Deferred examinations are allowed in the following circumstances: illness, domestic affliction and religious conviction. Students submitting a final examination for marking may not subsequently request a deferred final examination. Lack of writing a final examination does not guarantee approval of a deferred examination. Travel arrangements and misreading of the Examinations Timetable are not valid reasons for requesting a deferred examination. The authority to grant or deny a deferred final examination is vested with the dean of the faculty in which the course is offered. Deferred final examinations will not be granted if it is determined that just cause is not shown by the student.
Students who have three final examinations between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on the same day will be allowed, at their request, to defer one examination to the deferred examination period.
If during the course of an examination a student becomes ill or receives word of domestic affliction, the student should report at once to the supervisor, hand in the unfinished paper and request that it be cancelled. If physical and/or emotional ill-health is the cause, the student must report at once to a physician/counsellor so that subsequent application for a deferred examination is supported by a completed Physician/Counsellor Statement form. Students can consult professionals at University Health Services or Counselling Centre during normal working hours or consult their physician/counsellor in the community.
All requests for deferral of a final examination due to health reasons must be accompanied by a completed Physician/Counsellor Statement form. Letters from a physician/counsellor in lieu of a Physician/Counsellor Statement form will not be accepted. Students are encouraged to be responsible in making a request to have an examination deferred by seeing a physician/counsellor while the student has the physical or emotional problem rather than after recovery. This makes it more possible for professionals to do an accurate assessment. Students should be aware that there may be a charge for the medical assessment and documentation and they are responsible for the cost of this service.
In the event of an intended absence due to religious conviction, domestic affliction, or health reasons which makes it physically impossible to write an examination, an Application for Deferred Final Examinations form accompanied by written evidence must be submitted to the appropriate faculty office prior to the date of the final examination. In the case of health reasons, the accompanying written evidence must be a completed Physician/Counsellor Statement form.
Students absent from a final examination due to unforeseen reasons must notify the department offering the examination within 48 hours of the missed examination and apply for the deferred final no later than the deadline indicated in the Examinations Schedule. Students who are eligible but do not apply for a deferred final examination by this prescribed deadline shall automatically lose this privilege. Students who have been granted a deferred final, but who do not show just cause within 48 hours of the examination for not writing at the prescribed time, shall automatically lose the privilege of further deferral in that course.
The Application for Deferred Final Examinations form and the Physician/Counsellor Statement form are available on the web (). Since there is a very short time period between the application deadline and the date for writing a deferred final examination, it is the responsibility of the student to ascertain whether the faculty has approved or denied the request for a deferred final examination.
Dates on which deferred final examinations are held are also noted in the Examination Schedule. Deferred final examinations are scheduled by the Registrar and a timetable will be posted outside the U of C Service Stop and on the web () a few days prior to the examination. Students writing a deferred final examination must consult this timetable to determine the exact date and time of their deferred final.
A deferred final examination question paper will differ in content (to the extent possible) from the regular final examination and may not necessarily be of the same format as the regular final examination.
Students in their graduating year who write Winter Term deferred final examinations will not graduate until the Fall Convocation.
Deferred final examinations may affect eligibility for certain undergraduate awards.
Academic Regulations