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RULES FOR TEACHING AND EXAMINATIONS

Method of Assessment
At the beginning of each module, students will be notified of the methods of assessment to be used for that module.
Examination Timetable
Timetables will be displayed on the appropriate notice boards; the complete timetable is displayed in the ground floor office.
Candidates should notify the examination section of the Academic Registry in writing immediately if they believe there is an error or an omission on the timetable.
The Final Exams Timetable for February and June will be on display one month before the first exam each year. All candidates should check the final timetable to note any changes from the provisional version, and also record the location of their papers.
Open Book Examination
Where the method of assessment is shown as an open book examination, candidates will be notified in advance by the lectures approved books, materials and documents they will be permitted to take into the Exam Hall/Room. These will also be indicated on the front of the examination paper. Such item should bear no marks or notes of any kind other than underlining, highlighting, the name of the owner and anything which is regarded as normal in their nature or construction.
Use of Dictionaries and Codices
The use of dictionaries and codices is permitted in all examinations unless otherwise indicated on the examination paper. Such dictionaries shall bear no marks of any kind that might subject the candidate the unfair practice procedure.
Use of Pocket Electronic Calculators
The use of pocket electronic calculators is permitted in examinations except when the use of such calculators is specially debarred by the Examining Board concerned – this will be stated in the schedule of assessment issued to students and also in the rubric of the examination paper.
Use of Mobile Phones
In no case the use of mobiles phones is permitted except when its use is expressly preview by the Examination Board concerned.
Material Provided in Examination Hall/Room
When it is indicated on the rubric of the examination paper candidates will be provided with copies of mathematical tables and such books, table and charts as the examiners consider necessary.
Candidates are reminded that they must provide their own pens, pencils, rulers, and also any item of special stationery supplied to them in advance by the department for use in a particular examination.
Matriculation Numbers
Candidates sitting Examination will be required to insert their Matriculation Numbers onto answer books and attendance slips. Matriculation Numbers can be obtained from the Academic Registry. A list of candidates for Examinations, giving the Matriculation Number, will also be displayed outside each Examination Hall/Room.
Special Circumstances Affecting Performance of Candidates in Examinations
1. Prior to Examination
  A student should report any special circumstances which may have an effect on his/her performance in an examination to the Chair of the Examining Board as soon as the circumstances arise and before the examination is due to be taken. The report should be supported by all necessary documentary evidence, including medical certificates.
2. Failure to supply the appropriate documentary evidence justifies the Examining Board in disregarding the alleged circumstances.
3. During the examination
  Special circumstances which arise during an examination should be reported by the candidate at the time they occur to the Senior Invigilator present at the examination. At the end of the examination the Senior Invigilator will inform the Academic Registrar on the form provided in the examination hall.
4. Procedure for drawing special circumstances to the attention of Examining Board
  The personal tutor, Academic Dean, Senior Invigilator or Academic Registrar, as the case may be, to whose attention special circumstances are drawn, is required to report these circumstances to the Chair of the Examining Board who shall be responsible for coordinating the presentation to the Examining Board of all available evidence, including medical certificates.
5. The School shall reserve the right to consult a Medical Practitioner in relation to medical circumstances reported.
6. Candidates who are physically disabled from writing a script may answer papers by means of an amanuensis or by using a typewriter, a word processor, micro writer or other appropriate means. Any amanuensis or equipment shall be selected by the Academic Registrar in consultation with the Academic Dean. If a word processor or micro writer is to be used, a new disc should be issued at the start of each examination. The examination shall in either case be conducted in a separate room under the supervision of a nominated Invigilator who shall not normally be a member of the Examining Board concerned.
Procedure in Examination Hall/Room
Candidates will be admitted to the Examination Hall/Room approximately ten minutes before the examination is due to begin. All bags, briefcases, note books, etc. must be left either outside the Examination Hall/Room or, at the discretion of the Senior Invigilator, in a place allocated for this purpose inside the Hall/Room. Candidates bringing unauthorized material to their examination desk will be subject to the unfair practice procedure.
