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Process of conduct of Term-end examination

UOU strictly follows the ODL philosophy wherein, an ideal mix of assignments and term-end examinations has been implemented. The assignments are uploaded on the website of the University in the initial months of an academic session, these are evaluated by the Academic Counsellors and the feedback is given to the learners. Finally, marks of these assignments are uploaded in SIS (Student Information System) for being filled-in in the result sheet of learners.
The complete process of conduct of term-end examinations is enumerated in the manual of examinations uploaded as web-link to this metric. However, the salient features are reiterated as below:

  • Identification of Examination Cities: With the start of an academic session and enrollment of learners, the examination section of UOU identifies Examination Cities, considering the previous admissions and examination pattern, such as Haldwani, Dehradun, Haridwar, etc. At this stage only Examination Cities (not the exam centers) are identified and indicated in the SIS & Admission form.
  • Establishing Contact with the Learners: A continuous contact is maintained with the learners to make them aware at every stage about their examinations. This contact is established via UOU web-portal, e-mail and SMS facility.
  • Enrollment of Learners and Filling-up of Examination Form: The process of enrollment in UOU is online (using UOU website) as well as off-line (Admission Form). In a distance education system students are connected to the University via different modes of contact which they have. Therefore, the leaners have to compulsorily mention their choice of the particular city for examination (mentioned as Exam City in the form) while filling-in the Admission form (either online or offline). It includes submitting required examination fees of the learners for the courses offered in that particular programme of learning. However, considering that, this is the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system and the learners must have the liberty to opt when they want to appear for their examinations, they are provided with an additional facility through which, due to their inability to appear for the examination in that particular session, they may appear in the immediate next upcoming examinations (e.g., if they have filled their exam form for June 2017 exams then they may opt to appear in December 2017 exams instead of June 2017 exams).
  • Filling-up of Back and Improvement Examination Form: Conducting examination includes three sub-stages, viz., learners appearing in main paper, back paper, and improvement paper examination. The exams are, further, classified into Theory Papers, Assignments, Practicals, Project-Work, Field-Work and Viva-Voce. Learners, depending upon their requirements, fill-in their examination forms. All the learners appearing afresh have to fill-in their choice of Examination City, as mentioned above in step II above. However, the learners who require to improve their performance in a theory subject only have a window of six months (upto the immediate next examination term, say if, a learner has qualified the June 2017 examination and wishes to appear for Improvement Exams, he/she can only appear in December 2017 exams) to apply by filling-in the examination form for Improvement Examination. Only such learners are allowed to appear for Improvement Examination who have qualified in all the papers of that particular term and it includes the learners who have Passed with Grace (PWG), as well. The next category of the learners who want to appear for back paper examination are provided a window of 15 days to one month to fill-in their back-paper exam forms and select the exam city of their choice to appear in the exam.
  • Preparation of Date-Sheet: After completion of filling-in of all the examination forms (main, back and improvement) and obtaining information from SIS about all the Courses,the question papers required are ascertained and, the process of preparation of date-sheet is initiated. Digitization helps in identifying all the combinations of papers that are offered in a particular session (which varies in each session) and thus the date-sheet is prepared. Date-sheet so prepared is put on the website to allow various stakeholders to communicate their suggestions, if any. After getting all the suggestions, the required changes are introduced and the final scheme of examinations is published. The date-sheet is drafted in such a manner that the learners do not have any clashes of dates during their main papers. Utmost care is taken, so that, they do not have any clashes in their main, back paper examination, or two back paper exams. However, if any of such cases (less than 01%) appear than the learner is permitted to appear in any one the papers and the fees for the clashing paper is adjusted in their next immediate examination, so that, with the same examination fees of clashed paper they may appear in that particular paper too. Thus, the University is able to conduct more than 750 theory papers within 22 working days with two shifts in a day (total 44 shifts).
