At Arts, we focus on ensuring that students experience coherence between the various learning activities on the course and the following exam. In addition, fixed exam planning principles across the faculty's degree programmes ensure that students know what they need to do and when.

The academic environments' choice of examination forms in the academic regulations relates to the form and content of teaching, as well as the possibility of testing the academic objectives.

The practical framework of examinations

• Exam period: As a rule, all teaching at the Faculty of Arts will have taken place before the exam period begins. This means that students have time to focus on their exams.
• Exam schedules: When students start on a new semester at Arts, they have plenty of time to prepare for their exam period: exam schedules including dates for ordinary exams and reexamination are published approximately six months before the exam period begins. This means that students can optimise their preparations for exams. The exam dates are determined jointly by the head of department and the administration. Focus is on creating a good, overall exam schedule at each programme level. For example, written exams are held before oral exams, so that individual students can plan and prioritise their preparation time. Exam dates for reexamination at the same programme level are scheduled, so there is plenty of time between exams. This makes the reexamination period realistic for students who have to take more than one reexamination.
• Organisation of examinations: There are fixed principles for how the different forms of examination are handled across degree programmes at Arts. For example, portfolio assignments are always set by the lecturer in Brightspace, exam assignments must always be submitted in the Digital Exams system by 14:00. This ensures recognisability for students from semester to semester and if they follow courses across degree programmes. Recognisability helps to ensure that students know where to find important information and meet deadlines.
• Appointment of assessors: The head of department on the individual degree programme appoints internal assessors for the individual exam: an examiner and possibly an internal co-examiner.

The three boards of studies establish guidelines for the involvement of co-examiners, e.g. to ensure that there are always two assessors in the room at an oral examination and that PhD students assess together with experienced colleagues. External co-examiners are appointed by the chair of external co-examiners, who ensures that the co-examiner has the right competences for the individual exam and that the person appointed is different from year to year.

Collaboration with the body of external co-examiners on exams and degree programme development

Co-examiners are responsible for ensuring that students are assessed on the basis of recognised and accessible criteria, rules and procedures for the individual exam. Another task of the body of external co-examiners is to ensure that these criteria are applied consistently at national level across degree programmes, and to identify development opportunities in relation to improving the quality of degree programmes.

Collaboration with the chair of external co-examiners includes ongoing dialogue about the development of tests and exams on the programme, including discussions about the annual report by the chair of external co-examiners based on the exams conducted during the academic year. Annual reports are processed by the degree programme boards. The director of studies is responsible for ensuring that any challenges relating to a form of examination or a course are discussed by degree programme boards and boards of studies.

The board of studies consults the chair of external co-examiners in the event of significant changes to a set of academic regulations or in the development of new degree programmes.

The co-examiners’ portal is a resource page containing relevant information and guidelines for co-examiners, and it supports ongoing collaboration between the bodies of external co-examiners and Arts.