Regulations examinations

Written examinations

The Education Administration and Coordinator Office of the Faculty is responsible for publishing results of written examinations through Progress.

Between the 4th and the 10th working day after the examination date

Publication of examinations results will take place before the tenth working day after the examination date (holidays as well as the days between 26 December and 1 January are not considered to be working days in this context).

15 working days after the examination date

Some (main) courses have been granted a longer grading period. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the publication of the results of these examinations shall take place no later than 15 working days after the examination date. For further information, please check theTeaching and Examination Regulations.

Oral examinations

Unlike written examinations, the results of oral examinations are determined immediately after the examination and the result is provided to students in a written form.

Examinations conducted in another way

If examinations are conducted in another way than mentioned above, the Board of Examiners will decide beforehand in which way and within what period you shall receive a written statement of the result.

Right of inspection

The written statement of the result holds the right of inspection (when and how students can check their examinations) as well as the possibility of appeal at the Board of Appeal for Examinations.

Validity of examination results

The examination results are valid indefinitely.

Last updated on 21-7-2023

Classes: no tutor system

Groningen has quite big classes especially for courses at bachelor level. Working groups have fewer students (maximum 30 in general), but not every course has working groups, especially not at master level

Groningen does not have a tutor system, which also means that students should plan their studies themselves. Students need to make a workable study schedule and to start studying right from the beginning. This will avoid not having enough time to prepare for exams.

Our University’s Student Service Centreoffers special workshops for students who have difficulties planning their studies. These workshops can be very helpful.

DIY-attitude

The Dutch educational system is built on the notion that it is the student’s own responsibility to actually study. As a result, the University informs the student of what is expected of him/her in each course. This is mentioned in the course information on the Student Portal or by the lecturer(s) in the individual courses. Students are supposed to keep track themselves to see if they are still on schedule with their reading and preparations.

This also means that if they get stuck, it is strongly advised for them to contact either the lecturers directly or the study advisersat the International Office. Help will surely be offered, but only when asked for.

Build-up of programmes in Groningen

As the Faculty strives to deliver self-sufficient students at the end of each programme, the programmes are set up in such a way that students become more and more independent throughout the programme.

For a bachelor programme this e.g. means that all courses in year 1 have working groups.

Not all courses in year 2 will have working groups though, as students should already be able to go through the materials by themselves.

In year 3 hardly any working groups are offered.

The same goes for the master programmes: no working groups are offered, only lectures.

Keep up with the reading

Our lecture blocks are immediately followed by the exams of that block. Students should be aware of this and should start studying right from the start of the lecture block.
The entire system is based on the idea that students prepare well for their lectures and working groups. No preparation means that the lectures will be a lot more difficult to comprehend. Working groups can only add value to your studying if you have prepared the materials beforehand. In working groups, lecturers will start discussions with students and ask questions; students are supposed/expected to engage and actively participate.

Contact hours per course

In general, a course has 4 contact hours per week; some courses offer an additional working group per week. This means that students will have to do a lot of studying on their own. It is therefore very important for students to make a workable study schedule right from the start of lectures which will enable them to keep up with the weekly workload and assignments.

Answering exam questions and example exams

Usually lecturers provide examples of exams/exam questions on the Student Portal. These examples usually come with model answers and can be used to practice taking exams in the Dutch system.

Answering exam questions may also be different from what students are used to: in our exams, students are supposed to strictly answer the question, be to the point (and please write legibly!) and mention the applicable (treaty) articles and case law. They should not just write down everything they know about the subject/question as this will not give them any extra points if it is not the answer to the question. Not the quantity but the quality of the answer will count.

Each exam should mention the number of points allocated to each correct answer, so that students will know what to expect when examiners review their work.

Grading system

The Dutch grading system is using a 1 to 10 grading scale in which 10 is the highest grade, 6 the minimum pass grade, and 1 the lowest grade. However, the grade 10 is rarely awarded. The scale used translates as follows:
10 = outstanding
9 = excellent
8 = very good
7 = good pass
6 = pass
1-5 = fail

In the Netherlands, grades are given on an absolute basis. Results of exams will hardly ever be adjusted to a curve, because we do not use a comparative system for grading. The Groningen Law Faculty does not use class rankings and no statements to imply class rankings can be produced.

The distinction Cum Laude is awarded, when a degree programme is completed with an average grade of at least 8.0 or higher, including a Bachelor’s or Master's thesis marked 8.0 or higher.*
The distinction Summa Cum Laude is awarded, when a degree programme is completed with an average grade of at least 9.0 or higher, including a Bachelor’s or Master's thesis marked 9.0 or higher.*

All assessments are graded in full marks. The only exception to this are the Bachelor's thesis (Research Colloquium), seminars and the Master's thesis. These can be graded in half grades. The grade 6.0 is considered to be a pass grade in this respect. For all other assessments only full marks are given.

