Navigating Exam-Time Challenges: What To Do If You Have Concerns
As exam season comes towards an end, you might be wondering how your assessments went and what to do while you wait for your results. If issues arose that you haven’t yet addressed - whether exam irregularities, personal circumstances, or other concerns - now is the time to take action.
Raise Issues Early
If you experienced problems during your assessments but haven’t reported them, don’t wait until it’s too late. While it’s too soon to appeal before you’ve got your results, there are informal resolution steps that can help.
Technical Difficulties
If you experienced technical difficulties, including difficulties accessing or completing your online assessments on the WISEflow platform, you should report this as a ‘technical failure claim’ to UCL using an Assessment Query Form, with evidence, such as a time stamped screenshot or photo of any error messages of internet connection problems. You should do this as soon as possible, and no more than 5 working days after the affected assessment. If your assessment is on another platform, your department will tell you how to report a technical failure.
UCL's Support During your Assessment webpage contains up-to-date information and the relevant support options for difficulties with logging in, before your assessment begins and for issues during or after your assessment.
Extenuating Circumstances
If you were feeling unwell during your assessment or were experiencing issues which could have affected your academic performance that were sudden, significantly disruptive and beyond your control, you could submit an Extenuating Circumstances (EC) claim through Portico.
If possible, you should submit this claim before your assessment, but you can also submit a late EC claim no later than one week after the affected assessment. You will need to provide evidence along with your claim, which could be something like a doctor’s note, medical certificate, or a crime report.
You can find more information on submitting an EC claim here.
Other Assessment Concerns
If you have experienced any other issues or have other concerns about your assessments, it’s best to speak to your department about these in the first instance, before deadlines have passed and issues become more difficult to resolve. Departments are generally happy to speak to students about concerns or hear feedback, and speaking with them to come to an informal resolution is usually the best course of action. Remember that you cannot submit an academic appeal before you receive your formal results, so speaking to your department while you still have that chance is a great idea.
Academic Misconduct
Following the assessments, if your department believes that academic misconduct has taken place, you may receive notification of an allegation. This might be a stressful process, and you will have to address the allegation in writing and/or at a panel meeting, so we’ve created some resources to help you navigate through the academic misconduct process. You might also want to book in an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to help you prepare.
Academic Appeals
Once you have received your results, if you believe that there was a serious issue that has affected your assessments, such as marker bias or a material irregularity in the way the assessment was conducted or marked, you could submit an academic appeal. Please note that you cannot submit an academic appeal on the grounds of academic judgement. You must submit your appeal within 10 working days after receiving your formal ratified results.
You can get more information about what’s included in submitting an academic appeal on our Student Complaints & Appeal Procedures page.
Looking After Your Wellbeing
Exam season can be stressful, and worrying about results or unresolved issues only adds to the pressure. Make sure you’re looking after your wellbeing - taking proactive steps now can help you feel more in control as results day approaches. For some extra support you can reach out to UCL’s Student Support and Wellbeing Services. You can discuss any wellbeing concerns you have with them that might be affecting you at university. If you’d like to book an appointment to speak to one of the advisors, you can find out more information here, or book directly through the askUCL service - they have same day and pre booked appointments available.