Exam or result declared invalid
The Dutch law (WhW) lists a number of tasks that the Board of Examiners must perform. One of these tasks is the safeguarding of the quality of exams. When the quality of the exam is compromised, the Board of Examiners can declare an exam or its results invalid.
The rules have been recorded in the TER (articles 13, 14, 24a) and are specified in the RGBE (art. 7a) of 3mE.
In case of irregularities, the Board of Examiners (BoE) may decide to declare an exam or a result invalid.
An irregularity in the exam room or a technical defect during the exam can greatly disturb an exam.
Another example of an irregularity is a situation where students have gotten hold of the exam or the exam answer model before the exam, and where it is not clear which or how many students had access to this document.
Depending on the circumstances, a result can be declared invalid for one student or for an entire or a part of the class: If an exam is being held in two examination rooms and an incident occurs in room 1, it is likely that a decision will only be made with regards to the students who were impacted by the incident. The BoE may decide to declare their results invalid and may offer another exam opportunity (only) to the students who made their exam in room 1.
Unfortunately, some students do not always observe the rules of an examination, such as fraud prevention measures. As a result of this behaviour, the quality of the exam may be compromised. An example is the wearing of headphones when this is not permitted. Every student has a responsibility to acquaint themselves with the rules before and during an exam. In case of doubt, the teacher should be consulted. If a student has not adhered to the rules, their exam result will be declared invalid.
In some cases, their behaviour may lead to a fraud investigation (see the fraud procedure on this website) and may result in sanctions.
When not?
When a student does not follow the rules, this need not always be treated as an irregularity. If the quality of the exam is not compromised, there is no need. If a student, for instance, submits an assignment after the deadline or their submission is incomplete, the examiner can deal with this matter without the Board of Examiners getting involved.
In case of a small / short incident during an exam, the examiner can also estimate (based on the results, for example) the effect the incident has had on the students’ performance.
The examiner reports irregularities to the Board of Examiners (BoE). This includes reports on online proctored exams.
The BoE gathers relevant information before making a decision. The examiner and students are informed of the decision.
The period of reply depends on the date the report is received, the time needed to collect the relevant information and the amount of other cases.