsible for arranging the printing of the required number of on-campus examination papers. The cost of printing the examination papers is costed to the relevant School.

6.2.3 At all stages of preparation for examinations, examination papers must be stored, transferred and printed securely.

6.2.4 For online examinations, the Course Coordinator is responsible for uploading the examination into the LMS by the end of Week 12 for standard semester courses, or the equivalent for other teaching periods.

6.2.5 All examinations, both on-campus and online must be clear, unambiguous and free of errors.

6.3 School-administered examinations

6.3.1 Deans of Schools are responsible for the organisation and conduct of assessment tasks, including School-administered examinations held within the central examination period.

6.3.2 School-administered examinations held within the central examination period only occur when there is a requirement for special facilities located within the School.

6.3.3 When a School-administered examination is scheduled during the central examination period, the Course Coordinator must advise Student Business Services and note that it is a School-administered examination to ensure that the examination is included in the scheduling of the examination timetable.

7. Examination aids

7.1 Aids and materials for a central on-campus examination

7.1.1 The Course Coordinator is responsible for clearly specifying the aids and materials students are permitted to bring into a central on-campus examination. This information must be consistent in both the examination request and examination cover sheet.

7.1.2 Students are permitted to take into a central on-campus examination general examination aids of writing implements i.e. pens, pencils, erasers, correction fluid or tape.

7.1.3 Unless specified by the Course Coordinator as not permissible, students can bring in an unannotated bilingual English translation dictionary. The dictionary must not have any materials attached to or inserted into it.

7.1.4 Aids that can be specified by the Course Coordinator as permissible:

(a) programmable, non-programable or any calculator; or

(b) and English dictionary or thesaurus.

7.1.5 When an English dictionary or thesaurus are permitted aids, they must not be annotated, nor have any other materials attached to or inserted into it.

7.1.6 It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that they bring the permitted materials to the on-campus examination as these materials will not be available at the examination venue.

7.1.7 It is the responsibility of the invigilator to ensure that only permissible materials are brought into the on-campus examination venue and used by students. Unauthorised materials are confiscated by the invigilator and can be returned to the student at the end of the examination.

7.1.8 The checking of on-campus examination aids and materials is carried out at the beginning of each central examination and the Course Coordinator must be available at the examination venue for the beginning of the examination to clarify any anomalies that can arise.

7.2 Bilingual English translation dictionaries

7.2.1 Only concise, direct translation dictionaries are acceptable; translation dictionaries with extensive interpretation or advanced level translation are not permitted.

7.2.2 Bilingual translation dictionaries for specific professions or disciplines of study are not permitted in any language, unless specified by the Course Coordinator on the examination cover sheet.

7.2.3 The use of bilingual translation dictionaries for foreign language course examinations, where one of the languages in the bilingual translation dictionary is the same or a similar language to that being examined, is not permitted unless specified by the Course Coordinator on the examination cover sheet.

7.3 Closed book examinations

7.3.1 Closed Book Examinations do not allow any further materials apart from those permissible aids outlined in Section 7.1. ‘Closed Book’ must be selected in the examination request and stated on the examination cover sheet.

7.4 Open book examinations

7.4.1 In an Open Book Examination, a student is permitted further written or electronic aids as specified by the Course Coordinator. The examination cover sheet must specify:

(a) that it is an ‘Open Book Examination’;

(b) the type and forms of materials and aids permitted including any specific version references for the textbooks or guides that are permitted; and

(d) whether the materials are permitted to be annotated, and the extent of this annotation.

8. On-campus central examinations

8.1 Duration and timing

8.1.1 The time allowed for on-campus central examinations are in hour blocks of either one or two hour duration.

8.1.2 The time allowed for perusal is 10 minutes; a Course Coordinator can identify a longer period of perusal time of up to 30 minutes when completing their examination request.

8.2 Student identification

8.2.1 For all on-campus central examinations, students are required to provide acceptable photographic identification at the examination venue.

8.2.2 Acceptable identification are:

(a) UniSC Student Card;

(b) Driver’s Licence or Learner’s Permit;

(c) 18+ card; or

(d) Passport.

8.2.3 Students without acceptable identification are allowed to undertake the examination. However, they cannot leave the examination venue until an invigilator or a member of Student Business Services has verified their identity using the University’s recorded image of the student.

8.2.4 When a student’s identity cannot be verified using the University’s recorded image of the student, the Academic Registrar and Director, Student Services determines whether the circumstances warrant the student being given further opportunity to present suitable evidence of identity. Should the student still fail to provide the required evidence, the case must be dealt with in accordance with the Student Conduct – Governing Policy.

8.2.5 Until a student’s identity has been established their examination booklets are held by the Academic Registrar and Director, Student Services and not forwarded for marking.

8.3 Student attendance at examinations

8.3.1 It is a student’s responsibility to be aware of the published start time for the examinations.

8.3.2 Students who arrive late but within 40 minutes (which includes 10 minutes perusal time) of the official commencement time must present themselves to an invigilator and are permitted to complete their examination within the scheduled examination time period. The invigilator records details on an Incident Report that is provided to the Course Coordinator.

