Educational and Examination Regulations: Examination regulations

3 Examination regulations

General rules

3.1 Examination

An examination consists of all evaluation activities aimed at checking whether and to which extent students have acquired the competences of a course unit and thus have met the course unit objectives.

Methods of examination

3.2 Assessment methods

An assessment method is determined for each examination, such as contact examination, continuous assessment, an assignment or a combination of these methods. The assessment method used is determined by the relevant head of department based on the course committee’s recommendation and taking into account the course unit objectives. The ECTS course abstract mentions the method of assessment.

3.3 Contact examination

A contact examination is the assessment of study performance of a course unit or a course subunit by a ‘snapshot’ type of assessment at the end of an education activity or at the end of a semester. A contact examination may consist of a written, oral or practical examination, or a combination of such examinations. The format of each contact examination is described in the study guide/ECTS course abstracts.
At examination time students have to bring their student ID card and present it to the examiner or invigilator at their request.
Students who cannot present their student ID card as requested by the examiner or invigilator, will be barred from taking the examination.
After every contact examination students sign the examination list.
Students are required to comply with all practical rules pertaining to the examination process and which are communicated by the examiner and the invigilator.
In case of an oral contact examination, a written preparation of at least 20 minutes is allowed, unless otherwise stated in the course catalogue; students are not required to use this preparation time.
After oral examinations with written preparation, the examiner is entitled to claim the written preparatory notes.
During examinations, students are not allowed to carry a handheld information device or any other electronic means of communication, unless after approval from the examiner, invigilator or ombudsperson. Its presence will be considered equivalent to fraud.

3.4 Assignment serving as examination

An assignment serving as examination consists of an assessment of work done by a student individually or as a member of a group and thus demonstrating his academic performance for a course unit or a course subunit.
The format requirements and the due date for handing out and submitting the assignment have to be strictly met. The due dates will be formally communicated to the students at the start of the course unit.Only in exceptional cases, which are decided by the instructor, the due date for completing the assignment may be altered. In that case, a new due date is determined, taking into account the period during which the student was not able to accomplish work for his assignment.
If an assignment is prepared by a group of students, the group as a whole becomes responsible for the completed assignment. However, the marks of the group members may differ based on a student’s individual contribution. If a member of the group does not observe the arrangements made by the group as a whole, his co-students are required to notify the examiner without delay.
Plagiarism, reproducing fabricated results, using material or techniques and similar methods that are not allowed in order to evade actually carrying out the assignment, are prohibited. Violations of these rules are taken into account at assessment and may be considered fraud, according to the circumstances.

3.5 Continuous assessment

Continuous assessment of academic performance with regard to a course unit or a course subunit occurs during the period in which the education activities take place. It involves a permanent assessment of the student’s development process.
The results of the various observations and evaluations, all drafts of assignments and finished assignments that a student submitted are compiled in an assessment file.
When assessing a student’s work, the opinion of all persons involved in the process are taken into consideration.
The punctuality of the student with regard to keeping appointments in view of continuous assessment may also be taken into consideration when the result is determined.
If a student is not able to attend the majority of appointments in view of assessing his work due to illness or a force majeure, it has to be decided, at the latest, by the end of the absence whether it is still possible to achieve a well-founded overall assessment. If this cannot be achieved, the student must be notified as soon as possible. A partial assessment may serve as overall assessment.

Organisation of examinations

3.6 The examination periods

An examination period is part of an academic year when several contact examinations yet no education nor study activities are organised, with the exception of revisions and other activities of student counselling which students may choose to take part in. During an examination period it is not allowed under any circumstances to introduce new subject matters.Onverminderd artikel 3.11 worden per academiejaar drie examenperiodes georganiseerd:
Without prejudice to the provisions set forth in article 3.11, three examination periods are organised per academic year:
• The first examination period takes places in January at the end of the first semester
• The second examination period takes places in June at the end of the second semester
• a third examination period in August/September
The start and end dates of the examination periods are mentioned in the course catalogue.
Organisation of examinations of the abbreviated courses, the advanced bachelor and the postgraduate certificate courses may differ from the regulations mentioned under 2.

3.7 January examination period

In principle, contact examinations of all course units of the first semester will take place during the January examination period. These examinations are considered first examination opportunities.

