Guidelines for conducting remote written examinations at Uppsala University

1 Introduction

These guidelines regard remote written examinations, including digital forms (eexaminations), for students registered at Uppsala University. The term remote written examinations refers to written examinations that would otherwise be given in an examination room, with a limited amount of time for completion during a single day, but which are instead conducted remotely using information technology (IT). For the purpose of these guidelines, examination refers to not only written examinations at the end of a course, but also any examination taken during part of a course (test or equivalent), but not an examination or test taken as an entry requirement or a diagnostic test.

The guidelines specify responsibilities and obligations for department staff who work with remote examinations, including the handling of examination exercises and answers, as well as for examinees when taking remote written examinations.

The department/course management shall inform all staff working with remote written examinations about these guidelines.

These guidelines do not apply to written examinations given on campus in an examination room, as such examinations fall under guidelines UFV2018/2093.

Practical guidance for conducting remote examinations is available on the Staff Portal; please see Guidance for remote examinations.

2 Anonymity during examinations

Examinees shall be anonymous during examinations. See Vice-Chancellor decision UFV 2009/445 regarding the introduction of coded on-campus examinations. After registering for an examination, the examinee receives an anonymity code to use instead of name and personal identity number. Anonymity shall be broken after an examination has been assessed, before the examiner decides on the final grade for the examination or course.

In cases where answers on paper are digitised and uploaded as a file, the examinee must enter an anonymity code as specified in the examination instructions.

When uploading documents, the examinee shall ensure that information that breaks anonymity is not found in the document. Instructions for this are found in the guidance document, and shall be communicated to the examinees by the department.

If special circumstances exist, a disciplinary domain board/faculty board may decide that a specific examination shall be conducted without anonymity coding. A decision of this type may only be delegated to the dean or a decision-making body established by the board.

The disciplinary domain board/faculty board decides on procedures for the application of anonymity coding. The decision shall be in line with what applies for the IT system being used for the examination.

3 Technical conditions

For remote examinations, an IT system must be used that is suitable for the type of examination being conducted. There are several systems at the University that can be used; see the guidance document specified above.

For examinees who do not have access to the technical equipment needed to take remote written examinations, the department shall provide the opportunity to take the examination in the department’s premises or in some other way organised by the department.

Monitoring via video service is not permitted during remote written examinations. If the department finds that monitoring is required in order to conduct the examination, then an on-campus examination must be chosen. Exceptions may be made to a limited extent in consultation with the Data Protection Officer, in accordance with the Security and Safety Division’s instructions. If an exception for video monitoring of a remote written examination has been granted, the examinees concerned must be informed of this, with clear justification of why as well as clear information about how the recorded material will be processed.

Technical aids, such as the logging of IP addresses and plagiarism checks, can be used to prevent deceptive conduct (cheating) in examinations.

If technical problems occur while a remote examination is in progress and these affect an examinee’s ability to complete and/or submit the examination, the examinee must contact the department immediately as specified in the instructions for the examination and report the problem. If the University encounters technical problems, such as interruption of the University’s network or errors in a central system, the examinees shall be offered a new examination opportunity as soon as possible. For other technical problems, the University does not have this responsibility. However, depending on the circumstances, the department should consider whether affected examinees should be offered a new examination opportunity in the near future.

4 Instructions for students

The department/course management must ensure that examinees are informed about the following points.