8.3.3 When a student arrives more than 40 minutes after the official commencement time they are not permitted to enter the examination venue or complete the examination. Any students arriving after this time must report directly to Student Central.

8.3.4 When there are exceptional circumstances that have impacted upon a student’s ability to arrive within 40 minutes of the starting time students can be eligible to apply for a deferred examination in accordance with the Deferred Examinations – Procedures.

8.4 Procedures during the examination

8.4.1 Every student in attendance at an examination must complete the attendance slip provided and fill in details required on the front cover of the examination booklets.

8.4.2 During the designated perusal time, students are permitted to:

(a) read the examination paper and request clarification of questions in the examination paper; and

(b) make notes on loose-leaf paper provided or on the examination paper when specified by the Course Coordinator on the examination coversheet.

8.4.3 During the perusal time students must not write in the examination booklet or on the examination paper when the examination paper is required to be submitted for marking.

8.4.4 Students must not commence writing answers until authorised by the invigilator. When a student writes on examination materials that are not to be written on during perusal time the invigilator must either replace the item or mark on the material that it was written during perusal.

8.4.5 All students must stop writing when instructed by the invigilator. At the end of the examination all remaining students must stay seated until all examination papers and examination booklets have been collected.

8.4.6 During an examination, students are not permitted to speak to, or communicate with, any other student.

8.4.7 Students can request to leave the venue for a toilet break after the perusal time has concluded. When approval is given by the invigilator for a toilet break, the student is supervised during their period of absence.

8.5 Procedures for leaving the examination venue

8.5.1 Students are not permitted to permanently leave the examination venue in the first 40 minutes after the published starting time or during the last 15 minutes of the examination.

8.5.2 After the first 40 minutes of the examination has lapsed, students can request to leave the examination venue permanently.

8.5.3 No student is re-admitted to an examination venue after they have permanently left the examination venue.

8.5.4 Students wishing to permanently leave the examination venue must hand all examination materials to the invigilator who endorses the examination booklets as correctly identifying the student. A student cannot remove any examination papers, examination booklets, scrap paper or attendance slips from the examination venue.

8.6 Collection of examination booklets and papers

8.6.1 The Course Coordinator is responsible for collecting the examination papers and examination booklets at the advised times and signing the examination collection report as receipt of the number of examination booklets and papers prior to taking them.

8.6.2 For central examinations, examination papers and booklets must be collected by the Course Coordinator from the examination venue up to 15 minutes after the scheduled finish time. Any examination papers and examination booklets not collected from the examination venue at this time can be collected from Student Business Services.

8.6.3 When examination papers and booklets are uncollected by the Course Coordinator by the end of the examination period, the relevant School office is contacted and requested to collect the papers on behalf of the Course Coordinator.

8.7 Interruption to a central examination

8.7.1 An invigilator can suspend the progress of an examination if an incident occurs which the invigilator judges is likely to significantly disrupt the progress of students in the examination.

8.8 Procedures for dealing with a disruption to an examination

8.8.1 When an invigilator, Student Business Services, Security or emergency services personnel decide that the evacuation of an examination venue is necessary, all students must leave the venue as quickly as possible and proceed to the appropriate evacuation assembly area. Students can take their personal belongings that are at their desk with them but must leave all examination materials in the examination venue.

8.8.2 The invigilator (after consultation with Student Business Services) must cancel the examination when it cannot be recommenced within 20 minutes. In such cases, the matter is referred to the relevant Dean of School who, in consultation with the Course Coordinator, decides on one of the following options:

(a) the rescheduling of another examination in the same examination period;

(b) the awarding of a deferred examination to all students involved;

(c) the assessing of students on work already completed for the course; or

(d) a combination of the above options.

8.8.3 In regard to 8.8.2 (a) the Dean of School or Course Coordinator must contact Student Business Services to determine whether there is sufficient time remaining in the examination period to accommodate this option.

8.8.4 The decision reached by the Dean of School must be communicated to the students and the Academic Registrar and Director, Student Services within 24 hours of the sitting of the disrupted examination.

8.8.5 Under the Student Conduct - Governing Policy, any student disrupting an examination can be instantly dismissed from the examination venue at the discretion of the invigilator. Where dismissal is the appropriate course of action, the examination supervisor or invigilator documents the incident and provides a report, as per the Student Misconduct - Procedures.

9. Online central examinations

9.1 Duration and timing

9.1.1 Online examinations can be one or two hours in duration. An additional 30-minute period can be added to the writing time allocation to account for perusal time, uploading of student responses or potential disruptions to internet services. Additional time is at the discretion of the Dean of School, in keeping with assessment design.

9.1.2 Long-response examinations can have a duration of up to 4 hours with approval by the Dean of School. Examinations with a 4-hour writing time must be scheduled for afternoon examination sessions or the final morning of the examination period.

9.1.3 No separate perusal time is allocated for online examinations.

9.2 Student identification

9.2.1 For standard, non-invigilated online examinations, a student’s identity will be authenticated digitally.

9.2.2 For online examinations that are invigilated to meet accreditation requirements, students must display acceptable identification to the online invigilator. Acceptable identification includes:

(a) UniSC Student Card;

(b) Driver’s Licence or Learner’s Permit;

(c) 18+ card; or

(d) Passport.

