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Final Examinations
Revision, February 2012. Start of revision.
Formal final examinations are held during an examination period at the end of the course term. The dates of the examination periods are listed at www.mcgill.ca/importantdates.
Important Note: You are advised not to
make travel plans prior to the release of the Final Exam Schedule. Vacation
plans do not constitute grounds for the deferral or re-scheduling of final
exams.
Note for Summer Studies: All information pertaining to final exam conflicts can be found at www.mcgill.ca/summer/finalexams.
In some courses there is no final examination; your standing in these courses is determined by term work and class tests.
Revision, February 2012. End of revision.
Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2011-2012 (last updated Feb. 3, 2012) (disclaimer)
Final Examinations: University Regulations Concerning Final Examinations
Final Examinations: University Regulations Concerning Final Examinations
Regulations
Regulations
- These regulations shall apply to undergraduate courses up to and including the 500 level that are evaluated by the use of written examinations. They shall not apply to clinical, field, laboratory, performance, and seminar courses, or to other courses that are evaluated solely by means of a design, paper, program, or project.
- Written examinations (including take-home examinations) shall not be held during the last two weeks of scheduled classes during the Fall and Winter terms, except where a pattern of continuous evaluation has been established, in which case the total value of examinations given in this period shall comprise no more than 10% of the final mark.
- If the written examinations in a course constitute 50% or more of the final mark, one of these shall be given as a final written examination, and it shall take place during the examination period after the last day of scheduled lectures in December or April.
- A final examination given during the examination period shall be worth at least 25% of the final mark.
- Students shall be informed of all course requirements by the end of the course change period. All term work shall be assigned early enough in the term for students to complete the assignment(s) by the last day of class.
- The due date for term work in courses to which these regulations apply shall be no later than the last day of classes.
- In courses that span the Fall and Winter terms (course pairs with numbers ending D1 and D2), instructors who wish to give a mid-year examination in December must schedule it in the formal examination period.
- The principles enunciated in these regulations shall be applied, appropriately modified, to courses given during the summer, to other courses of less than a 13-week duration, and to courses in the Faculties of Law, Medicine, Dentistry, and Education that do not follow the normal University Timetable.
- Individual faculties may propose variations in these regulations to the Academic Policy and Planning Committee in order to meet their special needs.
- These regulations, and any variations to them, shall be made known to students by each faculty.
Instructors are not permitted to grant any special treatment regarding examinations to any student. Students who believe there are circumstances which might justify making special examination arrangements for them or which might legitimately be taken into account in evaluating their performance should apply to the Associate Dean or Director of their faculty.
Note for the Faculties of Arts and Science (including B.A. & Sc.): Requests are made at Service Point (3415 McTavish Street). However, it is important that you also see a Faculty adviser in Dawson Hall to talk about your options and the effects that your request may have on your studies. For more information, see www.mcgill.ca/students/advising.
It is the responsibility of the student to confirm the date, time and place of the examination by checking examination schedules posted on notice boards on campus and at www.mcgill.ca/students. This information is not available by telephone. No student will be allowed to enter an examination later than one hour after it has started.
Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2011-2012 (last updated Feb. 3, 2012) (disclaimer)
Final Examinations: Deferred Examinations
Final Examinations: Deferred Examinations
If, for serious reasons such as illness or family affliction, you have not written one or more examinations, you may receive the permission of your Faculty Student Affairs Office or Service Point (for students in the Faculties of Arts or Science) upon providing supporting documentation to defer the examination to the next deferred/supplemental examination period, except for courses administered by the Faculty of Engineering (where students write the examination the next time the course is given); see Deferred Examinations: Faculty of Engineering. You should provide supporting evidence such as an appropriate medical report as soon as possible. You should be aware that the University will only defer examinations for compelling reasons, verified and accepted by the Student Affairs Office or Service Point.
If you are in one of the following faculties, you must apply for deferred examinations on Minerva (www.mcgill.ca/minerva): Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Arts, Education, Engineering, Religious Studies, Science, School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, School of Social Work, and the School of Continuing Studies. If you do not belong to one of the above faculties, consult your faculty for application procedures.
The final application deadline in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Arts, Science, Education, Engineering, Management and the School of Continuing Studies for deferred examinations is January 15 (for Fall term courses), and May 15 (for Winter term courses and courses that span the Fall and Winter terms).
If your request is approved, an L will appear in place of a grade in those courses. The grade you obtain on the deferred examination will replace the grade of L on your official transcript.
If you receive a grade of D, F, J, or U in a course after a deferred examination, no supplemental examinations will be available. You must either re-register in the same course the following term or in an approved course substitute.
