Exam season at Monash

Hi everyone,

Yesterday marked the end of my exams for this year aka the start of my summer holiday!

The semester officially ends on December 3rd (with results day on the 4th). I am visiting Tasmania mid-November, and for the rest of my summer… to be considered!

Overall, there aren’t any significant differences between the way Monash and Warwick approach exams. Both universities have a few weeks dedicated to exams, towards the end of the academic year.

Nevertheless, there are some differences:

Monash has 3 exam sessions a day (a morning session at 9:30 AM, an afternoon session at 2 PM and an evening session at 6 PM). Warwick only has a morning and afternoon session.

Monash also has an exam season in semester 1 and 2, whilst Warwick’s exam season only takes place in term 3.

I won’t go into a discussion on which style I prefer because ultimately, it has been nice experiencing the two. The overall feel at Monash was different, even something as subtle as being able to take your bags into the exams and seeing people use their phones until the invigilator asked everybody to put them away changed the way I felt during it. A day before my exam I messaged a friend asking whether we can take our bags/phone into the exam and they seemed shocked that I was asking – apparently it is assumed that you can?! At Warwick though, this is completely unheard of!

This has given me a lot of things to consider. I was given ‘reading time’ here during my exams, which was basically 15 or so minutes to read over the questions and think about what I may write, but I wasn’t allowed to make any notes during this time. I wasn’t expecting this – at Warwick, we begin writing our answers in the timeslot straight away!

When I go back to Warwick I am hoping to share my experiences on the academic side of things with some of the academic staff/students in order to really just compare the two styles and think about what actually is better for students!

The best advice I can provide: whilst the different style here may be daunting, don’t be afraid! Embracing the differences will help you truly get the most of your study abroad experience.

For now, time to plan my summer!

Shanita 🙂 xo