3.8 June examination period

In principle, it is possible to take contact examinations of all course units of the second semester during the June examination period.
In certain cases the first examination opportunity of course units of the first semester may be postponed until the June examination period. This applies to:

Examinations which could not be taken in the January examination period at the predetermined time for reasons of force majeure and which could not be moved to a different time during the same examination period
Examinations for which the student obtained permission from the head of department to postpone his or her first examination opportunity until the June examination period; to this end the student will consult with the study counselling office before submitting a written and well-founded request to the head of department on or before 1 December; the head of department will communicate the decision before 15 December
Students with course units in the first semester totalling over 36 ECTS Credits; they are allowed to postpone the first examination opportunity of one or more course units to the June examination period, hence the course units for which examinations have to be taken in the January examination period will amount to a maximum of 33 ECTS Credits. The students determine the course units to be postponed after discussion with the heads of the study itinerary coaching services who will communicate the decision to the student administration office before 15 December.

3.9 The August/September examination period

During the August/September examination period students may use the second examination opportunity for all course units, unless this opportunity has already been exhausted in June based on a decision by the course director or at a student’s request.

3.10 Partial examinations

For course units covering the entire academic year, the first examination opportunity will be during the examination period concluding the second semester. However, the study programme committee may decide to organise an examination for a course subunit in the first semester and to record a mark for this particular course subunit. All this will be described in the study guide.

3.11 Alternative examination periods

If the education activities of a course unit or course subunit do not cover an entire semester, the corresponding contact examination may be organised within two weeks after the end of these education activities. In this case the day and time of the contact examination is mentioned in the study guide.
Between the beginning of the academic year and the third Friday of October one or more examinations per course may be organised. This will allow students, who enrol in a Leuven University College course for the first time, to prove that they have acquired the necessary competences of certain course units or course subunits. The specific stipulations and the list of course units involved are mentioned in the study guide. The student who takes such an examination, uses his first examination opportunity of the course unit involved.

3.12 Location, day and time

Except in cases of force majeure or motivated exception (which the relevant head of department will assess), all contact examinations will be held in a Leuven University College (class)room.
The contact examinations may take place Monday through Friday between 8am and 10pm and Saturdays between 8am and 6pm.
Taking into account the feasibility of organising the examinations and the academic calendar which determines the vacation periods of the staff, all study programmes aspire to employ the following principles:

an examination will not take more than four hours
there is sufficient time between two examinations
two examinations of different course units will not be organised at the same day.

The examination schedule is determined after consultation with the students. It will be determined in the study guide how consultation will take place.

In case technical or organisational problems arise during an examination or assessment activity, which jeopardise the schedule, the study programme is supposed to take appropriate and fair measures.

3.13 Public nature of examinations

Oral contact examinations may always be attended by a third person at the student’s request. The student must notify the relevant head of department in writing (by fax, by letter, by personal delivery with proof of receipt …), no later than eight calendar days before the day of the relevant examination.
An oral examination may be attended by another member of the teaching staff at the examiner’s request. This request must also be communicated to the relevant head of department by letter or by email.

The observer cannot be a student who must take the examination of that course unit in the same academic year, or a student who must be examined by the relevant examiner in the same academic year, nor a relative until the fourth degree.

The public nature of written examinations is ensured by the right of access. After the student’s written request to the relevant head of department, a third person may have access to the written examination documents while a member of the board of examiners is present.
The relevant head of department will inform all persons involved in the examination in a timely manner regarding a third person’s presence and this person’s identity.

In the case of continuous assessment, the assessment file may be accessed by a third person on conditions identical to those of the written examinations, and after a written request by the student to the relevant head of department.
If the examination is composed of an assignment , a third person may examine the student's work and be granted access to the comments accompanying the grade, after a student's written request to the head of department, and on conditions identical to those of the written examinations.

The person acting as a third person at the request of the student and/or staff member will be agreed upon by the head of department and the persons making such request. The third person must hold at least a degree of higher education. If a third person attends an oral examination, this person is not allowed to influence the examination process in any way.

3.14 Registering for examinations

A student is automatically registered for the first examination opportunity of a course unit in which he is enrolled, i.e. the examinations of the first semester in January and the examinations of the second semester in June, unless a student has been granted permission to postpone the first examination opportunity with regard to the examinations of the first semester to the examination period of June or unless a student exercises the right to do so because of the heavy study load during the first semester, as outlined in article 3.8. If a student wishes to take an examination at the next opportunity, he must register beforehand. Its period and conditions will be mentioned in the study guide.
If a student is registered for an examination as outlined under 1, he is supposed to have taken one of the examination opportunities, unless it can be established, as described in article 3.22, that he was prevented from taking the examination due to a situation beyond his control.

