Examinations and Grades
6.1.2 Requesting an Examination
When you are ready to write your examination, you must complete and submit an Examination Request Form. You do not require permission to write an examination; however, we recommend that you discuss your preparedness with your tutor or learning facilitator. You will first need to contact the examination centre or your invigilator and select a date and time to write, and to discuss possible fees. You must submit your Examination Request Form well in advance of your requested write date.
When you are ready to request an examination, complete and submit the online Examination Request Form (available as a PDF below, or through myAU).
Online – Examination Request Form
PDF – Examination Request Form
Before you submit the form, it is important that you continue to review the following sections.
6.1.2.1 Oral Exams
If you are registered in a course that has an oral exam, be advised that the exam may be conducted by email, phone, or other methods, which can be arranged between you and your tutor. The evaluation section of the course syllabus will indicate whether the course has an oral quiz or examination, or not.
6.1.2.2 Students with Disabilities
If you are a student with a disability or you are registered for services through Access to Students with Disabilities (ASD), and you require accommodations for your examinations, please use the Access to Students with Disabilities Examination Request Form.
If you are a student with a disability who requires exceptional examination accommodations, you must request your examination 30 days before your write date to allow additional time to prepare the examination. In rare circumstances these time limits may be extended for specific examinations.
6.1.2.3 Where do I write?
Students can write at an examination centre located in the University’s Athabasca, Edmonton, or Calgary, Alberta offices. In addition, a Canada-wide Examination Invigilation Network has been established and is comprised of many post-secondary institutions that are AU approved invigilation sites.
Students who do not have access to an examination centre, may propose an invigilator; a person approved by Athabasca University to oversee the writing of examinations. Athabasca University students living outside Canada write their examinations at an approved post-secondary institution or Canadian Embassy.
6.1.2.4 When do I write?
Students are expected to write their exam within their course contract period. Exam requests that are received within our published exam request deadlines, with a write date that is within a student's contract period, will not be assessed any additional fees.
AU has implemented process to accommodate late exam requests. A late exam request is an exam which is requested outside of the published deadlines.
Students cannot write their exam prior to the course contract start date.
All examination requests, with the exception of supplemental examinations, must be received by AU on or before your course contract end date.
After you submit your Examination Request Form, AU aims to have your exam arrive at the examination centre or your invigilator, approximately one week before your requested write date. AU cannot guarantee that your examination will arrive before your requested write date. Timelines are dependent on your geographic location.
If you are requesting to write an exam at an AU location (i.e. AU Athabasca, AU Edmonton, or AU Calgary), you must request your exam 10 days before your requested write date. (Available dates/times at month end are in high demand so more notice may be necessary to ensure your preferred date/time.)
If you are requesting an exam within Canada or the United States at an established AU Approved Invigilation Centre you must request your exam 20 calendar days prior to your requested write date.
If you are outside of Canada and the United States and requesting an exam to be invigilated at an established AU Approved Invigilation Centre, your request must be received 30 calendar days prior to your requested write date.
If you are requesting to write an exam at an invigilator not established as an AU Approved Invigilator, your request must be received 60 calendar days prior to your requested write date.
A request that is received outside of the published deadlines will be processed provided the student makes the request by his or her contract end date (with the exception of supplemental exams) and provided the exam is written not later than 30 days after the course contract end date. This is considered to be a late exam request and a fee is assessed for this service. This is not an extension; tutor support will not continue and all other coursework must be submitted prior to your course contract end date. Please allow time for your request to be processed—on-time delivery of the late exam cannot be guaranteed.
See the Exam Request and Completion Deadlines table above for the general guidelines surrounding the assessment of a late exam fee.
6.1.2.7 Examination Security
For exam security reasons, AU reserves the right to delay the shipment of examinations that have a write date scheduled well into the future. Whenever possible, examinations are shipped to an approved invigilator or an approved invigilation centre so that the exams arrive approximately one week before the requested write date.
Examinations are not shipped during the last week in December when the University is closed.
Examination requests that are received prior to the University closure for courses with a course contract end date of December 31 are allowed additional time to write their examinations without being charged the Late Exam Fee. Exams requested prior to the University closure for courses with a contract end date of December 31 must be completed no later than January 15 of the following year.
The Exam Request Deadlines must still be met (i.e. if you are requesting an exam in Canada or the U.S. you must still request 20 days before the write date) or the Late Exam Fee will be assessed.
This additional time does not apply to other course work such as assignments and quizzes, which must be completed on or before the December 31 course contract end date.
Any examination requests received after the university closure, but prior to the course contract end date of December 31 will be processed as a Late Examination Request.
Information effective Sept. 1, 2014 to Aug. 31, 2015.
Updated April 08, 2015
