REGULATION 8A: - Keele University
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Regulation 8A: Viva Voca and Oral Examinations for Undergraduate Degrees

Contents

1) Definitions

2) Oral Examinations

3) Viva Voce Examinations

4) Principles Applicable to both Oral and Viva Voce Examinations

5) Conduct of Oral and Viva Voce Examinations

1. Definitions

1.1 Oral examination - a formal means of assessment involving oral means of communication and/or demonstration, presentation or defence of a dissertation or project, which may or may not be used in conjunction with other forms of assessment to arrive at an overall mark or grade for a module or element of a course and which is applicable to the whole cohort of students on that module or course.

1.2 Viva voce examination - an assessment which may be used to help determine a candidate's award, class or progression in addition to the normal methods of assessment.

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2. Oral Examinations

2.1 Oral examinations may be employed if prescribed in the approved assessment methods for a module or unit of a course.

2.2 Oral examinations may also be employed as an alternative form of assessment under the provisions for Special Provision set out in section 13 of Regulation 8.

2.3 The contribution of the oral examination to the overall assessment of a module or element of a course shall be prescribed and notified to students in Student Handbooks.

2.4 The contribution of the oral examination to the overall assessment may be graded or be on a pass/fail basis.

2.5 Except where other arrangements are approved in individual course regulations, oral examinations must be conducted in accordance with the practices and principles set out below.

2.6 An oral examination must be conducted by at least two examiners acting together. Where reasonably practical, the examiners conducting the oral examination should not be all of the same gender.

2.7 The duration of an oral examination shall be prescribed and notified to students in Student Handbooks.

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3. Viva Voce Examinations

3.1 Viva voce examinations may be used only for the purpose of recommendations relating to a candidate’s overall result, either in terms of award, class or progression, for example:

  • where the student is potentially borderline in accordance with University definition: and/or is a potentially failing candidate and/or has provided evidence of extenuating circumstances;

and/or where either:

      a) the Departmental Board of Examiners is minded to consider a recommendation to the appropriate University Board of Examiners for alteration to the student’s provisional overall result;

or

      b) an External Examiner has required that a viva take place.

3.2 Viva voce examinations are not to be used in determining the outcome of individual modules, except in so far as these relate to extenuating circumstances.

3.3 Viva voce examinations must be conducted in accordance with the principles set out below.

3.4 A viva voce examination shall be conducted by either

      a) a panel of at least two examiners acting together, and for all decisions relating to classification or award at least one External Examiner shall be invited to participate as a panel member. Where reasonably practical, the panel conducting a viva voce examination should not all be of the same gender.

      b) an individual External Examiner.

3.5 A viva voce examination should not normally exceed 30 minutes duration.

4. Principles Applicable to both Oral and Viva Voce Examinations

4.1 Principle 1

Procedures should be open, consistently applied and carefully documented and easily accessible.

4.2 Principle 2

Following a viva voce examination, a recommendation shall be made by the panel or individual External Examiner to the relevant Departmental Examination Board for a student's result to be either confirmed or amended upwards only. The result cannot be amended downwards. Departmental Examination Boards shall establish mechanisms to consider recommendations formally. The panel's recommendation shall not be notified to the student at this stage.

4.3 Principle 3

Viva voce examinations must be held prior to the meeting of any University Examination Board to which a Departmental Examination Board makes recommendations.

4.4 Principle 4

There is a University commitment to give all candidates, so far as possible, an equal opportunity to demonstrate their level of attainment. Oral and viva voce examinations should follow the general principles of recruitment interviewing in relation to matters of Equal Opportunities.

4.5 Principle 5

All Departments should advise students and staff through appropriate mechanisms of the University policy and departmental procedures on oral and viva voce examinations.

4.6 Principle 6

Students and, wherever possible, examiners should be provided by the Department/School with at least 24 hours notice that a viva voce examination may take place and be given information about its purpose, format and the powers to enable them to prepare appropriately for it. This information should in general terms indicate what kind of questions the students will be asked and what is expected from them.

4.7 Principle 7

Staff undertaking oral or viva voce examinations should be prepared for the task. They should have copies of all the information made available to students and such other information as may be needed to enable them to complete their task. At least one member of the panel shall have had previous experience of conducting an oral or viva voce examination. In pursuit of this Principle, training in the conduct of oral and viva voce examinations will be provided as part of the University’s staff development programme.

4.8 Principle 8

All oral and viva voce examinations shall be conducted in suitable accommodation that contains such equipment as may be needed.

4.9 Principle 9

Records of all oral and viva voce examinations should be kept which should include the decisions and a summary of the reasons for the decisions. These records should be available to the Departmental Board of Examiners.

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5. Conduct of Oral and Viva Voce Examinations

5.1 Before the oral or viva

      5.1.1 Examiners should decide in advance what areas of the student’s work will be discussed, why this area has been selected and in general the nature of the questions to be asked. All questions should be strictly relevant to the purpose of the viva or oral.

      5.1.2 Examiners should decide which of them will chair the examination and take charge of the proceedings. It is expected that the chair will be a member with experience of an oral or viva voce examination.

5.2 During the oral or viva

      5.2.1 The chair of the panel should greet candidates, make sure they are comfortable, establish their identity, introduce the panel members and ensure that the candidates are aware of the nature and purpose of the proceedings.

      5.2.2 Each topic should be introduced succinctly and an indication given of the general area of the questioning.

      5.2.3 Examiners should encourage students to contribute fully and should themselves talk as little as possible during the examination.

      5.2.4 The aim of the examination is for students to demonstrate their ability. Closed, hypothetical or leading questions and questions used simply to elicit factual information should be avoided unless these contribute to the purpose of the examination.

      5.2.5 The chair of the panel must remain in charge of the session, control the pace of the questioning and deal appropriately with any problem candidate or difficult situation.

      5.2.6 Panel members should encourage candidates but should avoid using value judgment words (eg. good) as these can be misinterpreted by candidates.

      5.2.7 The chair should indicate when the last question is being asked, allow the student to complete his/her answer and end the session formally.

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