All exams, whatever form they take, must take place during the official examination period. See the "Important dates and deadlines" page for examination period dates. You can also consult the exam schedule to check the time and place of your exams.

This doesn’t apply to the Faculty of Education, Undergraduate Medical Education and the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, which have different exam periods. For more information, please contact them.

If you are taking courses that extend the entire year, December exams must take place during the official examination period, unless the academic unit authorizes otherwise.

Professors can’t give any test worth more than 10% of your final grade during the last week of classes of a session.

Regulation 9.3

Yes. You must always be ready to show your student card at an exam.

You can’t use any electronic device or communication tool during an exam that has not been expressly authorized. You must turn off any device you have, put it away and out of reach. You must check for each exam or test which devices or tools (if any) you are allowed to use. If you violate this regulation, you may be accused of academic fraud.

You must inform your professor or the academic secretariat of the faculty or academic unit offering the course if you’re sick and can’t attend your exam, or if you’re asking to hand in your work at a later date.

* We urge you to contact your academic secretariat to check whether you have to inform your professor or the secretariat that you will be absent or will be handing in your work late.

Your professor or the academic secretariat may request a medical certificate from your physician indicating the dates of your absence and return to studies, the date of your appointment with the physician and the physician’s signature.

If your professor or the academic secretariat questions the authenticity of the medical certificate, University of Ottawa Health Services may be asked to approve it.

If you become ill suddenly, you must inform your professor or your faculty’s academic secretariat that you will be absent and present a medical certificate dated on the day you are absent within five working days of the exam date or the deadline for handing in your work.

If you write an exam during the period when the medical certificate indicates that you are sick, you can’t use your illness or your health as a reason to appeal your grade.

If you can’t write your exam or if you’re asking to hand in your work at a later date because of psychological problems, you must inform your professor or the academic secretariat of your faculty.

* We urge you to contact your academic secretariat to check whether you have to inform your professor or the secretariat that you will be absent or will be handing in your work late.

Your professor or the academic secretariat may request a medical certificate from your physician or from a psychologist indicating the date of your absence and return to studies, the date of your appointment with the physician or psychologist and his signature, or a supporting letter from the University of Ottawa Counselling and Coaching Service.

If your professor or the academic secretariat questions the authenticity of the medical certificate, University of Ottawa Health Services may be asked to approve it.

You must inform your professor or your faculty’s academic secretariat that you will be absent and present a medical certificate dated on the day you are absent within five working days of the exam date or the deadline for handing in your work.

If you write an exam during the period when the medical certificate indicates that you are sick, you can’t use your illness or your health as a reason to appeal your grade.

In exceptional life circumstances, (a serious accident, a death or serious accident involving a spouse or immediate family member, fire, etc.), you must justify being absent or handing in work late in writing within five working days of the exam or deadline to hand in your work. Your academic unit or faculty may or may not accept the explanation you are giving. We don’t accept explanations such as travel, work or not reading the exam schedule correctly, except in exceptional, documented cases.

Only the faculties of Medicine, Education, Engineering and Law offer supplemental examinations. Here’s how it works for each faculty:

Faculty of Medicine: If you are registered in a 1000-level ANP course and receive an “E” grade, you can write a supplemental examination.

Faculty of Education:You must either write a supplemental examination or submit an additional assignment. If you fail a course, you have the right to one supplemental examination. You must receive a grade of 60% or “S.”

Faculty of Law (Common Law Section): If you achieve an annual grade point average of 3.5 or higher, you may write a supplemental examination for each course in which you haven’t achieved a passing grade that year. If your grade point average is less than 3.5, you fail the year and aren’t allowed to write supplemental examinations.

Faculties of Law (Civil Law Section), Engineering and Science: If you’re registered for a 1000-level course in the faculties of Law (Civil Law Section), Engineering or Science and get an “E” grade in the course, you may write a supplemental examination.

Additionally, if you are registered in the Faculty of Engineering, you may write a supplemental examination if you meet the following conditions:

1. You’re in your final year of studies.
2. You’ve only failed one course with a grade of “E” or higher during your final year of studies
3. You have the cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and diploma grade point average (DGPA) you need to receive your degree (See Regulation 10.2 for explanations of averages).
4. The course you’ve failed is the only requirement you’re missing to receive your degree.
5. The course you’ve failed is offered by the Faculty of Engineering.

If you want to write a supplemental exam and are eligible, you must register through the undergraduate studies office of your faculty. You will have to pay supplemental examination fees.

If you don’t write the exam and you haven’t informed your faculty that you will not be present for it one day in advance, you will receive the grade “EIN,” which is equivalent to a failure.

Yes, but you will have to pay additional fees to write a supplemental examination at another university. You can’t write a supplemental examination outside of Canada.

In the courses where your final grade is not just based on your final examination grade, the grade you receive on the supplemental examination only replaces the final examination grade, or, if this is better for you, it becomes the your final grade for the course. Both the supplemental grade and the grade you had before the supplemental examination appear on your transcript. Only the grade you receive on your supplemental examination counts for your cumulative grade point average. You cannot receive an award of excellence in a course based on a supplemental grade.