Faculty of Law

Current Students

Deferred Examinations

Academic Senate has recently approved amendments to the deferred exam regulation.  Please see below for the updated version which can be found on the web at

http://www.bond.edu.au/students/manage/handbook/Part2AcademicRegs.pdf 

Division 5 - Assessment

51. Deferred Examinations

(1)       A deferred examination may be granted to a student by the Dean of the
            relevant faculty (or his/her delegate) where the student can demonstrate an inability to sit, complete, or perform at the minimum level of their demonstrated abilities, the original examination for medical or compassionate reasons, or as a result of unexpected and exceptional circumstances beyond the student’s control.

(2)       Students are required to apply using the official Application for Deferred Examination form within 48 hours following the scheduled examination. The form must be submitted along with appropriate documentary evidence to Student Administration (not directly to the Faculty).

(3)       If an application is based on medical grounds, a student must submit the Bond University Student Medical Certificate completed by a registered medical or dental practitioner stating:

(i)         the date on which the medical practitioner examined the student
(ii)        the severity and duration of the complaint, expressed as a medical opinion. Certificates merely reporting the student’s account of an illness will not be accepted.
(iii)       the practitioner’s opinion that the student was unable to sit the exam on the scheduled date of the examination.  If it is not possible to use the Bond University Student Medical Certificate a student may submit a certificate from a medical practitioner provided the certificate contains information as requested on the University certificate and covers points (i), (ii), and (iii) above.

(4)       Applications based on non-medical grounds must be accompanied by
            documentary evidence supporting the case plus a signed statutory declaration attesting to the unexpected and exceptional circumstances beyond the student’s control that precluded them from sitting part or all of the relevant examination.

(5)       The following would normally be considered acceptable grounds for deferring an examination:

a)         illness or medical reasons
b)         accident
c)         serious personal or emotional trauma (i.e. bereavement)
d)         events, sporting or religious commitments at a state, national or international representative level
e)         3 scheduled examinations in less than 24 hours

Students who intend to rely on grounds 5 (c) or (d) must seek advice from their program adviser before the scheduled examination date if they are unsure whether their application would meet the criteria above. To the extent it is possible, students who have fallen ill or suffered an accident before the relevant examination should also seek advice from their program adviser if they are unsure whether their application would meet the criteria above.

(6)       Approval will not be granted where it is reasonable to expect that the circumstances could have been avoided. The following would be considered unacceptable grounds for deferred examination:

a)         travel or holiday arrangements
b)         misreading the examination timetable
c)         a desire to spread assessment tasks to yield improved performance*
d)         events and sporting commitments that are not at a state, national or international representative level
e)         applications normally received after the prescribed deadline
           
* Applications may be rejected if there is reason to believe a student is trying to gain an unfair advantage through deferred examination. The student’s academic record and prior history of deferred examinations will be considered when making this judgement.

(7)       Deferred Deferred Examinations

a)         Deferring an existing deferred exam is not permitted. Students may only apply for ONE deferred examination for a subject. Students who do not sit the officially scheduled deferred examination (during orientation week) are not permitted to apply for a further deferred examination for that subject and must accept a fail grade for the exam.

b)         In extraordinary and severe circumstances only, the Dean of the relevant Faculty (or his/her delegate) can use his/her discretion to consider alternative arrangements.

(8)       Deferred examinations are conducted during orientation week of the
            immediately following semester. Students must be available to sit their deferred exam/s on any day from Thursday to Saturday of that orientation week. The timetable for deferred exams will not be published until several days prior to the commencement of the deferred exam period. If students do not receive this information at the beginning of Bond Week it is their responsibility to contact their Program Advisor or Student Administration.
           

Note – Students on clerkships and study tours etc. would fall into point 7 b) and would be managed in the Faculty, not centrally.

 

Download an Application for Deferred Examination.