For Summer term courses, check with your Student Affairs Office on the availability and restrictions of deferred examinations.
If you have already written an examination, you cannot later request for the exam to be deferred. You should consult your Student Affairs Office regarding the availability of supplemental examinations.
Note for the Faculties of Arts and Science (including B.A. & Sc.): Submit your supporting documents to Service Point (3415 McTavish Street). However, it is important that you also see a Faculty adviser in Dawson Hall to talk about your options and the effects that your request may have on your studies. For more information, see www.mcgill.ca/students/advising.
Note for the Faculty of Engineering: You should refer to Deferred Examinations: Faculty of Engineering for more information on the Faculty of Engineering policies on deferred exams.
Revision, August 2011. Start of revision.
Note for the Faculty of Law: You should refer to www.mcgill.ca/law-studies/information/exams/#DEFSUP for more information on the Faculty of Law policies on deferred exams.
Note for the Schulich School of Music: A Music student who has not cleared a grade of L by mid-May is ineligible for scholarships.
Revision, August 2011. End of revision.
If you are not granted deferred status, you will receive a grade of J in the course, which will count as a failure in the TGPA and CGPA. You may, however, be allowed to write a supplemental examination. Please note that there are no supplemental exams in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences or Management courses. For the Faculty of Engineering, supplemental exams are exceptionally offered for some Science, Humanities and Social Sciences courses. For a list of these courses, see the Faculty of Engineering website (www.mcgill.ca/engineering).
Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2011-2012 (last updated Aug. 16, 2011) (disclaimer)
Deferred Examinations: Faculty of Engineering
Deferred Examinations: Faculty of Engineering
A detailed letter in support of the application must be entered in the "reason(s) for deferral" section of the application on Minerva.
You must submit supporting documentation to the Engineering Student Centre (Frank Dawson Adams Building, Room 22) within one week of the missed examination.
For requests due to medical reasons, a deferral is granted only if the nature of the illness is serious enough to justify absence from the examination. The date of the missed exam and the nature of the illness must be clearly indicated on the medical certificate. Medical certificates stating "medical reasons" and illegible documents will not be accepted.
If you miss your examination for reasons other than medical reasons, you must submit supporting documentation from the appropriate authority which covers the date of the missed exam, where applicable.
You are required to frequently verify the status of your deferred application on Minerva to determine whether any additional information is required by the Student Affairs Office, Engineering Student Centre.
You will receive an email notification once a deferred examination application decision has been made.
Rules and regulations:
- Deferred exams for courses administered by the Faculty of Engineering are written during the final examination period the next time the course is offered, excluding the summer term. The final examination schedule is available at www.mcgill.ca/students.
- The following courses are administered by the Faculty of Engineering: CHEM 233, COMP 208, EPSC 221, MATH 262, MATH 263, MATH 264, MATH 270, MATH 271, MATH 363, MATH 381 and PHYS 271.
- If taking the deferred exam will delay your graduation, you should indicate this by adding a comment in your deferral application on Minerva. The Student Affairs Office may grant an earlier deferral exam in such cases, and will notify you via your ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ email.
- For each deferred examination that is approved, an L (deferred) grade will appear on your record, but will not appear on official transcripts after the final grade has been determined. The grade you will receive in the deferred examination will replace the grade that you would have received in the original final exam. An L grade will be replaced by a J if you miss the NEXT deferred or regular examination in the course, whichever happens first.
- The format of the deferred examination will not necessarily be identical to the original final examination of the same course. You are responsible for contacting the professor if you require information about the deferred examination format.
- If you have written your final examination, you may not request that the exam be deferred.
- You are not permitted to redo any portion of the coursework such as assignments, projects, labs, midterms, quizzes, etc. (i.e., all grades previously obtained will be calculated with the final grade of the deferred examination to determine the final grade).
- Once a deferred exam has been granted, you may write no more than six final examinations per term. This will give you sufficient time during the term and the examination period to properly prepare for your deferred examination(s).
- The Faculty of Engineering does not grant extensions to deferred examinations.
Non-Engineering Courses
Non-Engineering Courses
Deferred examinations for courses administered by the following faculties are offered during the supplemental/deferred examination period:
The supplemental/deferred examination schedule is available at www.mcgill.ca/students/exams/supdefer.
School of Continuing Studies Courses
School of Continuing Studies Courses
Deferred exams for courses administered by the School of Continuing Studies are offered during the next term's final examination period. The final examination schedule for School of Continuing Studies courses is available at www.mcgill.ca/conted/studentres/records/exams.
Summer Studies
Summer Studies
For courses offered in the Summer term, you must submit a written request (with supporting documentation) for deferred examinations to the Engineering Student Centre (FDA 22) no later than four days after the date of the missed final examination.
