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Exam Warnings and Allowances

The systems of exam warnings and exam allowances are designed to support students who have had their preparation for their exams hindered by illness, disability or other 'grave cause' such as bereavement or family problems.

If you have any difficulty preparing for or taking an examination, it is most important that you contact your Tutor without delay. If you prefer not to approach your own Tutor, you may approach any other Tutor or officer in your College to seek advice. You may also contact CUSU for advice and support.

Examination Warning

If you have been hindered in preparing for or taking your examinations because of illness or disability, or because of some other grave cause such as family problems or bereavement, your Tutor may submit an 'examination warning' to the Examiners.

The warning does not empower the Examiners to award you extra marks, but the regulations allow for the following:

• In cases of dyslexia the Examiners will be invited not to penalise minor faults of grammar or spelling (this is not done in the case of language examinations in which correct grammar and spelling are essential elements of the test).
• If you are colour blind or have another serious visual handicap which might be relevant in certain practical examinations, the Examiners will be invited to make special arrangements for you in those examinations.
• In other cases (which comprise the great majority, and include illness, bereavement and other difficulties), your Tutor will submit an 'examination warning' if there is a risk of your failing the examination. If you have missed part of the examination but have performed with credit in a substantial part, the Examiners may award you unclassified honours by publishing your name under the heading 'Declared to have deserved Honours'. They will do this if the class (if any) which you would have been awarded on the basis of your aggregate mark does not represent a fair reflection of the quality of your work as seen by the Examiners. If you have taken the whole of the examination (i.e. attended all your exams) and obtained insufficient marks to pass (or only enough to warrant an allowance towards an Ordinary BA), the Chairman of Examiners will leave your name off the class list and inform the Deputy Registrary (a University Officer) and in turn your college will be informed. Your Tutor may then make an application to the Applications Committee for you to receive an examination allowance (equivalent to being awarded Unclassified Honours, or DDH).
• In the case of examinations for the Second and Final M.B. and Vet M.B. Degrees, dyslexia and colour blindness may be taken into account but the arrangements for examination warnings and allowances to not apply.

Exam Allowances

Students can ask their tutor to apply for an allowance for reasons of illness or extenuating circumstances.

The University's Applications Committee has the power to do the following. All applications have to be supported by the student's Tutor and has to request a course of action. A student may need supporting evidence from University Counselling Service or a local doctor.

If the student has been absent for the whole exam
Give the student leave to degrade, including leave, where required, to take the same examination;
Allow the student the examination;
Allow the student one, or possibly two, Ordinary Examinations;
Award the student 'Declared to have Deserved Honours'

If the candidate has been absent from part of the examination
Authorise the Examinaers to declare the student deserved honours or deserved to pass the exam, whichever is more appropriate;
Allow the Examiners to judge the performance of the student on the part of the exam they have completed unhindered;
Declare the student deserved honours or deserved to pass the exam.

If the candidate has attended the whole exam but failed
Give the student leave to degrade, including leave, where required, to take the same examination;
Allow the student the examination;
Allow the student one, or possibly two, Ordinary Examinations
Award the student 'Declared to have Deserved Honours'

If the candidate has attended part of/the whole exam and has obtained honours by inclusion in the class list
To remove the student's name from the class list and to award 'declared to have deserved honours';
To ask the Examiners to move the student's name into a higher class

If the candidate has attended part of the exam and has been awarded DDH
Authorise the examiners to include the student's name in one of the class list

More information on exam allowances and the process involved.

Declared to Have Deserved Honours (DDH):

By being granted Declared to Have Deserved Honours (DDH), you can explain an unusually poor performance in your Tripos exams. It also allows you to proceed to the next year and/or receive a BA Honours Degree (rather than an Ordinary BA). DDH is awarded where the examiners have seen the quality of the candidate's work and therefore know it to be of a good quality. Therefore it's better than being allowed an examination because the Allowances Committee will not see/judge work, and therefore DDH is a sign of a good quality work.

CUSU provides confidential, free, non-judgemental support and information to individual students. Contact the CUSU Education Officer, Welfare Officer or Women's Officer by email, phone or by dropping into the office if you would like support or information on any topic.