| 8 Assessment and examinations |
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At the OUHK, there are two main forms of assessment for most courses: continuous assessment and examinations.
Continuous assessment is based on assignments, projects/case studies, oral presentation, quizzes, laboratory sessions, practicums, attendance, etc. and/or any other criteria.
Most courses have a written examination which is held at the end of the course.
For courses with written examination, your course result will be determined by your performance in both the continuous assessment and the examination.
The regulations governing assessment and examinations are included in 'Course Assessment and Grades' in Section 3 'General Regulations for Postgraduate Programmes'.
You must submit your assignments by specified dates. If an assignment is submitted late, it is at the discretion of the University teacher concerned to accept or not accept it, and to determine the appropriate penalty to be imposed, if any. If you encounter special circumstances regarding your continuous assessment or if you are dissatisfied with your score on any of your assignments, you are advised to discuss this with your Course Coordinator. Assignments must be submitted electronically via the OLE, unless otherwise specified.
Students can check their assignment scores in MyOUHK via the OUHK website (Current Students), under the section on 'Assessment Result'.
The regulations governing examinations are included in Section 3 'General Regulations for Postgraduate Programmes' and 'Assessment Regulations' in the 'Academic Rules and Regulations'.
There are three examination periods each year for postgraduate courses. Please refer to Section 2 'Academic Calendars and Important Dates' for details. Oral/listening examinations for languages courses and examinations for some special courses may be held earlier in advance of the examination period. Students can go to the OUHK website to check the examination timetable and arrangements about one month before the start of the examination period. Students should check this information online by going to the 'Examination Timetable and Arrangement' via MyOUHK of the OUHK website (Current Students). You are strongly recommended to check your assignment scores and/or overall continuous assessment score (OCAS) online by going to the 'Assessment Result' section via MyOUHK of the OUHK website (Current Students) before attending an examination and following the procedures under the 'Assessment Regulations' should you need to make queries regarding submission of assignments and assignment scores.
Examinations may be held in the morning, afternoon and/or evening and sometimes examinations for different courses may need to be held on consecutive days because of a number of factors in order to avoid clashes of examinations. It is important to consider these dates when you are planning ahead for holidays or business trips. Deferment of your examination will NOT be permitted because of holiday plans.
Students will be notified of the address of the examination centres, admissible/inadmissible materials which you must/must not bring to a course examination, approved models of calculators for use in OUHK examinations, etc. You must read all the examination information carefully before attending an examination. Students in violation of any of the regulations/instructions may be penalized in accordance with the Regulations Governing Academic Integrity and Student Discipline. Any infringement of the examination regulations/instructions, including possession of inadmissible materials (e.g. notes, rough paper, etc.), tearing or taking away question papers or answer books and bringing in non-approved models of calculators, may lead to a SERIOUS PENALTY, or even disqualification from the examination. Ignorance/misreading of these rules is not an excuse. If you have any queries, you can always contact the Examinations Office.
▌Course Certificate
| Examination matters | Procedures | Application period |
| Course Certificate via Form E-CC | Complete an application form and return it to the Registrar together with a cheque to cover the application fee. | throughout the year. |
Points to note for a Course Certificate:
Those students who have obtained an overall pass result and gained the respective number of credits on a course offered by the University can apply for a Course Certificate.
The Course Certificate serves to certify that a student has successfully completed an OUHK course. The certificate includes the course code, title and its number of credits.
Under no circumstances will the content of the certificate be modified to suit individual needs.
The Course Certificate will be sent to applicants by registered mail within 10 working days after receipt of the application by the University.
▌Deferment of examination
| Examination matters | Procedures | Deadline |
| Deferment of examination via Form E-DA | Complete an application form and return it to the Registrar before the deadline. Attach relevant supporting evidence to the application. |
cause known before the exam, e.g. business trip: no later than 7 days before the exam date. unforeseen circumstance, e.g. illness: no later than 7 days after the exam. |
Points to note for a deferment of examination:
See Section 3 'General Regulations for Postgraduate Programmes' and 'Assessment Regulations' B9, B10 and B11 in the 'Academic Rules and Regulations'.
