Exams - grading and resits

This is a brief guide for exams at Unibo. Additional details are available in your student handbook.

Facts to know

There are three exam sittings for each course: two at the end of the semester and one in September. Students can freely choose the sitting they prefer. To avoid procrastination, we strongly recommend prioritizing the sitting available at the end of the course.

Unibo uses AlmaEsami, a platform for enrolling in exams and checking grade registration.
Ensure your course list is complete on AlmaEsami before the exam period begins.
Enrollment for each exam on AlmaEsami is required to take the exam, remember that an exam needs to be on your study plan for you to select it.

Before the exams

1. Verify that your study plan is complete and accessible on AlmaEsami.
2. Enroll for exams on AlmaEsami. Typically, the enrollment period opens two weeks before the exam date and closes three days before.

Enrolling for an exam also provides information about the exam location. For specific questions (e.g., whether to bring your own laptop, exam duration) or specific requests, contact the instructor directly.

Grading

Each exam is graded on a scale of 0 to 30, with 18 as the minimum passing grade. A "cum laude" distinction (30 e lode/cum laude) may be awarded for outstanding performance.
Scores below 18 result in a "Fail" (Respinto) grade on AlmaEsami, but these are not reported in official transcripts. No penalty applies for failing an exam, which can be re-taken on one of the available dates.

If a student earns a grade of 18 or higher, they can "reject" (Rifiuto) the grade and re-sit the exam during one of the available dates. This option can only be used once and requires notifying the instructor by email before the grade is communicated but not yet registered on AlmaEsami. Once the grade is registered, retaking the exam is not possible. The Rifiuto choice appears on Almaesami, but not on official transcripts.

Integrated courses - grading

Integrated courses (I.C.) consist of two separate courses. To pass an integrated course, the student must pass both individual courses. In AlmaEsami, only one final grade is recorded, which is the average of the two exam grades. Both exams must be passed for the I.C. grade to be registered.

For example, if you choose to take the Integrated Course in Quantitative Methods in Health and Healthcare (I.C.), you must pass both Econometrics and Statistics for Healthcare in order to have the I.C. grade registered. You need a minimum of 18 out of 30 in both Econometrics and Statistics for Healthcare to receive a passing grade.

Conversion table

The conversion table for Master Courses at the School of Economics of University of Bologna is the following.

Resits

You don’t need to fail an exam to do a re-sit, so you can plan in advance whether you want to take an exam immediately after the course, or during a re-sit session.
You can ask your lecturer to re-sit an exam even if you are not happy with the grade. You have to inform your lecturer about your decision in due time and before the grade is registered. Once the mark is registered on AlmaEsami it is not possible to sit the exam a second time.

If you need to take a resit in January/February or September but you have already moved and do not reside in Bologna anymore, it is possible for you to take it in the university you are currently studying in. To do so you need to get in touch with the programme coordinator at didatticasociale.euhem@unibo.it.