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On assessment

Guidelines for assessment (for course examiners and second examiners)

These guidelines may be used as a way to prepare answers to students who have complained about exam results and/or assessments.

Communication between examiners and examinees after exams

According to section 7(1) (the third sentence) of the Examinations Order, the "Executive Order on Examinations for Specified Programmes of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education", it is the duty of the second examiner to ensure "that students are given a fair and uniform treatment and that their performance is reliably assessed in conformity with current rules."
Many students appreciate when examiners gives them a reason for the grade obtained. Fulfilling this wish is therefore part of a good exam practice.
After oral exams (including the presentation of Master's theses, research papers and projects) the course examiner usually explains gives the student a grade and simultaneously explains why the student obtained the specific grade. The second examiner may add his/her own comments after an agreement with course examiners.
If a student approaches the examiners subsequently, only the course examiner should talk with the student. The second examiner should refer to the course examiner, who may naturally discuss the issue with the second examiner. This ensures the best kind of communication.
Several students often phone or send an email to their course examiner after written exams. Experience shows that it is a good idea if the course examiner arranges a meeting or a telephone conversation with the student. By doing so, the course examiner has enough time to review the student's exam paper and time to contact the second examiner, if there is a need to discuss specific issues and, in particular, a reason to reconsider the assessment. It goes without saying that the course examiner should not discuss any adjustment of the grade with the student until this possibility has been discussed with the second examiner, also in the rare situations where the examiners have disagreed about the grade awarded.
Many course examiners know from experience that most students will be convinced by a good review of their exam paper, while some students use the reasons given for their grade as an excuse or as "ammunition" for a complaint. In several cases this has led to complaints in which students refer intensively to the reasons given by the examiner. Frequently examiners have trouble recognising the points that students refer to in their subsequent complaints. Thus, it is very important for examiners to carefully weigh their words, also in situations where examiners and students communicate by e-mail.
Few students feel that the course examiner or second examiner has something against them personally. It is importatnt to defuse the stiuation by, for instance, informing about the option to lodge a complaint. In addition, neither the course examiner nor the second examiner should see it as a personal attack, should the student proceed to lodge a complaint.
Students sometimes explain themselves ambiguously or unclearly. When speaking with students, it is therefore important to point out that ambiguous explanations carry negative weight in the assessment.
The course examiner (and after an oral exam, possibly, the second examiner) may often take the opportunity to explain to the student how he/she might have obtained a better grade without much trouble, for example, by specifying calculations (many students present calculations without any subtotals, reaching an incorrect result due to a simple calculation error). This type of "positive critique", giving the student specific input, may help to make the situation less dramatic.
The experience of the External Examiners' Secretariat shows that many complaints can be averted by simply giving students detailed reasons for their grade from the beginning.