3.15 Notification of examination organisation

The entire detailed examination schedule of an examination period will be announced at least 30 calendar days before the start of this period. The notice will contain the day, time and location of the contact examinations, the name of the chairperson of the board of examiners and of the ombudsperson in charge.
Prior to this announcement, a first examination schedule is drafted and presented. From that time on all the people involved have at least seven calendar days to submit their written comments to the student counselling office. These comments are taken into account as much as possible.

Taking examinations

3.16 Permission for taking examinations

In order to be granted permission to take examinations, students must have complied with the admission requirements. The enrolment contract must be signed, the year programme must be drawn up and signed, the tuition fee must have been paid (or a payment settlement must have been agreed upon with the relevant services) and the student's administrative file must be complete (all necessary documents must have been submitted to the student administration office). Students are only allowed to take examinations related to course units on the signed year programme.

In addition, the study programme committee may decide that admission to a particular course unit will be contingent on the participation in certain activities or on the completion of certain assignments. These requirements will be mentioned in the study guide.

Students who do take examinations for which no permission has been granted, will not receive an examination mark and lose the examination opportunity.

3.17 Registration for graduation

Students wishing to graduate must register according to the provisions in the study guide. If students do not wish to graduate in case they obtain tolerable fail grades in the following examination period within the 10 % limit as mentioned in article 3.46, they are required to notify student administration one month before the start of the corresponding examination period.

3.18 Examination opportunities

Students are entitled to two examination opportunities per course unit enrolment.
These two examination opportunities may generally be used during the examination periods preceding the deliberation periods of January, June or September.
The second examination opportunity may not be used before the examination period following the deliberation period which validates the first examination opportunity. If a two-semester course unit consists of several course subunits, administrative/technical reasons require deliberation to take place only after the student has taken examination of all subunits of the two-semester course unit and the mark of the entire course unit has been determined.

The study programme decides whether the second examination opportunity will occur during the examination periods preceding the June deliberation period, or preceding the September deliberation period or preceding both deliberation periods. Individual students may request that the second examination opportunity will be moved to the other of both examination periods. The study guide will mention to whom and how the individual student must submit his request and what the deadline is.

3.19 Examination opportunities in case of continuous assessment

The right to two examination opportunities may not be exercised for course (sub)units to which entire or partial continuous assessment applies, unless the assessment takes place several times per academic year or may be replaced by an equivalent alternative examination. The study guide mentions whether a second examination opportunity within the same academic year may be used and under which conditions, with regard to course units evaluated through partial or full continuous assessment.

If a course (sub)unit is partially assessed through continuous assessment which cannot be repeated during the same academic year and which cannot be replaced by an alternative test, the result of the continuous assessment will stand in order to enable a second examination opportunity.

3.20 Second examination opportunity after earning credits

A student who obtained credits during the first examination opportunity for course units which allow a second examination opportunity, can use the second examination opportunity of the same academic year in order to obtain a better grade. Regulations with regard to using examination opportunities are outlined in article 3.18.

If the student wishes to use the second examination opportunity, he must notify the study programme no later than 5 calendar days after the communication of the results, i.e. of the credits earned during the first examination period, in accordance with the provisions outlined in the study guide.

If the student graduates, yet wishes to use the second examination opportunity for credits earned, he must notify the study programme no later than 24 hours after the communication of the results, i.e. of the credits earned during the first examination period, in accordance with the provisions outlined in the study guide. This student will be removed from the list of graduating students and will be able to graduate no sooner than after the next deliberation period. Possibly higher marks will be taken into consideration.

3.21 Limitations related to taking examinations

During one examination period a student may only take one examination per course unit, unless no result could be obtained for the first examination, due to circumstances for which the student cannot be held responsible. The head of department will decide in this particular situation.