No candidate will be permitted to enter the Examination Hall/Room after half-an-hour from the beginning of the examination, and no candidate will be allowed to withdraw from the examination until thirty minutes from the beginning of the examination. No candidate will be permitted to leave the Examination Hall/Room during the last fifteen minutes of an examination. At the end of the examination you must remain seated until all scripts have been collected and accounted for. You will then be permitted to leave the hall.
A candidate wishing to leave the room momentarily for personal reasons will be allowed to do so accompanied by an Invigilator or other attendant. No candidate who has handed in his/her work script and left the Hall/Room will be allowed to re-enter it during that examination.
Candidates arriving late for an examination will not be permitted any extra time. The circumstances should be reported in writing to the Examining Board by the candidate.
Answer books should be completed using both sides of the paper. The use of scrap paper is prohibited; all rough work must be done in the answer books and crossed out. No paper or other material provided in the Examination Hall/Room may be removed from that Hall/Room except the question paper.
Unfair Practice
1. Definition
  It is an unfair practice to commit any act whereby a person might obtain for himself/herself or for another an non permitted advantage leading to a higher mark or grade than his/her abilities would otherwise secure. In particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, it is unfair practice to:
  1. Introduce into an examination room any unauthorized form of materials such as book (including mathematical tables), manuscript or loose papers of any kind or any source of unauthorized information.
  2. Communicate with any other person in the examination room except as authorized by an Invigilator.
  3. Copy or use any other way unauthorized materials or the work of any other candidate.
  4. Impersonate an examination candidate or allow oneself to be impersonated.
  5. Engage in plagiarism by using other people’s work and submitting it for examination as though it were one’s work.
  6. Claim either to have carried out experiments, observations, interviews or any form of research which one has not in fact carried out or to claim to have obtained results which have not in fact been obtained.
2. Procedure in Case of Unfair Practice
  A Committee of Enquiry will investigate allegations of unfair practice. The Committee will be drawn from a Standing Panel of Enquiry consisting of the Academic Dean, Academic Registrar and the Chair of the Examinations Board.
3. Penalties imposed on Candidates found guilty of unfair examination practice
  The penalty shall be one of the following:
  1. The cancellation of the candidate’s mark for the whole paper or other assessment component in question and, where applicable, the postponement of the candidate’s qualification for a degree to the following academic session.
  2. The cancellation of the candidate’s marks in the examination as a whole.
  3. The cancellation of the candidate’s marks in the examination as a whole and the disqualification of the candidate from any future examination.
Any candidate making use of any unfair practice in assessed work or in an examination will be reported to the Academic Registrar. The candidate will be permitted to continue with his/her examination, and any subsequent examination without prejudice to any decision which may be made later.
Absence from Examinations
A student who has been absent from any part of an examination must send a written explanation to the Academic Registrar without delay. In the case of absence through illness or accident a medical certificate shall also be submitted.
The following provisions relate to absence from examinations with “reasonable cause” which, for the purpose of these regulations, shall be limited to absence though illness, accident or close bereavement. Absence arising from any other cause shall not constitute “reasonable cause” for the purpose of these regulations. Candidates who are absent from any examination without any reasonable cause shall be awarded no marks for each examination missed.
A candidate who has been absent from any written examination paper in a School session or final examination shall send a written explanation supported by a medical certificate or other evidence as appropriate to the Academic Registrar without delay. The Academic Registrar shall forward this information plus supporting evidence to the Examination Board who shall decide whether or not it constitute reasonable cause.
Where the Examination Board is satisfied that a candidate has been absent with reasonable cause he/she shall, wherever practicable, require the candidate to sit, before the meeting of the Examinations Board, a supplementary paper in each of the written papers that have been missed and shall inform the Academic Registrar of the decision. Such a supplementary paper shall be deemed a first sitting of that particular paper and shall be dealt with by the Examinations Board accordingly.
Meetings of the Examinations Board
The date on which the Examinations Board is due to meet will be published on the appropriate notice boards. Examiners have the right to examine any candidate orally at their discretion and will expect all candidates to be available. In determining a candidate’s results the Examinations Board will take into consideration any special circumstances which have been reported.
