Take home online exams

Take-home online exams are open-book exams and allow flexibility to accommodate the different circumstances and needs of our students. Exams will be available for 23 hours in most cases, which means you can access and complete your paper at any time during this period, whenever suits you best – depending on your current time zone or around family life or any caring commitments, for example.

Information for students with time-restricted exams (Gradescope and Blackboard)

For some specific exams there may be a time restriction in place, which means once you have started your paper online (within the 23-hour window), it must be submitted within a specified time.

We have put arrangements in place to ensure we balance flexibility for the different circumstances of our students (for example, those with caring commitments, students living overseas, or internet connection issues), alongside the need to maintain academic integrity.

This means:

You can access and start the time restricted exam at any point during the 23-hour online exam window. This gives you the flexibility to choose when in the day works best for you to set time aside to complete the paper.
You will also have an additional 30 minutes at the end of every time-restricted exam where there is a requirement to scan and upload documents to do this once you have completed the paper (this will not apply for exams where no uploading is required – for example, for MCQ, Multiple Choice Question, tests). The time shown on the exam paper will include this additional 30 minutes.
Students who would usually be granted reasonable adjustments (for example, extra time for exams) will have that time added to the duration of their exam, as well as the additional 30 minutes for scanning and uploading where applicable.
If you are affected on the day by circumstances beyond your control (for example, significant connection issues, illness or interruptions) you can use our Extenuating Circumstances process to let us know so we can take this into consideration.

Preparing for take home online exams

You should set aside plenty of time to prepare and revise for your exams, as you would normally. We recognise that the current pandemic may make this difficult; please rest assured that we are here to support you to prepare for your examinations. Remember that our Student Welfare Team continue to be available online and by telephone to offer one-to-one appointments and advice.

We have provided some specific advice about this format of assessment to help you and it is your responsibility to ensure you can access what you need.

Read our blog post and watch a video on how to revise and prepare, and explore our dedicated take home exams webpage.
Take the opportunity to practise on the practice ‘take home’ exam area on Blackboard (under 'My Modules' on the 'My Blackboard' tab). You can get used to the system, work out the best arrangements for taking the exam in your current environment and test your internet connection.
Make sure you can access Blackboard. If you are unable to do this, please email take-home-exam@reading.ac.uk using your University email address and quoting your candidate number (found on your exam timetable) and the module codes for your exam(s).
Make sure you have access to your University of Reading OneDrive account and check your Remote Service Access. Saving files to your University OneDrive is the best way to ensure that your work is saved, and can be recovered, in case of an error. We strongly encourage you to read the DTS guide on Remote Service Access and One Drive.
Make sure well in advance that you have set up Multi-Factor Authentication on your mobile device. If you have any problems with this, please contact DTS.
You will be responsible for creating your own exam conditions. Try to plan your exam set-up in advance to make sure that you have a quiet comfortable place at home to take the exam. Tell your family/friends/flat mates that you have an exam so that you can take the exam uninterrupted. If you are unable to do this, please contact take-home-exam@reading.ac.uk.

Our Study Advice team offers one-to-one study advice, drop-in sessions, appointments with an Academic Liaison Librarian, webinars and have several guides available to support you including:

For specific questions about assessment on your programme, contact your Module Convenor or Support Centre.

On the day

Take-home online exams are open-book, time-limited exams, and allow flexibility to accommodate the different circumstances and needs of all our students. In most cases, the take home online exams will follow this process:

The majority of exams will be open on Blackboard for 23 hours from 10.00am UK time to 09.00am UK time the following day.
You will need to download the question paper from Blackboard and then complete it offline in Word, in most cases.
You will then submit online through Turnitin or Blackboard, as you would normally for your assessments throughout the year.
Please make sure you allow plenty of time to submit your work ahead of the submission deadline which closes for 23 hour online exams at exactly 9:00am UK time. Late submissions will not be allowed and you will receive a mark of zero.
If your discipline requires diagrams, equations, sketches or similar, we recommend drawing these items by hand. You can then scan or take a photo of them (for example, using a smartphone) and insert the picture files into your submissions. Try to keep file sizes to a minimum, as much as possible. See Capture and insert images into a Word document for online submission.
Where your answers will be entirely handwritten (for example for maths, science-based work, ancient and non-European languages) then you will need to scan or photograph your work and upload it to a submission point in Blackboard. Please read the steps you need to take to scan and submit your work.
You will not need an internet connection for the full 23-hour period and are not expected to spend 23 hours completing your exam.

Your School will be in touch with you if there are any variations to this.

For further advice and to practice, please visit your take home exam practice area in Blackboard (under 'My Modules' on the 'My Blackboard' tab). and read our further guidance.

Please see more information in the following FAQs:

Can I use space on campus for my take-home online exam?

Our take-home online exams have been designed for students to complete from their current address – whether that’s student accommodation or elsewhere. Please make plans now based on your exam timetable:

• speak to those you live with to ensure they are aware of the dates of your exams;
• in discussion with those you live with, choose the best time within the 23-hour window for you to allocate for this;
• consider writing up an ‘exam timetable’ to post on your own door, or a version for your whole household to post in the kitchen (for example), to ensure everyone is aware of these timings;
• use the practice area in Blackboard to familiarise yourself with the format and test your connection.

Subject to any changes in government guidance, our Library and study space will be available this summer term for students on campus to use for revision and exam preparation, for example. However, campus may be busy and, while we will make every effort to create a quiet environment, unfortunately we cannot guarantee this. In most cases, we hope you will be able to make arrangements to create a suitable environment to take your exams at home, in line with the advice above.