3.22 Notification in case of force majeure and absence at evaluation activities

If a student is not able to participate in an assessment activity at a predetermined time because of a case of force majeure, he will notify the ombuds office as soon as possible or at least on the day of the evaluation activity. The ombuds office will examine the reason of the force majeure event and whether the assessment can take place at a different time.
If a student is prevented from participating in a contact examination, efforts are made to find an alternative time in the same examination period. If this is not possible, a January examination may be postponed until the June examination period. Thus, the two examination opportunities remain. In case of examinations of the second semester which cannot be switched to a different time during the same June examination period, the first examination opportunity is lost due to force majeure.
The student is required to hand in the necessary evidence proving the force majeure to the ombuds office as soon as possible. In case of a contact examination, this must be done before the start of the following examination that the student wishes to take and no later than the day after the last examination of the examination period; for all other assessment activities, this must be done no later than seven calendar days from the day of the assessment activity (if sent by mail, the postmark serves as proof).
If a student is absent at the assessment activity and , exceptionally, has not been able to notify the ombuds office in a timely manner because of an acceptable reason that he did not participate in an assessment activity at the determined time, he will notify the ombuds office as soon as possible. After talking to the student, this office will decide whether the student acted in good faith. In this case, and if possible, arrangements are made to assess the student at a later time, as mentioned under 1.
The student and the examiner are not allowed to jointly arrange a different examination schedule.
A student who wishes to withdraw from assessment activities or decides to abandon certain assessment activities, will notify the ombuds office immediately. The latter will notify the examiners involved and the administrative office as soon as possible. The corresponding examination opportunities will be lost.

Alternative examination regulations

3.23 Extraordinary personal circumstances

A student may request an alternative examination regulation because of extraordinary personal circumstances which may obstruct the normal course of his study programme. Examples of such circumstances are: disability, social problems, recognised top level athlete or artist status.

Modifications with regard to examination time, examination format, available examination time, authorised resources at examinations and schedule of continuous assessment activities may be permitted. A student may submit a well-founded deviation request to the ombuds office, accompanied by the required certificates or other evidence, no later than forty calendar days before the beginning of the examination periods. The head of department will make a decision based on the ombuds office recommendation and will take the necessary measures.

These measures will be communicated to the student, to the examiners involved and to the chairperson of the board of examiners. The measures will also become part of the deliberation minutes.

Examinations taken in another study programme or institution

3.24 Examinations at a different institution

If a student is granted permission to take course units or course subunits belonging to a different study programme and/or at a national or foreign institution of higher education, the examinations of these course units or course subunits will occur at a time and location determined by the institution involved.
The result of an examination taken at a different institution will be converted by the board of examiners according to the grading scale mentioned in article 3.29, if necessary.
Examination results for course units submitted after the board of examiners meetings have been concluded in a deliberation period X, will be entered during the deliberation period X+1 (e.g. from January to June).
Exceptions to this rule are allowed if:

the student can graduate in the relevant academic year x
it is the student’s first examination opportunity in the June deliberation period (examination opportunity for which he earned a fail mark)
it is a mark from the September deliberation period.

For these exceptions, every study programme can convene an additional board of examiners meeting until one month after the end of deliberation period X, while taking into account the terms of employment.

3.25 Absence during examination due to an exchange programme

A student who is absent from examinations as mentioned on the examination schedule because of participation in an exchange programme, may take aforementioned missed examinations at another time during the regular examination periods.

3.26 Internationalisation: replacing examinations by equivalent course units

If a student did not pass one or several course unit examinations taken abroad during the first examination opportunity, he will retake the examinations at the host institution. The student may substitute the second opportunity abroad with assessment activities of an equivalent course unit at Leuven University College, yet only after the head of department has received and approved the student’s well-founded request.

Examination process

3.27 Examiner

Each examination or partial examination will be assessed by the member of the teaching staff, called examiner hereafter, who teaches the course unit or course subunit to the student to be assessed, or, in cases as outlined under 3. and 4. by a substitute appointed by the relevant head of department. If study programmes do not wish to comply with the stipulation under 1, they must submit a request to the Academic Council.
Because of the professional orientation of the study programme, the examiner may be assisted by external experts, nonetheless the overall assessment responsibility resides exclusively with the official examiner. If applicable, the participation of external experts in the assessment is mentioned in the study guide.
An examiner may not conduct an examination if the examiner and the student are at least fourth-degree relatives or have a personal relationship which might prevent an objective assessment. Both are obliged to communicate this to the head of department through a written statement at least one month before the assessment takes place or begins. The head of department will appoint a substitute examiner.
In case of a force majeure event caused by the examiner, the head of department may decide that this regulation does not apply. The examination may:
a have a different format than initially planned
b be conducted by a substitute examiner
c be postponed to a later time of the same examination period; in this case the students will be notified as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

3.28 Auxiliary conditions

At the beginning and during the course, the lecturers or their substitutes will provide detailed information per course unit or per course unit component about the required ultimate goals, the learning contents, the examination subject matter, the mandatory and recommended course material, the method of examination and/or how the final result of continuous assessment is reached, the criteria of grading a project, as well as the weighting coefficients.
The head of department will ensure that every student is able to obtain the necessary course material (textbooks, course manuals, texts) in a timely manner. The time when course material has to be available at the latest, is determined by the volume of the material, the ways of learning and teaching, the relevant study load and the time of assessment.