Pass Lists
Pass lists for School examinations are produced after the conclusion of the meeting of the appropriate Examining Boar and the approval of the validation institution. These will be posted on the relative notice bards. It will be the candidate’s own responsibility to ascertain his/her examination result from an official Pass List signed by the Academic Registrar or his/her nominee.
Unsuccessful Candidates
A candidate who fails to satisfy the examiners will receive confirmation from the Registrar or his/her nominee in writing of their referent/failure and the options open to him/her as soon as practicable after the issue of the Examination Pass List.
Such candidates will be required to signify acceptance of one of the options offered to them by the Examinations Board by completing and returning the appropriate pro-forma to the Academic Registry by the date indicated below.
1. Immediately for students permitted to take referred examinations
2. By September 14 for students who repeat a year as internal candidates
3. By October 18 for those students re-sitting the examinations as external candidates.
Provided that any re-sit fee which may be due has been paid in full and that there are no other outstanding charges, the Academic Registry will notify candidates who are referred or who are resetting as external candidates of the dates, times and locations of their examinations.
However it will be responsibility of the candidate:
1. To notify the Academic Registrar of their current address and any subsequent change of address prior to the examination(s).
2. To contact the Academic Registrar should a timetable not be received in good time prior to the commencement of the examinations.
Students resetting examinations as external candidates who have not submitted payment of the required re-sit fee will not be registered for the re-sit examination and will not be sent the relevant examination timetable.
Referred Examinations
Those candidates who are referred by the Examinations Boards and Are required to pass in the referred part or parties of the examination before being eligible to proceed to the next academic stage or part of the course, should note that such examinations are usually held in early October for a maximum period of two weeks.
Disclosure of Examinations Marks
Marks for examinations shall be disclosed to individual candidates on request and shall correspond to the component part of the scheme of the study as listed in the schedule of assessment, and where appropriate, shall include marks awarded for oral examinations.
Written requests for disclosure should be directed to the Chair of the Examinations Board concerned. Oral information regarding marks can be obtained from the individual’s lecturers.
Verification and Appeals for School Examinations.
1. The only body vested with the power of decision on examination results is the relevant Course Examining Board. The Examining Board concerned also has the power to decide upon the disposal of failed candidates in accordance with the School Regulations.
2. A candidate in an examination may appeal on the following grounds only:
  - The assessment published by the School contains arithmetical or other errors of fact.
  - Defects of irregularities in the conduct of examinations or in written instructions or advice relating thereto when such defects, irregularities or advice can be shown to have had an adverse effect on the candidate’s performance.
  - Exceptional personal circumstances which were not known, and which could not have been made known, to the Examining Board when the candidate was assessed and which could be shown to have had an adverse effect on the candidate’s performance.
3. Any candidate who wishes to appeal against a decision of the Examining Board must notify the Academic Registrar in writing within seven days of the date of the publication of the Pass List by the Academic Registry. The grounds for appeal must be clearly stated and relevant documentary evidence appended.
4. The Academic Registrar shall forward the appeal to the Academic Dean who shall convene a meeting of the Committee of Enquiry (Examinations)
5. The Dean is required to disallow an appeal which is based wholly on factors which were known to the Examining Board concerned when the candidate’s result was determined; and also to disallow appeals based on exceptional personal circumstances which were not known to the Examining Board when the candidate was assessed where the candidate is unable to show good reason why such circumstances could not have been made known to the Examining Board before its meeting.
6. If consideration of an appeal is permitted, the Dean shall arrange for a meeting of the Committee of Enquiry (Examinations).
7. The candidate may, if he/she so wishes, present his/her appeal in person and may be accompanied by a friend. He/she shall be given seven days’ notice of the meeting of the Committee.
8. Where an appeal is upheld by the Committee, the Dean will ask the relevant Examining Board to re-convene as a matter of urgency to review the case in the light of the Committee’s findings. It will not necessarily follow that a candidate’s result shall be changed from the result originally published by the Examining Board.
