Examinations at LiU

With the halftime of the spring semester quickly approaching examinations are coming up again. Examinations at LiU can look quite differently which is why I wanted to give you a quick overview on how exams can look like. It all depends on your program and the courses you are doing but also on your professors.

Examination Paper

As I am studying a political science course in many cases, we have to write a paper on a specific topic related to the course. Usually, general instructions can already be found in the course guide including the deadline. The professor will later during the course will give some further instructions and answer question. It is up to oneself to manage to finish on time. The final paper will have to be uploaded on our student portal (LISAM) as a submission and all submissions will then be checked for plagiarism.

Home examination

Another examination option I have done is the home examination. In my case this again means writing papers. However, the instructions will only be published on a certain day at the end of the course. You then have 1,5 to 5 days to complete the exam and upload it on LISAM before the set deadline. The amount of time depends on the scope of the examination and the professor. As it is a home examination you can do it from wherever, I myself work better at the library.

Exam

There are also 2 weeks in the middle of the semester and at the end of the semester where exams on Campus take place. During these weeks and leading up to them you will find that the library is packed with students as everyone has to study. Exam can be up to 4 hours long. It’s important to check where your exam is taken place and be there at least 15 minutes early. If you arrive late, you won’t be able to take exam.

Grading

For grading the RTCS Grading scale is used.

A: EXCELLENT, outstanding performance with only minor errors

B: VERY GOOD, above the average standard but with some errors

C: GOOD, generally sound work with a number of notable errors

D: SATISFACTORY, fair but with significant shortcomings

E: SUFFICIENT, performance meets the minimum criteria

FX: FAIL, some more work required before the credit can be awarded

F: FAIL, considerable further work is required

Professors have 15 working days to get back to you with a grade. You will receive an email to your student account as soon as it’s uploaded and can also see them on LISAM together with any comments made by the professor.

To pass your course you usually also have to participate in the seminars during the course as well. This can include writing small position papers or doing a presentation. Often seminars and the assignments for it aren’t graded but just as pass or fail. So, the final grade of the course is determinate by the grade you get in the final examination.

One thing to mention is that each programme works a little different. The Bachelor of Experimental and Industrial Biomedicine for example has a minimum of 4 exams which can take up to 5 hours during the exam period. The grading also varies a bit, but you can find more information here.

I hope this gives you a short overview of how examination works at LiU.

All the best,