9.3 Online examination sitting and late commencement

9.3.1 Standard online examinations are open-book. Invigilated online examinations can have restrictions on what materials students can access during the examination, and this information must be provided to the students prior to the examination.

9.3.2 Students are expected to sit online examinations in their home or at another suitable location.

9.3.3 When students do not have a suitable location, they can register interest to sit the examination at an unsupervised on-campus venue. Students are notified of available on-campus venues in advance of the examination period.

9.3.4 When students sit an online examination at an on-campus venue, they are expected to use their own device. Limited University computers are made available for use and must be requested in advance.

9.3.5 Students with an examination start time noted in their examination timetable must commence their examination at the time specified. Students who do not commence their examination within 30 minutes of the examination start time can submit an application for deferred examination in accordance with the Deferred Examination – Procedures.

9.3.6 Students with an examination that has an extended examination window, can commence at any time which suits them during the windows. Students must have submitted by the due date and time indicated in their examination timetable.

9.4 Interruption to an online central examination

9.4.1 During an online examination, when a disruption or interruption occurs, students should refer to the contact and support information listed in the examination information webpage for immediate assistance.

9.4.2 Students unable to commence or re-commence their online examination due to interruption should contact Student Central as soon as possible and collate relevant supporting documentation that can be provided as part of applications for deferred examination or review of final grade in accordance with the relevant Deferred Examination – Procedures or Review of Assessment and Final Grades – Procedures.

9.4.3 When the interruption is a result of server or connectivity issues with the LMS and impacts the whole cohort, Education Technology Support monitors the duration of outage. Where possible, lost time is added to the student’s examination duration once connection is restored. When the interruption coincides with the examination end time, the Dean of School decides an appropriate remedy, and Student Business Services contacts impacted students to advise of the remedy within 24 hours.

9.5 Invigilation of online examinations

9.5.1 Invigilators must be members of staff appointed by UniSC to verify the identity of students and supervise the exam to ensure specific academic integrity conditions are met.

9.5.2 To sit an invigilated online examination, students must take the exam on the LMS at a time and date scheduled by the University, while simultaneously attending a UniSC hosted live session with webcam and screensharing activated for invigilation purposes.

9.5.3 Invigilators must verify each student’s identity and supervise their computer screen and webcam feed throughout the duration of the exam. The students webcam feed and computer screen will be recorded throughout the exam and archived securely at UniSC in accordance with Information and Records Management - Procedures.

9.5.4 Section 7 of the Central Examination - Procedures also applies in relation to examination aids permitted for invigilated online examinations.

9.5.5 Students who request to sit an online-invigilated exam on-campus in a UniSC computer lab must still complete their exam via the LMS. On-campus exams are supervised by an in-person invigilator rather than online.

9.5.6 Spaces in on-campus computer labs are limited and students with special circumstances are prioritised in assigning on-campus places.

9.5.7 Students must have the following resources to take an online invigilated exam:

1. a working PC, laptop or notebook;
2. a stable internet connection;
3. a working webcam;
4. speakers;
5. an up-to-date internet browser (Chrome, Firefox or Edge); and

(f) up-to-date client software to facilitate taking the exam installed on their device as advised by Student Services.

9.5.8 Students must not take an online invigilated examination using their phone or tablet.

9.5.9. Students must not use any other communication device than that which they are taking an online invigilated exam. Subject to approved exam adjustment conditions, headphones, headsets and earbuds are not considered permitted examination aids.

9.5.10. Students are not permitted to turn off the active webcam or deactivate screensharing for the entire duration of the online invigilated exam session, unless they submit their exam. A student can request to leave their position in front of the webcam to use the bathroom.

9.5.11 Additional information regarding Invigilated Online Examinations can be found on the UniSC website.

10. Academic misconduct in examinations

10.1 For on-campus or invigilated online examinations, invigilators should report any suspected academic misconduct in examinations as per the University’s Student Misconduct – Procedures.

10.2 For online examinations, Course Coordinators should report any suspected academic misconduct in examinations as per the University’s Student Misconduct – Procedures.

11. Authorities and Responsibilities

11.1 The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) is authorised to make these procedures and related guidelines for the operation of University Policy. These procedures and related guidelines mist be compatible with the provisions of the Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs - Academic Policy.

11.2 The Academic Registrar and Director, Student Services is authorised to make associated documents to support the application of policy documents. These must be compatible with the provisions of the respective policy document.

11.3 This policy operates from the Last Amended date, will all previous policies related to central examination replaced and have no further operation from this date.

11.4 All records relating to central examinations must be stored and managed in accordance with the Information Management – Governing Policy.

11.5 This policy must be maintained in accordance with the Policy Framework – Procedures and reviewed on the 5 year policy review cycle.

11.6 Any exception to this policy to enable a more appropriate result must be approved in accordance with the Policy Framework – Procedures prior to the deviation of the policy document.

11.7 Refer to Schedule C in relation to the approved delegations detailed within this policy document.

11.8 The following authorities and responsibilities are delegated under these procedures:

END