9. The Academic Registrar shall inform the appellant of the outcome of his/her appeal, and, if appropriate, issue a supplementary pass list.
10. This complete the verification and appeals procedure and no further submissions shall be considered.
THE AVOIDANCE OF PLAGIARISMS
The model Notes of Guidance reproduced below are typical notes issued by UK University Institutions to their students. They are offered here as a guide for everyone since plagiarism is potentially a problem for all students, whatever their academic discipline. Not all department actually observe these particular conventions as regards the acknowledgement of the use of others’ words; you will, however, be given specific guidance by your department, relevant to your subject of study, on the avoidance of plagiarism and the system of reference that you are expected to employ in your written work.
If you are in any doubt as to the nature of plagiarism or how to avoid it, you should discuss the matter with your tutor/academic adviser/supervisor.
MODEL NOTES OF GUIDANCE ON THE AVOIDANCE OF PLAGIARISM
1. Plagiarism means the use of the ideas or words of others without acknowledging them as such. It is an academic tradition and a scientific correctness that the ideas or words of another are not used without acknowledgement. Student must adhere to this rule. Furthermore, the mark for written work in part reflect the student’s understanding of the subject of the essay. If he or she has merely repeated the words of another, it is difficult to assess the student’s understanding and so to award marks for it. It is, therefore, totally unacceptable for students to plagiarize in their written work whether assessed or non-assessed. If they do so, their mark will be affected and, in the case of assessed work, they will also have committed unfair examination practice.
2. Students may, of course, make use of the ideas of others. However, this must be acknowledged according to the following conventions.
3. Each use of ideas or words of another must be individually acknowledged in a footnote. In addition each work consulted must be listed in the bibliography. The mere presence of a work in the bibliography does not override the need for acknowledging each individual use of that work in a footnote and, though necessary, is by itself insufficient.
4. Any use of the exact words of another must be acknowledged by enclosing them in quotation marks and by stating their source in a footnote. For Example:
  “Inequality of bargaining can arise either from the general structure and circumstances of the market place, or from the individual personal circumstances of one or both parties”(1)
  (1) J. R. Peden, The Law of Unjust Contracts, 1982, p.39.
  This applies however long or short the quotation.
5. If only a passage from a book is being used, this should be indicated by replacing the omitted words with a short series of dots. For example:
  “The common law doctrine of unconscionability is based upon certain elements of justice…. but is never sought to achieve distributive or commutative justice” (2)
  (2) J.R. Peden, The Law of Unjust Contracts, 1982, p.39.
  This applies however long or short the quotation and however long or short the omissions.
6. You may wish to alter the words being quoted so as to fit them into the context in which you are using the quotation, or to overcome the problem that the quotation may not make sense when taken out of its own context. Omitted words should be dealt with as above. Any words added should be enclosed in square brackets. For example:
  “This principle [sanctity of contracts] is closely associated with that of freedom of contracts…..(3)
  (3) J.R. Peden, The Law of Unjust Contracts, 1982, p.9.
  The words in square brackets have been added so that the quotation makes sense, and auto avoid quoting another passage that necessary simply to set it in its context. The series of dots at the end indicates that the quotation has been truncated.
7. If you do not have access to the original source of a quotation but have found it quoted in the work of someone else, you should give the original source (which the author you have found should have quoted) and the reference where you found it. For example, a footnote might read like this:
  (1) Gwynne v Heaton (1978), 1 Bro C C 1, at p. 9, 28 E R 949, at p.953 per Lord Thurlow L C, quoted by J. R. Peden, The Law of Unjust Contract, 1982, p.19.
8. If you are not using the exact words of another, but are making use of one of his ideas, this should be acknowledged in a footnote referring to the author, the work, the reference if it is in a periodical, and to its page. In addition you may wish to acknowledge your source in the body of your essay in this way:
  As Professor Peden has argued, etc.
  Or
  As Professor Peden in his work on unjust contracts has argued, etc.
  (Remember that, in either of the above example, you should still provide a footnote detailing where Professor Peden’s argument may be found.)
9. The above guidelines are strict rules of SWBL, and specifically directed at avoidance of plagiarism.