Preponement/Distance Examination of Session and End-of-Semester Examinations

Definition

If an end-of-semester examination and/or session examination cannot be taken as scheduled due to an important study-specific reason (in particular exchange or compulsory resp. highly recommended internship) the following may be granted subsequent to a well founded request:

• Preponement of examinations 
  An examination is scheduled before the examination session or before the examination phase at the end of the semester.
  
  
• Distance examinations
  An examination is taken at the same time as at the ETH, but at a different location.
  

A preponement of an examination and/or a distance examination is in each case subject to authorization. Furthermore, there is no entitlement to a preponed examination resp. a distance examination.

If an examination is preponed or taken as a distance examination without the approval of the Examinations Office the examination is invalid and will be cancelled.

The following information is exclusively for ETH students ("Outgoings") and exchange students at the ETH ("Incomings").

ATTENTION: project mobility and special students (UZH, EPFL, etc.) neither can prepone examinations nor take distance examinations.

Requirements

In order to be able to submit a request for the purpose of taking preponed examinations or distance examinations, the following conditions must be met:

• Enrolment
  You must be actively enrolled at ETH Zurich in the current semester
  (either as an ETH student or as an exchange student at ETH)
  
  
• Study-specific reason
  There must be a study-specific reason why an examination cannot be taken regularly at ETH as planned. All the reasons put forward must be substantiated.
  
  Study specific reasons are for example:
  • Beginning of the semester at the home or partner university...
  • Start of a research or study project (for example Master's thesis) abroad...
  • Start of a compulsory (or at least strongly recommended) internship...
    
    ...before or at the latest one week after the official examination date at ETH.
    

If you are not sure whether your reason is sufficient, then you should come by the Examinations Office during the opening hours.

There is no chance of obtaining a permission if for example the internship is voluntary and therefore is not listed as compulsory or recommended according to the study regulations, all reasons put forward of a purely private nature (for example holidays, part-time work, voluntary work, etc.) as well as the argument to complete your studies a semester earlier.

• Consent of the lecturers
  - All directly involved lecturers must agree to a preponement. We advise you to contact the lecturers as early as possible in the semester to obtain their general approval for a preponement.
  
  - You can find out whether written session- or end-of-semester examinations can be taken as distance examinations in the ETH course catalogue under the information on the performance assessment. If a distance examination is not possible, this will be explicitly indicated. If there is no indication of distance examinations, such an examination is possible in principle (in this case an additional agreement of the lecturers is not necessary).
  
  - Oral end-of-semester or session examinations that are regularly taken during the examination phase at the end of the semester or during the examination session can be taken remotely (via video conference) after consultation and with the consent of the lecturers concerned. An application to or additional approval from the Examinations Office is not necessary for this, but it must be communicated to the Examinations Office.

General conditions

Requests to apply for a preponement of an examination and/or a distance examination are to be submitted with the required function in myStudies starting from the 5th week of the semester until two weeks after the publication of the schedule for written session examinations.

The following general conditions apply:

• Oral examination
  It can be preponed, even if it could be taken in the session after returning from the exchange. This applies to end-of-semester and session examinations. (To do this, enter "Other" as the reason for being unable to attend the next session in the corresponding request in myStudies and complete the text field with the note that it concerns oral examinations).
  If an oral examination is held remotely - via video conference - during the examination phase at the end of the semester (for end-of-semester examinations) or during the examination session (for session examinations), this does not require approval from the Examinations Office. (The oral examination is then considered to be conducted "regularly".)  
• Written session examinations
  These can only be taken as distance examinations if there is a verifiable reason why the examinations cannot be taken in the next, i.e. following session, after the return from the exchange/internship/etc. This may be because, for example, you will not be at ETH for a study-specific reason or the examination will only be offered in the session after the semester in which the course unit took place.
• Change of the exam mode
  A change of the exam mode (for example taking a written examination orally) is not permitted for ETH students.
  
• Examination block
  Examinations from examination blocks that can be taken regularly at ETH must be taken here. The remaining examinations are either preponed (if they are oral examinations) or have to be postponed to the following examination session and taken at ETH once returned. An examination block can therefore be divided.
  If an oral examination of an examination block is taken preponed, the registration for that examination block can no longer be withdrawn once the preponed exam has been taken. Exceptions can only be granted for important reasons, in particular illness or accident.
  