Only under very special circumstances will deferment of an examination be considered. Deferment of examination is however not applicable to those courses without examination. Students who have been granted funding from the Continuing Education Fund (CEF) or other sponsorship funding bodies should pay particular attention to the terms and conditions governing the approval of the CEF or other appropriate funding. As a result of examination deferment, the completion date of the course will be delayed, which may have implications affecting claims for reimbursement, etc. It is the responsibility of the student to check the terms and conditions and to liaise with the appropriate body on the related procedures for special circumstances as the University cannot take responsibility for this.
Examination deferment will NOT be considered if students are not able to achieve an overall continuous assessment (OCAS) of 31 or above.
If the reason for absence from examination is illness, a medical certificate issued by a registered medical practitioner or registered Chinese medicine practitioner must be submitted.
Students taking a deferred examination are advised to check with the Course Coordinator before sitting for the deferred examination as the course syllabus/content may be revised or updated from time to time.
If this is your first attempt (or it is a deferred examination) and you do NOT attend the examination as scheduled without approval for deferment of the examination (or further deferral), a Fail grade will result. You will NOT be allowed to sit the examination on a later occasion unless you re-register for the course.
If the course is in its last presentation, you may be given a single chance to defer the examination on legitimate and properly attested grounds. No requests for further deferrals for any reason whatsoever will be considered.
Students who are approved to defer their examination will take the examination at a time and place arranged by the University.
Deferred examination students are expected to present themselves for examination only in the next examination period available for the course concerned. You are not required to submit any assignments or attend any dayschools unless specified otherwise.
For deferred examination students, the overall continuous assessment score (OCAS) obtained at the end of the course and the overall examination score (OES) achieved in the deferred examination will be used in the calculation of your course score and overall course result.
▌Resit examination
| Examination matters | Procedures | Deadline |
| Resit examination | Students should settle the resit fee for each course and complete all necessary procedures stipulated in the confirmation of resit examination notification. | Please refer to the deadlines specified in the resit examination notification. |
Points to note for a resit examination:
See Section 3 'General Regulations for Postgraduate Programmes' and 'Assessment Regulations' B11 and B14 in the 'Academic Rules and Regulations'.
At the discretion of the appropriate Award Committee, students who have marginally failed the examination may be granted a single chance to resit the examination. Resit examination is however not applicable to courses without examination.
Students who have been granted funding from the Continuing Education Fund (CEF) or other sponsorship funding bodies should pay particular attention to the terms and conditions governing the approval of the CEF or other appropriate funding. As a result of the resit examination, the completion date of the course will be delayed, which may have implications affecting claims for reimbursement, etc. It is the responsibility of the student to check the terms and conditions and to liaise with the appropriate body on the related procedures for special circumstances as the University cannot take responsibility for this.
If you do NOT pay the fee before the designated deadline, it will be assumed that you do not wish to resit the course examination. If you do not accept the resit offer, are absent from the resit examination, or have withdrawn from the course before the resit exam, a Fail result will be recorded and printed on your transcript.
You will NOT be granted a second chance to resit if you fail in the resit examination.
Students taking resit examinations are advised to check with the Course Coordinator for the updated course material , if applicable, before sitting for the resit examination as the course syllabus/content may be revised or updated from time to time.
Resit examination students are expected to present themselves for examination only in the next examination period available for the course concerned. You are not required to submit any assignments or attend any dayschools unless specified otherwise.
As mentioned in Section 3 (point 7), the University imposes a maximum study period for postgraduate programmes. Students who are unable to fulfil all the requirements for graduation because of marginal failure in one course may at the absolute discretion of the School concerned be granted a chance for alternative assessment/special examination in the course concerned. Course results for alternative assessment/special examination will be capped at Grade 'C'.
