Overseas exam arrangements

Students are expected to sit their in-person exams in Nottingham, however if you believe you may require a written exam to be invigilated in-person overseas for the Spring Assessment period (May/June 2023), please contact your School in the first instance to check whether it would be permitted. If permission is granted, email overseasexams@nottingham.ac.uk with all details pertaining to your request, and we can discuss arrangements. We must receive your email by Monday 20th March 2023 in order to consider your request.

An online application will be required to request overseas exams for the August 2023 resit period. Dates and deadlines will be published as soon as possible.

Apply for an overseas examination

Information for Overseas Institutions and British Councils

University of Nottingham exam periods are January, May/June & August

There are three examination slots per day - 09:00, 13:30 and 16:30 (UK time)

Full details of the dates and times for individual student examinations will be sent to you after the examination timetable is published. The examination papers, stationery and any further instructions will be sent by DHL courier approximately 1-2 weeks before the start of the exam session.

Students should make initial contact with their chosen venue and it is the student's responsibility to liaise with the overseas institution in relation to any local fees. The students should meet all local costs so please contact the student with details of your charges.

The overseas institution should only liaise with Exams Ops when agreeing date/times for the exams. Please do not arrange these with the student. Once these have been agreed, this information can be passed on to the student.

It is very important that the examination(s) take place simultaneously with the corresponding examination in Nottingham. However, in exceptional circumstances it may be possible to adjust the times if you have difficulty in meeting this requirement or if time difference does not allow.

Students should show their student ID card (or photo ID) upon arrival at each examination they are due to take at your institution.

Invigilation guidance will be provided with the exam materials, which will include information about conduct in examinations but please note in particular the following:

Candidates are not permitted to keep question papers
Candidates are not allowed to take any papers, books or loose notes into the examination room unless otherwise stated on the rubric. They are also only allowed the amount of time specified on the paper (unless advised in writing by the Exams Office)
Please ensure that you are aware of procedures for invigilation of University of Nottingham examinations

Post-Examination Procedures

Please confirm receipt of examination papers.

It is extremely important that you immediately notify Exams Ops if a student does not attend an examination.

After each examination has finished, please ensure each candidate has included their name, student ID and examination code on the front of their script. Please scan the exam script and email the scanned version to the Exams Office within 24 hours of the exam taking place. Institutions that do not adhere to this or any other policy will not be approved to host future University of Nottingham examinations.

When all examinations are finished for the given exam period, return the original scripts, question papers and other stationery by courier immediately. All original scripts should reach us by no later than a week after the exam period.

Please notify Exams Ops of the tracking number when returning scripts.

Can I take my examinations in another country?

Arrangements for exams to be taken overseas are only made for students who:

Are normally resident overseas and have external resits;
Have been given permission by the International Office under mobility arrangements;
Have to be overseas during the exam period as a requirement of their course; or
Have other exceptional circumstances approved on an individual case basis.
Is on a course that is allowed to be taken overseas

Where the candidate is not an overseas resident arrangements will not be made unless the circumstances and reasons have been discussed with the Office of Global Engagement, Student Services or the School/Department.

Please note: overseas exam arrangements will not be made for students who are on holiday or temporarily overseas during the published examination periods.

The Examination dates for this academic year are published on the Examinations webpages.

Examination dates for future years are published on the University Key Dates web page.

I am an incoming exchange student, can I take my exams overseas?

No. Incoming exchange students studying in Nottingham for the Autumn Semester are expected to sit the normal assessment relating to the courses to which they are signed up for.

Only in exceptional circumstances exchange students may apply to the School/Department to arrange an alternative form of assessment. Where this is not possible the student must return to Nottingham to complete the assessment.

Only where the start date of the home university semester is before the end of the Nottingham exam period may a student apply to take their examinations overseas.

Schools should not advise students that they may sit overseas at this stage – for incoming students this is only possible if the student has been given permission to sit overseas as part of an exchange agreement with his/her Home institution

How much does it cost to take examinations overseas?

There are potentially three fees that you will be asked to pay:

University re-sit fee - Undergraduate £80.00/Postgraduate £130.00 (if you are taking first sits only, this charge does not apply)
Overseas administrative fee - £150.00 per examination period no matter how many individual examinations are taken in that session (this charge applies to re-sits and first sits)
Local charges and/or costs directly to the administering overseas institution making the local exam arrangements. Please note UNNC and UNM may also have local charges.

You can pay the overseas administrative fee via the "My Finance" tab on the Portal. Once the arrangements have been made by the Exams Office and the invoice is showing on your portal, you will be required to pay the full amount even if you do not continue with the overseas re-sit examination.

Any local charges must be paid directly to your chosen institution.

Can I take all of my modules at my chosen overseas institution/British Council?

No, unfortunately, there are some examinations that you will not be permitted to take overseas.

Before contacting your School or Department for permission to take an examination overseas please refer to the spreadsheet in Step 1 of the application instructions. If there are exceptional circumstances affecting a student, these will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If you cannot progress to the next stage of your degree or complete your award without being reassessed you will be informed via the Assessment Channel.

You will receive a letter from the Student Services detailing the requirements, the form of reassessment, and the costs involved.

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