CHAPTER I: AREA OF APPLICATION

Article 1

The regulations shall be binding for all teaching staff and the student body at the University of Barcelona.

Article 2

The regulations shall be applied in the following academic areas:

• teaching plans regulating the subjects taught
• systems for the evaluation of coursework and for the awarding of final marks
• information regarding tests and exams
• the review of tests and exams
• appeals

Article 3

The Academic Council at each University centre shall be responsible for applying the regulations.

The Academic Commission of the University of Barcelona’s Governing Board shall be informed of all infringements of the regulations by all academic bodies concerned and shall take that action deemed necessary to penalise and rectify all such infringements.

CHAPTER II: THE TEACHING PLAN

Article 4

Prior to the 10th of July of each academic year, each university department shall present a teaching plan for all the subjects to be taught, which shall be subject to the approval of the Department Council and the Academic Council, with special consideration given to the viability of programs and syllabi in their compliance with these regulations.

Article 5

Each Academic Council shall oversee the publication of teaching plans in its centre before the period of student registration begins.

Article 6

In the teaching plan for each subject, the following points shall be specified:

• the program (objectives and syllabi)
• the names or names of the teaching staff responsible for producing the plan
• the number of theory credits and practical credits contained in the plan
• the number of weekly teaching hours
• the type of subject (obligatory or optional subjects, subjects to be completed before further study or parallel to other subjects)
• the duration of the classes (subjects lasting one semester or one academic year)
• the system of evaluation
• reading lists for students
• other matters of student interest

The teacher of the subject shall be responsible for the presentation and development of the program, as well as for all extra academic materials pertaining to it.

In each semester and before the end of the first two weeks of class, the teacher shall inform the Academic Council of the evaluation and marking criteria that have been designed for the subject, and provide the Council with basic information about the subject in terms of its type, characteristics and the components and length of the examination corresponding to it, the seminars to be conducted and the reading lists to be recommended, recommendations for the completion and presentation of course work and calendars describing both deadlines for the student’s presentation of projects and hours or periods in which the teacher or teachers shall be available for consultation.

Article 7

The Academic Council shall draw up the calendar of final examinations, the timetables for theory and practical classes and the composition of groups, and shall also make these public before the period of student registration begins. In the case of those subjects lasting a complete academic year, the Academic Council will if necessary draw up a calendar for mid-year examinations. In exceptional cases, the Council may make calendar modifications, which must be published at least twenty days before their application and never during an examination period.

The modifications may be made to timetables, the composition of groups and exams, but shall not affect the study plan and the subject type (subjects lasting one semester or one academic year; obligatory or optional subjects; the ratio of theory and practical credits within subjects).

Article 8

The Academic Council shall determine the size of classes and the composition of class lists, as well as the criteria for allowing students to make group changes.

Article 9

The teaching staff’s visiting hours shall be published by each department before the end of the first fifteen days in which the subject is taught. The Academic Council shall take responsibility for ensuring that the student’s right to visiting hours is respected in all subjects.

Article 10

For academic activities of an exceptional nature that cannot be completed by all students, the criteria for student selection, participation and completion must be publicly specified.

CHAPTER III: EVALUATION AND THE AWARDING OF MARKS

Article 11

The students shall be evaluated in compliance with the provisions established by the teaching plan.

Article 12

The systems of evaluation for each subject established by the teaching plan shall be based on one or more than one of the following areas of activity:

• participation in theory classes, seminars and other complementary activities
• the completion of practical classes
• the completion of student assignments
• mid-year examinations in the case of subjects lasting one academic year
• final examinations

Article 13

The student may always assert the right to sit the final examination as it is specified in the study plan.

Article 14

The lecture halls in which different examinations are to be held and the time at which they are to be held shall be made public by the Academic Council in a period of at least twenty days before the day of the examination.

Article 15

The course teachers shall retain all examination scripts and other effects of final examinations and tests for a period of at least one academic year. If a student chooses to raise an appeal concerning the result of an examination, the student’s script or scripts must be retained until that time at which a ruling has been made. The Academic Council shall be responsible for the retention of final examination question papers and, if necessary, for publishing these.

In those teaching plans containing a practical component, the final evaluation of each student’s practical skills and the marks awarded to them will be presented in writing, specifying the name of the evaluating teacher. This information shall be retained according to the regulations of this Article.

CHAPTER IV. EXAMINATIONS

Article 16

The examining teacher may require examinees to provide proof of their identity at any moment during an examination or test, and examinees shall provide such proof with their national identity card, passport or University of Barcelona identity card (CUB).

Article 17

Following an examination or test, the student is entitled to a written statement testifying to their having sat the examination or test.

Article 18

All those students having registered to study a subject are entitled to sit all the tests or examinations that are held for that subject and to be awarded a final mark according to the regulations established in the teaching plan.

Article 19

The student registering to study a subject is entitled to an examination in that subject and one occasion to retake that examination, regardless of the student’s results in mid-year examinations.

Those students beginning the academic year and needing to course only 10 % of the total number of credits required for them to complete their degree shall on registration be entitled to one examination and two occasions on which to retake that examination, in the manner that these are legally established in the course of the academic year. This registration shall be made at the beginning of the academic year. The student who needs to course only 10 % of the total number of credits required to complete their degree and who registers to study a subject for the first time shall be entitled to one examination and two occasions on which to retake the examination, but shall only receive classes during the semester in which this subject is taught. If in a period of thirty days before the second occasion on which the student retakes the examination, the student addresses a written request to the centre’s Director of Studies and forwards this request to the Department Director, then in that examination the student shall be entitled to the presence of an examining board composed of three examiners. The examiners shall be selected by the centre’s Director of Studies, in consultation with the Department Director. In those cases where the Department Director does not make a proposal, the Director of Studies shall select the members of the examining board.