* The precise regulations for awarding the distinctions Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude can be found here.

Last update: 21-6-2024

Definition of fraud

Article 15 of the Examination Regulation.

Article 15 Fraud

15.1 By fraud is meant an act or omission by the student which partly or wholly hinders the forming of a correct assessment of his or her or someone else’s knowledge, insight and skills.

15.1a The following actions are considered to be fraud, though this is not a limitative list:

1. Having available during an examination – toilet visits included – at any other place than in a closed bag on the floor: texts, other data carriers or electronic devices; unless the use of them is explicitly allowed.
2. Having available during an examination: written notes in legislations, including any codes that may be hidden in underlining or marking.

1. reusing texts of others or generated by artificial intelligence in papers without mentioning the source

1. Presenting ideas which were developed by others as your own work.
2. In case of individual assignments: taking note of papers of other students that are applicable to the same assignment; in case of group assignments: taking note of papers of others students not part of the group.
3. The making available of papers to other students, including uploading papers to websites which are available to others, when it concerns an individual assignment for which the deadlines has not passed yet; in case of group assignments: the same applies when papers are made available to students that are not part of the group for the assignment.

15.2 When a suspicion of fraud arises during an examination, the student will in principle be allowed to finish the examination, provided it does not lead to disruption of the examination; in the case of disruption of the examination, the examiner can exclude the student from further participation in that examination.

15.3 The examiner must ensure that a report of the observed or suspected fraud is sent to the Board of Examiners immediately, with a copy to the student, within a reasonable period of time after the suspicion of fraud has been established.

15.4 The student may lodge an appeal against the exclusion with the Board of Examiners.

15.5 If a student commits fraud, the Board of Examiners can declare the obtained result of the course in question to be invalid, deprive that student of the right to participate in one or more examinations, to be determined by the Board of Examiners, during a period, also to be determined by the Board of Examiners of maximum one year. In cases of severe fraud, the Board of Examiners can request the Executive Board of the University to terminate the registration for the programme in question of said student indefinitely.

15.6 The Board of Examiners will not make its decision before the student and the examiner have been heard, or has at least given them the opportunity to be heard.

General

In cases of fraud during an examination, the examiner or invigilator is authorised to exclude the student in question from participation in the examination (articles 11.5 and 15 Examination Regulation). The examiner makes sure that a full report of the determined or suspected fraud will be sent to the Board of Examiners and that a copy of that report is sent to the student. If there is a serious suspicion of fraud, the examiner or invigilator has the right to inspect the student’s belongings which were brought into the examination room.

The Board of Examiners is authorised to pass judgement on students who are suspected to have committed fraud. The Board will invite the student for a hearing. Both the reporting examiner and the student will be given the opportunity to present their views on the matter.

The Board of Examiners will only decide after both student and examiner have been heard or at least they have been given the opportunity to be heard.

If the Board of Examiners determines that fraud was committed, the student can amongst others be excluded from participating in one or more examinations during a period to be set by the Board of Examiners, which can be a maximum of one year.

In cases of serious fraud, the Board of Examiners can request the Executive Board of the University to indefinitely revoke the registration for het programme fort his student (iudicium abeundi).

Appeal

The sanction decision of the Board of Examiners can be appealed at the CBE. This appeal can be submitted via www.rug.nl/clrs, within 6 weeks after the decision date.

Examples of fraud

No rights can be derived from this overview. The Board of Examiners will assess the merits of each case separately and will sanction accordingly.

Last update: 21-6-2024

General

If you have a complaint about the procedures with regard to, the organisation of or the examinations themselves, you can, after you have made your objections known to the lecturer/invigilator, file a formal complaint with the Board of Examiners.

Examples of complaints about examinations:

• The lecturer/invigilator arrived too late;
• The examination questions were formulated ambiguously;
• There were technical issues with the digital examination;
• There was noise disturbance during the examination;
• The examination was assessed carelessly;

Even in case of a well-founded complaint, the Board of Examiners can never bring about a change in the grade. They can, however, take measure to prevent (further) damage in the future, or request examiners to take well-founded complaints into account.

Complaint regarding the content of an examination or assessment

In case you do not agree with the content or the assessment of the examination (and as a result of that: with the grade you were awarded), you first should discuss your complaint with the lecturer involved. Should this not lead to a resolution, you can file a complaint with the Board of Appeals via the online legal protection portal.

Complaint about the situation during the examination

You can file an online complaint with the Board of Examiners. They will respond within six weeks to your complaint.

Last update: 01-06-2024

Availability of the examination questions

If a written examination has been conducted, the examination must be made available to students after the examination at a fixed time.

Information to be taken after the examination

Every examination sheet will be provided with information about time, place and type of consultation, when the examination taken can be discussed such that students can take it along with them after the examination. (The appendix to) the examination form should also state that an appeal may be lodged against a decision of examiners within six weeks with the Board of Appeals for Examinations, in accordance with Article 7.60 of the Higher Education and Research Act (WHW). This appeal should be lodged through the Central Portal for the Legal Protection of Student Rights.

