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Exams and assessments - get help and advice

Where to get guidance, advice and support for remote (online Inspera) exams during an exam period, and when to contact the Exam Helpline.

Please first read the Student Guide to Exams. It may answer any questions you have.

If you have difficulties during an in-person exam, you will follow the processes communicated in the exam room. Please also read the guidance on taking in-person exams.

The information on the rest of this page applies only to remote, online Inspera exams.

Difficulty accessing University Systems

If you have difficulty connecting to a University system including Inspera, Moodle, Re:View or MS Teams during your exam, please first:

  • Check University of Bath IT status to confirm if the system is operational. If Inspera is unavailable, the University will contact you.
  • If the system is operational, check your own IT set up is working; a reboot might be enough (save any work not in Inspera before you reboot)
  • If you need IT support not related to using Inspera, such as login issues, and you are not close to the exam deadline, you should submit an IT support request.

General Inspera issues

You should first read and follow the guides:

If your Inspera issue is not resolved by following these guides, you can contact the Exams Helpline for advice (DO NOT contact your department) on +44 (0)1225 387500 between 8am and 6pm BST, Monday to Friday during the exam period.

Using submission time allowance

The exam schedule will show you how long you should expect to work on your exam attempt as expected work.

Some exams also include submission time allowance, also shown on the exam schedule. This time is for you to create and upload your exam attempt where files need to be uploaded. If you use this time to work on your exam you risk not having enough time to complete the file upload. If you run out of time and cannot upload your exam attempt before the deadline you may receive a mark of 0.

Creating or uploading exam files

Please follow the guides to:

You should also check your setup.

If technical issues are preventing you from submitting your exam file during the 5-10 minutes before your exam ends, please get date and time-stamped evidence so you can make a late exam submission request in line with the evidence requirements.

Corrupt or incorrect files in Inspera

You are given sufficient time to check your files in Inspera before the exam deadline.

Before the exam closes, it is your responsibility to check your files are correctly uploaded to Inspera, and that all files are submitted in the correct format/file type.

If any of your files are corrupted, or you have uploaded the wrong file(s), you can upload a new file before the exam deadline.

After the exam closes you will not be able to access Inspera to replace or upload any files. You will also not be able to submit your files directly to your department. If there was not a specific and extraordinary technical issue with your attempt to upload your files, you will not be able to make a late exam submission request as you have already submitted your exam attempt.

If you were not able to upload some of your files due to an extraordinary technical issue, you may be able to make a late exam submission request for the file(s) to be accepted.

If you experienced extraordinary issues with your exam that impacted on your ability to upload the correct file, you can submit an Individual Mitigating Circumstances (IMC) claim.

Files did not upload before the deadline

  • You are given sufficient time to attempt and complete your exam
  • You cannot submit your exam attempt to your department or a member of staff after the exam deadline

Requesting your files be accepted late because of technical issues

If unexpected technical issues prevented you from submitting your exam files and the deadline has passed, you can make a late exam submission request.

When you request late exam submission, you are making a case that your exam attempt was finished within the allowed submission time, but that technical issues affected your ability to submit your files before the deadline.

Your request must include clear date and time-stamped evidence of the technical issue you experienced, and you must not stand to gain any advantage over others by submitting your attempt late.

Other reasons for not submitting your exam files

If you were unable to submit any of your exam files by the deadline and this was not due to a technical issue, you will receive a mark of 0NS (0, “Non-submission”). If you submitted some of your files by the deadline, then these will be marked.

You will not be able to ask for your files to be accepted and marked after the deadline.

However, if you did not submit your exam on time because of extraordinary non-technical issues, you can submit an Individual Mitigating Circumstances (IMC) claim.

Other difficulties

If your issue is not resolved by reading the Student Guide to Exams and you have a non-urgent query, please email examinations@bath.ac.uk.

If you need urgent advice, you must not contact your department. Please call the Exam Helpline who will be able to signpost you to advice and support on +44 (0)1225 387500 between 8am and 6pm BST, Monday to Friday during the exam period.

If you were affected by non-technical issues during your exam attempt, you may be able to submit an Individual Mitigating Circumstances (IMC) claim. When you make an IMC claim, you are making a case that your exam attempt (which may or may not include the attempting to submit files on time because of technical issues) was affected by circumstances that were not within your control.

Exams Helpline and other sources of support

The Exams Helpline will be open for advice between 8am and 6pm British Summer Time, Monday to Friday during the exam period on +44 (0)1225 387500. You can also email examinations@bath.ac.uk.

During the exam period, a wide range of support and guidance across the University will continue to be available to you through:

Further information