2023-24

Rules of Invigilation[1]

Appointment of Invigilators

22.1  The Director of Registry shall appoint invigilators and provide them with timetables giving the days, hours and places of the various examinations.[2] A minimum of one invigilator is required for every 75 candidates. The Director of Registry shall ensure that each invigilator has a copy of the Rules of Invigilation, including the Instructions to Candidates, and carries out their duties in accordance with the rules. Invigilators should also be aware of the rules relating to Examination and other Assessment Arrangements for Students with Disabilities (§24.1 - §24.18).

Attendance and Distribution of Papers

22.2  Each invigilator must be present in the examination room at least 15 minutes before the examination begins and during the whole examination. Before the examination commences, invigilators must check that all the examination papers are in order and any supplementary material required is in place.

Instructions to Candidates

22.3  The Instructions to Candidates on their Conduct in Written Examinations (Regulation 17) form part of the Rules of Invigilation and invigilators must ensure that they are followed.

Admission of Candidates and Start of Examination

22.4  All invigilators present should agree when candidates should be admitted to the Hall and should ensure that students granted extra time and already in the Hall suffer as little disruption as possible.

22.5  Before announcing the start of the examination, one of the invigilators should

1. instruct candidates to complete a Candidate’s Attendance Form;[3]
2. read out the fire safety notice;
3. issue any other instructions which the invigilators deem appropriate.

Duties During the Examination

22.6  Invigilators, while on duty, must give their whole attention to watching the candidates, and must on no account read or engage in any occupation which would distract their attention from their proper duty. Invigilators are not to answer inquiries by candidates regarding the meaning of examination questions: the candidate is simply to be told to take a reasonable view of the meaning of the question, and in cases where there is any doubt, to note in their answer what view of the meaning they take; but an invigilator or a member of the School may remedy defects in the form of the printed examination papers, such as a defective rubric or a serious misprint, by announcement.

22.7  Once the examination has started, invigilators should collect the attendance slips and check Student ID cards; where a candidate has no card, the candidate's Attendance Form should be annotated by an invigilator and lodged with the Head of School or their nominee (hereinafter referred to as Head of School) who shall satisfy themself of the bona fides of the student before releasing the scripts for marking.

Improper Behaviour of Candidates

22.8 If an invigilator has reason to suspect a candidate of giving or receiving information in the examination room, the candidate's name and table number should be noted and the circumstances reported to the Clerk of Senate.[4]

First Aid Cover and Fire Safety

22.9  A copy of the First Aid notice and Fire Safety notice on display in every Examination Hall will be provided to invigilators. It is the invigilator’s responsibility to evacuate, manage and return candidates to the exam hall in the event of a fire alarm.

Conclusion of Examination

22.10 The end of the examination period must be announced. All scripts must be collected from each candidate individually and retained by the invigilators on behalf of the School. The School envelope should be taken or sent back to the School. Before leaving the room, an Invigilator must complete a report to the Registry on the form provided showing the number of candidates at the examination and the number of scripts collected: this report should be hand delivered to the Registry.

22.11 Invigilators must check the scripts received against the Candidate's Attendance Form in the event of any discrepancy. To preserve the anonymity of scripts all Candidate Lists and Attendance Forms must be lodged with the Head of School or other designated co-ordinator before the scripts are distributed for marking.

Illegible Examination Scripts

22.12 If examiners find a substantial part of an examination script to be illegible, the candidate in question will be required to come to the University to dictate their script to a third party in the presence of an invigilator. The invigilator will be in possession of a copy of the script in question in order to follow the candidate’s dictation of their script. A charge will normally be levied for this procedure. 

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