Supplementals

The supplemental examination period for Fall courses is during Reading Week, and for Winter and span courses during the month of August.

Courses administered by the Faculty of Engineering do not have supplemental examinations; however, Engineering students may be eligible to write a supplemental examination in courses administered by the Faculty of Arts & the Faculty of Science.

All requests to write a supplemental exam must be submitted online through MINERVA.

Application Procedures

Students must sign-in on MINERVA:

  • select Student Records Menu
  • select Supplemental Exam Application

Application Deadline

All applications must be completed on MINERVA by the university deadline. 
The application deadline dates can be found on the Exam Office website at: https://www.mcgill.ca/students/exams/supdefer.

Application Status & Decision

Application Status

Students are required to verify the status of their supplemental exam application on MINERVA.

Application Decision

Students will receive a confirmation email once a supplemental exam application has been approved.

Eligible courses for Engineering students

CHEM 110, CHEM 120, CHEM, 212, CHEM 234, MATH 133, MATH 140, MATH 141, PHYS 131, PHYS 142, and other courses administered by the Faculty of Science as well as courses administered by the Faculty of Arts (ex. some complementary studies courses - impact of technology on society courses, humanities and social sciences courses etc.) Students should consult with the McGill Engineering Student Centre if they are not sure which courses offer supplemental examinations.

Rules & regulations concerning supplemental exams for the Faculty of Engineering

  • Students must be in satisfactory or probationary standing, those with an unsatisfactory standing are not permitted to write supplementals;
  • Students are permitted to write a supplemental for courses which they've received a mark of D, F, J or U;
  • Students must write the supplemental exam during the next supplemental examination period;
  • Only one supplemental examination is allowed in a course;
  • The supplemental result may or may not include the same proportion of class work as did the original grade. The instructor will announce the arrangements to be used for the course by the end of the change course period;
  • In courses in which both a supplemental examination and additional work are available, the student may choose the additional work or the examination or both; where both are written, only one supplemental mark will be submitted, reflecting marks for both the supplemental examination and the additional work.
  • The format of the supplemental examination (e.g., multiple-choice or essay questions) will not necessarily be the same as the format of the final examination, so students should consult the instructor about the format of the supplemental;
  • The supplemental result will not erase the grade originally obtained; both the original mark and the supplemental result will be calculated in the CGPA;
  • Additional credit will not be given for a supplemental exam where the original grade for the course was a D and the student already received credit for the course;
  • There are no supplemental examinations for summer courses.
  • No supplemental examinations are available for students who fail to achieve a satisfactory grade in a course with a deferred examination.
  • A non-refundable fee will be charged for each supplemental exam.  Please also see Student Accounts under Other fees, fines and charges (Additional service charges).
  • Students who apply for a supplemental examination but find themselves unprepared for it have the option of not writing the exam. There is no penalty for not writing a supplemental exam except for the loss of the supplemental examination fee.


The latest Supplemental Examination Schedule.
Students should consult the Student Affairs Office, Faculty of Engineering, for more information.

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