3.29 Examination result

The result of each examination is expressed by a whole number between zero and twenty, while numbers equal to or greater than ten indicate that the student has passed the examination and rounding rules are respected; the combined results of a course unit, a course subunit are rounded down to the nearest whole number in case of a decimal between 0,1-0,4, and rounded up in case of decimal between 0,5-0,9.

The only exception is the examination of a course unit with a pass/fail grade. A ‘pass’ grade means that the student receives a credit, a ‘fail’ grade means that he has to retake the examination in order to receive a credit and a diploma, if that is the case.

If an examination consists of different parts, the overall result is determined by taking into account the different partial results. In general, the final mark will be the weighted average of the different partial marks based on the actual number of ECTS credits of the course subunits. The number of ECTS credits cannot be altered in any way.

If a student passes each partial examination, he will therefore pass the entire examination.

If a student fails one or more course subunits, the student may possibly fail the course unit. In that case it is not necessary that the overall mark corresponds to the above mentioned (weighted) average, but may be determined by other stipulations described in the study guide. This overall mark must be reasonable and must be in proportion to the components, while all partial results must be taken into consideration at all times.

3.30 Partial exemptions based on APEL and APCL

When an examination result is determined according to the stipulations of article 3.29 with regard to a course unit from which a partial exemption was granted based on APEL or APCL, this course unit is not taken into account.

3.31 Final examination result: highest mark is valid

If a student requires more than one examination opportunity for a course (sub)unit either within the same academic year or throughout several academic years, the best result is recorded as final result.

The board of examiners and its powers

3.32 The technical committee

A technical committee is established for each course,consisting of members of the student counselling office and presided by the head of department, the assistant head of department or the course director.

After each examination period the technical committee verifies and registers the results of each student enrolled in the course or in one or several course units.

The committee proposes to validate the registered results, unless the student is allegedly guilty of or accessory to fraud or attempted fraud and/or the relevant course unit has an obviously different profile.

In addition, the technical committee will draw up a list of students who may receive a binding condition, and a list of students who did not comply with the binding condition imposed.

3.33 Determination of results by the technical committee

The technical committee writes a formal report about its decisions which is submitted to the relevant board of examiners. This formal report mentions

for every enrolled student:
• which examinations he took
• which credit certificates he obtained
• the course units which he failed yet obtained a tolerable mark (8/20 or 9/20) and the number of ECTS Credits which correspond to these course units
• the number of ECTS Credits for which a tolerable fail grade is allowed in accordance with article 3.46
• the course units for which he obtained an intolerable fail grade
for those students registered to graduate:
• the course units for which he did not obtain a credit certificate and their respective number of ECTS Cre-dits and his examination results
• the necessary information in order to determine the level of achievement.
following 3 lists
• a list of students who qualify for a binding condition
• a list of students who did not comply with the binding condition imposed
• the names of students being considered for possible special circumstances
• if applicable, the names of students who allegedly committed fraud or attempted fraud
• the course units for which it has been determined that the profile clearly differs from the profiles of the other course units.

3.34 Board of examiners for semesters 1&2, 3&4 and 5&6

For every course consisting of six semesters, a board of examiners is established for semester 1&2, 3&4, 5&6 of the course programme. The composition of the boards of examiners is determined by the relevant head of department who monitors whether the board of examiners is considered representative of the students’ year programme and consists of at least 5 persons.

The relevant head of department appoints a chairperson, a secretary and a substitute for both functions per board of examiners before the beginning of the relevant examination period.

3.35 Powers of boards of examiners for semesters 1&2, 3&4 and 5&6

The boards of examiners of semesters 1&2, 3&4 and 5&6 exercise the following powers:

validating the examination results, determined by the technical committee
announcing non-binding academic recommendations
taking measures regarding study progress monitoring:
- imposing a binding condition and/or
- deciding about denying students who did not comply with the binding condition imposed, the right to re-enrol.
assessing special circumstances and their impact on the results of the student involved
if applicable, after careful consideration adjusting examination results of course units which demonstrate a clearly different profile, as determined by the technical committee
judging alleged fraud or attempted fraud and, if necessary, determining the applicable penalty.