For courses administered by the Faculty of Engineering, the deferred examination is written during the final examination period the next time the course is offered. For non-Engineering courses, the date will be determined by Summer Studies and you will be notified via your ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ email.
The final examination schedule for Summer Studies courses is available at www.mcgill.ca/summer/finalexams/.
Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2011-2012 (last updated Aug. 16, 2011) (disclaimer)
Final Examinations: Reassessments and Rereads
Final Examinations: Reassessments and Rereads
In accordance with the Charter of Students' Rights, and subject to its stated conditions, you have the right to consult any written submission for which you have received a grade. You also have the right to discuss this submission with the examiner. If you want to have a formal final examination reread, you must apply in writing to your Student Affairs Office (the Associate Dean, Student Affairs, in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and in the Schulich School of Music), or Service Point if you are a student in the Faculty of Arts or the Faculty of Science. You should check with that office regarding application deadlines for formal rereads.
Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2011-2012 (last updated Feb. 3, 2012) (disclaimer)
Reassessments and Rereads: Faculties of Arts and Science (including B.A. & Sc.)
Reassessments and Rereads: Faculties of Arts and Science (including B.A .& Sc.)
There are two recognized types of impartial reviews, i.e., reassessments or rereads:
- reassessment of coursework (term papers, mid-terms, assignments, quizzes, etc.);
- reread of a final exam.
In both cases, rather than recorrect the work and then grade it as they would have done themselves, reviewers assess the appropriateness of the original grade based, for example, on the application of the grading key to the student's work. If a grade is deemed unfair, it is changed, whether the new grade is higher or lower than the original, i.e., the reviewer's grade takes precedence over the original grade.
Reassessment of Coursework
Reassessment of Coursework
These reassessments are administered and conducted solely by the units involved according to procedures specified by the units and made available to staff and students. Requests for such reassessments must be made within 10 working days after the graded material(s) has been made available for students to view. Reassessments should normally be completed within 20 working days of the request.
Rereads of Final Examinations
Rereads of Final Examinations
These rereads are administered by Service Point, but conducted by the units involved. You must make a request to Service Point by March 31 for courses in the Fall term, and by September 30 for courses in the Winter or Summer terms (these deadlines are strictly enforced and no requests will be accepted once they have passed). You are assessed a fee of $35 for such rereads. It is strongly recommended, but not required, that you consult with the instructor of the course before requesting a reread of a final exam.
Reassessments and rereads in courses not in the Faculties of Arts and Science are subject to the deadlines, rules, and regulations of the relevant faculty.
Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2011-2012 (last updated Feb. 3, 2012) (disclaimer)
Reassessments and Rereads: Faculty of Law
Reassessments and Rereads: Faculty of Law
Revision, August 2011. Start of revision.
For information on the Faculty of Law's grade review regulations (rereads of failed examinations, rereads of failing assignments, and review of final evaluations) refer to: www.mcgill.ca/law-studies/information/exams/#REVIEWS.
Revision, August 2011. End of revision.
Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2011-2012 (last updated Aug. 16, 2011) (disclaimer)
Rereads: Faculty of Engineering
Rereads: Faculty of Engineering
You can request a formal reread of a final examination once you have discussed it with your instructor. You must complete a Request for a Reread of a Final Exam form and submit it to the Student Affairs Office, Engineering Student Centre.
The following regulations apply:
- You may request rereads for only one course per term, unless you obtain permission from the Student Affairs Office, Engineering Student Centre.
- Grades may be either raised or lowered as the result of a reread.
- A $35 fee for each reread will be assessed directly to your ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ account if the result remains the same or is lowered. If the grade is raised, there is no charge.
Reread application deadlines:
Non-Engineering courses: Rereads in courses not in the Faculty of Engineering are subject to the deadlines, rules, and regulations of the relevant faculty.
Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2011-2012 (last updated Feb. 3, 2012) (disclaimer)
Additional Work: Faculty of Science (including B.A. & Sc.)
Additional Work: Faculty of Science (including B.A. & Sc.)
Instructors of courses that include graded, written term work may choose to provide the option of additional work to eligible students. The following conditions apply:
- if there is an option for additional work, it must be announced in the course outline at the beginning of the course;
- additional work involves revising one or more previously submitted papers or submitting new written work to replace the original work;
- you must be in satisfactory or probationary standing;
- you must have received a final grade of D, J, F, or U in the course;
- the weight of the additional work will be equal to the weight given to the work that was revised or replaced when the original grade was submitted;
- the grade resulting from the revised or additional work will be recorded as a supplemental grade;
- the supplemental result will not replace the grade originally obtained, which is used in calculating the GPA; both the original grade and the supplemental grade will count in calculating the CGPA;
- in courses in which both a supplemental examination and additional work are available, you may choose the additional work or the examination or both; where both are written, only one supplemental grade will be submitted, reflecting grades for both the supplemental examination and the additional work;
- additional work in courses outside the Faculty of Science (including B.A. & Sc.) is subject to the deadlines, rules, and regulations of the relevant faculty.