Exam discussion or inspection

The lecturer involved, will arrange a time and place where:

• the corrected examination will be returned to the examinees for inspection and a general discussion will be held, or
• the corrected examinations with standard answers will be shown or handed out to examinees.

The time of the discussion must be no later than two weeks after the announcement of the exam results and if possible no later than four working days before the resit examination. In deviation of the aforementioned, the consultation of resit examinations of block 4 can be scheduled in the period before the start of the adjacent first semester. If an examination has been taken in written form, the questions posed in the exam must be made available to the student for inspection after the examination, at the latest at the aforementioned time.In deviation of this, the period for examinations for the second semester may fall in the period around the start of the next first semester.

Discussion must aim at clarifying errors or omissions in an answer given by a student(s).
Students may take notes during the discussion as long as this is not done on the examination sheet.

If an examination has been taken digitally, the questions posed in the exam and the answers given by the student must be made available for inspection for a reasonable period of time. During the exam discussion, students are responsible for having their answers available, in a manner specified by the lecturer (print or digital).

Check at distribution examination papers

At the time of the discussion or inspection, the examinations will be returned to the examinees by members of the relevant department in such a way that name, student card number and/or registration number can be checked during the inspection or taking out of the exam.

A student who is not present during the exam discussion without prior notice and which notice holds reasonable grounds, does not have the right to have an exam discussion.
However, a student is given the opportunity to inspect the examination made at a predetermined and announced moment. The examiner assesses the reasonable grounds for the absence.

Individual discussion

The lecturer involved, will provide students with the opportunity to discuss the examination individually, either at a time immediately subsequent to the discussion or inspection, or on a later day.

If an individual student does not attend the discussion at the time and place of discussion or inspection and does not submit a notice of absence based on reasonable grounds, an individual discussion may be refused.
The Board of Examiners does not accept holidays or vacations as a reasonable ground for absence. The student will be given the opportunity to inspect the examination at a pre-set and published time.

Conduct of students during a discussion

Students are expected to remain polite at all times and only discuss their individual case with lecturer(s) if they disagree with the assessment of the lecturer(s) of their specific answer. It is expected of students to only argue based on the content of the answer given by the student in the examination compared to the answer provided by the lecturer during the exam discussion. No general statements can be made during these exam discussions, only individual cases can be taken into consideration. It is not expected of lecturers to discuss and re-assess all examinations once more during the exam discussions.
The intention of the exam discussion is to explain what the correct answer should have been and perhaps in individual cases, explain why the answer provided is correct of insufficiently correct to receive the maximum number of points.

Copy of examination when appealing the result

If a student appeals the result, the student will, at their request, be provided with a copy of the corrected examination paper.

Every examinee is allowed to arrange for the copy of his or her corrected examination to be collected by someone else at the time of the exam discussion. The responsible lecturer should be informed by the student in writing or by email. The person picking up the examination paper must present the registration number, their own identification, and proof of identification of the examinee.

Last update: 01-06-2024

Examination Regulation

Check Examination Regulation here.

Arriving too late

You will not be allowed to participate in the examination if you arrive more than half an hour late. The invigilator(s) may refuse you to sit in the examination if you do not have a valid reason for showing up late.

This could be found in article 11 of the Examination Regulation.

“Do not grade”

For master courses (in the academic year 2024/25): if you notice, while taking a written examination, that you might fail this examination, you could prevent from getting a failing grade in the following way: during or immediately after the examination, you can inform the lecturer or invigilator that you do not want your exam paper to be graded. You need to do this by writing down “Do not grade” on your answer sheets or in the digital exam. You should, however, hand in the written examination papers and answer sheets to the lecturer/invigilator. This is not possible for oral exams or other assessment forms or for bachelor courses

Please be aware! By writing ‘do not correct’, you are assumed not to have participated in the examination. All rights linked to examination participation will become null and void for this student for such examinations. This also excludes you from a possible future appeal to the Aberrant Examination Regulation.

Law books

Prohibited:

• Adding notes on tabs or in legislations or other permitted sources: words, numbers, article numbers, etc.
• Placing arrows

Permitted:

• Highlighting
• Underlining
• Use of coloured tabs (if blank)

These rules are used to prevent fraud. Having a text with annotations at your disposal during the examination will be considered fraud as arranged for in article 15 Examination Regulation.

Dictionaries

In principle, you are not allowed to use dictionaries during examinations.

Mobile phones

Your mobile phones are not allowed to be switched on and/or be available during the examinations. The invigilator can check that you do not have your mobile phone switched on or available. An invigilator is also allowed to (temporarily) confiscate similar devices.

Last updated on 21-6-2024