Unreasonable exam scheduling clashes

Overview

There are two different situations here, and they are treated quite differently by universities in England and Wales.

The first is a genuine clash, meaning two or more compulsory exams timetabled at the same time on the same day. Universities treat this as their responsibility to resolve, because it is impossible for you to sit both.

The second is exams scheduled unreasonably close together, for example two or three exams on consecutive days or even on the same day. This is far harder to challenge, because most universities do not guarantee any minimum gap between exams. Whether you have any remedy depends on your university’s own regulations and, in some cases, on the Equality Act 2010.

Direct exam clashes

Where two compulsory exams are scheduled for the same time slot, this is a scheduling error that the institution must fix. The standard position across universities is that it is your responsibility to check the provisional and final timetable promptly and report the clash within a stated deadline, often around ten working days of publication.

The usual resolution is not to move the exam date. Instead universities typically arrange for you to sit the exams consecutively on the same day under supervised conditions, meaning you are kept in invigilated conditions between papers so you cannot communicate with others who have already sat the paper. You may be asked to bring food and drink because you cannot leave unsupervised.

Practical steps:

1. Check the published timetable immediately and identify the exact modules and time slots.

2. Report the clash in writing to the examinations office, registry or student centre using any clash notification form, quoting your student ID and the module codes, and keep a copy.

3. Do this well within the stated deadline, because arrangements are often made in the order forms are received.

4. Confirm the agreed arrangements in writing and keep that confirmation.

Exams scheduled close together

This is the weaker position legally. Most universities expressly reserve the right to schedule exams on consecutive days and do not promise gaps between papers. A tightly packed timetable, without more, is usually not a breach of any rule and therefore not something you can force the university to change.

Start by reading your institution’s assessment or examination regulations and the timetabling policy. Look specifically for any published commitment about spacing, maximum number of exams per day, or any procedure to request adjustments. If the university has breached its own published policy, that is the strongest basis for a complaint. If there is no such policy commitment, you generally cannot compel a change simply because the timetable is demanding.

Even where there is no absolute right, it is worth making a polite, early, written request to the examinations office explaining the specific difficulty, especially if the concentration is extreme, for example three exams in one day. Universities sometimes accommodate genuine hardship on a discretionary basis, particularly before the timetable is finalised.

Where a disability or health condition is involved

This is the most important exception. If you have a disability, long term health condition, or a mental health condition, the university has duties under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments so that you are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared with other students. A closely packed exam schedule can put a disabled student at a substantial disadvantage in a way that it would not for others.

In that situation you should:

1. Register with the disability or student support service if you have not already, and provide any medical or diagnostic evidence.

2. Ask expressly for a reasonable adjustment to the timetable spacing, for example rest days between exams, additional time, or rescheduling, as part of your support plan or individual learning agreement.

3. Make the request as early as possible, ideally before the timetable is finalised, because adjustments are easier to arrange in advance.

A failure to make a reasonable adjustment can amount to unlawful disability discrimination, which is a much stronger basis for challenge than a general complaint about a demanding timetable.

If something goes wrong on the day or your performance is affected

If a clash or an unreasonable schedule affects your performance, or you become unwell, you can normally submit an extenuating or mitigating circumstances claim. This does not change marks directly but can allow the exam board to disregard an affected attempt, offer an uncapped resit as a first attempt, or otherwise take the circumstances into account. Submit it promptly, within the published deadline, with supporting evidence such as medical documentation.

Formal complaints and escalation

If you believe the university has breached its own regulations, failed in a reasonable adjustment duty, or handled a clash unfairly, the escalation route is:

1. Raise it informally first with the examinations office or your department.

2. If unresolved, use the university’s formal student complaints procedure, in writing, setting out what went wrong, which policy or duty was breached, and the remedy you want.

3. If you remain dissatisfied after exhausting the internal procedure, you can ask for a Completion of Procedures letter and then complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, which reviews complaints against most higher education providers in England and Wales. The OIA can recommend remedies but does not overturn academic judgment, so it will look at whether the university followed fair procedures and its own rules rather than re marking work.

If disability discrimination is involved and the OIA route does not resolve it, a claim under the Equality Act 2010 may be possible in the County Court, though that is a significant step and time limits apply, so this is best considered carefully and only after the other routes.

What would change the answer

The outcome depends heavily on facts you have not yet given: whether this is a true same time clash or simply exams close together, what your specific university regulations say about timetabling and spacing, whether any disability or health condition is engaged, and how quickly you report the problem. A same time clash reported within the deadline should be resolved automatically. A demanding but rule compliant timetable is generally not something you can force a change to unless a disability adjustment is engaged or the university has broken its own published policy.

The single most effective action in almost every case is to report the problem in writing to the examinations office as early as possible and keep a record, because most rights and remedies here depend on prompt notification within the university’s stated deadlines.