There are three formal diets which are the responsibility of the Central Timetabling Team (CTT):
- December
- May
- June/July (summer resit diet)
Exams held outwith the formal diets are the responsibility of the School.
It is University of Aberdeen policy that no student should be expected to sit more than two exams in one day.
School Examination Officer
Each School has a School Examination Officer(s). It is through the School Examination Officer and Central Timetabling Team all exam timetables are processed. The School Examination Officer gathers, coordinates and disseminates all exam information within their School, and liaises with the CTT.
Each summer the CTT send School Examination Officers a copy of the exam data held centrally to update for the immediate session ahead. A clash free exam timetable is then created using:
- Student registration on courses at end of the 2ndweek of teaching per half session
- Resit(s) registration by the Resit Application deadline
Publication of the Examination Timetable
The examination timetable is usually finalised and published to students 4 weeks before each exam diet.
Producing the Exam Timetables
The Central Timetabling Team produces the exam timetable based on individual students’ registration on courses. The Team wait until student course selection has finished and run the student registration numbers at the end of the second week of teaching to ensure all selections are captured.
Using specialist software, the exam timetable is calculated to ensure students don’t experience exam clashes based on their individual course choices. The timetable needs to take account of approximately 13,000 students and therefore takes approximately four weeks to produce, including an opportunity for Schools to review the proposed timetable.
The Central Timetabling Team is required to produce the exam timetable four weeks before an exam diet commences, however the Team aims to produce the timetable to provide five weeks notice. The Team continues to explore ways to increase the notice period further.
Exam Timetable Information for Students
Staff should not give any exam scheduling information directly to students. After publication they should advise students to:
- View the timetable via MyTimetable
- Visit the InfoHub noticeboard and website
Students taking examinations externally are referred to the Infohub website, however a PDF copy of the examination timetable can be sent via email on request.
For postgraduate taught courses scheduled outwith the normal examination diets, parent Schools must inform students of the date, time and venue of all such examinations.
Contact Information
Queries regarding either the exam timetable or resits can be sent to exams@abdn.ac.uk. Alternatively you can contact us by phone on +44 (0) 1224 273588.