What do I need to know about exams?
It is your personal responsibility to enter for your University examinations and/or to check that automatic entries are correct. Prior to your exams, you will receive an automated email inviting you to sign into Student Self-Service to make your assessment selections. Students who have not submitted their assessment choices will be sent reminders via automated emails throughout the two week examination entry window. The University Examination Schools impose penalties for late submission and for changing incorrect entries. This is currently £65 - payable by you. If you do not enter yourself for an examination, you cannot sit the examination and hence will be failed for your course. However, please note that, where there is not a choice of papers, you will be entered automatically for all core examinations. If you have opted for an additional exam please make sure you withdraw if you change your mind about completing it.
Withdrawal from examinations
Students may not withdraw from their examinations once the examinations have started without the support of the Senior Tutor. If you simply fail to attend without withdrawing you will be assessed on what you have produced and may be failed overall. The College will only re-enter those who withdraw with approval and this is likely to be on the grounds of significant ill health, supported by a medical certificate. Those who wish to withdraw simply through lack of preparation will not be re-entered for the same examination. If you are considering withdrawing from an examination, you should speak to your Personal Tutor and the Senior Tutor as soon as possible.
What will happen if there are problems with my academic work?
Your progress will be monitored in tutorials and any deficiencies will be noticed. Sometimes students have a personal problem that impacts on their work. It is best to let your Personal Tutor know about this as soon as possible, so that relevant allowance and adjustments can be made. If you would prefer, you can always talk to the Heads of Wellbeing or the Senior Tutor. If you are having problems understanding particular topic areas in your course, your Personal Tutor may be able to organise some additional remedial tutorials for you.
If you fail to keep up with your work, you will be treated as academically deficient. In such cases, the Academic Disciplinary procedure comes into effect as outlined in the College Bye-Laws (Disciplinary Procedures: Academic and Non-academic). This process will ultimately lead to academically deficient students who do not successfully return to Good Academic Standing being sent down from the College and the University. Hopefully, your academic career will pass without your engaging with any of these procedures.
Illness
If you are unable to complete any of your academic work due to illness, you should inform your Personal Tutor immediately. If you are unable to attend a tutorial or practical class or to complete the work for a tutorial or class, you should also contact the academic tutor as soon as possible. Academic tutors may, at their own discretion, rearrange tutorials or arrange to mark work which is submitted late. They are more likely to be sympathetic to such requests if they were notified of the problems in advance. If you have an infectious disease, such as ‘flu, you should inform the College Nurse of your symptoms.
If you have an illness which is likely to prevent you from completing your academic work for a period of longer than two weeks in any term, it is likely that you will have to suspend your studies. You should contact the Senior Tutor as soon as this appears to be likely.
What is Academic Dress?
You will need to wear Academic Dress or ‘sub-fusc’ for a number of official University occasions including the matriculation ceremony, for sitting all your Public Examinations, and for your Graduation Ceremony. Correct Academic Dress is taken seriously, and you may be turned away from these occasions, including examinations, if you are not properly attired. Correct Academic Dress includes caps and gowns with sub-fusc underneath. Full details of Oxford Academic Dress can be found on the University's website.
Your gown should also be worn for all Collections sat in College.
Can I transfer to a different course?
Your admission to the College has been for a particular degree course, and it is difficult to change between degree programmes as there is fixed tutorial capacity in the College. It is sometimes possible to change from a single to a joint-honours course, especially at an early stage, if the material covered up to the point of transfer is identical. Requests to transfer to a subject unrelated to the original subject are not usually permitted. Where such a transfer is permitted (on an exceptional basis), the student has to satisfy the Tutors in the proposed subject that they would have been admitted had they applied in the normal admissions competition. This may include an admissions interview, the completion of written work, and/or the pre-interview test. A transfer will only be approved when a student is doing well academically and not when a student is struggling in the subject for which they were admitted. In subjects where selection involves a national admissions test (e.g., law or medicine), a student cannot transfer and would have to withdraw and reapply.