Rules Governing the Administration of Assessment Items

Document Number000113
Date Approved2 September 2005

Application of Rules

1. These Rules shall apply to all assessment items including examinations with the exception of the examination of a research thesis where the examination shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements for the degree in which the student is enrolled.

Interpretation

2. In these Rules, unless the context or subject matter otherwise indicates or requires

course means any part of a program of study for which a result may be recorded;

cut-off date for rescheduled examinations is ten working days prior to the first day of the examination period;

assessment item  includes any form of assignment, examination, quiz, test, laboratory assignment, tutorial exercise or any other work used to measure student learning outcomes, by which the final result of a student in a course is determined;

examination means an assessment by way of a test by oral or written questions, undertaken by the student within a stated time frame and in a designated location, or online, or on a computer identified for that purpose;

formal examination period  means the period at the end of each teaching term set aside in the University’s calendar for assessment by way of examination;

Head of School  means the Head of a School with responsibility for a particular course;

moderation means a review of the marks awarded for a single assessment item, or part of an assessment item, or the final results, of all students in the cohort undertaking that assessment;

Pro Vice-Chancellor  means the Pro Vice-Chancellor of a Faculty with responsibility for a particular program;

re-mark means a review of the mark for a single assessment item, or part of an assessment item, awarded to an individual student;

school means the school, or other unit of organisation forming part of a Faculty, assigned responsibility for a particular course 1;

School Assessment body  means the School Assessment body of the School constituted in accordance with the Rules Governing Schools;

supervisor means the supervisor or invigilator for an examination appointed by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services) or the Head of School;

supplementary assessment item  means an assessment item administered to a student in respect of whom any doubt exists as to the judgement to be recorded in a return for any assessment item. Under normal circumstances a supplementary assessment item will be similar in weight, nature and content to the original assessment item, unless otherwise approved by the Head of School;

term means a period of time for the delivery of a course. Terms include semesters, trimesters, summer terms etc.

Determination of Nature of Assessment

3. In conjunction with the approval of courses, each Pro Vice-Chancellor shall determine the nature of assessment in the courses offered by the Schools within the Faculty and such assessment items may be written, on line, oral, clinical or practical or any combination of these.

Publication of Requirements

4.

  1. The Head of School shall ensure the publication, in the Course Outline, of the School’s assessment requirements in each course by the end of the second week of the semester in which the course commences. The Assessment requirements will include the weight and timing of each task comprising the total assessment to be applied in determining the final result for that course.
  2. The Course Coordinator shall ensure, in the Course Outline, that reference is made to the Procedure for Re-marks and Moderations which define any circumstance in which assessment items may be re-marked or moderated and the practices to be followed in undertaking these actions.

Compliance with Instructions

5. Students shall comply with any instructions given by the Head of School or the supervisor relating to an assessment item.

Special Consideration

6. The University acknowledges the right of students to seek special consideration for the possible impact of allowable special circumstances (as identified in the Special Circumstances Affecting Assessment Items procedure 000641) on their performance in assessment.

School Recommendations of Results

7.

  1. The School Assessment body shall consider the results recorded for overall assessment for each student, according to the Rules Governing Schools, and shall make recommendations to the Pro Vice-Chancellor as to the final grade to be recorded for each student in the course.
  2. A student who claims that study during the year, or preparation for an assessment item or examination, or attendance at or performance in an assessment item or examination has been affected by illness, disability or other serious cause, may apply under the provisions of the Special Circumstances Affecting Assessment Items http://www.newcastle.edu.au/policylibrary/000641.html 

External Examiners/Moderators

8. A Pro Vice-Chancellor may, on the recommendation of a Head of School, appoint one or more external moderators for the School to assist in the assessment processes within a School or the moderation of assessment results. Such appointment shall be for a term of one year and, except with the approval of the Academic Senate, no external moderator for the School shall be reappointed for more than four consecutive terms of office.

