Potential Consequences

Think about your short and long term plans. If you are granted permission to defer a final examination, you should be aware of the following:

• The format of the deferred examination may well differ from the format of a standard final examination.
• You should not expect special assistance from your instructor or from the examiner in preparing for the deferred examination.
• There can be no special accommodation made for you if a deferred examination in the next examination period results in writing examinations in three consecutive timeslots.
• You may be at a disadvantage sitting an examination four months after the end of the course.
• This will be your only opportunity to sit a deferred examination for the course.

Impact on future studies

• You may not enrol in any course if its prerequisite is the course in which you are sitting a deferred examination.
• Missing a final examination may affect your ability to gain access to courses and/or to limited enrolment programs.
• Students writing deferred exams will have their credit load in the session leading up to the deferred exam reduced by the credit weight of exams deferred. For the purpose of calculating the course reduction, the normal credit load per session is considered to be 2.5 FCEs. For example, a student writing a deferred exam in the Fall deferred exam period with a credit weight of .5 (half credit) would be permitted to enrol in a maximum course load of 2.0 credits in the Fall session.  See the table below.

• You will have until the end of the first week of classes of the session leading up to the deferred examination(s) to adjust your course load.
• If, at the end of the first week of classes, you are enrolled in more courses than allowed, you will be removed from ALL courses. If you try adding any back, there is no guarantee a space will be available in them or in your preferred sections.
• Your graduation will be delayed if you defer an exam in the final session leading up to your Fall or Spring convocation.
• You will not be granted late withdrawal without academic penalty from a course once you have requested and been granted a deferred examination.

Important Considerations

It is important that you weigh their circumstances carefully before deferring a final examination.

• Ask yourself how ready you are now versus how ready you will be later .
  You might think, in the heat of the examination period, that a deferred examination would be a welcome relief, giving you plenty of time to prepare. However, you should remember that the course is freshest in your mind immediately after a whole session of classes, whereas the details will gradually fade as time passes. Even if you may have more time to study your notes with a deferred examination, they will lose their detailed resolution as months pass. Consider also, that you will be writing your deferred examination at the same time as your next session's final examinations! Exhausting or anxiety-producing as it might be, writing your final examinations when they are scheduled is probably the best way to maximize your results, unless you are truly ill or incapacitated. In fact, if it isn't absolutely necessary to defer, you should write.


• Illness: Assess how well you feel now, at the time of the examination. If you are not feeling your best but are not incapacitated, you must make a decision: if you write the examination, it will be your one attempt. If you defer your examination it will likely be written during the next final examination period or the study period that precedes it, four months later. You are in the best position to make the decision, and so it is left to you. However, you must accept the results of the choice you make. If you were ill previously and this cut into your study time, but you are not ill any more, you will normally be expected to write your examinations. The exception to this expectation might occur when you have had a serious medical problem or one of long duration and you have missed term work and classes, in which case you should discuss the option of late withdrawal with an Academic Advisor.
  
  
  

• If granted permission to write a deferred examination, the notation of 'SDF' (standing deferred) will be placed on your record. The course will not be included in the calculation of your GPA on your academic record on ROSI until the examination is written and a final grade calculated. Likewise, your "standing" for the session will not reflect this course.


• If, even with a notation of SDF for the course, you are placed on academic suspension you will not be permitted to take courses in the next session.


• If you do not write the deferred examination the Registrar's Office will reinstate, on your academic record, the grade that the department had originally submitted. Your GPA and academic standing will then be recalculated.


• If you have not received notification on eService of the date, time and location of your UTSC deferred examination within two weeks of the start of the relevant deferred examination period, you are urged to contact the Registrar's Office. This is your responsibility. Students should check eService regularly. If you have not received appropriate notification for courses on other campuses within two weeks of the deferred examination period, contact the Faculty offering the course.


• If you are a client with Access Ability Services, you are responsible for informing that office of your deferred examination arrangements by the deadline. The deadline is necessary for the Examination Coordinator of that office to make appropriate arrangements for your examination.


• You will not be granted late withdrawal without academic penalty from a course once you have requested and been granted a deferred examination.


