Important Information about Exams
Before the exam
Oral examination
It is your own responsibility to be present when it is your turn to be examined. The exam list is not a time schedule, so if one student does not show up, the next one on the list will be examined instead. Therefore, if you want to make sure that you are there, when the lecturers are ready to examine you, you should be there from the beginning of the exam schedule - you cannot know whether all students listed on the exam schedule will be present.
If there is preparation time before the oral exam the first student has to show up 30 minutes before the examination starts.
Special terms and conditions for exams
Aarhus University offers special terms and conditions to students with physical or mental functional impairments.
Apply for an exemption as early as the beginning of the semester
- The Board of studies will process your application.
- We recommend that you apply for an exemption for special terms and conditions for your exam(s) as soon as possible.
- Remember to attach relevant documentation of your functional impairment.
- You apply for the exemption via mystudies.au.dk.
- If you do apply for your exemption until late in the semester, the consequence may be that we do not have time to process your application and grant you special terms and conditions for your exam(s).
It is important that you register for the right exams within the deadline
We assess your options for special terms and conditions for your exam(s) based on your exam registrations.
You need to do the following from now on:
- You apply for exemption via mystudies.au.dk.
- We will contact you on your AU-email if we need information and/or documentation.
- You will receive the letters from the Board of studies in your e-Boks.
You can read about the new process in the sections below here:
Will my extended time appear in WISEflow?
Your extra time for written exams will be shown in WISEflow no later than two days before the exam. If not, contact your examination administrator in WISEflow.
Have you been granted an exemption to receive the exam set for your paper exam digitally so you can use your IT aids?
Then you can bring your computer to the exam and access the exam set in WISEflow. You must have the Device Monitor enabled throughout the entire exam.
Please note that you must submit your entire exam paper either on paper or digitally in WISEflow. You are not allowed to submit some parts on paper and other parts digitally.
Practice of the Board of studies
We grant exemptions for
Aarhus University can offer special terms and conditions for exams when we deem it necessary in order to ensure that the student is placed on an equal footing with other students in connection with a specific exam.
However, the level of the exam may not be altered by the special terms and conditions.
The practices of the Boards of studies at Nat and Tech in granting exemptions are as follows:
- Extra time for written exams – 15 min. per started hour
- Extra time for preparation for oral exams, if there is already preparation time for the exam – 100 % extra time
- IT tools (e.g. co-spelling and recitation programs)
- Private room (requires special documentation)
Please note that if you attend courses at other faculties and universities, there may be other practices for special terms and conditions for exams.
- Are you attending elective courses at another university? Please contact the studies administration at the other university to learn more about your options.
- Are you attending elective courses at another faculty at Aarhus University? The administration at the other faculty will be informed about your chronic functional impairment, that may grant exemption for special terms and conditions for exams.
We do not grant exemptions for
The practices of the Boards of studies at Nat and Tech is that we do not usually grant exemptions for:
- Extra time for the oral exam itself, as the exam time is estimated. We recommend that you contact your teacher, if you need special considerations.
- Extra time for written exams based on another mother tongue than Danish, when the student meets the entry requirements – e.g. Danish A.
- Extra time for fixed-time home assignments of 24 hours or more, as we expect that you can plan your work effort within the time frames.
- Changing the exam language, as we deem that this will lower the level of the exam.
If you have any questions for the above, please contact us at:
- Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes at Faculty of Natural Sciences: studienaevn.nat@au.dk.
- Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes at Faculty of Technical Sciences: studienaevn.tech@au.dk.
- Bachelor of Engineering degree programmes: studienaevn-diplom.tech@au.dk.
- Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes at Molecular Medicine: studienaevn-molmed@au.dk.
Student ID Card as identification for written exams
You must always bring your student ID card for written on-site exams. This is so that the exam invigilation can identify you as an AU student.
Did you lose your student ID card?
You can read more here about how to reorder a new one.
For the exams, you then need to bring another form of publicly issued picture identification (passport or driver’s license) – staff ID cards or the like will not be accepted.
Digitisation of hand-written material
If you need to prepare hand-written material in connection with your written digital exam – such as drawings, formulae or other items – the material must be digitised and attached to your exam paper. You are personally responsible for digitising the material and attaching it to your exam paper.
The digitisation must take place in the time allowed for the exam and in the examination room, using approved digitisation tools.
If you need to prepare hand-written material, you must choose between the following digitisation solutions:
- Hand-held web camera
- Digital camera with an empty memory card
- Camera built into the computer (it is allowed to lift up the paper)
- Hand-held scanner
- Draw directly on your computer using the mouse, a stylus pen, or a tablet board
- Camera in a mobile phone, tablet, or other communication platforms, but only during the winter exam period 2021/22 and only for exams that have been converted to online format
You are personally responsible for ensuring that the digitised material is of a quality that enables it to be read and assessed. We recommend that you try out the digitisation tools well before the exam, so that you are completely familiar with them when you use them in the exam.
You are not permitted to use a mobile phone, tablet, or other communication platforms to digitise hand-written material during exams on Campus. See the rules and regulations for communication during a written exam under 'Examination' > 'WISEflow' in the menu.
You have two options for attaching digitised material to your exam paper. You can:
- enter the material directly as an image in the exam paper or
- upload the material as a separate attachment next to the exam paper.
We recommend that you enter the hand-written material directly in your exam paper, so that you can submit the paper as a single document.
* Digitisation tools are available in reasonable quality in price ranges from below DKK 100.
Attending exams from abroad
If you are registered for an exam held at Aarhus University while abroad, you have the following options for participating in your exam online.