9. A Pro Vice-Chancellor may appoint an external examiner to assist in the examination or re-marking of any major assessment item, extended essay, project or similar work submitted by a student. Where an external examiner is prescribed by the Rules for an award, such appointment shall be made by the Pro Vice-Chancellor, or as otherwise prescribed in the Rules for that award.

Responsible Officers

10.

  1. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services) shall be the responsible officer for the administration and supervision of any supervised examination that:
    1. Is identified by the Head of School as being the responsibility of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services);
    2. Takes place in a formal examination period;
    3. Is of two (2) hours, two and a half (2 ½) hours, or three (3) hours duration; and
    4. Contributes at least 20% to the final result in the course.
  2. The Head of School shall be the responsible officer for the administration and supervision of assessment items, in courses offered by the School, including any supervised examinations that are not the responsibility of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services)

11. For each course offered by the School, the Head of each School shall arrange:

(i)  for the Course Co-ordinator to supervise :

  1. the preparation of assessment items, including any examination in the courses;
  2. in consultation with any other members of staff involved in the tuition or supervision of the students, the assessment of the scripts and other work submitted by students and, if required, prescribe a re-mark, a replacement or supplementary assessment item or supervised examination for any student;
  3. in consultation with any other members of staff involved in the tuition or supervision of the students, any recommendation for the moderation of marks within the course to the initiating officer or University body; and
  4. the recording of a result in respect of each student for submission to the School Assessment body:

and

(ii) for the Student Hub to supervise:

  1. the retention of all assessment materials worth 20% or more which have been submitted or completed but not collected by students, until the end of the following term. Assessment materials which are not collected by students within this period will be disposed of.

Timetable

12.

  1. The Head of School shall publish, within the Course Outline and according to the Policy on Course Outlines http://www.newcastle.edu.au/policylibrary/000587.html a timetable showing when assessment items will be due or will be held other than those identified as within the responsibility of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services). It shall be the responsibility of students to submit assessment items or attend assessable activities prescribed for the courses in which they are enrolled.
  2. Where a School is holding supervised examinations during the formal examinations period, it is the responsibility of the Head of School to ensure that there are no timetable clashes with examinations being administered by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services).
  3. Notification of the venue of examinations will be provided at least one week prior to the examination.

Attendance at Examinations

13. The responsible officer shall publish timetables showing when and where examinations will be held and it shall be the responsibility of students to sit for those examinations prescribed for the courses in which they are enrolled.

14. Unless granted a rescheduled exam under the adverse circumstances policy, students who fail to attend an examination which is shown on the examination timetable will be deemed to have sat for and failed the examination.

Examination Aids/Communication Devices

15.

  1. Unless notified in advance by the School, no communication devices for example mobile phones, laptop computers, electronic dictionaries or electronic notepads may be brought into the examination room.
  2. Candidates may be required to supply their own aids in some circumstances and, where candidates are permitted to bring aids into an examination:
  1. b. it is the responsibility of the School offering the course to scrutinise the aid to be used in the examination.

Rescheduled Examinations

16.

  1. Where the Course Coordinator considers it justified on religious, compassionate or other grounds, and the student applies no later than ten working days prior to the first day of the examination period, special arrangements may be made for a rescheduled examination to allow a student to attend an examination at a time and place different from that in the published timetable but within the formal examination period. Misreading the Course Outline or examination timetable or having travel plans will not be accepted as grounds for a rescheduled examination.
  2. Applications for rescheduled examinations must be accompanied by suitable documentary evidence and a Statutory Declaration confirming that the student will not seek or offer information on the content of the examination. 
  3. The School must be notified of any rescheduled examinations.

17.      Alternate/ Supplementary Examinations

  1. A student may apply for an alternate/ supplementary examination if circumstances arise - after the cut off date for a rescheduled examination - that prevent the student from attending, or completing an examination, or affect their performance in that examination.
  2. An alternate/supplementary examination will not offer advantage to the student who: has been unable to sit the original examination; has attended but been unable to complete the scheduled examination; or has completed the examination but been affected by adverse circumstances. Students undertaking an alternate/supplementary examination will therefore - unless the examination is a multiple choice paper - complete a different examination paper, not the paper completed by students sitting the original examination.
  3. An alternate/supplementary examination will - except in exceptional circumstances - be scheduled: (i) only once; and (ii) AFTER the originally scheduled examination.

