Exchange Students in ISCAP, who are not proficient in Portuguese, are offered Courses in English. Those who can follow Classes in Portuguese are allowed to choose courses in Portuguese from the several programmes offered. However, all exchange students must meet the deadlines of the regular Academic Calendar and follow ISCAP Assessment Rules.

Introduction

An Academic Semester comprises both the Class period (term) and the Exam Period. Therefore, you should not assume that the end of the class period is the end of the semester.  However, depending on the Evaluation Type and on your commitment during the semester, you may not need to enrol for exams. Therefore, it is very important that you don’t miss the first class of the courses you enrolled in since it is normally in the first class that the lecturer introduces students to the contents of the course and to the Evaluation type and dates.

It is your duty to be correctly informed of how you will be assessed in the courses you follow in ISCAP. The Evaluation types and deadlines are stipulated and communicated to students, in due time, by the lecturer and included in the syllabus (available in DOMUS and shared by the lecturer).

If, for some reason, you did not get this information in the first classes, in the Moodle Platform or in DOMUS, make sure you talk to the lecturer and are aware of the evaluation type, elements and dates in due time.

Evaluation Types

Assessment can take part during the term and/or the exam period and can comprise several elements (tests, oral presentations, assignments, essays, case studies, reports, etc.).

You cannot choose the evaluation type. You need to follow the type chosen by the lecturer and defined in the Syllabus.

a. Evaluation during the term with optional final evaluation (Exam):

In this type of assessment, the following criteria can be considered: a) mandatory attendance in 75% of classes. b) Participation in class; c) Individual/group papers; d) Research individual/group projects; e) Tests; f) other assessment elements defined by the lecturer.

Note: Some contents may not be suitable to be tested in an exam. This means that there may be some assignments that must be completed and delivered ONLY during the term. If you fail to succeed in doing so, you are only able to have another try in the following academic year, during the term. You cannot write a resit exam to try to pass on those subjects. As a mobility student, it may be a bit difficult to manage this situation, so please make sure you understand the evaluation type and modalities from the start to avoid bad surprises.

1. If students pass the assessment during the term (i.e., they get an average global grade equal to or superior to 9,5, out of 20), they do not need to write an exam at the end of the term. Unless part of the semester assessment is scheduled for the exam period by the lecturer. 
2. If students do not attend classes during the term, they need to do a final evaluation (in the exam period). In this case, they can write up to 2 exams to pass: they are allowed to write an exam in the Regular Examination Period(Época Normal) and, if they fail, they need to enrol for the Resit Exam (Época de Recurso). The enrolment in Resit /Grade Improvement Exams requires the payment of an exam fee of 3,00€ in DOMUS. You have 48 hours to do it after the lecturer publishes the term grades. After 48 hours you will have to pay a fine of 10,00€.
3. If students fail the assessment during the term (partially or totally (i.e., get an average global grade lower than 9,5), they need to only enrol for the Resit Exam (Época de Recurso). However, there may be some evaluation elements that are not considered for the exam and are only part of the evaluation during the term.

b. Final Evaluation:

1. 1. Assessment consists of a final exam that shall take place in the Regular Examination Period (Época Normal). The final exam is always rated with a 100% ratio of the grade and no assessment is carried out during the term.
   2. If students fail in this Regular examination period (i.e., are graded below 9,5) or wish to improve their grade, they are allowed to enrol for a Resit/ Grade Improvement Exam (Época de Recurso). The enrolment in Resit /Grade Improvement Exams requires the payment of an exam fee. 

c. Evaluation during the term with mandatory final evaluation:

In this evaluation type, one part of the assessment takes place during the term and another part during the examination period. This means that you mandatorily need to write one exam in the Regular Period (Época Normal). If you fail, you must enrol for the Resit Exam.

NOTE: If, at the time of the Resit Exam Period, the student is no longer in Portugal, the exam can take place at the home institution, if the ISCAP lecturer and the home institution agree AND the Home institution assures the necessary conditions to the writing of the exam.

Other Information:

1. The course defined in the Exchange Program as “Project” follows a tutorial regime, without mandatory attendance. In this case, students should schedule a meeting with the supervisor in the first weeks of the semester and clearly define the theme, the number of papers/ essays/ assignments to be delivered, the number of pages (around 30), the language to be used, and deadlines (both for oral and/or written presentations/ deliveries). If the student fails, he/she should be asked to reformulate the paper, up to 2 times.

Note: If the Student does not respect the given deadlines and guidelines, the supervisor may refuse to supervise the Project and assess the student.

Portuguese Grading System

The result achieved in a course, whether through continuous or final assessment, is generally expressed in a 0 to 20 grading scheme. The lowest passing grade is 10 (9,5).

ECTS grading scale:

Note: Any doubts concerning the Assessment and grading system should be discussed and clarified as soon as possible with your lecturers and/or tutor teachers.