Exam Procedures & Rules

Rules Governing Written Examinations

Candidates are advised to familiarise themselves with the rules governing written examinations. Breaches in any of the published rules will be considered under the University's policy on unfair practice in formal examinations detailed in the following.

Written Examination Rules

1. The candidate must arrive and be seated in the Exam Hall at least 5 minutes before the start of the examination.
2. Books*, notes*, and bags must not be taken into the Exam Hall, the candidate must remain absolutely quiet from the time the candidate enters to the time the candidate leaves the hall. (*Approved Open Book exams exempted)
3. The candidate is required to carry an University identification card for presentation, or Drivers Licence, Passport, or official form of photographic ID.
4. A candidate is only permitted to have pens, paper, ruler, calculator or other approved items on their desks. 
5. SETU Waterford operates a clean desk policy at all examination venues. Only paper or items issued by the Invigilator are permitted on the desk. Any other paper, notes or material found on or around the candidate’s desk area constitutes a breach of exam rules.
6. The candidate must ensure the candidate has no written material on their person. Any such material constitutes a breach of exam rules.
7. The candidate must not communicate in any way with other candidates or share pens, erasers, calculators or other materials. The candidate must not look at the exam paper or start to write in the answer book until instructed to do so by an Invigilator.
8. The candidate shall ensure that the candidate is in possession of the correct examination paper and must comply with the instructions printed on the examination paper and on the answer book. The candidate should ensure the correct name, programme, year and subject is on each answer book.
9. The candidate may not submit the examination script, or leave the exam venue until one hour of the exam has elapsed. No candidate will be permitted to enter the Exam Hall after the first hour.
10. The candidate may not leave the examination hall at the end of the examination until the examination script has been collected. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure the script has been handed to the Invigilator. Answer books are the property of the University and may not be removed from the examination hall under any circumstances.
11. Candidates who require use of the bathroom facilities must be accompanied by an Invigilator.
12. A defined seating schedule is presented for each examination session. The candidate must familiarise themselves with the seat(s) allocated to them, in advance, and use that allocated seat.
13. The candidate must comply with an Invigilator’s directions at all times. Breach of, or non-compliance with, any University regulation, policy, procedure or rule will constitute misconduct.
14. The candidate shall not bring into the Examination Hall, nor have in their possession, any computing equipment, including electronic organisers, programmable calculators, mobile phones, recording equipment [or any device with a facility to store or display text], radio, books, note paper or any other sources of information: I. Possession of any unauthorised material shall be construed as a serious breach of Examination Rules and a disciplinary investigation will be initiated. II. The candidate is reminded that severe sanctions are attached to any such breach of regulations. III. Candidates will be required to handover such materials to the Invigilator. When an electronic device is confiscated i.e. programmable calculator or mobile phone, the device may be retained for the duration of the investigation. IV. Refusal to hand over the materials will make void the examination for the candidate and a disciplinary investigation will be instigated.
15. In the case of illness, certified evidence must be provided within 5 days of that examination being held. All medical certificates must be presented to your School's Administration Office, attached to a Mitigating Circumstance (MITC) form.
16. Examination Results: The official result of a candidate's examinations will be made available on the University's website.
17. Examination Appeals: A request for an appeal in respect of examination results must be received by the Office of the VP for Academic Affairs, Teaching & Learning, on the appropriate form, available on the University's website.

Dr. Derek O'Byrne, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Teaching and Learning

The following two documents should be reviewed as they pertain to the rules governing examinations on the Waterford campus: 

• Breach of Exam Rules Procedure
• Recheck, Viewing of Examination Scripts and Academic Appeals Procedure – SAM System