▌Special examination
| Examination matters | Procedures | Deadline |
| Special examination for students with disabilities or special educational needs via Form S-DI | Complete an application form and return it to the Student Affairs Office before the deadline. Attach relevant supporting evidence to the application, e.g. medical report |
within three weeks after the start of the term |
Points to note for a special examination:
See 'Assessment Regulation' B12 in the 'Academic Rules and Regulations'.
Special examination arrangements will NOT be considered if students are not able to achieve an overall continuous assessment (OCAS) of 31 or above.
If the above regulations do not address your disability or special educational needs, you should consult the Examinations Office at least 8 weeks before the start of the examination period.
Requests for special examination arrangements not supported by relevant evidence will NOT be considered.
Students have to fill in an application form again and submit relevant supporting evidence if there are changes in disabilities and special educational needs which require special examination arrangements.
The University may not be able to make special arrangements if the relevant information fails to reach the Registrar before the prescribed deadline.
▌Special circumstances
| Examination matters | Procedures | Deadline |
| Special circumstances for continuous assessment | Please contact your Course Coordinator | contact your Course Coordinator no later than 3 weeks before the start of the exam period. |
| Special circumstances for examination via Form E-SE | Complete the form and return it to the Registrar before the deadline. Attach relevant supporting evidence to the form. |
within 7 days after the exam date. |
Points to note for special circumstances:
See 'Assessment Regulation' C3 in the 'Academic Rules and Regulations'.
For continuous assessment:
For an examination:
Information for Award Committee should be submitted to the Registrar on the correct form by the prescribed deadline. However, the committee will only give limited consideration to such information.
Form E-SE received later than 7 days after the examination date will NOT be considered.
If you are prevented from submitting the form due to hospitalization or other serious reason, you should authorize a person to submit it on your behalf. Evidence supporting your claim must be submitted. The Award Committee will not consider information received after the prescribed deadline or without relevant supporting evidence.
If you are ill during the examination, you should report the matter to the University by submitting Form E-SE together with a medical certificate to the University within 7 days after the examination date.
Form E-SE should only be used for serious situations such as illness immediately before or during the examination or bereavement of an immediate family member close to the examination date.
You must support your claim with evidence such as a medical certificate. The registered medical practitioner or registered Chinese medicine practitioner must clearly understand that the medical certificate is required to cover illness during the examination. For the requirements on the supporting evidence, please refer to the important notes on Form E-SE. The information will only be used to your benefit.
▌Students with disabilities or special educational needs
If you feel that your disability or special educational needs was a serious disadvantage during the completion of your continuous assessment or examination, you can contact you Course Coordinatior or submit Form E-SE as stipulated above. Please note that previous information which you may have supplied to the University about your disability or special educational needs will not be brought to the attention of the Award Committee without your consent or written request.
█ The award of course results █
Course results are determined by an Award Committee appointed for each course and then endorsed by the School Board.
Details of the course grading scheme can be found in Section 3 'General Regulations for Postgraduate Programmes'.
If there is a written examination for your course, your overall continuous assessment score and examination score will be sent to the Award Committee for consideration. Your course score (the calculation of this score is defined in the respective Course Guide or course outline) will be calculated from both the overall continuous assessment score and the overall examination score.
The course grade is mainly determined by the overall course score (CS) yet students are normally required to obtain a minimum in both overall examination score (OES) and overall continuous assessment score (OCAS) set by the University in order to obtain a Pass result. To be awarded a particular course grade, students must meet the minimum CS set by the Award Committee.
A student must have achieved the OES resit threshold score set by the Award Committee in order to qualify to resit an examination. In determining the resit threshold score, the Award Committee makes a judgment on the likelihood of a student being able to improve their performance sufficiently to pass at the next attempt. From an academic point of view, students who fail to achieve this minimum level will need to retake the course. A student may resit an examination one time only.