Most exams are available for 23-hours to give you extra time if you are interrupted or experience other difficulties. For time-restricted take-home online exams, we have added an additional 30 minutes where scanning and uploading of documents is required. If you have major issues on your exam day/during your exam period you will be able to submit a post-result Extenuating Circumstance. Further guidance about Extenuating Circumstances and the post-results Extenuating Circumstances can be found on our Essentials pages.

If you have specific circumstances that mean you are unable to take your exams at home or using the spaces available on campus, please speak to your Academic Tutor or your School Director for Academic Tutoring and they will provide further advice based on your situation.

How long should I spend on my exam and will there be a word limit?

For 23-hour take home online exams, you will be advised to spend a similar amount of time on your answers as you would have done if the exam was being undertaken in standard exam conditions and a ‘guide time’ for how long to spend on each paper will be provided by your Module Convenor.

This time will be indicated on the exam paper. You are not expected to spend the full 23-hour period completing the exam. This time is provided to help allow for things like time differences across the world, interruptions and technical issues, and special arrangements for extra time.

For time-restricted exams which require uploading answers in a file, there will be 30 minutes additional time provided for scanning and uploading documents. This additional time is to allow you to scan any handwritten work and upload your file. Work submitted beyond this 30 minute period will be treated as late, and will not be marked. The exam paper will state exactly how long you have in total to complete the exam. You are strongly advised to use the upload time only for scanning and uploading your paper and not as additional writing time.

For both exam formats, word counts may be present on most papers and it is important that these are not exceeded.

• Word limits are maximum word limits and include text in tables, but not text in charts, diagrams, or graphs.
• Students are encouraged to write succinctly, and a high mark can be achieved without reaching the maximum word limit.
• The marker is not obliged to read beyond the maximum word limit and a mark will be awarded based on the answer given up to the maximum word limit.

How should I check that my submission has been uploaded correctly?

You are responsible for ensuring that you have uploaded the correct document to the correct submission point, and for ensuring that your work has been uploaded successfully by the stated deadline for that exam. You should read the student help pages on Blackboard on how to check if your work has been submitted to Blackboard or Turnitin correctly.

We will not email you about non-submissions and you will not receive reminders from the University ahead of submission points for take home online exams.

Your mark may be affected if you do not check that your submission has been uploaded correctly, and a corrupted file may result in a mark of 0. Please make sure you check this before the submission deadline (at which point the submission point will become unavailable), to avoid this happening.

You are advised to save your exam answers in your university OneDrive while you are working on them. This helps prevent any accidental loss of data. Once you have submitted your document, please make sure that you have saved the final submitted document in your university OneDrive in case of any problems with your submission.

If you feel there has been a submission problem, please email take-home-exam@reading.ac.uk as soon as possible.

I have very limited / unreliable access to the internet. What happens if I cannot submit my answers by the deadline because of my connection?

For most exams and alternative assessments, you will be able to download the question paper from Blackboard, work on it offline and then upload your answers via a submission point in Turnitin or Blackboard when you have finished. This means that you will not need to have the internet available the whole time you are doing the exam.

If you know that you may experience issues with internet access, you might be eligible for support from our Digital Support Fund to help with access to IT equipment. Contact the Student Financial Support Team to find out what may be available to you. Please get in touch as soon as you can so we can help you to find a possible solution.

If you are unable to submit your exam by the deadline due to technical issues, please email your paper to take-home-exam@reading.ac.uk before the deadline (9.00am UK time for exams that are open on Blackboard for 23 hours). You should submit your work as a Word or PDF document, unless instructed otherwise by your lecturers - please make sure you attach a COPY of the file rather than a link.

For urgent queries (for example, at the submission deadline), you can call the ‘Take Home Exam Helpline’ on +44 (0) 118 378 7049 from 8:30 - 10:30 UK time Monday to Friday.

Please ensure that you follow the exam completion guidance provided in ‘Support for Students’ and any specific guidance for your module assessment in Blackboard.

If you have been affected by issues relating to IT and internet access or reasons outside your control, then you can use the enhanced Extenuating Circumstances process.

I have used my student number rather than anonymised candidate number on my exam, what should I do?

You do not need to take any further action and you will not be penalised for omitting your candidate number.

If you have any further exams, please do make every effort to use your anonymised candidate number, as omitting this does create a significant amount of work for our Programme Teams to ensure your submission is correctly processed. If you are unsure of your number, please refer to your exams timetable.

There is a mistake on my Online Exam Question Paper, what should I do?

All exam papers go through a checking procedure before they are released to students. In rare cases an error/typo is noticed after the paper has been released and students are taking the exam. If you notice a mistake, please take the following actions:

• If you have already submitted or are near the end of your time and are about to submit your answers, please submit your paper and be assured that this will be taken into account in the marking of the examination so that you are not disadvantaged. We have a record of when your work was submitted and so there is no need to contact us about this.

• If you have just started your exam please email take-home-exam@reading.ac.uk to notify us of the error. It is important that you then continue to complete and submit your paper, do not wait for a response to your email. It is likely that other students will have also flagged the mistake and please be assured that the School will be working on either issuing an immediate correction via your University email account OR will be taking account of the error in the marking of the examination.

If you have any other queries please contact us at take-home-exam@reading.ac.uk.