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Note: This is the 2017–2018 eCalendar. Update the year in your browser's URL bar for the most recent version of this page, or .
Note: This is the 2017–2018 eCalendar. Update the year in your browser's URL bar for the most recent version of this page, or .
Formal final examinations are held during an examination period at the end of the course term. The dates of the examination periods are listed at www.mcgill.ca/importantdates.
In some courses there is no final examination; your standing in these courses is determined by term work and class tests.
Instructors are not permitted to grant any special treatment regarding examinations to any student. Students who believe there are circumstances which might justify making special examination arrangements for them or which might legitimately be taken into account in evaluating their performance should apply to the Associate Dean or Director of their faculty.
It is the responsibility of the student to confirm the date, time, and place of the examination by checking examination schedules posted on www.mcgill.ca/students/exams. This information is not available by telephone. No student will be allowed to enter an examination later than one hour after it has started.
If, for serious reasons such as illness or family affliction, you have not written one or more examinations, you may receive the permission of your Faculty Student Affairs Office or Service Point (for students in the Faculties of Arts or Science) upon providing supporting documentation to defer the examination to the next deferred/supplemental examination period, except for courses administered by the Faculty of Engineering (where students write the examination the next time the course is given; see Deferred Examinations: Faculty of Engineering). You should provide supporting documents such as an appropriate medical report as soon as possible after missing the exam. You should be aware that the University will only defer examinations for compelling reasons, verified and accepted by the Student Affairs Office or Service Point.
First Time Deferred Exam Pilot Project
Beginning in Fall 2016, undergraduate students in the following faculties:
who request a first time deferral, due to illness or another extenuating circumstance, will be granted the deferral without the need for supporting documentation (ex.: a medical note). Please note that travel plans scheduled during the final exam period are not a valid reason for requesting a deferral.
This is a one-year pilot project meant to support students who may have to defer a final exam due to medical or mental health reasons. Regular deferred application deadlines apply.
Applying for a Deferred Examination
You must apply for deferred examinations on Minerva if you are in one of the following faculties or schools:
If you do not belong to one of the above faculties, consult your faculty for application procedures.
The deferred examination application deadlines for the following faculties and schools are available on the Exams website:
If your request is approved, an L will appear in place of a grade in those courses. The grade you obtain on the deferred examination will replace the grade of L on your official transcript.
If you receive a grade of D, F, J, or U in a course after a deferred examination, no supplemental examinations will be available. You must either re-register in the same course the following term or in an approved course substitute.
For Summer term courses, check with your Student Affairs Office on the availability and restrictions of deferred examinations. For more information about application procedures and deadlines, see www.mcgill.ca/summer/finalexams.
Beginning in Fall 2017, deferred examinations for courses taken in the Fall term will be held during Study Break in the following Winter semester. Deferred examinations for courses taken in the Winter term will be written in August of that year.
If you have already written an examination, you cannot request for the exam to be deferred. You should consult your Student Affairs Office regarding the availability of supplemental examinations.
If you are not granted deferred status, you will receive a grade of J in the course, which will count as a failure in the TGPA and CGPA. You may, however, be allowed to write a supplemental examination. Please note that there are no supplemental exams in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences or Management courses. For the Faculty of Engineering, supplemental exams are exceptionally offered for some Science, Humanities, and Social Sciences courses. For a list of these courses, see the Faculty of Engineering website (www.mcgill.ca/engineering).
For more information, see www.mcgill.ca/engineering/students/current-students/undergraduate/courses-registration/exams-assessment/deferrals.
All requests to defer a final exam must be submitted online through Minerva, no later than one week (or five [5] working days) after the missed exam. You must submit complete supporting documentation to:
A detailed explanation in support of the application must be entered in the "reason(s) for deferral" section of the application on Minerva. Supporting documents must cover the date of the missed exam and must include the student's official name.
For requests due to medical reasons, a deferral is granted only if the nature of the illness is serious enough to justify absence from the examination. The nature of the illness must be clearly indicated on the medical certificate. You may be required to meet with an adviser.
If you miss your examination for reasons other than medical reasons, you must submit supporting documentation from the appropriate authority.
You will receive an email when there is a change in the status of your deferral; therefore you are to verify the status of your application on Minerva to determine whether any additional information has been requested by the Student Affairs Office, Engineering Student Centre.
You will receive an email notification once a decision has been made.
The supplemental/deferred examination schedule is available at www.mcgill.ca/students/exams/dates/supdefer.
Deferred exams for courses administered by the School of Continuing Studies are offered during the next term's final examination period. The final examination schedule for School of Continuing Studies courses is available at www.mcgill.ca/continuingstudies/current-students/exams.
For courses offered in the Summer term, you must submit a detailed request for a deferral by email to examdeferral.engineering [at] mcgill.ca within one week or 5 working days following the missed exam.