Rules of the Examinations' Order and related conditions

Naturally, in some cases the student does not accept an assessment, even if the course examiner – and perhaps also the external examiner – has explained the basis on which a grade has been awarded. It should be added here, for the sake of order, that according to the rules of the Examinations Order, the student has no right to receive the reasons for a grade, neither verbally nor in writing.
The provisions of Part 5 of the Examinations' Order give students the right to lodge complaints about grades after exams. The right to complain applies, whether or not the student has contacted the course examiner to get the reasons for the grade.
Consequently, "the Executive Order at the Institute of External Examiners for Certain Programmes of Higher Education" (the External Examiners' Order), specifically section 10(1) (the fourth sentence), imposes a duty on external examiners who have taken part in an exam to contribute to answering to any complaint that may subsequently be lodged by the student(s). Section 34(1) of the Examinations Order extends this requirement to comprise all examiners.
Under section 31 of the Examinations Order, complaints from students must be lodged with their university. At CBS, all complaints have to be lodged with the External Examiners' Secretariat, where they will be dealt with on behalf of the President.
According to section 31 of the Executive Order, a complaint must be written, containing grounds, and according to section 32 it has to be submitted no later than two weeks after the assessment has been published. As a main rule, the External Examiners' Secretariat rejects complaints lacking any specific grounds as well as very brief complaints, for instance complaints that solely refer to the fact that the papers of other students received better grades on the same exam. Nevertheless, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has indicated that it is not possible to require very much as to the content of a complaint. The External Examiners' Secretariat has to take the opinion of the Parliamentary Ombudsman into account. Therefore, the Secretariat will often try to advise students on how they should draft their complaints to ensure that they will form the basis of appropriate consideration by the examiners. A set of specific guidance notes has been prepared for students at CBS. It, as well as other documents, is available at the website of the External Examiners' Secretariat.
In practice, the Secretariat also rejects complaints submitted after the deadline. It is, however, possible for students to have the deadline for lodging a complaint postponed due to their own holidays, official trips or illness or in case they have been unable to get in touch with their course examiner to get the reasons for their grade.
Section 34 of the Examinations Order states "that complaints concerned with:
  • the basis on which an exam was conducted (exam questions, papers etc.) and its relations to the syllabus,
  • the way an exam was conducted or
  • the assessment
should be submitted as soon as possible to the original examiner(s), who will then make a decision in the case." Thus, the role of the External Examiners' Secretariat is mainly to pass on complaints from students to the examiners and provide advice on the relevant procedures.
Sometimes an exam complaint includes a complaint about the teaching and/or supervision in relation to the student's writing of a thesis, research paper, project etc. The examiners should not deal with this part of the written complaint, even if the complaint contains such comments. A complaint of this nature will be passed on by the External Examiners' Secretariat to the relevant study board in conformity with section 7(2) of the Public Administration Act. The external examiner should not comment on the before mentioned elements, as he/she is not a party to this part of the complaint.
Under section 34(2) of the Executive Order, the examiner(s) have three options to consider when making their decision. They may:
  1. carry out a new assessment
  2. offer re-examination
  3. reject the complaint.
A complaint may only be rejected in case the examiners agree to do so.
The Examinations Order includes the following explicit directions for situations in which there is disagreement between the examiners:
  • In case of disagreement on whether to reject a complaint, or whether to make a renewed assessment, a renewed assessment has to be carried out.
  • In case of disagreement on whether to reject a complaint or whether to offer re-examination, re-examination has to be offered.
  • In case of disagreement on whether to carry out a renewed assessment of a written performance or offer re-examination, a new assessment has to be carried out by different assessors.
  • In case of disagreement on whether to make a renewed assessment of an oral performance or offer re-examination, re-examination has to be offered.
If an internal second examiner has taken part in the assessment in cases such as the above, an alternative internal second examiner has to be appointed according to current rules. Where an external examiner has assisted, the External Examiners' Secretariat has to appoint another external examiner on behalf of the Vice Chairman of the external examiners.
Under section 37 of the Examinations Order, a complaint cannot lead to a grade that is lower than the one originally awarded.

Basis for preparing the examiners' decision

The examiners are free to choose the form in which they wish to present their answer. It is a requirement, however, provided in section 22 of the Public Administration Act, that examiners have to address all the points that the students present in their complaints, even if the examiners consider them irrelevant to the assessment of a specific exam performance. If for some reason or another an issue has been irrelevant to the assessment, this should be mentioned explicitly, and the reasons should be stated. Several appeal boards have been compelled to refer the object of a complaint to reassessment or re-examination, in order to comply with the Public Administration Act, exclusively due to inadequate answers from examiners.
  • The reply that examiners return must be clear and well-reasoned. This ensures that the complainant receives valid information, and the likelihood that the complaint will be referred to an appeals board will be significantly reduced, see below
  • The detailing of the reply will be a function of the complaint. If the complaint is brief and non-specific, the response may be brief, explaining the reasons for the assessment in general terms
  • If a complaint is concerned with the role of the course examiner and/or second examiner in an oral exam, such elements of the complaint should always be addressed explicitly.
Complaints about grades awarded on written exams should normally be answered by a document prepared by the second examiner and course examiner(s) together. The initiative may be taken by either of the examiners, usually the course examiner. The basis for dealing with the complaint is the specific exam paper and the notes from the discussion of the assessment. Yet nothing prevents the course examiner and second examiner from preparing separate answers. Such a procedure will be natural if the examiners have disagreed.
In the case of answers to complaints about oral exams, the second examiner should always play a particularly active role in drafting the response, see below.
The reason that the second examiner should play a special, active role in responding to oral exam complaints is that, during the oral exam, the course examiner will normally be absorbed in conducting the major part of the exam, whereas the second examiner is only engaged to a limited extent in the direct examination. Thus, the second examiner is able to take notes about the performance and the way the exam proceeds. It will therefore be easier for the second examiner to contribute to satisfying the requirements set out in section 7(1) (3) of the Examinations' Order referred to above. In other words, the second examiner provides a more adequate written basis for drafting the response to a later complaint, if any.
This recommendation is further emphasised by the trend towards having more group exams, because several students are examined at the same time. It is important to ensure that the second examiner's notes are written with a view to form the basis of a report on the individualised assessment of the performance of each of the examinees required under section 3(1) of the Examinations Order. In addition, this applies to the contribution by the particular examinee to a piece of written work, where such work is part of the basis of assessment.
When making their decision in response to a complaint, the examiners should also take account sections 7 and 8 of the Examinations' Order, which prescribe that "during their assessment discussion the examiners have to take notes about the performance and the determination of the grade for their personal use when preparing a response to a complaint, if any. The notes have to be kept on file for one year." The requirement to file the notes for one year, set out in the Order, is due to the estimated time to process complaints with a legal aspect that proceed to higher steps in the complaints system, that is to the President, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
For certain exams, the student has to prepare a major piece of written work (a thesis, research paper or project) that is subsequently subjected to an oral exam. If the degree regulations prescribe that the assessment has to include such written work, and if a complainant also refers to conditions related to this written work, it will be appropriate for the answer to account for the assessment of the student's written work as well as for the oral performance. These accounts should be drafted as stated above.
The examiners' reply should be sent by internal or external mail to: The Secretariat for Complaints and Appeals, CBS, Solbjerg Plads 3, DK-2000 Frederiksberg.
The answer must be signed. E-mail may only be used if the senders have electronic signatures.
The examiners' decision will be communicated in written form to the complainant or, if several persons have lodged the complaint, the contact notified by the complainants to the External Examiners' Secretariat.
The External Examiners' Secretariat will take the necessary measures internally at CBS, if the examiners have decided on all other options than rejecting the complaint, see above.

