Before your exams

These are the usual exam periods for each year group, but always check your timetable.

1st and 2nd year 

• 1st and 2nd year students will have Maths exams in the first week of the spring term in January.  

• The January exam period includes ELEC40013 Mathematics 1A, ELEC50011A Mathematics for Engineers IIA and ELEC50011B Mathematics for Engineers IIB. 

• All other exams will be held during the summer term after the revision classes are completed. Usually, these exams take place in the first two or three weeks of the summer term. 

3rd year 

• Third-year exams for level 6 autumn-term modules (ELEC6****) take place in the final two weeks of the autumn term in December.  

• Students taking modules from other departments should check the exam timetable of those departments. Business School modules are often examined in January and at the beginning of May.  

• The examination timetables for the autumn and spring terms are published before the respective module registration deadlines, so students must check the exam timetable before making their module choices.  

• Students are not permitted to select modules with clashing exams.  

• Students on industrial placements should avoid BPES modules examined in May as this might interfere with company regulations on holidays. If you do choose a BPES module with an exam that takes place during your placement, you will still be expected to attend your exam. The Department will not be held responsible for a student’s inability to sit exams in this case.  

4th year 

• Exams for Year 4 ELEC7**** modules take place during the first weeks of the summer term.  

• Students taking modules from other departments should check the exam timetable of those departments. Business School modules are often examined in January, while Department of Computing modules may have exams during the autumn term.  

• The examination timetables for the autumn and spring terms are published before the respective module registration deadlines, so students must check the exam timetable before making their module choices.  

• Students are not permitted to select modules with clashing exams.  

MSc students 

• The majority of MSc ELEC7**** modules are examined during the summer term exam period, which takes place in the first three weeks of the summer term. Some modules are examined during the autumn term exam period, in the final two weeks of the autumn term.  

• MSc ADIC students taking Department of Computing modules may have exams at other times during the academic year, as set by the Department of Computing. Please check the Department of Computing exam timetable.  

• The examination timetables for the autumn and spring terms are published before the respective module registration deadlines, so students must check the exam timetable before making their module choices.  

• Students are not permitted to select modules with clashing exams.  

EEE/EIE exam timetables (check what the link should be - if this page, suggest remove all other content from there because it duplicates https://www.imperial.ac.uk/electrical-engineering/study/current-students-course-handbook/examinations/examination-timetables-eeeeie-modules/)  

EEE also sends examination timetables to students by email.

Timetable information is also available in Celcat. 

Your exam timetable is the definitive source for the date and time of each exam, so check it carefully and make a note of every exam you are taking. 

For modules run by other departments, including Business School, Computing and Languages/Humanities and Social Sciences, check the home department’s exam information too. Their exams may take place at a different point in the year or in another building. 

All ELEC exams are held on campus unless otherwise specified. 

Religious observance 

If an exam clashes with a religious festival or period of observance and you are concerned about what to do, contact the EEE Exams Team as soon as possible.  

Exams cannot normally be rescheduled, but arrangements may sometimes be possible.  Please visit Imperial’s policy on exams and religious obligations for further guidance. 

• The EEE Student Wellbeing Advisor Kelly Greenwood has put together a comprehensive guide to wellbeing resources for study and exams .
• The Imperial Success Guide - advice on study and revision. 
• If you are having serious problems coping with your academic studies please see the Senior Tutor Dr Prabhav Reddy who will advise you. Your personal tutor is also here to help you. 
• If you are struggling with a first year module, or second year Maths, you can get help from a peer tutor. They are well-performing students in higher years of the department who offer one-to-one or group tutoring sessions. The service is free of charge to the student in need of help. 

Whatever the situation, make sure you seek help in good time. 

The Student Counselling and Mental Health Advice Service can help with academic stress. ‘Stress Less for Exam Success’ workshops are delivered in November, May and July before exam periods begin. 

The Imperial College Health Centre also has a series of events and resources to help with exam stress and anxiety, managing revision, study and motivation techniques and more. 

Special examination arrangements are adjustments that can make examinations more accessible for students with disabilities or specific learning difficulties. Examples include extra time, rest breaks, use of a computer or assistive technology, or support from a reader or scribe. 