• You are urged to use judgment in registering for courses in the next session. This is especially important in the case where you are preparing for current and deferred final examinations, or if you have ongoing health, personal or financial issues. As a general rule, you are strongly urged to complete your outstanding work from the previous session before you commit yourself to new responsibilities. Far too many students find themselves in serious academic jeopardy by attempting to proceed too optimistically, only to be disappointed when they see the course outcomes and find themselves in academic jeopardy. Seek counseling with an Academic Advisor.


• Failure to follow instructions will not be considered grounds for further petitions.


• Students who miss a deferred examination will receive a mark of zero for the examination in the calculation of the final grade. Only under exceptional circumstances (e.g. hospitalization or severe personal emergency), and when supported by strong and compelling evidence, will a petition for a second deferred exam be considered.

The Process and Payment Deadlines

• You may only request a deferred examination for a course where you did NOT attempt or complete the final examination.


• Petitions will be considered only for cases of illness or extreme emergency at the time of an examination.


• Petitions must be submitted online (via eService) within 72 hours of the missed examination. An active UTORid account to access eService is required.


• Petitions based on medical grounds must be supported by a completed Verification of Student Illness or Injury form stating both that the student was examined and diagnosed at the time of illness and was examined on the day of the exam or immediately after (i.e. the next day). See details regarding this in the Calendar. A statement from the physician that merely confirms a report of illness and/or disability made by the student will not be acceptable.


• If the petition is not based on medical grounds, other supporting documentation must be provided.


• Supporting documentation must be submitted to the Registrar's Office within 10 business days from the date of the petition.


• All supporting documents must be in original form; photocopies or faxes will not be accepted.


• Petitions to defer final examinations based on vacation, employment, or personal plans will not be considered. The examination period is published in advance and students are expected to be available during this period.


• Late petitions will not be accepted.


• A non-refundable $70 deferred examination flat fee will apply for approved requests for UTSC courses, and must be paid by the published deadline (see table). The deferred examination fee and the payment deadline may differ for courses on other campuses. Students writing deferred exams for courses on other campuses must pay a separate fee at that campus. These students are given specific payment instructions and deadlines via eService.


• Students who do not submit payment by the published deadline will have their deferred examination cancelled. Cancellation will result in the reinstatement of the original grade in the course and reassessment of academic standing. For some students, this may result in an academic suspension for the current session and withdrawal from any course enrolments in the next session.


• If you have not received notification on eService of the date, time and location of your UTSC deferred examination within two weeks of the next study break, you are urged to contact the Registrar's Office. This is your responsibility. Students should check eService regularly. If you have not received appropriate notification for courses on other campuses within two weeks of the deferred examination period, contact the Faculty offering the course.


• The vast majority of UTSC deferred final examinations are scheduled during the next final examination period or the study period that precedes it (i.e. examinations deferred from Summer session are scheduled in December; Fall session in April/May; Winter session in August). Students should be aware, however, that deferred examinations can be scheduled at any time in the next session. After payment is received, the deferred examination is scheduled and the student notified of the exact date/time via eService.


• Many deferred examinations in courses on other campuses are also held during the next final examination period. However, there are several exceptions e.g. some examinations from the April/May examination period may be held in the final examination period for Summer Session F courses; others may be held in the August examination period and deferred examinations in Fall courses may be held during the February Reading Week. After payment is received, the student is notified by the Faculty which offers the course of the exact date/time.

DEADLINES
Submission of:	When
Petition	Within 72 hours of the missed examination.
Supporting documentation	Within 10 business days * from date of petition.
Payment of deferred examination fee **	Refer to specific eService messaging for payment instructions and deadlines. Note: Students writing deferred exams for courses on other campuses must pay a separate fee at that campus (not at UTSC). Specific payment instructions and deadlines will be viewable via eService messaging.
*Business days - refers to days the UTSC Registrar's Office is open for business (excludes weekends and campus/University closures).
**On-line payment for UTSC deferred exams using eService can be made with Visa or Mastercard until midnight on the deadline date. In-person payment will be accepted during office hours until the deadline.