3.36 Board of examiners for an entire study programme

For each bachelor programme and advanced bachelor programme, a board of examiners is appointed for assessing the entire study programme. This board of examiners for each study programme consisting of 6 semesters, is composed of members of the semester 5&6 board of examiners plus members of the boards of examiners of semester 1&2 and/or 3&4. The head of department appoints the members (of the boards of examiners of the preceding semesters) who are also member of the board of examiners for the entire study programme, while taking into account the role of the members in the study programme in order to guarantee a representative board of examiners.

Before the beginning of the academic year the head of department appoints a chairperson, a secretary and a substitute for both functions.

For each postgraduate certificate programme, a separate board of examiners is established. The head of department appoints the members of the board of examiners for the entire study programme.

3.37 Powers board of examiners for an entire study programme

The board of examiners in charge of assessing an entire study programme exercises the following powers:

declaring that registered students passed or not
granting a level of achievement to graduating students, if applicable
determining which course units that students who failed have to retake in view of obtaining their diploma
assessing special circumstances and their impact on the results of the student involved.

Deliberation

3.38 Time of deliberation

The examination committees of semester 1&2, 3&4 and 5&6 convene during the January, June and September deliberation periods.

The boards of examiners for entire courses holds deliberations at the end of an examination period when students are registered to graduate.

3.39 Attendance during deliberations

With the exception of cases of force majeure, members of the board of examiners have to be present at every deliberation session. A member who invokes certified absence, will notify the chairperson of the board of examiners as soon as possible.
At least half of the board of examiners members having voting rights must be present in order to hold valid deliberations.
Apart from the members of the board of examiners, the relevant ombudspersons take part in the deliberations, however the latter do not have voting rights.
The chairperson may request that deliberations of the board of examiners for an entire course be attended by examiners who are not member of this board of examiners for the purpose of discussing specific problems. These examiners take part in the deliberations of those topics for which their presence is required, however, they have no voting rights.
During deliberations members of the technical committee may be present for the purpose of administrative support. They have no voting rights.

3.40 Confidentiality

The members of the board of examiners and all other persons attending the deliberation meetings are required to treat all elements which are not mentioned in the minutes confidential, such as: the proposed decisions, the discussion, the request to vote.

3.41 Voting rights

The board of examiners will act collectively. All members present participate in the deliberation regarding each student.
All members of a board of examiners, chairperson included, have voting rights in each student’s case, with the exception of the ombuds person. Each member has one vote.

3.42 Voting rules

The chairperson makes a proposal for each decision to be delivered by the board of examiners. If all members agree, this proposal will be recorded as decision.
If all members do not agree with the chairperson’s proposal, the committee proceeds to a secret voting. Every member with voting rights as well as the ombuds office are entitled to request a voting. If the chairperson’s proposal is not accepted, every member of the board of examiners may make a new proposal which may be voted on after deliberation.
The proposal receiving the majority of the valid votes, will become the decision. Invalid votes and abstain votes will not be counted. In case of a tie vote the proposal which is most beneficial to the student will be accepted.
If the board of examiners has made a decision by voting, the former is not allowed to revoke the decision in a way that is less beneficial to the student involved.

3.43 Criteria of successfully completing a study programme and earning a diploma/certificate

Students successfully complete a study programme if they received a pass mark or an exemption for all course units of the study programme by means of a diploma contract or an examination contract for the purpose of earning a diploma; they received a maximum of 10 % tolerable fail grades of the total amount of ECTS Credits included in the susequent year programmes of the study programme. Tolerable fail grades are scores of 8 or 9 out of 20.

Students can only successfully complete a study programme and earn the relevant diploma/certificate, if they signed the year programme which includes all course units of the study programme amounting to, at least, 180 ECTS Credits, including the electives to be chosen. "At least 180 ECTS Credits" means: the sum of the ECTS Credits included in the year programme, and if applicable, the APELs/APCLs and tolerable fail grades.
In addition, students must have complied with all administrative requirements.
Advanced Bachelor programmes require a minimum of 60 ECTS Credits overall and postgraduate certificate programmes a minimum of 20 ECTS Credits overall.

Different regulations may be applicable for joint programmes. The criteria of successfully completing a study programme and earning a diploma/certificate are described in the study guide.

3.44 Tolerable fail grades

In order to obtain a degree, it is not required for a student to pass all units of a course programme. A fail grade for a limited number of course units may be permitted.