Article 20

Irrespectively of the disciplinary procedure applied, in the event that a student’s work proves to have infringed upon the regulations stipulated in the teaching plan, that work shall automatically receive the mark FAIL.

Students so wishing may lodge a complaint before the Department Director and an appeal addressed to the Director of Studies.

Article 21

Students so wishing are entitled to certify that all tests, course work and examinations completed by them comply with the system of evaluation stipulated in the teaching plan.

Article 22

The marks for mid-year or end-of-year examinations and for student assignments shall be made public in a period of no more than 15 calendar days after they have been awarded. The Academic Council may establish other deadlines. It is recommended that the results of examinations and other tests should be made public by the posting of Class Lists in which students are identified only by the UB Identification Number which they receive on their admission to the University (NIUB) and which remains constant during their course of study there.

The teacher shall inform students of the date of publication for the examination results on the day the examination is held.

In the exceptional case of subjects coursed in the period of one academic year, the Academic Council shall determine the regime for mid-year examinations.

Article 23

Once the period of evaluation has finished and according to the provision made in Article 15, the written assignments and the written work completed for practical classes shall be returned to those students who require it. The partial or total reproduction or use of this written work to any other end must be explicitly authorised by its author or authors.

Article 24

The department shall ensure that teachers take responsibility for all examination scripts completed in examinations in subjects they teach.

Article 25

Oral examinations shall be subject to the Academic Council’s program of studies.

The Academic Council shall establish mechanisms to guarantee the student’s right to an objective evaluation of examinations and to the appeal against the decisions of the examination assessment board, if they should so wish.

CHAPTER V: THE REVIEW OF TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS, AND THE PROVISION FOR APPEALS

Article 26

The student shall be entitled to the review of the results of all tests, examinations and evaluated assignments, as well as all mid-year examinations. The review procedure shall be individual and shall consider both the criteria used and the final mark awarded.

Article 27

With the results of examinations, teachers shall post the calendar announcing the date, time and place for students wishing to have their results reviewed. Students may appeal for a review of their examination for a period of up to three working days from the time at which the examination results are published. Appeals shall be heard within 10 days of the publication of examination results.

Article 28

Within the calendar established by the Academic Council as indicated in Article 22.1 and Article 27 and once the examining teacher has signed the completed Class List, the student members of the Academic Council are entitled to information from The Director of Studies regarding the percentage of examinees by group or by subject who have been awarded the mark PASS.

Article 29

Both the individual mark awarded to an examinee and the global qualification for the class as these appear on the official Class List can be the object of a student appeal that the appelant shall conduct according to the following procedure:

The appellant shall raise an appeal with the examining teacher during that period of time specified in the calendar for appeals.

In such cases where the teacher will not hear the appeal, the appellant shall raise an appeal with the Department Director by means of a written intimation addressed to the Director of Studies, within 12 days of the publication of the examination result. The Department Director shall appoint three members of staff to an Academic Appeals Committee, of which at least two shall be full-time members of the centre’s teaching staff and of which none shall have participated in the evaluation leading to the examination result being appealed. If it so wishes, this Committee may modify the mark that has been awarded to the appellant. The Committee’s final ruling shall be minuted in a detailed report to be presented to the Director of Studies and to the Department Director, who shall subsequently notify the appellant in writing.

If an appeal is accepted, the Committee Chair shall enter the appellant’s rectified qualification in an additional Class List that shall be signed by all members of the Board.

Article 30

If the appeal is rejected the student may lodge a complaint with the Academic Council, or may choose to have the complaint lodged by student members of the Academic Council. The Council shall then request such information as it deems pertinent to the complaint from the teacher and/or department, inform the teacher and/or department of the complaint and take those steps it considers necessary to come to a ruling. The Director of Studies may be required to report in writing to the Academic Commission of the Division, which will propose a ruling to the Academic Commission of the University’s Governing Board. The Academic Commission of the University’s Governing Board shall then determine which measures are necessary to readdress the appellant’s right, and shall inform the party responsible for this infringement of the sanctions that may be brought against it.

ADDITIONAL RULINGS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA REGULATIONS ON EXAMINATIONS, EVALUATION AND THE AWARDING OF FINAL MARKS

FIRST ADDITIONAL RULING

At the end of each term, the Academic Council shall draw up an official report detailing any irregularities in the observance of this regulation.

This report shall be addressed to the Academic Commission of the Division, which shall in turn draw up a summary report on all the development of all teaching plans in its centres for that term, to be delivered to the Academic Commission of the University’s Governing Board for evaluation and, if necessary, for subsequent deliberation.

SECOND ADDITIONAL RULING

In the event of persistent disregard for this regulation, the Governing Body’s Academic Commission shall propose the application of those sanctions it deems fit in accordance with the binding POA regulations (Pla d’Ordenació Acadèmica) and the teaching staff’s academic regime.

THIRD ADDITIONAL RULING

The Governing Board’s Academic Commission shall be responsible for ensuring that the Academic Councils in different centres may have the necessary channels and adminstratrive mechanisms to guarantee the observance of the present regulations.

FINAL RULING

The Articles of the present document shall be binding for all those cases in which other regulations not specified in this document might be implemented, when and where those regulations are invested with equal or lesser authority to those described above.