• Timely submission
  Applications that are not submitted by the deadline will not be considered.
  Exceptions are only possible if important reasons, in particular illness or accident, can be invoked for the omission.
• Additional criteria
  ETH Zurich supports students in their efforts to organise an exchange semester. However, an exchange semester is an optional component of the course of study from which no right to a preponement and/or to a distance examination can be derived. The following criteria play a particular role when it comes to repetitions. In addition, also if "other reasons" are invoked for a preponement and/or a distance examination:
  • Independent study planning
    The course of studies to date and the current status of studies are taken into account.
  • Proportionality
    Here the necessity or urgency is assessed to prepone an examination or to take it as a distance examination. Other possible negative effects are also taken into account, such as failure to comply with a study deadline or extension of the study period if the examination cannot be preponed or taken as a distance examination. But also, for example, open overdue reminders for outstanding tuition fees.
  • Equality
    Especially if "other reasons" are invoked, it must be clarified whether there is no advantage over other students, for example if you simply want to prepone an examination so that you can "finish your degree course earlier". 

Preponement of an examination

All oral end-of-semester and session examinations can be preponed.

ETH students may only prepone a written end-of-semester and/or session examination if the lecturer already offers such a specially designed and preponed written examination for exchange students. (Principally, a written examination is taken as a distance examination.)

If you are only partially absent during the examination session, i.e. if you could also take examinations regularly during the session, please ask the lecturers of your oral session examinations what time period they will make available for their oral examinations. This will give you a clue as to whether you can take the corresponding examination regularly during the session or whether you will have to prepone it.
If the lecturers are still unsure about their availability during the session, you should apply for a preponement as a precautionary measure.

Checklist for preponement of an examination

1. Prospect of success
   • According to the information found here, are the presented reasons why an examination must be preponed sufficient?
   • Have all outstanding questions been answered by the Examinations Office?
2. Consent
   • Does the lecturer agree to the preference of a preponement?
   • Has a preponed examination date (date, time, place) been determined together with the lecturer?
3. Supporting documents
   • Are all necessary documents available in PDF format?
     • Evidence of the study-specific reason (for example a confirmation of the exchange)
     • For end-of-semester examinations: Confirmation of the mode (written/oral) and date (date/time) of the end-of-semester examination
4. Request
   • Fill out the application in myStudies
   • Upload all required documents
   • For each individual examination, specify whether these
     • should be requested as preponed
     • should be held as a distance examination (see further down below)
     • should be taken regularly at ETH
     • are part of an examination block that will be split (this exam will be shifted to the following session)
       
     • should be deregistered if the request is approved
   • Submit the application electronically via myStudies
     

Distance examination

Generally, all written end-of-semester and/or session examinations can be taken as distance examinations.

Computer-based examinations may only be taken as distance examinations if they can be printed out and taken as a paper-based examination. If a distance examination is not possible, this is listed accordingly in the course catalogue in the information on the performance assessment.

Please note that distance examinations of written session examinations can only be requested once the schedule for written session examinations has been published and therefore the date of the session examination is listed in your examination schedule.

Also note the following: If due to the time difference a distance examination takes place outside the local office opening hours, it would be possible to postpone the examination to the next morning. Clarify the details of this with the Examinations Office.
Please note that local holidays (e.g. Chinese New Year) cannot be taken into account as a sufficient reason to postpone exams even further.

At ETH Zurich, examinations also take place on Saturdays. A corresponding distance examination would then also have to take place on that Saturday. A postponement to the following Monday is not possible.  

Checklist for distance examinations:

1. Prospect of success
   • According to the information found here, are the presented reasons why a distance examination must be taken sufficient?
   • Have all outstanding questions been answered by the Examinations Office?
2. Consent
   • Is a distance examination possible according to the course catalogue (information on performance assessment)? (I.e., a distance examination is not explicitly excluded).
     
3. Supporting documents
   • Are all necessary documents available in PDF format?
     • Evidence of the study-specific reason (e.g. confirmation of mobility)
     • For end-of-semester examinations: The confirmation of mode (written/oral) and date (date/time) of end-of-semester examination
     • Possible supporting documents of the reason why the written examination cannot be taken during the subsequent session after returning from the exchange/internship/etc.
       
4. Application
   • Fill out the application in myStudies
   • Upload all required documents
   • For each individual examination, specify whether these
     • should be requested as preponed (see above)
     • should be requested as a distance examination
     • should be taken regularly at ETH
     • are part of an examination block that will be split (this exam will be shifted to the following session)
       
     • should be deregistered if the request is approved
   • Submit the application electronically via myStudies

General conditions

Requests to apply for a preponement of an examination and/or a distance examination are to be submitted with the required function in myStudies from the 5th week of the semester until two weeks after the publication of the schedule for written session examinations.

The following general conditions apply:

• Last semester at ETH
  Requests for preponement and/or distance examinations of exchange students (Incomings) will only be considered if it is the student's last semester at ETH Zurich.
  
  
• Oral examinations
  These can be taken preponed. This applies to both end-of-semester and session examinations.
  If an oral examination is held remotely - via video conference - during the examination phase at the end of the semester (for end-of-semester examinations) or during the examination session (for session examinations), this does not require approval from the Examinations Office. (The oral examination is then considered to be conducted "regularly".)
  