 

Rules for Supervised Examinations

 

18.

1.  Supervised examinations, whether the responsibility of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services) or the Head of School, shall be conducted in accordance with the following rules:

  1. candidates for the examination must provide suitable photo identification (eg student card, driver’s licence, passport);
  2. candidates shall comply with any instructions given by a supervisor relating to the conduct of the examination;
  3. no candidate shall enter the examination room after thirty minutes from the time the examination has begun;
  4. a candidate shall not bring into the examination room any bag, paper, book, written material, device, calculator or aid, other than any that may be specified for the particular examination;
  5. a candidate shall not by any means obtain or endeavour to obtain improper assistance, give or endeavour to give assistance to any other candidate, or commit any breach of good order;
  6. a candidate shall not take from the examination room any examination answer book, any examination paper, graph paper, drawing paper or other material issued for use during the examination unless the Head of School has explicitly permitted their removal;
  7. no candidate may smoke in the examination room;
  8. before the examination begins candidates shall not read the examination paper until granted permission by the supervisor which shall be given ten minutes before the start of the examination;
  9. no candidate shall leave the examination room during the first thirty minutes or the last ten minutes of the examination; and
  10. no candidate shall re-enter the examination room after leaving it unless the candidate has been under approved supervision during the full period of absence.

2. The Rules for supervised examinations may be relaxed -

  1. by the responsible officer; and
  2. in respect of paragraphs (a), (d), (h), (i) and (j) above, by the supervisor upon the direction of the responsible officer or at the discretion of the supervisor, provided that the circumstances of any case in which discretion has been exercised shall be reported in writing to the responsible officer immediately following the conclusion of the examination.

3. Unless notified in advance by the School, no communication devices, for example mobile phones, laptop computers, electronic dictionaries or electronic notepads may be brought into the examination room.

4.  Candidates may be required to supply their own aids in some circumstances and, where candidates are permitted to bring aids into an examination:

  1. the Head of School will specify the type of aide which may be used; and
  2. it is the responsibility of the School offering the course to scrutinise the aid to be used in the examination.

19. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services) shall be responsible for the development and maintenance of a set of guidelines for examination supervisors to be made available to all supervisors.

Return of Final Exams

20 . If requested by a student, an opportunity should be provided for students to view completed examination scripts with the Course Coordinator (or nominee).

Penalties

21.

  1. The late submission penalty may be varied by the Head of School, provided that any alternative penalties to be imposed for late submission of an assessment item are notified to students in advance in the Course Outline.

22. An infringement of any of the Rules for supervised examinations or failure to comply with instructions relating to an assessment item shall constitute misconduct, and represent an offence against discipline.

Publication of Final Results

23.

  1. There will be only one set of official results of students’ performance in assessment within a course. This is the list of final results approved by the relevant Pro Vice-Chancellor, administered by Student Administration Services and published on the University’s Examinations Results webpage.
  2. All other information on results for individual assessment items or final results are “unofficial results” which having no legal standing and should be read as advisory only.
  3. In accordance with the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act (1998) and the Commonwealth Privacy Act (1988), the University will not list students by name but only by student number. This applies to both official and unofficial results for individual assessment items and for final results.
Note:
  1. For the purposes of these Rules The English Language and Foundation Studies Centre shall have the status of a School and the Director shall have the status of Head of School.

Related Information

Approval AuthorityCouncil
Date Approved2 September 2005
Date Promulgated5 September 2005
Policy Contact PositionDeputy Academic Registrar, Governance and Policy
Amendment HistoryAmendment to Clause 15 (1) and Clause 16, Academic Senate 20 February 2008
Clause 10 amended, Academic Senate 7 November 2007
Amednment to include principle of special consideration (Clause 6) approved 30 April 2008. Academic Senate.