The Exams Office, Division of the Academic Registrar, provide centralised services and logistics to ensure consistent and optimal conduct of written (pen and paper), online (remote) and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) examinations  across the University. 

• Process overview
• What's our role?
• Information for unit of study coordinators
• Exam Invigilation
• Support

Process overview

Learn more about the process guide for the delivery of examinations.

What's our role?

Examinations

The Exams Office is accountable for the timetabling and administration of formal exams, which includes end of semester exams, replacement exams, intensive and out of session exams (courses adhering to a different academic calendar) and alternative arrangement exams.

The Exams Office also manages the set-up of Canvas exam sites, performing technical checks, adding students to exam sites and scheduling remote invigilated exams for both intensive and end of semester exams.

In-semester Tests

Online and BYOD in-semester tests must be run by the Exams Office.

Task overview

Information for unit of study coordinators

Unit of study coordinators are required to:

• specify the assessment regime for their unit of study in Sydney Curriculum (including information about exam types, weighting, duration and timing) and publish an online unit of study outline
• discuss requests/seek approval for exceptions to the standard processes for in-semester tests and final exams with their Associate Dean (Education)
• enter exam requirements in the Exams Portal for formal exams
• submit finalised main and replacement exams by the stipulated date, ensuring that each exam undergoes a faculty quality assurance and peer review process
• check the draft exam timetable for formal exams and provide feedback by the stipulated date.

Coordinators will receive emails to prompt and remind them about the process and key deadlines.

For detailed processes and important deadlines, refer to this exams guide.

Exam scheduling principles and individual requests

Each semester the Exams Office schedules around 750 exams (with more than 115,000 exam sittings) within the two-week formal exam period. This involves entering a complex array of exam requirements (e.g. proctoring requirements, duration) into an automated system that creates the exam timetable. Our primary goals when creating the timetable are to:

• minimise or eliminate clashes for students
• ensure that large online exams do not run into the following session on any given day. (A maximum of 300 students only can commence in any given 2-hour period)
• ensure no students are required to sit more than two exams in one day and provide appropriate adjustments for students with a disability
• where possible schedule exams for larger cohorts earlier in the exam period to allow more time for marking.

We will also aim to accommodate the following requests:

• non-standard exam durations e.g. recitals or practicals that are run over a whole day
• exams that must be run concurrently due to shared content
• practical exams that must be scheduled before/after theoretical exams
• clinical placement and hospital/clinical work required during the exam period
• requests for evening exams for postgraduate and other students.

Other requests will be considered and accommodated if feasible.

Exam Invigilation

The Exams Office employs more than 750 exam invigilators to support each examination period. To maintain adequate staffing, new invigilators are recruited every semester to replace or supplement those who are unavailable for the formal exam period.

Prospective invigilators are assessed on key capabilities, including:

• Foundational computer literacy
• The ability to work effectively in a team
• Clear and confident communication skills

Training Requirements

All newly recruited exam invigilators must complete:

• The University’s Online Mandatory Modules
• Exam Invigilation Training

These must be completed before commencing work to be recognised as an approved university invigilator.

BYOD Exam Invigilators

Approximately 15% of our invigilation team is trained to support (BYOD) exams. These exams include operational requirements that differ from traditional written examinations, and specialised training ensures invigilators can confidently manage this format.

Support

If you have a question about scheduling or exam administration in general, please contact the Exams office.

If the exams portal doesn’t work on your computer, or you require technical assistance of any kind, please contact ICT.