Note for the Faculty of Science (including B.A. & Sc.): Requests are made at Service Point (3415 McTavish). However, it is important that you also see a Faculty adviser in Dawson Hall to talk about your options and the effects that your request may have on your studies. For more information, see www.mcgill.ca/students/advising.
Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2011-2012 (last updated Aug. 16, 2011) (disclaimer)
Supplemental Examinations
Supplemental Examinations
To write a supplemental examination for a course, you must submit a request on Minerva (www.mcgill.ca/minerva) by going to Student Menu > Student Records Menu > Supplemental Exam Application.
The following rules and conditions apply:
- You must be in Satisfactory or Probationary Standing;
- You must have received a final grade of D, F, J, or U in the course;
- A $35 non-refundable fee for each supplemental exam application is assessed at the time of application and charged directly to your ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ account;
- Only one supplemental examination is allowed in a course;
- Supplemental examinations are available for most courses given in the Faculties of Arts, Science, Education, Religious Studies and Social Work;
- Supplemental examinations are not available for courses administered by Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Management, Music, or Engineering;
- Special permission is required if you want to write supplemental exams totalling more than 8 credits;
- The format of the supplemental examination (e.g., multiple-choice or essay questions) will not necessarily be the same as the final examination, so you should consult the instructor about the format;
- The supplemental result may or may not include the same proportion of class work as did the original grade; the instructor will announce the arrangements to be used for the course by the end of the course change period;
- The supplemental grade will not replace the grade originally obtained, which is used in calculating the GPA; both the original mark and the supplemental result will be calculated in the CGPA;
- For courses in which both a supplemental examination and additional work are available, you may choose the additional work, or the examination, or both; where both are written, only one supplemental mark will be submitted, reflecting marks for both the supplemental examination and the additional work;
- There are no supplemental examinations for Summer courses;
- Additional credit will not be given for a supplemental exam where the original grade for the course was a D and you already received credit for the course;
- No supplemental examinations are available if you fail to achieve a satisfactory grade in a course with a deferred examination;
- Supplemental examinations in courses outside your faculty are subject to the deadlines, rules and regulations of the relevant faculty.
You must frequently verify the status of your supplemental exam application on Minerva for any additional information required by your Student Affairs Office. Once your application has been approved you will receive a confirmation email at your ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ email address.
If you register for a supplemental examination but find yourself unprepared for it, you should not write the exam; except for the loss of the application fee, there is no penalty for missing a supplemental examination. You should consult your Student Affairs Office for further information. It is important that you also see a faculty adviser to talk about your options and the effects that your request may have on your studies. For more information, see www.mcgill.ca/students/advising.
You must verify the date and time of the supplemental examination, and make yourself available to write the exam. Dates can be found at www.mcgill.ca/students/exams/dates.
Revision, June 2011. Start of revision.
Note for Continuing Studies: Availability of supplemental exams and the conditions under which you will be permitted to take them are different in each academic area.
Revision, June 2011. End of revision.
Note for Faculties of Arts and Science (including B.A. & Sc.): It
is important that you also see a Faculty adviser in Dawson Hall to talk about your options and the effects that your request may have on your studies.
For more information, see www.mcgill.ca/students/advising.
Note for the Faculty of Engineering: Supplemental examinations are available for courses in the Faculty of Science (including Year 0 (freshman) math and science courses) and the Faculty of Arts. Supplemental examinations are not available for the following Engineering courses: CHEM 233, COMP 208, EPSC 221, MATH 262, MATH 263, MATH 264, MATH 270, MATH 271, MATH 363, MATH 381 and PHYS 271.
Revision, August 2011. Start of revision.
Note for the Faculty of Law: Regular supplemental examinations are available to a student who has failed a course, but who is not required to withdraw from the Faculty. Regular supplemental examinations may be written in up to two courses that do not exceed a total of seven credits together, or in any one course even if it exceeds seven credits.
Supplemental examinations are written at the Law Faculty in the month of August. For more information, see Supplemental Examinations at www.mcgill.ca/law-studies/information/exams.
Revision, August 2011. End of revision.
Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2011-2012 (last updated Aug. 16, 2011) (disclaimer)
Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2011-2012 (last updated Feb. 3, 2012) (disclaimer)