Glasgow University Students Representative Council

GUSRC Advice Centre is warning students to check the rules carefully before the re-sit exams begin.

The advice team report having seen a higher than usual number of students facing academic penalties this summer for taking the wrong kind of dictionary into their exams.

Students whose first language is not English are allowed to take only a basic translation dictionary into an exam.  However, many students have been using an Advanced Learners’ translation Dictionary, without realising it is not allowed. The Advanced Learners’ Dictionaries have additional information in them as well as the translation, and the University has banned them in case students gain an unfair advantage.

The Advice Centre warns that students caught with the wrong type of dictionary should expect the University to give a penalty even if the mistake was accidental.  The typical penalty recently given has been a grade H (zero marks) for the exam in question, with the opportunity to take a re-sit.  Re-sits are ‘capped’ – so the maximum that can be achieved is the pass mark no matter how well the student actually performs. This can mean that students GPA is lowered as a result, and will also mean that a student who was on course to achieve Merit or Distinction will no longer be able to achieve this.

In other cases where students have been found with a prohibited item in an exam, (for example a mobile phone in a jacket pocket) the University has imposed even stricter penalties such as a grade H (zero marks), and no chance to re-sit. This can mean that the student will not be able to achieve a degree.

All mobile phones need to be properly switched off, with any alarms or notifications also switched off, and put inside a bag.

Any students who have re-sits coming up should carefully check any emails from their School, and ensure that they don’t take any prohibited items into their exams. There is more information here:  https://www.glasgowstudent.net/advice/academic/exams/