  • Withdrawal of Fees and Exam City Change: This is the spirit of Examination process of UOU,because all the learners (for main and back papers) are given an opportunity to submit their requests for modifications regarding examinations. They are provided with a time-frame of 10 to 15 days, in which they are permitted to change their Examination City (if required) and shift their fees from that particular examination to the immediate next examination. This is the opportunity to the new leaners who have filled in the choice of exam city at the time of enrollment or to the learners, who are having any other problems regarding their main and back paper examinations.
  • Uploading Marks of Assignments: While the learners are preparing for their examinations, the Learners Support Centers (LSCs) of the University are allowed to get the assignments evaluated (as prescribed by UOU) and upload theirmarks in the SIS. This process is continuously monitored by the Examination Section of UOU and a follow-up is always ensured to motivate the learners to submit their assignmentsfor evaluation so that the marks could be uploaded. Apart from this, if the Examination Section observes any malpractice or improper evaluation of assignments, the University takessuo-motocorrective measures to rectify the issue. 
  • Uploading of the marks of Practicals, Projects, Field-Work and Viva-Voce: Along with the conduct of theory papers, the other important sub-categories of a result are uploaded to facilitate the preparation of results. Therefore, it is essential that all the sub categories are completed simultaneously along with the theory marks for completion of a result. Later, various Exam Centres are identified and the learners are allotted to their closest exam-center to appear in practicals, projects, field-work or viva-voce. A blank award list is generated for the learners appearing in Main or Back paper examination, and the same are sent to the concerned Internal Examiner for conducting the examination. After successful completion of practical exams, they fill-in the award sheetsduly signed by the external and internal examiners and submit it for being uploaded on SIS. These award sheets are Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) based and, therefore, the process of scanning of OMR is initiated. Upon successful completion of scanning, the values are uploaded in SIS for preparation of result.
  • Maximum Marks for all the Question Papers are the same: At various stages and based upon the nature of programme, variation in the marks of External Exam and Assignments marks (say, Theory:Assignment, 60:40, 70:30, 80:20, 100:00, 35:15, 40:10 and Grading system as well) does exist which sometimes creates difficulty for the learners. Therefore, for the ease of understanding and in order to bringunanimity, it has been decided that all the question papers are prepared for 80 marks (for Full Unit papers) and 40 marks (for Half Unit Papers). After compilation of marks out of a Maximumof 80/40Marks, the obtained marks are converted proportionately to the maximum marks which actually exist for a particular paper, e.g., a learner has a paper of MM 70 but he is appearing in a paper of MM 80 and obtained 50/80 (62.5%) then the marks so obtained are proportionately converted to 62.5% of MM 70,i.e., Obtained Marks shall be 44/70. 
  • Allotment of Exam Center and Hall-Ticket Generation: After filling-in of the exam form, exam city change (if required), transfer of fees (if required), and the allotment of exam center takes place. All the examinees are allotted a particular exam center in an exam city, they opted for previously and the Hall-Tickets are generated for all the examinees. These hall-tickets are available online on UOU web-portal and the learners download these whenever and wherever required. These hall-tickets include all the details about the examination of particular examinees, say the papers he/she has opted to appear in and the date and exam-shift applicable.
  • Smooth and Four Conduct of Examinations:The University takes all the steps to ensure the fairness in conduct of examinations.Many examinations centers have the system of CCTV surveillance. The University sends its own observers and flying squad to observe the conduct of examination and to carry-out physical checking of the examinees during exams. If a learner is found indulged in the use of unfair means, the same is reported to the Controller of Examinations. Later, a Unfair Means Committee decides about the punishment to be given to such examinees. Even the Vice-Chancellor makes sudden visits to examination centers to check the fairness of conduct of examinations. Thus, the University makes all the efforts to ensure the fair conduct of examinations. The core philosophy of examinations is to ensure that the credibility of the University and that of the ODL system is maintained.

For more information visit Exam Department Link

Attachment Size
Download UOU Manual Handbook Term end Examination (691.56 KB) 691.56 KB

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