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Office of the Registrar

Missing an Examination

students on computers

Students are expected to write their final exams at the end of their courses and are strongly discouraged from missing a final exam. The decision to miss your final exam should not be a hasty one. There are support services available on campus that are designed to support you throughout the year to meet your needs. Requests to defer an exam need to be approved and are not guaranteed. In scheduling a deferred exam, the University reserves the right to accommodate your request by scheduling it at any time at the end of the current session, during the following session or in the next exam period.

Missing an exam due to extenuating circumstances:

If you are facing extenuating circumstances that make it impossible for you to write your final exam, such as death of a close family member, submit a petition on eService to request permission to defer writing your exam(s). 

    Missing an exam due to personal illness:

    If you are feeling unwell and do not feel well enough to write your exam: You should request to defer your exam. In this case, do not attend your in-person exam sitting and do not begin or open a virtual exam. Submit a petition to request permission to defer writing your exam(s).

    COVID-19 GUIDELINES 
    In accordance with Ontario Public Health guidelines, if you were ill (with COVID-19 or other respiratory illness) and/or have tested positive for COVID-19 but your symptoms have been improving for 24-hours AND you do not have a fever AND you feel well enough to take your exam:  

    • You should write your exam as scheduled and wear a mask for in-person exams. 

    • If you were in close contact with someone with COVID-19 but are feeling well: You should write your exam as scheduled. Wear a mask for in-person exams.  

    Missing an exam you have previously deferred:

    Potential consequences to consider 

    • Think about your short term and long term goals, and ask yourself how ready you are now versus how ready you will be later. Feeling unprepared for an exam is not an acceptable reason to miss it.  
    • You are the only one who can decide whether you are well enough to write your exam, or if you are incapacitated and need to petition to defer your exam.  
    • The deferred exam may differ from the format of a standard final exam or from the format in the original session in which you took the course. 
    • You should not expect special assistance from your instructor or the examiner in preparation for a deferred exam. You should plan to have all the notes that you need to study for the exam, as they may not be available to you when you prepare to write your deferred exam. Quercus courses enter a read-only state after the end-of-term. To access past courses, from the main Quercus menu visit Courses and select 'All Course' to open https://q.utoronto.ca/courses. Scroll down to the “Past Enrollments” section to find direct links into previous courses. (PATH: Quercus -> "Courses" -> "All Course" -> "Past Enrollments")
    • Special accommodations will not be granted to you in the next exam period if your deferred exam is granted, scheduled, and then results in three consecutive exams.  
    • You have not earned credit in a course if you are granted permission to defer an exam. If the course is a prerequisite to any course you wish to take in the following semester, you may not remain in it. If you have a pre-exam grade of 50%+ in a course, you may seek the instructor’s permission to remain in the course.  
    • If your petition for a deferred exam is granted, you may be writing your deferred exam at the same time as your next session’s final exam(s). You are encouraged to seek academic advising to determine if you should reduce your next semester course load by the credit value of your deferred exam(s).