3.45 Non-tolerable fail grades: tolerable fail grades not allowed for certain course units

The course committee may determine that certain course units do not allow a tolerable fail grade, and these course units will be mentioned in the study guide.
This will predominantly apply to:

course units which are compulsory units of a course of study in accordance with legal or decree provisions in view of admittance to a profession for which students prepare in this course of study
course units which are considered crucial to obtaining the overall goals of the study programme
course units constituting a necessary basis for subsequent course units of the same course of study
course units with a pass/fail examination for which the student obtained a fail grade.

3.46 Tolerable fail grades for an entire study programme

For an entire study programme a fail grade of 8 and up reside under the leniency rules, on condition that

the number of ECTS Credits linked to the course units for which a fail grade was obtained is not higher than 10% of the total number of ECTS Credits of the student's itinerary (in general 180 ECTS Credits with the exception of ECTS Credits through APEL and/or APCL)
the relevant course units allow a tolerable fail grade as set forth in article 3.45.
the student obtaining the degree will not receive credit for a course unit for which he received a fail grade.

3.47 Level of leniency at deliberation

In exceptional cases, the board of examiners may deviate from the rules regarding tolerable fail grades, as outlined in article 3.41, by allowing a higher tolerable fail rate. Every such decision must be well-founded and may be made after secret voting only, if no agreement can be reached.

3.48 level of achievement of a credit certificate

Separate credit certificates are not labelled with a level of achievement.

3.49 level of achievement of a study programme

The board of examiners deciding on the overall study programme may award a diploma with a certain level of achievement. Students who successfully complete a study programme in accordance with the criteria set forth in article 3.43 and earn the diploma or certificate, are awarded the following levels of achievement:

pass, if less than 68% was earned
cum laude, on condition that the overall score is at least 68%
magna cum laude, on condition that the overall score is at least 77 %
summa cum laude, on condition that the overall score is at least 85 %
summa cum laude with the congratulations of the board of examiners, on condition that the overall score is at least 90 %.

The calculation applies to the course units of the last two semesters of the study programme, by using a weighted average (the number of ECTS Credits are used as weighting coefficient).
The course units with a pass/fail examination will not be taken into account for a level of achievement.
No level of achievement will be granted to a student who took less than 20 ECTS Credits of a study programme.

3.50 Level of leniency at deliberation in relation to the determination of the level of achievement

After careful deliberation the board of examiners may decide to grant a level achievement to a particular student even though the latter did not qualify for such a level of achievement. Therefore, the board of examiners may be more lenient with respect to the criteria mentioned in article 3.49 by considering non-quantitative elements, when determining the level of achievement. Nevertheless, such a deviation must be well-founded and may only result from a secret voting if no agreement can be reached. At the request of a member of the board of examiners or the ombudsperson, this matter will be decided upon by secret voting. This deliberation will become part of the minutes

3.51 Minutes

All board of examiners decisions are recorded in minutes, signed by the chairperson and the secretary.
The minutes mention the composition of the board of examiners, the names of the absent members and the names of the others present during deliberations. Furthermore, the minutes mention:

for students registered to graduate: whether they have obtained the degree and which level of achievement
for those students who didn’t pass the entire course:
• the course units that have to be retaken
• the non-binding academic recommendations;
for all other students:
• the examination results, assuming that they have not been validated by the technical committee or that they have been exceptionally changed by the board of examiners
• the decisions to apply a higher tolerable fail rate in deviation of article 3.46 due to special circumstances with regard to students who finished semesters 1&2
• the non-binding academic recommendations;
• measures regarding study progress monitoring
• the extraordinary measures
• the decisions regarding fraud cases, if any, and the imposed penalties
• the necessary motivation regarding the decisions and the results of the voting sessions.
listing all grading errors

The student will have access to the minutes by means of an individual report describing the decisions made in his case, as described in article 3.57.

Irregularities

3.52 Fraud

Fraud means every action or omission of action by a student in order to prevent in part or entirely a proper examination assessment of his or her competences or another student’s competences. Attempted fraud or participating in fraud is considered equivalent to fraud. Actual examples are: cheating, plagiarism, using non-authorised materials, techniques and resources, ...
Where fraud has not yet been confirmed by the board of examiners, it is considered an irregularity.

