Exam Rules

When you begin a semester at EK, you are automatically registered for the exams linked to your courses. The time and place of each exam are published in our online platform for exams - Wiseflow.

If you do not pass the ordinary exam, or if you have been sick for an exam and notified the exams office of your sickness, you will automatically be registered for the next available re‑exam.

If you are unable to participate in an exam or submit your exam assignment due to acute illness, you must immediately—and no later than 16:00 on the exam/submission day—report your illness via SDBF by completing the form “Sygemelding akut / Notification of illness acute”. You must provide documentation of your illness by getting a Doctor's note, and you are responsible for covering the cost of the notice.

If you do not have a Doctor's note at the time you submit the form, you must send the documentation by email to eksamen@ek.dk no later than 5 working days after the exam/submission day. The exam/submission day does not count as one of the 5 working days. The form must still be submitted no later than 16:00 on the exam/submission day.

If you do not report your illness within the deadline and provide documentation, you will have used an exam attempt.

EK may set prerequisites that students must meet in order to participate in an exam. If there are prerequisites that must be fulfilled before an exam, they will be stated in the programme curriculum/module catalogue/exam catalogue. These may include completion of a number of learning activities, written assignments, mandatory attendance, etc.

If a prerequisite includes mandatory attendance, the required extent of attendance and any options for remediation—should the attendance requirement not be met—will also be specified.

The prerequisite must be fulfilled before you participate in the exam for the first time. If you have not met the prerequisite, it means you have used an exam attempt and will be registered for the re‑exam. Before the re‑exam, you must still meet the prerequisites in order to participate. If you do not meet the prerequisites before the re‑exam, you will use another exam attempt and be registered for your final exam attempt.

As a student, you have three exam attempts to pass an exam. If you do not pass within these three attempts, you will not be able to pass your semester.

You may apply for special exam conditions, for example extended time, if you have a physical or psychological disability, provided that such measures are deemed necessary to place you on equal footing with other students during the exam. It is a requirement that the special conditions do not alter the academic level of the exam.

You must submit an application for special exam conditions no later than one month before the exam, or as soon as possible if the exam takes place earlier than one month after the start of your studies, so that your application can be processed in time.

You must include documentation of your disability with the application. This may, for example, be a Doctor's note/medical certificate, a dyslexia assessment, or similar.

You may apply to take an exam online that is otherwise planned with physical attendance if, for special reasons — for example due to a study or internship stay abroad, or chronic/long-term illness — you are prevented from or have significant difficulty attending in person.

Based on your application, the Examination Committee will assess whether there are special circumstances that justify holding the exam online.

You must apply well in advance of the scheduled exam to allow time for the necessary practical arrangements. It is your own responsibility to apply early enough for your application to be processed in time.

You may apply to have your exam conducted abroad with physical attendance if, for practical or financial reasons, you are unable to be physically present for the exam in Denmark.

The Examination Committee must appoint or approve the individuals responsible for the practical administration of the exam. In such cases, the Committee will require you to accept any costs associated with holding the exam abroad.

You must apply well in advance of the scheduled exam to allow time for the necessary practical arrangements. It is your own responsibility to apply early enough for your application to be processed in time.

When a written exam assignment is prepared in a group, and the exam consists solely of written work without a subsequent oral exam, it must be clearly indicated who has written which parts. It must be possible to award an individual grade based on each student’s contribution. This means that each student is responsible for a coherent section of the written submission. If it is not possible to determine the individual contributions of one or more students, those students cannot be assessed. Any student for whom an assessment cannot be made based on the written assignment will still use an exam attempt.

When a written exam assignment is prepared in a group and there is a subsequent oral exam, and the exam description states that the written assignment is assessed independently, you must likewise indicate who has written which parts, so that an individual assessment can be made based on each student’s contribution.

You must be able to confirm your identity when you arrive for an exam. You must therefore be able to present your student ID card or another form of photo identification (driver’s licence or passport).

If you do not have valid identification, the administration will decide whether you may be admitted to the exam.

If you cannot participate in the exam due to missing documentation, you will use an exam attempt.

If you arrive late for the exam, you cannot participate, and you will use an exam attempt.

Oral exams are, as a general rule, open to the public, which means that others may attend the exam. However, if it is an individual exam based on a group assignment, the other group members are not allowed to be in the examination room.

The curriculum regulations for each exam specify which aids you are allowed to use. If the regulations do not specify anything, the general rule is that all legal aids are permitted.

You must bring your own aids, and you are responsible for ensuring that they work properly.

The exam invigilators may inspect your aids. You may not use electronic devices (other than your computer) that provide access to the internet or allow communication with others, such as mobile phones, iPads, tablets, smartwatches, or similar devices.

Communication with others during the exam is not permitted, even if the aids you are using — and are allowed to use — have the capability to communicate with others.

It is permitted to use headphones for listening to music during exams at EK. However, they must not disturb other students, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that you can hear any announcements made during the exam. The headphones must not be connected via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or similar.

If the exam is held without the use of aids, you may only use the tools that are permitted, such as a computer. It will not be allowed to listen to music from, for example, a phone, smartwatch, or other external electronic devices. If internet access is not permitted during the exam, you may also not use online services.

The language of an exam is the same as the language of instruction. For exams conducted in Danish, it is, however, possible to take the exam in Swedish or Norwegian, unless the purpose of the exam is to document your proficiency in Danish.

The Examination Committee may, if circumstances allow — including academically — grant permission for you to take the exam in another language.

