Examinations and assessment

There is no extra time for 2022 exams. An additional 45 mins has been added to allow for logging in, downloading the exam, and uploading your completed exam information. You should still complete your exam in the time allotted and use the 45 minutes to ensure the information is submitted on time. 

Heriot-Watt's Canvas VLE can easily support the upload volumes; however individual broadband or Wi-Fi upload speeds vary. The additional 45 minutes is to help ensure your exam is submitted within the deadline. Please do not leave it to the last minute. 

Students are required to settle debt 8 days before the date of their first Take Home Open Book Examination to gain access to Canvas. The Take Home Open Book Examination papers will not be issued by alternative means – the examination papers are only available via Canvas.

This Semester, exams for on-campus students will start at fixed times and be a fixed duration. Exams for on-campus students will take two or three hours and will run in morning, afternoon or evening timeslots. Additional time will be added for downloading the exam paper and then uploading your completed exam responses. This does not count as part of the two or three hours.

Example of Standard 2 hour Take Home Open Book Exam

Exam Start Time - 9am   Exam End Time - 11.45am

• Standard Exam Duration - 2 hours
• Download/Upload Time - 45 minutes

If you identify that you will be unable to access a suitable space to sit any or all of your Take Home Open Book Exams and you need to come onto campus, you will be able to book a seat on the required date and time by going to the Book a Room/Resource tile located on your Student Portal from 1 April 2022;

Please do not book this space for studying, there are other options available for booking study space on-campus.

Your seat will be in an allocated room on-campus which will be monitored to ensure exam conditions throughout the duration of your Take Home Open Book Exam.

You will be asked to show your Student ID upon arrival.

A booking should only be made if you intend to use it.

Note that Mitigating Circumstances will be rejected for not having a suitable space or equipment unless you are able to provide strong evidence of unforeseen and unavoidable events.

Example of Take Home Open Book Exam for Students with Exam Adjustments

If you have been allocated extra time to complete your Take Home Open Book Exam, please note that this will be added to the exam duration only and not the download/upload time. Additional time will be added for downloading the exam paper and then uploading your completed exam responses. Here is an example of a 2 hour exam with exam adjustments:

Exam Start Time - 9am  Exam End Time - 12:45am

• Standard Exam Duration - 2 hours
• Exam Adjustment - 30 minutes per hour
• Adjusted Exam Duration - 3 hours
• Download/Upload Time - 45 minutes

Exams for IDL students will continue to have 24 hour window for completion.

• Quick Guide to Take Home Open Book exams for all students
• Technical Guide to Take Home Open Book exams for all students
• General Guide to Take Home Open Book exams for on-campus, ALP and Partnership students
• General Guide to Take Home Open Book exams for HW Online and IDL students
• CS Canvas Digital Exams Guide
• Academic Safety Net 2021/22: Summary for students
• Academic Safety Net 2021/22: Guide to Students on What Happens after Exam

• Malaysia Foundation - Quick Guide to take-home open book exams
• Malaysia Foundation - Student general Guide take-home open book exams
• Malaysia Foundation - Student technical Guide take-home open book exams

If your exam is submitted after the end of the upload period, it will not be marked unless you have a Mitigating Circumstances application accepted.

If you encounter technical difficulties that prevent or delay you from uploading successfully, please send your single PDF or Word document to examsupport@hw.ac.uk.

After the end of the upload period, you will no longer be able to submit your exam via Canvas. You can still send your exam to the exam support team, but your exam will be classified as late. In that case, you should consider submitting an online mitigating circumstances application. Provide evidence as to why you were unsuccessful. Gather all the evidence you can including screenshots.

If your submission is late and your mitigating circumstance is rejected your exam will not be marked.

If there are foreseeable but unavoidable reasons why you are not able to sit an exam, you may apply for Mitigating Circumstances in advance to avoid academic penalties. You should also inform your course leader.

If you encounter issues on the day which severely impact your exam performance or prevent you from uploading your exam by the end of the upload period, you should contact the exam support team (examsupport@hw.ac.uk) and you may apply for Mitigating Circumstances. MC applications must be supported by evidence

You will not need to apply for Mitigating Circumstances if your exam was returned via the exam support team before the upload deadline.

If you intend to submit a mitigating circumstance application for an examination, please ensure you meet these deadlines so that your application can be considered by the relevant Award or Progression Board.

• UG Year 5, UG Year 4 and UG Year 3 (only for MACS students) deadline: Friday 13 May 2022
• PGT student deadline: Friday 13 May 2022
• UG Year 2 and UG Year 1 deadline: Friday 27 May 2022
• UG Year 3 (except for Year 3 MACS students) deadline: Friday 27 May 2022
• For students enrolled on the Direct Entry Programmes, Fast Track and Foundation Programmes in Malaysia or Dubai please consult your local School or Campus Academic Support Admin Team for advice.

Mitigating Circumstances Application

We wish you all the best as you prepare for the exams. If you have any further questions, contact your personal tutors or course leaders and check out the Skills Hubs.