Written exams
You can participate in a written exam from abroad if you apply for and are granted an exemption.
It is possible in case of documented exceptional circumstances, such as semester overlap with a university abroad, documented illness or legal reasons.
Please note that you will be responsible for finding a contact person who can act as exam supervisor during your exam.
The contact person must be employed by a) a foreign university, b) a corresponding educational institution, or c) a Danish diplomatic mission or consulate abroad. The contact person may not be a student or PhD student.
Make sure to send your application in as soon as possible, as it may take several weeks to process your case and coordinate your exam. We will write to your AU email if we have questions about your case.
You can read more about how to apply for an exemption here.
Contact faktiskforvaltning.nat-tech@au.dk if you have any questions.
Oral exams
You must contact your lecturer if you wish to take an oral exam online from abroad. They will then assess whether it is possible, including whether it is an academically viable solution.
Anonymised exams
When an exam is anonymised, the assessors cannot know your identity.
Therefore, you may not state your name, student registration number or other ID in your exam paper or as part of its file name.
Which exams are anonymised?
The following exam forms are anonymised from the winter exam 2023 onwards:
- Written exams (including paper-based exams)
- Take-home assignments without oral defense (including final exams such as bachelor projects without defense)
If parts of the exam are submitted outside of WISEflow, the exam cannot be anonymised.
Use of participation index
You are assigned a participation index (formerly “flow-løbenummer” in Danish) in WISEflow for each anonymised exam you participate in. You will therefore experience that the index changes from exam to exam.
You can check your participation index on the flow by previewing the cover sheet:
You only need to write your participation index on your paper in group assignments .
For paper-based written exams, the exam supervisors will inform you of your participation index when you show up to the exam.
Anonymised group assignments
For anonymised group assignments, it must be clearly stated which part(s) of the paper you are responsible for. You and your fellow students must therefore state your participation index in the section(s) you have written instead of your name or student number.
You will be able to check your participation index after you have formed your group.
Feedback on anonymised exams
You may provide your participation index to your examiner if you want feedback on your paper after you have received your assessment.
Why are exams anonymised?
The Education Committee has decided that exams at AU must be anonymised when there is no need for examiners to know the identity of the examinee. The decision has among other reasons been taken at the request of student organizations across the university.
Anonymisation is intended to ensure that you are only assessed on the basis of your academic performance. When assessors don't know your identity, their assessment will not be influenced by biases related to factors such as gender and race.
During the exam
Aids permitted at exams incl. computers, mobile phones
In the Course Catalogue you can find information about permitted aids for exam in the specific course description.
Rules for computers:
Computers must be brought along for exams (even when it is implied that there are 'no' exam aids), unless it is specifically stated in the course catalogue that computers are not allowed.
Rules for mobile phones:
You are only allowed to use a mobile phone during the written exam for two-factor authentication when logging on to AU server. The exam supervisor's instructions must be followed.
Generative AI (GAI)
Rules for Generation tools:
AU has adjusted the rules for the use of Generative AI (GAI) so that it is now allowed in all projects, unless your academic regulations or the course catalogue doesn’t explicitly state that using GAI is not allowed. It is important that you are aware of when GAI is allowed to use and how to cite it correctly. If it is permitted, you must follow the same referencing rules that apply to any other sources, as it otherwise will be regarded as plagiarism. Read more about GAI in the menu item 'GAI and chatbots' on the left.
Communication during written exams is forbidden
When you are sitting a written exam, please note that communication is not permitted. Communication during an exam is regarded as cheating.
If you receive messages or similar from communication platforms or file-sharing services during the exam, you must under no circumstances answer them, and you must immediately inform the exam supervisors about what has happened.
Make sure you know the rules, which can be found under 'Examination' > 'Cheating at exams' in the menu.
WISEflow and Linux
As AU switches to a new exam platform, WISEflow, you should be aware that this may bring changes for you if you use Linux, Android, Windows 10S/11S Mode, or Chromebooks for written proctored exams.
Your computer must be able to access AU's exam systems, including the security systems Device Monitor and lockdown browser in WISEflow.
If your computer cannot do this, you will not be able to take a digital written on-site exam. The option to undergo increased supervision is no longer available.
You can already now check if your computer can run both security systems.
Most written exams at Nat-Tech are conducted using Device Monitor. Only a very limited number use the lockdown browser as of right now. You can see your exam in WISEflow no later than 14 days before the exam, and there you can see on the flow which security system applies to your exam.
It is your responsibility to make sure that your computer can access WISEflow. You can read more in this guide if you use Linux.
What are the system requirements for the Device Monitor and lockdown browser?
You can read more about the system requirements for both on this page.
If your computer cannot run the Device Monitor or lockdown browser, you must switch to an operating system that can, such as Windows.
Please note:
- The lockdown browser cannot be used with Linux, Android, Windows 10S/11S Mode, or Chromebooks.
- The Device Monitor can be used with Linux if you are using Ubuntu 18 LTS or a newer version.
How do I test if my computer can run the Device Monitor and lockdown browser before my written exam?
You can download and test both and see system requirements in the installation guides inside WISEflow.
You do this by clicking on your name at the top right > Edit profile > System. You can find instructions for this on this page.
You can also try out different types of written exams under your "Demo flows," which you can find under your exams on your homepage.
Contact the Nat-Tech IT support if you have any technical questions.
After the exam
Exam results
You can find your exam result at mitstudie.au.dk as soon as it has been registered.
- The deadline for publication of the result is stated in the exam schedule.