• Only examinees who registered for an examination in the time and manner decided by the department/course management may take the examination.
• The examinee is responsible for having access to an internet connection that enables them to complete the examination.
• Identification of the examinee takes place either through login with their student account or through an ID check with valid photo ID via video connection. Passports, driving licences that are equated to photo ID in Sweden, and national ID cards are all considered valid forms of photo ID. Residence permits are not accepted as a form of ID. If an ID check is conducted via video, this must be done privately in such a way that only the person checking ID can learn the person’s identity. Examinees shall be clearly informed in advance about how ID will be checked in connection with the examination.
• Anyone who discloses their login information in order to allow another person to sit an examination in their name is guilty of deceptive conduct in an examination and shall be reported to the Disciplinary Board.
• An examinee for whom adapted examination has been recommended by the Student Affairs and Academic Registry Division coordinator for targeted study support shall contact the department/course management in the time and manner decided by the department/course management to discuss possible adaptations.
• A written examination may only be taken within the times specified by the department/course management.
• Only aids listed as permitted in the examination instructions may be used. No aids other than those listed in the instructions may be used.
• Examinees are not permitted to collaborate during remote examinations, unless the department/course management has explicitly decided otherwise and it is clear from the examination instructions that collaboration is permitted. Unauthorised collaboration also includes communication between examinees when one or more of the examinees has not yet submitted their examination, as well as collaboration with persons who are not currently sitting the examination.
• Examinations must be submitted within the allotted time in the manner specified in the system used for the examination. Examinations that are not submitted in the prescribed manner may go unassessed.
• In the event of technical problems during an ongoing examination, the examinee shall contact the department in the manner indicated in the examination instructions as soon as possible to report the problem.
• Pursuant to Chapter 10, § 1 of the Higher Education Ordinance, disciplinary action, i.e. warning or suspension lasting up to six months, may be taken against examinees who use unauthorised aids or in some other way attempt deceptive conduct in an examination or when study performance is otherwise being assessed.
  Pursuant to Chapter 10, § 9 of the Higher Education Ordinance, well-founded suspicions of such an offence shall be reported to the Vice-Chancellor, who decides whether the matter should be referred to the Disciplinary Board for review.

5 Instructions for the department/course management

The department/course management is responsible for organising and conducting remote written examinations, which means that the department/course management shall appoint a responsible teacher who is in charge of the examination. The examination sessions given in the central e-examination system are reported to Examination Coordination in the manner communicated by Examination Coordination.

The responsible teacher shall ensure the following:

• that a person with knowledge of the examination is available during an appropriate part of the examination time to answer questions from the examinees
• that examinees are informed about how, when, and in what manner they must register for the examination
• that examinees are informed in good time about which system the examination will be conducted in, which file format the answers should have (if applicable), what technical equipment, including system requirements, they need access to in order to sit the examination, which aids are permitted during the examination, and how identity will be checked
• that clear information is provided regarding which aids are permitted, and that no other aids may be present during the examination
• that examinees are given clear information about contact routes for questions about the examination’s content, as well as technical support if needed
• that collaboration between examinees is not permitted during the examination
• that examinees who will be taking the examination are informed about the rules for disciplinary action according to Chapter 10 of the Higher Education Ordinance; see Section 3
• that all information to examinees about the examination session is provided both verbally and in writing.

5.1 Confidentiality for examination exercises

Pursuant to Chapter 17, § 4 of the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, confidentiality applies to exercises that are part of or form the basis for an examination, if it can be assumed that the purpose of the examination is counteracted if the exercises are disclosed. Examination exercises (regardless of format) therefore constitute a confidential record up until the examination has taken place.

Persons with access to the digital examination exercises are responsible for ensuring that these are handled with guaranteed confidentiality.

If examination exercises are printed out during work leading up to a digital examination, these printouts shall be handled as confidential and not discarded in a wastepaper basket. A document shredder should be used.

Access to a digital examination system is personal. Access rights and passwords for the assigned role (user category) in a digital examination system shall be handled in a manner that guarantees confidentiality.

5.2 Conducting the examination

The department/course management is responsible for organising and conducting remote written examinations. This responsibility includes ensuring that examinees receive clear written information about the following in good time:

• Examination time (date plus start and end time)
• Examination format
• How the examinee’s identity will be verified
• Contact details for questions during the examination time
• Contact routes for technical support while the examination is in progress
• Permitted aids
• Other information that examinees need during the examination

Identification of the examinee takes place either through login with their student account or through an ID check with valid photo ID via video connection.

If an ID check is conducted via video, this must be done privately in such a way that only the person checking ID can learn the person’s identity. ID checks may only be performed by the assessing teacher if they can be done in such a way that the examinee’s anonymity in relation to examination answers is not revealed during the check. Special procedures need to be observed when there are students with protected identity.

5.3 Archiving and disposal

After the examination session, two copies of the examination exercises and the written examination shall be saved.

The examinees’ answers and the examination exercises are public records, and shall be available to those who wish to access them.

Provided that a grade has been registered in the study register, answers to examination exercises in a written examination (pursuant to National Archives regulation RA-MS 2017:39) may be

• returned to the examinee,
  or
• disposed of two years after grading.