General Exam Regulations

(a) You must arrive and be seated in the Exam Hall at least 5 minutes before the start of the examination.

(b) Books*, notes*, bags and coats must not be taken into the Exam Hall. You must remain absolutely quiet from the time you enter to the time you leave the hall. (*Approved Open Book exams exempted)

(d) A Candidate must remove all pencil cases; bags etc from their desks. Any papers or notes found thereafter will be assumed to belong to the Candidate and will be deemed to be in breach of examination regulations and treated as such whether relevant to that examination or not.

(e) Candidates must ensure they have no written material on their hands, arms and legs as this will be assumed to be in breach of examination regulations and treated as such whether relevant to that examination or not.

(f) You must not communicate in any way with other candidates. Do not share pens, erasers or calculators, etc. Do not look at the exam paper or start to write in the answer book until instructed to do so by an Invigilator.

(g) Candidates shall ensure that they are in possession of the correct examination paper and must comply with the instructions printed on the examination paper and on the answer book. If there are two or more parts to an exam paper (section A, B & C etc.), use separate answer books for each section. Remember to put your name, class and subject on each answer book.

(h) You may not leave the Exam Hall during the first hour. No candidate will be permitted to enter the Exam Hall after the first hour.

(i) Candidates may not leave the examination hall at the end of the examination until the examination scripts have been collected. It is the Candidate's responsibility to ensure his/her scripts have been handed to the invigilator. Answer Books are the property of the Institute and may not be removed from the exam hall under any circumstances.

(j) If you wish to go to the toilet, you must be accompanied by an Invigilator.

(k) A pre-planned seating schedule has been arranged for each exam session. You must familiarise yourself with the seat(s) allocated to you, in advance.

(l) You must comply with an Invigilator’s directions at all times.

(m) Candidates shall not bring into the Examination Hall, nor have in their possession while in such Hall, any computing equipment, including electronic organisers and programmable calculators, mobile phones, recording equipment, radio, books, note paper or any source of information pertinent to the examination or which might influence examination performance. Retention of any unauthorised material shall be construed as a serious breach of Exam Regulations. You are reminded that severe sanctions are attached to any such breach of regulations (see attached).

(n) In the case of illness, certified evidence must be provided within 5 days of that examination being held. All medical certificates must be presented to your School's Administration Office.

(o) Examination Results: The official result of your examinations will be made available at the Institute's website. Please do not telephone the Institute as results will not be given over the telephone.

(p) Examination Appeals:

(i) A request for an appeal in respect of examination results must be received by the Registrar’s Office in writing, on the appropriate form, available on the Institute’s Website. Closing date for Appeals is 4pm Friday 17th February 2012, there shall be a fee of 60.00 Euro for an Examination Appeal.

Circumstances of Unfair Practice

A breach of regulations constituting unacceptable practice may be detected:

(a) during invigilated examinations.
(b) during the marking of written examination answer books.
(c) during the marking of other examinable material.

Notification Procedure

The Registrar or the Examination Secretary shall notify the Head of School in writing and without delay of a suspected instance of unfair practice. In the event of a suspected serious breach of Examination Regulations a Panel of Enquiry will be
formed.

In such cases, the candidate shall be notified in writing through the office of the Registrar at least five days in advance of meeting of the Panel of Enquiry in relation to the following:

(a) the precise allegation(s)
(b) the entitlement to present a response either orally or in writing to the Panel of Enquiry
(c) the entitlement to be accompanied or be represented at all hearings conducted by the Panel of Enquiry
(d) the enquiry schedule.

The candidate shall notify the Registrar of the person(s) to accompany him/her, and their status at a meeting of the Panel of Enquiry.

Panel of Enquiry

The inquiry procedures shall be carried out by the Panel of Enquiry composed of:

(a) Registrar or nominee (Chairperson)
(b) the Head of School, or nominee
(c) a Head of School, or nominee, from a School not involved with the course
(d) two members of academic staff from a Department not involved with the course
(e) A student representative who is a member of Academic Council or nominee.

Enquiry Procedure

The Registrar will contact the Head of School/Head of Department requesting that all relevant information from staff be collected and made available to the Panel of Enquiry.

The Panel of Enquiry shall assemble to consider the allegation(s) as soon as possible following the reporting of the incident. Each case shall be considered separately and only on the basis of unambiguous evidence available to the Panel of Enquiry. The Panel of Enquiry alone shall adjudicate on the allegation(s) based on written and oral submissions and shall determine the penalty to be applied. Its decision must be unanimous. Other than the Recording Secretary, no other person shall be present during the period of adjudication.

The reports and/or written submissions shall be made available to the candidate in advance.

The candidate shall be notified in writing through the office of the Registrar of the outcome of the inquiry.

The decision of the Panel of Enquiry shall be final. However, in matters relating to the expulsion of a candidate, see (f)
below.

Penalties

The Panel of Enquiry shall determine the actual penalty to be applied having regard to the seriousness of the incident and the guidelines set out in the following sections. These penalties may be applied either separately or in combination. The Panel of Enquiry may, at its discretion:

(a) deem the candidate to be innocent of the allegation(s). In such a case the Examination Board shall be instructed to consider the assessment or examination results in the normal manner.
(b) issue a written warning to the candidate. In such a case the candidate may be informed that the written warning constitutes a formal record of breach of assessment regulations.
(c) deem the candidate to have failed all or part of the assessments or examinations for the stage or year of the course. In such a case the Panel of Enquiry shall determine the period of time which shall elapse before the student is entitled to be reassessed.
(d) determine if the candidate shall be ineligible for any special award of the Institute.
(e) suspend the candidate from all activities of the Institute for a stated period.
(f) recommend the expulsion of the candidate from the Institute. In such a case the expulsion order shall be signed by the Director and reported to the Governing Body

SIGNED: Dr Derek O'Byrne, Registrar of WIT

file: Appeals Form, MS Word, 67KB Appeals Form
(MS Word, 67KB)