EK does not provide computers for exams. You must therefore bring your own computer and, if needed, for example an extension cord. You are responsible for ensuring that your equipment works properly and is up to date. The exam cannot be postponed if your equipment does not function or is inadequate. This applies to both written on‑site exams and oral exams where you may need to give a presentation.

You are only allowed to bring one computer without an additional screen to written on‑site exams, unless otherwise stated in the programme regulations. It is your own responsibility to ensure that your computer and related equipment work and are updated.

If you cheat during an exam, or if you disrupt the exam and do not comply with the invigilators’ instructions, you may be expelled from the exam. Expulsion may also occur after the exam has taken place. Expulsion from an exam due to cheating or disruptive behaviour means that any grade you may have received will be annulled, and you will have used an exam attempt. If you are expelled before you have participated in or submitted the exam, you will not be allowed to take the exam.

Examples of exam cheating include (the list is not exhaustive):

• Illegally receiving or providing assistance to others during the exam.
• Bringing or using non‑permitted aids during an exam (e.g., mobile phones).
• Falsifying data, documents, or similar.
• Concealing or misleading others about your own work or results.
• Communicating with anyone other than authorised staff (invigilators, etc.) about your own or others’ exam answers.
• Presenting someone else’s work as your own or using your own previously assessed work without proper citation (plagiarism).
• Attempting to circumvent, disable, or otherwise undermine the purpose of electronic monitoring during exams.
• Using AI in your exam answer when it is not a permitted aid for that particular exam.
• Failing to correctly indicate the use of AI when it is otherwise allowed.

If there is suspicion of cheating before, for example, an oral exam based on a written assignment, the exam may be postponed until the case has been investigated and a decision has been made. In some situations, the exam may proceed despite the suspicion of cheating. This will be determined on a case‑by‑case basis by the Examination Committee. If the Committee concludes after the exam that cheating has occurred, the grade will be annulled and you will have used an exam attempt. The Committee decides whether the exam is postponed or conducted despite the suspicion.

Decisions regarding exam cheating are made by the Examination Committee based on an academic statement and your comments.

If the Committee concludes that you have cheated, it may issue a written warning and, under aggravating circumstances or in cases of repeated offences, decide that you are to be suspended for a shorter or longer period. In severe cases, permanent expulsion may occur.

As a general rule, you are allowed to use tools based on artificial intelligence (AI), including ChatGPT or similar chatbots and programs, in connection with exam assignments (both oral and written), unless otherwise stated explicitly in the programme regulations or the assignment description.

However, you must pay close attention to using correct references. Otherwise, it will be considered exam cheating if you submit an answer, or parts of an answer, that has been produced by an AI/chatbot and is presented as if it were your own work.

It is your responsibility to ensure that exam assignments are submitted on time, whether it is a written on‑site exam or a written take‑home submission. The submission deadline is stated in Wiseflow.

If you do not submit your exam assignment on time, you will have used an exam attempt.

The Examination Committee may reject written assignments if they do not meet the formal requirements.

The formal requirements for the assignment will be stated in the programme regulations/module catalogue/exam catalogue. For example, an assignment may be rejected if it exceeds the maximum number of characters allowed.

If the assignment is rejected due to non‑compliance with formal requirements, you will have used an exam attempt.

If you become ill during an exam, you can stop the exam without submitting anything for assessment. For written exams, you must notify the invigilator and inform them that you have become ill and therefore wish to withdraw from the exam. You may then leave the exam.

After this, you must follow the procedure described in the section “Notification of Illness”.

No one may leave the exam during the first 15 minutes or the last 30 minutes of the exam (this also applies to toilet breaks).

If you finish the exam early, you must call the invigilator once you have submitted your exam in Wiseflow. When the invigilator has confirmed that you have submitted, your exam is considered completed.

For an exam with physical attendance, you must leave the exam room quietly and show consideration for the other candidates. Talking is not permitted in the exam room. You may not take the exam paper with you if it was handed out physically and you finish early. However, you are still not allowed to leave the exam room during the final 30 minutes of the exam.

As a general rule, grades are awarded according to the Danish 7‑point grading scale. In most cases, once you have achieved a grade of 02 or higher, the exam is passed, and you cannot retake it. Special rules may apply to exams consisting of sub‑tests or continuous assessments; these will be described in the curriculum for your study programme. Some exams may also be assessed on a pass/fail basis, which will likewise be stated in the programme regulations.

If the programme regulations specify that an exam consists of several sub‑tests, and you achieve a grade of 02 or higher in the overall assessment, you may only retake failed sub‑tests if the regulations explicitly require all sub‑tests to be passed individually.

For oral exams, you will receive your grade immediately after the exam. The grade will then be available in Wiseflow.

For written exams, you will be able to see your grade in Wiseflow once the assignment has been assessed and recorded. Written exams must be assessed no later than four weeks after the exam. The month of July is not included in this calculation.

As an exchange student at EK both the 7-point grade and the equivalent ECTS grade will be on your Transcript of Records. 

If, for various reasons, you do not pass the exam, you will automatically be registered for the next examination.

You may submit a written complaint regarding an examination. The deadline for submitting a complaint is no later than two weeks after you have been informed of the grade. Examination complaints must be sent to klage@ek.dk.

You may complain about legal and academic matters, including the conduct of an examination. If you wish to complain about continuous assessment, the complaint must be submitted as part of a complaint concerning the examination in the course or educational element.

If the complaint concerns academic matters, EK will forward the complaint to the examiners, who must normally submit a statement on the academic issues raised in the complaint within two weeks. The month of July is not included when calculating this deadline.

You will then be given the opportunity to comment on the statement within a period of normally one week. Based on the complaint, the examiners’ statement, and your comments, EK will make a decision in the case.