Disability Resource Program

UC Hastings Disability Resource Program

Take-Home Exams Policy

The unique setting, timing and student control over take-home exams allows most students with disabilities to approach the exam in ways that can reduce or even eliminate the need for accommodations.  You can create your own “reduced-distraction environment,” take breaks, stretch, or have a snack as needed, without taking significant time away from working on the exam.  Additionally, you can use multimodal strategies such as reading or talking aloud, or practicing breathing exercises or affirmations to reduce anxiety without worrying about distracting any other test takers.  In some cases, the amount of time allowed for a take-home exam also means that all students – including students with disabilities – have ample time to read and digest the material, and organize, prepare and proofread their response. 

However, determining whether and how much additional time is needed for a take-home exam requires a closer look at how the exam is structured and an understanding of the professor’s intent in structuring her/his exam this way.  Take-home exams of short duration (less than 24-hours) are essentially calculated the same way as in-class exam, with the exception of a slight difference in our break policy (see below.)  However, longer take-home exams require additional input from faculty.  Below is information about how to calculate how much – if any – additional time should be added to your take-home exam.

• Short Duration Take-Home Exams: Less Than 24 hours
  • Students have a specified amount of time (e.g., 2 hours, 3 hours, 6 hours etc.) to complete an exam, usually within a 24-hour (or more) time period.
  • Apply your accommodated time to the total amount of time.
  • Apply the following Take-Home Exam Break Policy (different than in-class exams; historically, no breaks were added when calculating take-home exam times):
    • Add 30 minutes if your exam, with accommodated time, is  OVER  5 hours, OR
    • Add 1 hour if your exam, with accommodated time, is 10 hours or more
• It is up to you to pace yourself and use your additional break time appropriately, such as for a meal, extended break, snack, or to stretch.
• Requests for additional time or additional breaks are determined on a case-by-case basis, and, like all accommodations, must be supported by documentation.

Example 1       A student with time and a half (1.5x) has a 3 hour take-home exam.  Their accommodated time is four and a half hours (4.5 hrs.)  If the student takes longer than 4 hours and 30 minutes from the time they download the exam to the time they upload their answer, the professor will be notified that they went over the amount of time (nothing indicates that the student is registered with DRP or had additional, accommodated time.)

Example 2       A student with time and a half (1.5x) has a 4 hour take-home exam.  Their accommodated time is 6 hours.  Adding in 30 minutes for a break, their total amount of time to complete the exam is 6.5 hours.  Anything more than 6 hours and 30 minutes will be marked as exceeding the time limit.

Example 3       A student with double time (2.0x) has a 6 hour take-home exam.  Their accommodated time is 12 hours.  Adding in one (1) hour for breaks, their total amount of time to complete the exam is 13 hours.  Anything more than 13 hours (from download to upload) is marked as exceeding the time limit.

• 24-hour Take-home Exams
  • Students have a 24-hour (rarely, 30-hour) time period to complete a take-home exam.  The window of time in which to begin that 24-hour period may be 48 hours up to several days, a week, or the entire exam period.
  • DO NOT APPLY YOUR ACCOMMODATED TIME TO THE 24-HOUR PERIOD!  DRP will make that determination and advise you whether additional time is authorized.
  • To determine whether additional time needs to be added to a 24 hour take-home, the DRP Director considers information provided by the professor regarding the nature and structure of the exam, as well as their intent and expectations of how long it should reasonably take to complete the exam.  We ask professors to give us a specific amount of time they expect the “typical/average student” who is “reasonably well prepared” to take to complete the exam.  Answers range from 3-4 hours, to 6-8 hours.
  • Feedback from professors indicate that they do not intend for students to spend the entire 24 hours, without eating or sleeping or breaks, working on the exam (even if some students actually do that.) 
  • The expectation is that students will work diligently on the exam, while also taking breaks, eating, maybe even “sleeping on it” depending on when they started the 24-hour time period.  Students who plan their time strategically can then pace the time they actually spend writing the exam to allow for a more thoughtful, deliberate, and polished exam answer, which is what many professors expect from a 24-hour take-home exam.
  • Based on each professor’s response, we make the following calculations, similar to how we calculate short-duration exams:
    • Apply accommodated time
    • Add in applicable breaks per the above take-home break policy
    • Add 10 hours for meals, sleep and other “self-care” needs
    • As long as the total time is within the 24-hour period, no time adjustment is necessary.

Example 1       A student with double-time (2.0x) has a 24-hour take-home exam.  The professor indicates that she expects students to take about 5-6 hours.  Applying the student’s accommodated time gives the student 12 hours, and adding in a 1-hour break allows that student 13 hours.  The addition of 10 hours for meals and sleep (23 hours) still falls within the 24-hour time period.  No additional time is added (to the 24-hour window.)

Example 2       A student with time and a half (1.5x) has a 24-hour exam that the professor indicates should take 8 hours.  At 1.5x, the student has 12 hours, and with the addition of a 1 hour break the total becomes 13 hours.  No additional time is added to the 24-hour time period, since the addition of 10 hours for meals and sleep is only 23 hours.

Example 3       A student with double-time (2.0x) is also taking a 24-hour exam for which the professor states he expects students to take 8 hours.  After applying the student’s accommodated time and the break per our take-home exam break policy, the student has up to 17 hours to take the exam.  After adding 10 hours for meals and sleep, DRP authorizes this student to have up to 27 hours (3 additional hours) in which to take their exam.  If the student takes longer than 27 hours, from the time they download the exam to the time they upload their answer, their professor will be notified that they went over time.

• The final determination is made on a case-by-case basis for each DRP student.  Students may request additional time, or may request that we take unusual circumstances under consideration.  As always, these requests must be supported by documentation.