The University of Sheffield
Information for parents

Exams Overview

I want to know about my son or daughter’s exams…

Taught Programmes Office (TPO) processes examinations and qualifications - that means it is us who ensure the examination results are available to your son or daughter when they expect to receive them.

To achieve this TPO need to ensure the module results from your son or daughter’s academic departments arrive on the central computer system, these are checked to ensure that there are no missing or incorrect grades, and that the grades do not contradict the Regulations (rules for the course); and make sure your son or daughter will be able to see their results when they go online on the appointed day. Additionally, if your son or daughter is due to graduate, we make sure our graduation ceremonies organisers (The Events Team) know about them.

TIP: We make sure the module results for your son or daughter's examinations are online when they should be.

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Overview of Examinations Cycle during the Academic Year

Exams Cycle

Medical and Dentistry students sometimes follow a different schedule to other undergraduate students, so not all the dates above will apply to them. However, the processing of their results and records are dealt with similarly to all other undergraduate students.

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Examination Periods

There are three main examination periods for the typical undergraduate student. Each results period is slightly different, and we refer to them by the name of the Semester they relate to:

Autumn Semester Examinations:

The exams for this Semester are typically taken in late January or early February, and the results are published electronically (ie via the university web site) in early March. Some students will receive more grades than others at this time of year depending on the structure of the course they are studying; and some students may not receive any grades at all in the Autumn period because the modules they have taken are set up differently. In cases like this results will be received as part of the Spring Semester results.

Spring Semester Examinations:

The exams for this Semester are typically taken in late May or June and the results are published electronically in early July. This is the busiest exam period for the TPO because any results from the Autumn Semester that weren’t received then are submitted along with Spring Semester module results.

As well as receiving individual module examination results at this time, most undergraduate students also get a “year end” result too. This reflects their performance over the whole year, and indicates whether they can move up a year (we call this “progressing”), or have to stay at the same level and retake the examinations. A list of year end result types and what they mean can be found under What do my son or daughter’s Year End results mean?

Resit (August) Examinations:

The final undergraduate period of examinations each academic year is for students who need to retake modules they didn’t pass either in Autumn or Spring. Resit exams are taken during three weeks in August and the results are usually released electronically to students in early September.

TIP: Resit exams cannot be rearranged because of a student’s holiday commitments, so students who are due to take resit exams need to be available during the whole of the August resit period prior to the exam timetable being published.

As well as receiving individual exam results for modules taken during the Resit Period, students will get a second “year end” result too. This reflects their performance over the whole year and the resit period, and indicates whether they can move up a year (we call this “progressing”), or must stay at the same level for the next academic year. A list of year end result types and what they mean can be found under What do my son or daughter’s Year End results mean?

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