  
• Written examinations
  These are usually taken as a distance examination.
  However, it would be possible to take the examination preponed, for which purpose the mode may also be changed from written to oral.
  
  
• Change of the exam mode
  A change of the exam mode (for example taking a written examination orally) is permitted for exchange students (Incomings).
  
  
• Timely submission
  Applications that are not submitted by the deadline will not be considered.
  Exceptions are only possible if important reasons, in particular illness or accident, can be invoked for the omission.
  
  
• Repetition
  Please note that exchange students (Incomings) generally have no opportunity to repeat failed examinations at ETH Zurich.
  Exemptions:
  • If you are at ETH Zurich for at least two semesters and a failed exam in the first semester is also offered in the second semester.
  • If a repetition date in the same semester is offered for an end-of-semester examination, exchange students (Incomings) may use the repetition date provided they are still enrolled at ETH Zurich, have registered in time for the repetition examination and can take the examination regularly at ETH Zurich. Please note that neither distance exams nor preponed exams are available for repetitions of written end-of-semester exams.
    
    
• Equality
  Especially if "other reasons" are invoked, it must be clarified whether there is no advantage over other students, for example if you simply want to prepone an examination so that you can "finish your degree course earlier".
  

Preponement of an examination

All oral end-of-semester and session examinations can be preponed.

A written end-of-semester and/or session examination can only be preponed in written form if the lecturer offers such a specially designed and preponed written examination.
If the lecturer is not prepared to do so, exchange students (Incoming) have the option (with the consent of the lecturer) of changing the mode (from written to oral) and taking the examination preponed.

Otherwise, a written examination can also be taken as a distance examination.

If you are only partially absent during the examination session, i.e. if you could also take examinations regularly during the session, please ask the lecturers of your oral session examinations what time period they will make available for their oral examinations. This will give you a clue as to whether you can take the corresponding examination regularly during the session or whether you will have to prepone it.
If the lecturers are still unsure about their availability during the session, you should apply for a preponement as a precautionary measure.

Checklist for preponement of an examination:

1. Prospect of success
   • According to the information found here, are the presented reasons why an examination must be preponed sufficient?
   • Have all outstanding questions been answered by the Examinations Office?
2. Consent
   • Is the lecturer concerned in agreement with the request of preponement after an oral consultation?
   • Has a preponed examination date (date, time, place) been scheduled in agreement with the lecturer?
3. Supporting documents
   • Are all necessary documents available in PDF format?
     • Supporting documents for the study-specific reason (for example a copy of the Academic Calendar of the home university)
     • For end-of-semester examinations: Confirmation of the mode (written/oral) and date (date/time) of the end-of-semester examination
4. Application
   • Fill out the application in myStudies
   • Upload all required documents
   • For each individual examination, specify whether these
     • should be requested as preponed
     • should be requested as a distance examination
     • should be taken regularly at ETH
     • should be deregistered if the request is approved
   • Complete the application and submit it electronically through myStudies

Distance examination

Generally, all written end-of-semester and/or session examinations can be taken as distance examinations.

Computer-based examinations may only be taken as distance examinations if they can be printed out and taken as a paper-based examination. If a distance examination is not possible, this is listed accordingly in the course catalogue in the information on the performance assessment.

Please note that distance examinations can only be requested once the schedule for written session examinations has been published and therefore the date of the session examination is listed in your examination schedule.

Also note the following: If due to the time difference a distance examination takes place outside the local office opening hours, it would be possible to postpone the examination to the next (!) morning. Clarify the details of this with the Examinations Office.
Please note that local holidays (e.g. Chinese New Year) cannot be taken into account as a sufficient reason to postpone exams even further.

At ETH Zurich, examinations also take place on Saturdays. A corresponding distance examination would then also have to take place on that Saturday. A postponement to the following Monday is not possible.

Checklist for distance examinations:

1. Prospect of success
   • According to the information found here, are the presented reasons why an examination must be taken as a distance examination sufficient?
   • Have all outstanding questions been answered by the Examinations Office?
2. Consent
   • Is a distance examination possible according to the course catalogue (information on performance assessment)? (I.e., a distance examination is not explicitly excluded).
     
3. Supporting documents
   • Are all necessary documents available in PDF format?
     • Supporting documents for the study-specific reason (for example a copy of the Academic Calendar of the home university)
     • For end-of-semester examinations: Confirmation of the mode (written/oral) and date (date/time) of the end-of-semester examination
4. Application
   • Fill out the application in myStudies
   • Upload all required documents
   • For each individual examination, specify whether these
     • should be requested as preponed
     • should be requested as a distance examination
     • should be taken regularly at ETH
     • should be deregistered if the request is approved
   • Complete the application and submit it electronically through myStudies