Deadlines

Section 36(1) of the Examinations' Order specifies guidelines for the time available to the examiners for considering a complaint related to an exam:
"No later than two weeks after the examiner(s) have received the complaint, they must have finished considering the complaint and inform the university of their decision. The university should inform the complainant of the decision by the examiners as soon as possible."
Where one or more of the examiners is affected by illness, away on holidays or on official business, and the above-mentioned deadline cannot be observed, the External Examiners' Secretariat may be contacted so that a new deadline can be agreed on with the examiners. This allows the External Examiners' Secretariat to inform the complainant of the delay, and CBS will comply with section 36(2) of the Executive Order, which provides that "if the complaint cannot be considered within this deadline, the university should inform the complainant as soon as possible, indicating the reason for the delay and stating the time when the consideration of the complaint is expected to be concluded."
CBS must comply with the deadlines set in the Examinations' Order. CBS gives very high priority to the students' legal rights and wants to ensure that students do not lodge complaints about the examiners' slowness to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, as they may do with reference to the rules set out in section 50 of the Examinations' Order.

Further options available to a complainant

When the examiners reject a complaint, the rejection may be brought before an appeals board according to section 38 of the Examinations' Order. CBS has appointed an appeals board for each degree programme that has its own study board. Under section 39 of the Examinations Order, the student has to prepare a written appeal, stating the grounds for the appeal. For resource reasons it will not be sent automatically to the examiners, but under section 9(1) of the Public Administration Act, they have the right to be made aware of the content of the appeal and may therefore request it from the External Examiners' Secretariat.
The appeals board has four members: one student and one teacher appointed by the study board for the relevant programme, one examiner who serves as an external examiner in the area of the programme and the Vice Chairman/examiner responsible for liaison with the external examiners serving at CBS. To ensure uniformity of case processing, the latter chairs all the appeals board in the relevant faculty of CBS.
The documents submitted to an appeals board are: the student's complaint, the examiners' answer to the complaint with their decision and the student's appeal. In addition, depending of the nature of the exam: the text of the assignment set for the exam, the student's paper, the assessment guidelines, the thesis/research paper or project, the degree regulations and the students' programme manual.
The appeals board bases its assessment on the first three of the above-mentioned documents. When considering appeals related to written papers, the appeals board will have read the student's paper and the relevant set of rules. When an appeals board has to decide a case, it will extract the elements of the complaint and compare them carefully with the examiners' answer. The Examinations' Order does not set any requirement; the members of the board must have reviewed and graded the complainant's exam paper independently. Thus, an appeals board is not a "reassessment institution."
According to section 42 of the Examinations Order, the appeals board may:
  • raise the grade, change a 'failed' to 'passed' or 'not accepted' to 'accepted'
  • order a reassessment by different assessors
  • offer re-examination by different examiners
  • reject the appeal.
The decision of the appeals board will have effect for all other students in situations where the board finds shortcomings in the exam and the board's decision results in reassessment or re-examination. The basis here is section 42(4) of the Examinations Order, reading as follows:
"Where the appeals board decides to raise a grade, change an assessment to 'passed' or to 'accepted', or orders reassessment due to shortcomings in one or more of the conditions referred to in section 34, this decision will have effect for all examinees whose exam had the same shortcomings. The same applies correspondingly where the appeals board offers re-examination due to material shortcomings in one or more of the conditions referred to in section 34."
The decision of the appeals board will be sent to the examiners and the relevant head of department and programme director for information.

Last updated by Bente Faurby 02/12/2009