3.53 Notification of irregularities

The chairperson of the board of examiners will be notified as soon as possible when irregularities possibly influencing the examination result occur. While awaiting the final decision of the board of examiners, the student involved may not be excluded from taking other examinations.
If actions which may indicate fraud or attempted fraud during an examination have been established, the person who established the actions as well as the student involved are urged to contact the ombuds office immediately after the examination in question. The ombuds office will hear the parties concerned, collect evidence and write a report which the parties involved will sign accompanied by the handwritten “read and approved”. The ombuds office will immediately submit all documents and possible evidence to the chairperson of the board of examiners.

3.54 Dealing with fraud cases

The chairperson hears the student. The student also has a right to be heard by the board of examiners. To this end, the student will submit a written, signed and dated request to the chairperson of the board of examiners and to the ombuds office, no later than 24 hours before the beginning of the board of examiners meeting.
The board of examiners will treat irregularities as soon as possible and may call a special committee meeting to this end. This special committee meeting will initially determine whether fraud is involved. If the act of fraud has been established, the committee will decide that the result of the examination or partial examination will be declared invalid and whether additional penalties will be imposed in accordance with the provisions of article 3.55.
Serious or repeated fraud may entail a disciplinary sanction.

3.55 Penalties for fraud

Based on a proven case of cheating or trying to cheat at an examination, the board of examiners may decide that the student involved:

will receive no mark for the examination
will receive no mark for the examination, nor a second examination opportunity
will receive no mark for the relevant course unit
will receive no mark for the relevant course unit, nor a second examination opportunity
will not receive a mark for the relevant course unit and will lose all previously earned marks of the relevant course unit
will lose all results of the examination period in which the act of fraud occurred
will be excluded from all subsequent examination periods of the academic year, if any.

Communication and discussion of examination results

3.56 Graduation ceremony

The announcement of the graduates and their respective levels of achievement takes place during a public ceremony and is made by the chairperson of the board of the examiners for the entire study programme or by a person designated by the same chairperson

3.57 Announcement of the results

The secretary of the board of examiners will officially communicate the following information about each enrolled student:
• the examinations taken and the marks obtained
• the credits earned
• the tolerable fail mark ratio applied to the student
• additional decisions by the board of examiners, if any
• the date when the decisions of the board of examiners have been communicated to the student
• the non-binding academic recommendations.

The final dates of this official announcement of results are:
• for the January examination period: Friday of the last week of semester 1 (before the rest week)
• for the June examination period: Friday of the second last week of semester 2
• Friday of the second last week before the beginning of the academic year
All results will be made electronically available to the students no later than these dates.

After having completed a credit contract or after having terminated a diploma contract prematurely, a student may obtain separate credit certificates for course units which he/she passed. To this end, the student will submit a written request to the administrative services.
Delivering the notification of the results to the student may occur in any of the following ways:
• by delivering it personally to the student or to a confidant appointed by the student ahead of time with a document written and signed by the student and submitted to the administrative office on or before the day preceding deliberation.
• At the latest on the final date of notification, all results will be made electronically available to the student (see also article 2.88).
Without prejudice to the provisions under 2 containing the possibility of involving a confidant, the information under 1 will not be communicated to any third party.
At least once a year an individual status report will be handed out.
The results of the examinations scheduled throughout a semester in accordance with article 3.11, are promptly communicated to the student. This announcement is merely tentative and subject to a subsequent validation.

3.58 Discussing examination marks with the examiners

After the results have been communicated, students have the right to discuss their mark with the examiner and to view the examination papers, until two working days after the day on which the results have been communicated. The days during which it is made possible are communicated annually in the study guide. During this meeting the examiners explain their reasoning for the assessment; they may also make suggestions regarding remediation.
In addition, the student and the examiner may have a look at the written examination or the written notes of an oral examination. Written notes of oral examinations, however, may never be used by students to challenge the assessment of the examiner, nor by the examiners to justify the mark given.

3.59 Determining grading errors

Grading errors which are determined within a period of 10 calendar days, are communicated in writing to the chairperson of the board of examiners.
If the error does not influence the decisions of the board of examiners, it will promptly be corrected by the chairperson and the secretary of the board of examiners. If the wrong result has already been notified to the student, the administrative services will provide the student with an adjusted copy of the notification, as outlined in article 3.57. The correct information will also be provided to the members of the board of examiners.
If a grading error may indeed influence a decision by the board of examiners, the chairperson will convene an extraordinary meeting as soon as possible. The new decision of the board of examiners is communicated to the student involved as mentioned in article 3.57 within fourteen calendar days after having established the error.
All grading errors are listed and added to the minutes of the relevant board of examiners meeting.

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