▌Consideration of the Award Committee
If you are just below a borderline, the Award Committee may consider any special circumstances information (see the previous part on 'Special circumstances'). They may also review or remark your examination script to determine whether or not to upgrade your status.
The Award Committee will receive a computer printout with the overall continuous assessment score, the overall examination score and the course score for each student. This printed information will be considered by the Award Committee when drawing up the pass list of students. The Committee will also have access to all examination scripts, information submitted by students and tutors on special circumstances (Form E-SE), information about tutors and markers of examination scripts, adverse conditions at examination centres, administrative errors on the part of the University, and statistical analyses of overall continuous assessment, examination and course scores.
If an Award Committee is unable to decide a student's result on the basis of the evidence available, the student may be required to undergo a viva voce examination. This examination normally is in the form of an oral examination conducted by a member of the full and/or part-time academic staff. The University will notify the student required to take a viva voce examination of its date, time and place.
▌Examination misconduct and irregularities
A candidate alleged to have committed misconduct under 'Assessment Regulation' B8 in the 'Academic Rules and Regulations' shall be liable to proceedings by the University as specified in 'Regulations Governing Academic Integrity and Student Discipline' in the 'Academic Rules and Regulations'. Notwithstanding, the University strongly advises students to read carefully the related regulations and instructions governing the conduct of examinations before attending an examination. Any infringement of the examination regulations/instructions, including possession of inadmissible materials (e.g. notes, rough paper, etc.), tearing or taking away question papers or answer books and bringing in non-approved models of calculators, may lead to a SERIOUS PENALTY, or even disqualification from the examination. Any queries on examination regulations/instructions should be directed to the Examinations Office. If a student is alleged to have not complied with any of the examination regulations/instructions, it is the student's responsibility to cooperate with the invigilators and any officers of the University during the investigation, including submitting the relevant information, reference material, calculator, etc. The material or device collected will be returned to the student concerned intact after investigation. The University may at its discretion take disciplinary action against any uncooperative students.
▌Announcement of course results
See 'Assessment Regulation' C1 in the 'Academic Rules and Regulations' for relevant information. Course results will be released online in batches. Students will be able to check all results of the courses assessed by going to the 'Academic Record' section via MyOUHK of the OUHK website (Current Students). Once your course results are released in the 'Academic Record' section of the OUHK website, you may apply for a Course Certificate or a Transcript of Studies on a need basis. A fee will be levied.
Write to the Examinations Office if your results are not released by 6 weeks after the respective examination period. In order to safeguard confidentiality, no results will be given over the telephone.
Course results will not be released to persons in debt to the University or students who have not satisfied any compulsory requirements. Students may forfeit the opportunity to appeal against course results
▌Appeals
| Examination matters | Procedures | Deadline |
| Appeals against course result via Form E-AR | Complete an application form and return it to the Registrar together with a cheque to cover the appeal fee before the deadline. | Within 6 weeks after respective examination period. |
Points to note for appeals:
See 'Assessment Regulation' C2 in the 'Academic Rules and Regulations'. Course results appeal is however not applicable to courses without examination.
Late submission of information about special circumstances will NOT be considered.
Under the current policy, the overall examination scores (OES) will be released together with the reply to the appeal of course results or upon receipt of a data access request via Form OPS003. The University will not provide any other information regarding examination performance.
Under no circumstances will the examination script be copied or returned to the student.
The fee is refundable for successful cases of appeal in the circumstances that a more favourable course result is awarded.
In the appeal stage of course results, students' scores will be thoroughly checked and a re-marking on the examination script will be carried out.
Telephone enquiries and appeal letters without Form E-AR will NOT be entertained.
▌Remarks
All fees paid for examination matters above are non-refundable and non-transferable for other purposes unless specified otherwise.
Forms are obtainable from the Registry Counter and the Information Centre or by downloading them from the OUHK website (Current Students).
Enquiries regarding the above should be directed to the Examinations Office by phone at 2768 6688 or by fax at 8148 3378.
Modified Date: May 29, 2020
