In what follows, I outline the exam rules for the three cases: 1) exam held both online and in presence, 2) exams held on line only, 3) exams held in presence only. Which set of rules applies depend on the University rules in place when the exam is held.

Please READ THEM CAREFULLY.

1) Exam rules when exams are held both on line and in presence (e.g., exam session in September 2021).

Student may sit each exam either in presence or on line; options available to each studente are determined by University current regulations.

Exam format is as in case 2). Exam rules are as in case 2), expect for students in presence, where standard rules apply.

2) Exam rules when exams are held on line only (e.g., from March 2019 until July 2021).

Exam format
The exam paper is made of three sections. Sections 1 and 2 are two essay-type questions, Section 3 is an exercise. In answering the question in Section 1, there is no word limit. In answering the question in Section 2, there is a word limit of 250 words; figures and formulae do not count in the word count.

The overall average grade is the weighted average of the grades for each section; the answer to Section 1 has a weight equal to 40% and the answers to Sections 2 and 3 have a weight equal to 30%.

To pass the exam, a student need: 1) an overall average grade above 18, 2) a grade above 18 in at least two sections. If a student satisfies the above two conditions, his/her final grade is equal to the overall average grade, with an overall average grade above 30 being equal to 30 cum laude.

Allocated time: 90 minutes

Exam rules
The exam will be in written format and administered from remote using Microsoft Teams; please make sure that you have a valid login.

During the exam, you will need a laptop with a functioning camera and microphone. You will also need your smartphone with CamScanner (or any equivalent scan or camera app) installed; please familiarize with the app in advance. If you cannot use a smartphone, please inform me well in advance.

Before the exam, those who have registered for the exam will be invited to join the exam on Microsoft Teams.

On the day of the exam, you have to join the exam on Microsoft Teams and to be prepared with ten blank paper sheets (A4 format).

At the beginning of the exam, I will make the exam paper available on the students' screen. You will then have 5 minutes to copy the questions on your blank paper sheets, in the very exact format.

After the initial 5 minutes, you should place your laptop in a position such that your entire working area is shown, including your hands and the whole desk you are sitting at. This may require placing your laptop sufficiently far away from you; please, get prepared beforehand by testing the correct position for your laptop. On your desktop, you can have only some writing instruments and a calculator. You must keep your mobile phone with you, keeping it face down and leaving it untouched for the duration of the exam.

Please write on the top of each page your name and the number of the question you are answering. If your answer is more than one page long, repeat this info on all the pages and write clearly the page number on each sheet.

At the end of the exam, when you are given permission to do so, you can use your mobile phone to scan all your (used) sheets of paper, create a SINGLE .pdf file and send it by email to the invigilator at the email provided during the exam.

The camera and the microphone on your laptop will have to be on and functioning for the entire duration of the exam. Failure to do so may result in you being disqualified from the exam.

3) Exam rules when exams are held in presence only (e.g., before March 2019 ).

The exam is a ninety-minute unseen written examination. For all students, it is not possible to retake the exam on a different date of the same exam session.

Assessed exercises done in the revision classes give extra points, to be added to the grade obtained in the written examination. These extra points are available only to students taking the exam in the winter session only.

Exam paper

The exam paper is made out of three Sections.

• Section 1 consists of an essay-type question; the answer to this question should be maximum 2 pages long (with a reasonable sized handwriting). The minimum mark for this section is 12, the maximum is 32.
• Section 2 is an exercise, the minimum mark for this section is 12, the maximum is 32.
• Section 3 contains 10 multiple choice questions, each with 4 possible answers. Either: 1) one answer only is correct, or 2) more than one answer are correct but one is more complete than the others (since it encompasses other correct answers). The maximal grade is 32 and it is computed as follows. The starting grade is 12 points; the student gets 2 points for each correct answer, -0.5 for each wrong answer and 0 when he/she gives no answer.

Students should write their answers to Section 1 and 2 on the sheets provided ONLY, using different sheets for the two answers. In Section 3, students should select their favourite answer to each question and write the corresponding letter in the space provided on the right of the exam sheet.

The final grade is the average grade over the three Sections. A student passes the exam when BOTH the following conditions are satisfied:  i) the average grade is above 18, ii) the grade in at least 2 Sections is above 18.