Policies and procedures
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Senate policy on Examinations
You can find the Senate policy on examinations, including information on supplemental and deferred exams, under Academic Assessment in the Policies and Regulations chapter of the UBC Academic Calendar.
Illness Policy
Students who are absent from final exams held during official examination periods must request an academic concession from the office of their dean or director. The request should be accompanied by a certificate of illness completed by either the attending Student Health Service physician or provided a family physician.
Academic concessions are granted only by the dean or director (or their delegate) and are a privilege, not a right. If you request an academic concession, you may be asked to provide additional information. For more information, see the Academic Concession section of the Calendar.
Religious accommodation
Religious observance may preclude attending classes or examinations at certain times. In accordance with the UBC Policy on Religious Holidays (55KB PDF), students who wish to have their exams accommodated for religious reasons must notify their instructors in writing at least two weeks in advance of the exam, and preferably earlier. Further details can be found on the Religious accommodation page.
Students are required to give two weeks notice of their intention to absent themselves under the terms of the University policy on religious holidays. They shall notify the instructor of each course or, where this cannot be done, the head or director of the unit concerned.
Hardship Policy
An examination hardship is defined as three or more end-of-term examinations scheduled within a 24-hour period. A student facing an examination hardship shall be given a new examination date for the second examination causing hardship by the respective instructor or department/faculty.
The student must notify the instructor of the second examination no later than one month prior to the examination date for courses in the Winter Session, or no later than two weeks prior to the examination date for courses in the Summer Session.
Exam Clash Procedures
Winter Session Day
An examination clash is defined as multiple examinations that are scheduled on the same day at the same time, and that are listed on the UBC Exam Schedule for the current winter session.
Any student having a daytime timetable clash should immediately contact their professor(s) to determine if an alternate writing time is available. If this cannot be established, the student would complete the Daytime Exam Clash form available at the front counter of Enrolment Services, ground floor of Brock Hall. Enrolment Services will arrange for the student to write the examinations back-to-back on the original examination date, under supervision.
Winter Session Evening and Weekend & Summer Session
For Winter Session evening and weekend examinations and all Summer Session examinations, clashes are the responsibility of the instructor. Please contact your instructor as soon as possible for assistance.
Exam Disruption Procedures
Please see the Senate Policy on Sudden Examination Disruption Procedures. These procedures outline the decision making and communication process that would occur in the event of a bomb threat, fire alarm, inclement weather, natural disaster or power outage.
