Take Home Exams | Learning and Teaching @ Newcastle

Setting take home exams

This page provides information and guidance related to running a take home exam. Please read the guidance on setting take home exams.

Take home exams using assignments

Guidance is available for 24 hour and 48 hour take home exams using assignments. This should be used for a take home exam in which a question or questions are released through the VLE. Students complete the exam then submit their document through a Turnitin submission point or a Canvas Assignment by the deadline.

Take home exams using quizzes

For other types of exam questions, such as Multiple Choice Questions which can be automatically marked, a Canvas Quiz may be more appropriate. See the guidance on recommended settings for a quiz used for summative assessment.

Take home exams using Inspera

Module Teams are able to request an Inspera Digital Exam be Take Home, but please be aware this must be open-book. Further detail is available in our Inspera section.

Other assessment types

Guidance is available on a range of other digital assessment tools that can be used for formative or summative assessment.

Students entitled to additional time

If you opt for a take home exam shorter than 24 hours, or an exam that is available for 24 hours but has a timer applied so that students have a specifc exam duration once they begin the exam, you must ensure that students who are entitled to extra time are accommodated.

The Digital Assessment Team apply the required settings to manage extra time requirements for Inspera take home exams. We ask that Schools inform us of the extra time requirements so that our team can apply these to the exam.

Schools are responsible for managing extra time requirements for take home exams that use a Canvas Quiz, Canvas Assignment, Turnitin Assignment, or any other assessment tool. Please read the guidance on managing extra time requirements.

Support for students during a take home exam

Make sure that someone from the module team is available for students to contact while the exam is taking place: provide students with their contact information and the times when the contact will be available. For exams that are available for 24 hours you must advise students what they should do if they have an issue outside of standard working hours.

Support for technical issues during an exam is available from the IT Service Desk during UK working hours, email it.servicedesk@ncl.ac.uk or call 0191 2085999. The out of hours IT Service Desk can triage queries, and where input is needed from NUIT or LTDS colleagues this will usually be provided on the following working day.

It is particularly important to provide guidance for students if a timer is applied to a 24-hour exam in Inspera or Canvas Quiz, given that any students taking the exam outside of UK working hours who need support with a technical issue may be unable to complete their submission before the time limit expires.

If a student has been unable to complete their submission before the time limit expires the module team can take the decision to extend their time limit if appropriate, and may also need to reopen the student's attempt if it has been automatically submitted. If this approach is not feasible the PEC process will need to be used.

The Library also provides a useful Introduction to 24 Hour Take Home Exams for students.

Student Health and Wellbeing Service

Exams and assessments for current students - student enquiries

Exams and Awards Office guidance

Use of library resources during open book exams

Please contact your Liaison Librarian if you expect students to have access to specific reading, including e-books, databases, platforms or products, prior to or during the open exam, so they can work with you to check online access will be available to all those taking the exam. Many of the Library's e-books have limits on the number of concurrent users, so we wish to pre-empt any issues for students.