Permitted materials in open-book exams

The key principle: the rules are set by your own university and the specific exam

There is no single national rule in England and Wales that tells you what is allowed in an open-book or 24-hour exam. This is governed by each university’s own academic regulations, its assessment or examination code of conduct, and crucially the specific instructions printed on the exam paper or in the assessment brief. Those rules are contractual and disciplinary rather than a matter of general law, and universities are entitled to set them. This means the single most important thing you can do is read the rubric on the paper and your institution’s assessment regulations, because what is permitted in one module or one university can be prohibited in another.

The examples below show how much practice varies. Oxford, for instance, expressly permits candidates in open-book exams to refer to their own notes and to access offline and online resources such as textbooks and online journals, but bans discussing the exam with others or posting about it on social media within a set period. Derby, by contrast, only permits hard-copy books and approved notes in open-book exams and treats anything else as a breach. Leeds treats a 48-hour open-book exam as subject to the same anti-cheating rules as an invigilated exam and runs submissions through Turnitin. So you cannot assume a permissive regime applies to you.

Materials that are usually allowed

Unless your paper says otherwise, an open-book exam typically permits:

1. Your own lecture notes, revision notes and summaries that you personally prepared.

2. Set textbooks, module readings and the course materials provided to you.

3. Statutes, cases, codes, formula sheets or data booklets where the rubric allows them (law exams in particular often specify which statute books or unannotated materials you may use).

4. Published academic sources such as journal articles and library databases, where online access is permitted.

Even where these are allowed, you must still cite and reference anything you quote or rely on. Open-book does not mean copy-and-paste. Reproducing source wording without attribution is still plagiarism, and universities routinely run open-book and 24-hour submissions through similarity-detection software such as Turnitin.

Websites and online resources

Whether you may use the internet depends entirely on the rubric. Some open-book exams expressly allow online resources; others restrict you to specified materials only. Where the internet is permitted, it is normally limited to consulting legitimate reference sources, not to interactive help. Two things are very commonly prohibited even in otherwise permissive online exams:

Communication tools. Instant messaging, chat rooms, forums, email exchanges about the exam, messaging apps, question-and-answer sites where you post the question, and social media are almost always banned because they enable collusion or obtaining outside help.

Answer-generating or answer-supplying services. Using an essay mill, a paid “homework help” or “tutoring” service that answers the question for you, a friend or third party who supplies answers, or an artificial intelligence text generator will usually be prohibited unless the assessment expressly permits it. The use of generative AI is now a specific and fast-moving area, and many universities have added express rules; you must check your institution’s current AI policy for the particular assessment, because permission ranges from a total ban to limited permitted use with declaration.

Communication: this is the biggest risk area

The recurring theme across institutions is that communication with anyone else about the exam is forbidden. This covers other candidates, friends, family, tutors, and any external person or organisation. Working together with another student, sharing answers, dividing questions between you, or comparing drafts is collusion, which is a distinct academic offence and one that is easy to detect because similar or identical answers stand out. In a 24-hour or multi-day exam this prohibition normally runs for the whole assessment window, and some universities extend a no-discussion period even after the deadline to prevent later candidates gaining an advantage.

You should treat the exam as an individual, silent activity even though you are not in an exam hall. The relaxed home setting is what leads many students into trouble, because contacting a friend “just to check something” is a serious offence carrying the same penalties as cheating in a physical exam.

What academic misconduct looks like here

The offences most relevant to open-book and timed online exams are plagiarism (using others’ words or ideas without attribution), collusion (unauthorised collaboration), contract cheating (getting someone else to do the work, whether paid or unpaid), unauthorised use of prohibited materials or devices, and breaching the exam rubric. Note that these are academic disciplinary matters. Contract cheating in particular is now also targeted by the law: the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022 created criminal offences of providing or arranging cheating services and advertising them for students in England, so paying an essay-writing or exam-sitting service is not only an academic offence but exposes the provider to prosecution.

How different facts change the position

The answer genuinely turns on details you have not yet confirmed:

If your rubric says “open-book, all resources permitted”, you can use notes, books and legitimate online sources freely, but still cannot communicate with others or use answer services.

If it says “open-book, specified materials only”, using anything beyond those materials, including the open internet, is a breach even though it is nominally open-book.

If the exam is a 24-hour or multi-day assessment, the time simply gives you longer to work alone; it does not licence collaboration, and the no-communication rule applies throughout.

If generative AI is not mentioned at all, do not assume it is allowed. An absence of permission is increasingly treated as a prohibition, and you should check the current policy for that module.

Practical next steps

1. Read the exact wording of the exam paper, the assessment brief, and any accompanying instructions, and note anything described as permitted or prohibited.

2. Find your university’s academic regulations or examination code of conduct and its academic integrity and generative AI policies, which are the authoritative sources for your situation.

3. If anything is ambiguous, ask the module leader or academic registry in writing before the exam and keep the reply, so you have evidence of the guidance you relied on.

4. Reference every source you use, keep your working private, and do not discuss the exam with anyone until the permitted period has passed.

5. If you are already worried you may have breached a rule, deal with it promptly and honestly through your student support or academic integrity process, ideally with help from your students’ union advice service, as early cooperation usually influences outcomes.

Because the decisive rules are your own institution’s regulations and the specific rubric, the safest course is always to treat an open-book or 24-hour exam as an individual, properly referenced, no-communication assessment unless the paper clearly tells you otherwise.