Illness during a course or exam
At various times during their studies, students may experience personal situations which may prevent them from writing an exam as scheduled, submitting a paper or assignment on time or completing a course.
Missed Assignments
If, due to illness, you have missed assignments or mid-term examinations, contact your professor and try to make alternative arrangements. You should be prepared to provide medical documentation, if required. Examinations for multi-term ("D1/D2" courses) courses during the Fall semester final examination period in December are treated as mid-terms and alternative arrangements must be made with the professor.
If you have fallen too far behind to catch up in a course, you should meet with a BCom advisor to discuss your options. Depending on your situation, you may be able to request a late course withdrawal, an exam deferral or an extension on your coursework. An advisor can help you go through all the possibilities, find the best solution based on your circumstances and figure out what the steps involved would be. As a BCom student, all requests are dealt with by our office, not Service Point.
Visit the Contact Us page to learn how to book your appointment.
Missed MidTerm worth 20% or more
Decisions regarding missing midterm exams are the responsibility of the BCom Office. The alternative assessment is determined by the instructor. This online application must be completed no later than 5 working days after the exam. For any mid-terms under 20% please contact the professor directly.
The following reasons are generally accepted, provided proper documentation:
- Religious conflict
- Health/medical
- Death in the family
- Serious illness/accident in the family
- Intercollegiate event
- Job interview
- Faculty-sponsored events held outside of Montreal
- Three exams in one day
- The following reasons are generally not accepted.
- Travel not related to above issues, such as family birthdays, reunions, vacations.
- Two exams on the same day.
- Misreading of the course outline.
- Having many other exams / assignments in the same week.
- Obligations to student clubs or sports teams other than intercollegiate events discussed above.
- Employment obligations.
Missed Final Exam
If you have missed a final examination (one that is on the Final Exam Schedule and held during the final exam period), you can request permission to Defer an Exam by filling out the Deferred Application Form on Minerva. Medical documentation may be required to support your request. The medical note must cover the date of the missed examination and indicate the nature and duration of the illness. You can find details on the deferred exam policy here.
If you become ill during a final examination, tell the invigilator that you are ill and be sure that an Incident Report is completed. You must visit McGill Health Services or another clinic/doctor right away to get medical documentation regarding your illness. You must submit your medical note to bcom.mgmt [at] mcgill.ca within two business days after the examination, and also apply for a deferred examination. Submission of a medical note does not guarantee approval.
You can find details on the official Exam Regulations here, under "Illness during examinations."
If you complete the examination normally or simply walk out of the examination without notifying anyone of your situation, the grade you receive will remain on your record and cannot be changed. You should not begin an exam if you are too ill to complete it.
To ensure a more timely response, please do not contact more than one adviser about the same issue.
