Exams, Deadlines and Admittance

Time of exams 

The exams for the courses of the study programs biochemistry, chemistry and pharmacy usually take place after each semester. Exceptions will be pointed out in KSL in the concerned courses.
Repetition exams usually take place in August/September, in some cases, however, they will already be held during the semester or in June. Please consult the repetition exam schedule under the menu point "exam schedules".

Mode of exams 

Normally, exams are held in written. If an exam is held orally, you will be informed so by the lecturer.

Registration

The registration for the exams has to be done through KSL. For exams of courses from biochemistry, chemistry or pharmacy you can usually register/sign off through KSL as of the beginning of the semester up to 14 days before the exam. Please note however, that the various institutes of the University of Bern have different deadlines for registration or signing off for their exams. Therefore, always check early enough what these deadlines for the exams you have to take are, to make sure you don't miss any deadlines. Late resgistrations/sign offs cannot be accepted.

Please also register through KSL for the exams in the case of a lab course. Even though, often the grading is only based on reports that you have to hand-in, you still have to register for the exam.

Repetition exams

For repetition exams for courses from biochemistry, chemistry and pharmacy, registration in KSL is usually open as of the beginning of the spring semester (for courses of the fall semester) or as of the beginning of June (for courses from the spring semester). Most repetition exams that take place in August/September, but exceptionally some might already take place during the spring semester or in June.

Repetition exams for the courses of the master's program in chemistry and molecdular sciences, no repetition exams are automatically set up. If you wish to repeat an exam from a master's course, please contact either the corresponding lecturer or the student administration office for chemistry students to request a 2nd date.

Number of repetition possibilities: A failed exam can be repeted once. Passed exams cannot be repeted.

ATTENTION: The DCBP has a rule that repetition exams are only available to students that failed the first exam or were sick, in the military service or had another parallel exam on the first date. Therefore, it will be verified that the registration for the repetition exam is made based on one of these reasons. It might be that you are asked to show prove that you could not participate on the first date. This is why you have to register always for the first exam date for courses from biochemistry, chemistry, pharmacy and biology.

Absence from exam

If you are sick or had an accident on the day of the exam, please send a doctor's notice to the administration office of your study program at the latest 1 week from the exam. Inform the lecturer and the administration office by phone or e-mail if possible already on the day of the exam that you are not able to participate at the exam (especially with oral exams). After a taken exam, a doctor's notice cannot be handed in in retrospect. If you do not feel well during the exam, stop the exam. In case of an abortion of the exam, we cannot accept a doctor’s notice that was already valid before the exam took place. If someone attends an exam despite an existing doctor’s notice, the person takes the exam at his/her own risk and the existing doctor’s notice loses its validity for this exam. If a doctor's notice is sent too late or not at all, the grade 1 is entered into KSL.

Compensation possibilities

Failed grades can be compensated within a module. A module is passed if the average is at least 4.0 after compensation. In the first year of study, the number of failed grades is limited to 3. In year two and three no limit of failed grades exists. Just make sure the module is passed after compensation.The module allocation can be seen on the appendixes' of the study plans (on the factsheets).

In the bachelor program pharmaceutical sciences it is mandatory to repeat all exams that show an insufficient result after the first attempt. An insufficient grade can only be compensated after the second attempt. The level of the grade does not matter and it is the grade of the second attempt that will be considered. This rule applies to students in pharmaceutical sciences that started their studies in the fall 2023 or later.

In the bachelor programs biochemistry and chemistry, insufficient exams from first attempts of exams of the first year of studies have to be repeated. An insufficient grade can only be compensated after the 2nd attempt (the level of the insufficient grade does not matter). In the biochemistry and chemistry programs, the following compensation rules apply for exams from the 2nd and 3rd year of studies during a transition phase:

For students that started their studies in the fall 2024 or later:

• In the 2nd and 3rd year of studies, insufficient grades from 1st attempts can be compensated as long as they are not below 3.0. If the exam restult is below 3.0, the exam has to be repeated.

For students that started their studies before the fall 2024:

•  In the 2nd and 3rd year of studies, insufficient grades can only be compensated after the 2nd attempt. There is no limitation as to which insufficient grades can be compensated.

Viewing of exams 

Within 30 days after the grade has been published, you can ask the lecturer of the relevant exam to view your own work.

Plagiarism 

Please study the leaflet and directives in regards to plagiarism under the following link and observe these rules. These rules must be followed for all written assignments including bachelor- and master thesis, dissertations as well as graded reports. Failure to do so will have consequences.  Guidelines Plagiarism

Exam dates

The exam dates for the various study programs can be found under the menu point "exam schedules" on the factsheets of each study program.