Medication, or food and drink other than water, may be brought into the examination room with prior approval through the special examination arrangements process.  

Applying for special exam arrangements

Applications for special arrangements in exams are supported by Emma Rainbow, our Disabilities Officer in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. The applications process has several steps and can take up to 6 weeks, so if you think you will need extra time, contact Emma as early as possible and at least 6 weeks before the start of your first exam: e.rainbow@imperial.ac.uk  

If you think you may have a learning difficulty but do not have a diagnosis, please contact Imperial College's Disability Advisory Service for advice.

You can use past exam papers to support your revision.

Students are reminded that: 

• course content may change from year to year;  

• the same course may have been given by a different lecturer in a previous year;  

• questions may therefore not be completely relevant;  

• outline answers are no substitute for proper revision.  

Solutions to past papers are provided once the examination process has run its full course. These are provided mainly for students preparing for upcoming examinations, but can also be used by students who sat a particular exam to reflect on what the examiners had been looking for. 

For first and second year exams, solutions are annotated with commentary on successful approaches or common mistakes. 

Do not bring your own calculator to an EEE exam.  Please note that the arrangements may be different for midterm tests, so please follow any separate instructions you are provided for midterm tests. 

If the exam requires a calculator, one will be provided in the exam room.  

We use the Casio fx-991CEX Classwiz. Calculators can be inspected or borrowed (on two-day loan) from EEE Stores on Level 1 so you can familiarise yourself with the model before the exam period.  

Please remember that different calculator models may be issued at exams held outside EEE e.g. Business exams, Dept of Computing exams. 

• Calculators cannot be used for 1st year Maths exams.  

• Calculators can be used for 2nd year Maths exams.  

• Calculators can be used for 3rd and 4th year exams.  

Bring only the items permitted for your exam. Your normal exam-day items:

• Imperial ID card
• permitted writing equipment in a transparent case or bag
• water in a clear bottle 

Writing equipment

Candidates may take into any examination normal writing instruments (pens, rubbers, rulers, etc.). Any bag used for carrying such items MUST be transparent.

We advise you to use black or blue pen during the exam as if you use pencil there is a risk that it won’t be picked up by the scanners after the exam. 

University ID card 

Bring your University ID card to every exam and place it face-up on your desk. If you do not have your University ID card, bring another official form of photo ID, such as a passport or driving licence.

If you do not have your Imperial photo ID, contact the EEE Exams Team as soon as possible. 

What can't I bring

• You must not take bags, coats or electronic devices to your desk. 
• Food (unless previously agreed for medical reasons)
• Anything else not mentioned above

Formulae sheets, tables etc. will be included with certain exam papers, as decided by the examiner. 

Exams are normally closed book unless you are told otherwise. If an exam is open book, the module leader will tell you what materials you are permitted to bring. Follow the instructions for that specific exam. 

Your candidate number is your CID number, the one on your University ID card. 

In the exam on the front of your first answer booklet there will be label showing your CID number, which you must check is correct, and you must write your full CID number on any additional answer booklets. 

Exam offences and plagiarism are taken very seriously and are dealt with according to Imperial College London policy.  

• Imperial guidance on plagiarism, academic integrity and exam offences

• EEE Department Academic Misconduct Policy (currently under review) 

Setting the questions 

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 therefore the answer given by the examiner can be one among many possible. 

Exam structure 

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%. 

1. 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. 

Almost all 1st and 2nd year exam papers will have three questions. 

• Question 1 must have 40% weight of total marks. It must have wide coverage. 

• Questions 2 and 3 must be detailed and each have 30% weight. 

How the exam questions are checked and approved 

1. After the exam is 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.
2. In the next step, the Examinations Officer will check the exam paper against the guidelines. This might lead to more changes. 
3. After approval by the Examinations 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. 
4. 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 exam paper format 

Exam papers are formatted according to standard templates. The typographical conventions, such as fonts and font sizes, used in the exam paper templates reflect the styles adopted in scientific publishing and, in particular, IEEE publications. 

Imperial's Academic governance information, including examinations and assessment.