You must also submit complete supporting documentation to the Engineering Student Centre (Frank Dawson Adams Building, Room 22), within one week or 5 working days following the missed exam.
For courses administered by the Faculty of Engineering, the deferred examination is written during the final examination period the next time the course is offered.
For non-Engineering courses, the deferred examination schedule is available at www.mcgill.ca/students/exams/dates/supdefer. See also Non-Engineering Courses above.
In accordance with the Charter of Students' Rights, and subject to its stated conditions, you have the right to consult any written submission for which you have received a grade. You also have the right to discuss this submission with the examiner. If you want to have a formal final examination reread, you must apply in writing:
OR
You should check with that office regarding application deadlines for formal rereads.
There are two recognized types of impartial reviews, i.e., reassessments or rereads:
In both cases, rather than recorrect the work and then grade it as they would have done themselves, reviewers assess the appropriateness of the original grade based, for example, on the application of the grading key to the student's work. If a grade is deemed unfair, it is changed, whether the new grade is higher or lower than the original, i.e., the reviewer's grade takes precedence over the original grade.
These reassessments are administered and conducted solely by the units involved according to procedures specified by the units and made available to staff and students. Requests for such reassessments must be made within 10 working days after the graded material(s) has been made available for students to view. Reassessments should normally be completed within 20 working days of the request.
Deadlines to request final exam rereads:
Exam reread fees apply; refer to the Student Accounts website for fee amounts and information.
For students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, or the Bachelor of Arts & Science:
Students from outside the Faculties of Arts or Science who are taking a course administered by the Faculty of Arts or Science must submit final exam reread requests directly to the Student Affairs Office of their Faculty for approval.
Reassessments and rereads in courses not in the Faculties of Arts and Science are subject to the deadlines, rules, and regulations of their relevant faculties.
Two forms of formal re-evaluation of graded work are possible: reassessments of term work (midterm exams, quizzes, assignments, etc.) and rereads of final exams.
In both cases the first step is to discuss your grades with your instructor, for explanation and possible adjustment. If a satisfactory conclusion cannot be reached, a formal re-evaluation by a qualified and impartial evaluator can be requested.
For term work, you must apply for a reassessment in writing to the chair of the department that administers the course. An email request is sufficient. If in doubt about whom to contact, ask your Academic Adviser. The request for reassessment of term work must be made within 10 working days after the graded material has been made available to you.
For formal final examinations, you must apply for a reread in writing to the Associate Dean (Student Affairs). Application for rereads must be made by March 31 for Fall term courses and by September 30 for Winter term and Summer term courses. You will be assessed a fee for formal rereads; if your examination grade increases, the fee is waived.
You should be aware that, in either case:
For information on the Faculty of Law's grade review regulations (rereads of failed examinations, rereads of failing assignments, and review of final evaluations) refer to: www.mcgill.ca/law-studies/courses-registration-exams.
You can request a formal reread of a final examination once you have discussed it with your instructor. You must complete a Request for a Reread of a Final Exam form and submit it to the Student Affairs Office, Engineering Student Centre.
Reread application deadlines:
Non-Engineering courses: Rereads in courses not in the Faculty of Engineering are subject to the deadlines, rules, and regulations of the relevant faculty.
To write a supplemental examination for a course, you must submit a request on Minerva (www.mcgill.ca/minerva) by going to Student Menu > Student Records Menu > Supplemental Exam Application.
You must frequently verify the status of your supplemental exam application on Minerva for any additional information required by your Student Affairs Office or Service Point. Once your application has been approved, you will receive a confirmation email at your ƽÌØÎå²»ÖÐ email address.
If you register for a supplemental examination but find yourself unprepared for it, you should not write the exam; except for the loss of the application fee, there is no penalty for missing a supplemental examination. You should consult your Student Affairs Office for further information. It is important that you also see a Faculty Adviser to talk about your options and the effects that your request may have on your studies. For more information, see www.mcgill.ca/students/advising.
You must verify the date and time of the supplemental examination, and make yourself available to write the exam. Beginning with the Fall 2017 term, supplemental examinations for courses taken in the Fall term will be written during Study Break the following Winter semester. Supplemental examinations for courses taken in the Winter term will be written in August of that year. Dates can be found at www.mcgill.ca/students/exams/dates.
Supplemental examinations are not available for the following Engineering courses: CHEM 233, COMP 208, EPSC 221, MATH 262, MATH 263, MATH 264, MATH 270, MATH 271, MATH 363, MATH 381, and PHYS 271. These courses are offered by the Faculty of Science, but administered by the Faculty of Engineering. If you are not sure which courses offer supplemental examinations, please contact the Engineering Student Centre.
Instructors of courses that include graded, written term work may choose to provide the option of additional work to eligible students. The following conditions apply: