The member of staff who taught the module sets the exam questions. These questions are constructed to assess against the learning outcomes of the module. The examiner also writes the example answers to the questions. Note that there are often many ways to answer engineering questions and thus the answer given by the examiner can be one amongst many possible.

The guidelines for exam setting suggests building an exam on:

1. assessing core knowledge that all students should be able to do when they have understood the basic concepts. Students who are able to solve these questions are expected to achieve 40%.
2. assessing more advanced knowledge or derivations that cannot be based on memorisation of the notes but uses the tools that have been taught during the module and by reading around to subject matter. These normally lead to novel questions that have not been asked before and tend to be more challenging. These questions are aimed at determining the level of deeper insight into the module contents and lead to grade differentiation.

When exams are written, the 2nd marker, allocated by the Director of Undergraduate Studies, who has expertise in the subject area evaluates the questions and answers. If necessary, changes are implemented to the exam paper and the answers.

In the next step, the exams’ officer will check the exam paper against the guidelines. This might lead to more changes. After approval by the exams’ officer, the exam papers and answers are sent to the external examiners, these are academic staff in other UK universities. The task of the external examiners is to evaluate the exam questions against exams on similar topics in other UK universities. This ensures quality of our exams. Comments of the external examiners are then implemented into a revised version.

After all these iterations, your exam paper is ready and kept in a safe place until the examination date. The full set of regulations can be found here.

All exam questions are marked twice. The member of staff who gave the lecture module marks the exam questions first, in red ink. The marked exams are then given to a second marker who evaluates the marking against the marking scheme, checking that they agree with the first marking and that all submitted answers have been seen. Changes, agreements and comments by the 2^nd marker are written in green ink. The 1^st and 2^nd markers then meet to go through the papers and when agreement is reached they submit the agreed marks on-line.

The day before the examiners’ meeting (first Friday of July), the external examiners can request insight into all exam papers to evaluate the quality and rigour of the marking against the marks scheme.

1st and 2nd year students 
Exams will be held in the second half of the Summer term after the revision classes are completed. EIE students taking DOC modules might have exams at other times during the academic year as set by the Department of Computing. Please check the DOC exams’ timetable.

3^rd year students 
The options registration page has a provisional timetable to help you choose modules without clashing exams. The EEE exams are in the two final weeks of the autumn term. Students taking modules from other departments are advised to check the exam timetable of those departments. Business school modules are often examined in January and beginning of May. Students on Industrial placements should avoid BPES modules examined in May as this might interfere with company regulations on holidays. The department will not be held responsible for a student’s inability to sit exams in this case.

4^th year students 
The options registration page has a provisional timetable to help you choose modules without clashing exams. The EEE exams are at the start of the summer term. Students taking modules from other departments are advised to check the exam timetable of those departments. Business school modules are often examined in January whilst DOC might have exams during Autumn term.

 All students will be sent an official examination timetable by email by the department to your College email account, do check and read your emails. The EEE department does not schedule exams not set by EEE department. In such cases you should check the relevant department’s examinations webpages.

Re-sit exams are provisionally planned to take place between 20 Aug - 31 Aug (it changes each year) but  exam timetable will be confirmed after Examiners' meeting in July. We will publish (and email individuals concerned) re-sit timetable towards the end of July/beginning of August. Always check examination webpages for updated information. Students will be requested to return to the department for re-sit exams.

If you are having serious problems coping with your academic studies please see the Senior Tutor who will advise you. However, don't forget that your personal tutor is also there to help you. Whatever the situation, make sure you seek help in good time.

Yes, to an extent. 3 years of old exam questions are posted on the departmental website. However, you must remember that the content of courses may change from year to year and also that the same course may have been given by a different lecturer in a previous year so questions may not be completely relevant.  You should also remember that outline answers are no substitute for proper revision and you should read the note of caution concerning outline answers.

Individual feedback on examinations is not provided. Solutions to past papers are provided once the examination process has run its full course. These are provided mainly for students to prepare for upcoming examinations but can be used by students who sat a particular exam to reflect on what the examiners had been looking for. To aid that process, annotation of the solutions with a commentary on successful approaches or common mistakes is provided for first and second year exams.

Yes you can, provided that you supply the proper evidence. If you have a learning difficulty e.g. dyslexic then you need to provide a recent psychological assessment. If you have a medical condition then you will need to supply information on your condition. Applications for extra time in Exams are processed by Emma Rainbow the Disabilities Liaison Officer for Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Applications for extra time must go through a process that has several steps and can take up to 8 weeks so if you think you will need extra time, contact Emma Rainbow immediately and at least 8 weeks before the start of your first exam. If you think you may have a learning difficulty but do not have a diagnosis, visit the Disability Advisory Service for advice.

You should contact the course supervisor and the Senior Tutor (Mrs Esther Perea). 

• If you are ill on an exam day, email eee.exams@imperial.ac.uk as soon as possible. 

• You must go to the Imperial College Health Centre or your GP, who must be registered with General Medical Council, to get a certificate. Absences without a GMC approved doctor’s note during the time of the exam will not be accepted, and you will receive zero marks for the exam resulting in you failing the year.  

• Complete the on-line mitigating circumstances form as soon as possible, and at the latest within 10 working days of the assessment.  (Further information about the mitigating circumstances procedure is described below).

• If you have any long term condition you have not informed us of, which might impact on your ability to sit exams, please contact the Senior Tutor: e.perea@imperial.ac.uk and submit evidence on the mitigating circumstances website.

• The possibility of taking an Interruption of Studies (IoS) without a certificate can only be considered  up to the end of the first week of summer term, beyond that time each  request will need a certificate and will be discussed on a case by case basis.

• If you have a minor illness - something which  is not certifiable by a doctor (for example a headache or slight discomfort), please take your usual over-the-counter medicines (within the given guidelines!) to allow you to study and sit exams. Un-certified mitigating circumstances cannot be accepted in cases of minor illness.

• If a minor accident happens close or on the date of the  exam e.g. broken/cut fingers email  eee.exams@imperial.ac.uk as soon as possible. Department may be able to provide a scribe so you need not miss an exam. You will still need to provide medical proof and fill out the Mitigating circumstances form.   

Your illness may be short-lived (a coughing fit, for example) and after a short rest you may feel able to continue and finish the exam. Normally you would be allowed some extra time to make up for the time that you missed. If you feel unable to finish the exam then you would be asked to go to the Health Centre to see a Doctor and get a medical certificate. The certificate should then be given to the Senior Tutor (Mrs Esther Perea) and assuming everything is satisfactory, you would be allowed to re-sit the exam at the first available opportunity, for full credit. Information on full credit is provided below.

Please visit the Departmental page on mitigating circumstances. 

Candidates should not submit answers to more than the required number of questions. The rubric on each paper will state 'Answer n questions'.

At the end of each exam, students are required to enter the numbers of the questions which they wish to be marked on the front of the answer book. EE Department policy is that only the first n questions, whose numbers you have entered on the front of your answer book, will be marked. Any other answers you have written will not be marked.

The letter grades you are given when you first get your results correspond to the following ranges:

Please see your assessment scheme for details of the pass marks in each module and year

Undergraduate: 2019-20 entry onwards (new curriculum): detailed information on marking schemes, coursework and examination weightings, year weightings, and final degree classification is set out in the programme specification for your degree

Undergraduate: 2018-19 entry or earlier: Detailed information on marking schemes, coursework and examination weightings, year weightings and final degree classifications, is set out separately in the undergraduate Award of Honours documents below.

• Electrical and Electronic Engineering 2019-20
• Electronic and Information Engineering 2019-20

There are 3 reasons - marks might change due to moderation, marks have to be approved by the Board of Examiners before they become official, and marks can only officially be released by Registry once the Department has held  the Board of Examiners meeting in July.

Third year students will receive grades (A-F) for their Autumn term exams. All students will be issued with letter grades for labs and coursework. The actual marks (% for the modules) will be only be released by Registry after the Examiners Meeting.

You should read the documents linked to below carefully so you know what you have to achieve for a given year and a given type of degree.

Undergraduate: 2019-20 entry onwards (new curriculum): detailed information on marking schemes, coursework and examination weightings, year weightings, and final degree classification is set out in the programme specification for your degree

Undergraduate: 2018-19 entry or earlier: Detailed information on marking schemes, coursework and examination weightings, year weightings and final degree classifications, is set out separately in the undergraduate Award of Honours documents below.

• Electrical and Electronic Engineering 2019-20
• Electronic and Information Engineering 2019-20

No and no. In theory everyone graduating in a given year could be awarded a First Class degree. Equally, everyone graduating in a given year could be awarded a Third Class degree. In reality the numbers go up and down a bit from year to year. Aside from very occasional moderation of a particular exam when the Examination Board feels it is warranted we do not adjust marks in any way.

At the start of each academic year a document will be published here showing the average mark and standard deviation for all modules taught by the Department, along  with details of how moderation was carried out and which modules were moderated.  You will need your College login and password is needed to access this information.

Where a module was taken by 5 or fewer students, the number of students and the average mark have been redacted and replaced with an asterisk to avoid potential identification of individuals

Average mark and standard deviation for all modules 2020/21  (pdf)

Average mark and the standard deviation for all modules 2019/20- (PDF)‌  2019/20 - (PDF)

No. As noted earlier, all exams are marked twice. There is also a substantial amount of checking that goes on once results are in. Exam papers and solutions are also published online over summer so you are able to compare your answers with the ones given by your course lecturer.

For appeal procedures please read the information on registry’s page.

No. In accordance with the GDPR, information recorded on their scripts by students during an examination are exempt from subject access. A student is not allowed to see the booklets themselves but is allowed to see any comments written on the script by an examiner. However this is not a simple process. An application has to be made and a fee paid and in the end, the comments may be un-enlightening. Generally it is best to move on after an exam and focus on the exams to be taken in the future. If you want to know more about the Data Protection Act and the way it is implemented in College, then you can examine the webpages that deal with it.

The Scheme for the Award of Honours (found on the Assessment page) sets out the value of each course unit element for each year and the contribution that each year makes to the degree total for the different degree types. It also tells you what you need to pass or achieve to continue to the next year.

In short, yes. There are certain requirements you have to meet in order to continue with a particular degree type. Check the Scheme for the Award of Honours on the Assessment and Progression page for details. Courses, such as the Year in Europe, have conditions attached to them before you are allowed to go abroad. Check the Scheme for the Award of Honours so you know what is expected of you.

No. You cannot re-take ANY assessment that you have passed.

If after the September re-sit exams you still have not passed all of your examinations, you will be asked to withdraw from College, but you can still return to re-take all of your exams (applicable to the academic year you have failed) for one last time in the following academic year. This will take place in Summer term. You will be allowed to attend revision lectures, for a fee set by registry, or you can choose to sit examinations without attending these formal revision classes.

If you fail an exam, your re-sit(SQT) exam will be capped at pass mark (40%). If your have extenuating circumstances and they are verified then you would normally sit the re-sit exam with an uncapped mark, so that your new mark would be the mark that you actually obtained. For example, if you re-sit an exam with uncapped marks and score 60% you will be credited with 60%. If however you re-sit an exam on capped mark and score 60%, then your credited mark will be 40%. If you fail an exam, you are always credited with your mark, even if it is a fail.

You can re-sit an exam twice. Re-sits must be taken at the first available opportunity. The first opportunity to re-sit would be in the September following your initial failure. If you still did not pass, you will then be able to re-sit all of your exams (re-sit not in attendance) for that year one last time in the Summer term of the following academic year. Your two re-sit attempts are normally on the next two occasions on which the exam is offered and if you choose not to re-sit on one or both of those occasions, then you forfeit the attempt(s).