Exams

Exams #

As every university, Sapienza asks its students to partake to the exams related to the courses that the students followed during the lecture semesters. Usually, exams are held during the exam sessions.

An exam session is a time period of 7/8 weeks in which professors allow their students to take the exams related to their subject. Except for the exam session of September and the extraordinary sessions (find more about it here), all the sessions allow the students to take the exam up to two times.

You can sit for an exam as many times you want, and there is no penalty for that, as long as you haven’t accepted your grade.

Q&A: When can I sit for an exam?

Assume you are a freshman in A.A. 2024/25 and you want to take an exam in the first semester of your first year. The professor will communicate two dates on which you will be able to take the exam, (say, for instance, the 10/01/2025 and the 03/02/2025). You can take the exam either on the first or in the second date.

Suppose that, for any reason, you can’t take it in the first exam session (so in the winter one): you will be able to sit for that exam in any other exam session to which you are allowed to participate until you pass the exam.

Types of exams #

There are many types of exams, and they mostly depend on the subject that you do: some may be oral (which consist in a discussion with the professor over the topics studied in the course), some may be written (which could consist on a theoretical exam or a practical one), others may be practical (for instance if you have to make a project), and some may blend these modes together.

Some exams may ask you to first take a written exam and then an oral one (if you pass a certain grade threshold, if you pass the written one, etc…). It all depends on the professor, there is no common rule.

Mind that each professor has its own way to do an exam, so pay attention to the modalities that will be explained at the beginning and at the end of the course. Most importantly, before asking to the professor for something that it may have already said, check the course page on Moodle / Classroom / whichever platform first, or ask your colleagues eventually.

You will be able to find more information regarding which kind of exams you’ll find in each course page.

How to book an exam #

In order to reserve an exam, you must do it through Infostud, the official student platform made by Sapienza. You can find Infostud by going to the official Sapienza website (uniroma1.it) and navigating to the Studenti/Students section. There, you’ll find two versions of Infostud: Desktop and Mobile. They both allow you to do the same things. If you are on a computer, you can freely open both versions, since they are responsive for desktops. If you are on a mobile, consider opening the mobile version, since is adapted for small, vertical devices.

  1. Go to the uniroma1.it website, and click on the Studenti/Students section;

Step 1: homepage of Sapienza's website

  1. Choose if you want to open the Desktop or Mobile version of Infostud. Depending on the one that you choose, click on the corresponding tab here below;

Step 2: Studenti/Students webpage

  1. After clicking on any of the two versions of Infostud, you’ll be brought to the SSO page for accessing any Sapienza service. There will be 3 options for logging in:
    • Matricola: you will be able to log in with your matricola and password;
    • SPID: log in through your SPID method;
    • CIE: log in with your Carta d’Identità (CI), the italian ID card.

Step 3: unified SSO page, with the three login options

Warning

If you are italian or you have an italian CI, then you must log in with either the SPID or the CIE method.

The italian CI is not the same of the “Permesso di Soggiorno” (PdS, from here on) (the Staying Permit): if you have the PdS then you can access through your matricola.

Now, depending on the platform that you chose at step 2, the procedure may vary slightly. Here we show the procedure for both platforms:

  1. If you chose to open Infostud Desktop, you’ll see a screen with 8 tiles, one of which being Corsi di Laurea/Bachelors and Masters Degree Programmes (CdL): click on that tile, and a new page will open up;

Step 4: InfoStud Desktop home

  1. Go down on the sidebar, until you find the Esami/Exams section. Under that section, click on the Prenota esami/Book exams menu: you will be sent to another page;

Step 5: Select the Prenota esami/Book exams menu

  1. You’ll now see a list of all the exams that you can book. Let’s say that you want to book a seat for the next date of the “AI Lab: Computer Vision and NLP” course. In order to book a seat, you just have to press the Appelli/Exam sessions button. You will be brought to a page with all the possible seats;

Step 6: Select the exam that you want to book

  1. Finally, choose the date that you want to book. On the corresponding date, select from the Modalità di svolgimento menu the voice IN PRESENZA, and finally click on Prenota/Book. If all went well, you will receive an email notification on your institutional email with the receipt of the exam, confirming that the booking was successful.

Step 7: Select the date that you want to book and choose the exam modality (the only possible option should be IN PRESENZA)
Step 8: Finally press on the Book button

Warning

If you can’t book for an exam date, check whether the reservation period opened or not. You can check it under the Inizio prenotazione/Opening date for booking column.

  1. If you chose to open InfoStud Mobile, you’ll see various buttons. You should click on the uppermost one, which says [...] Prenota ora/[...] Book now. You will be brought to another page;

Step 4: InfoStud Mobile home

  1. You’ll now see a list of all the exams that you can book. Let’s say that you want to book a seat for the next date of the “AI Lab: Computer Vision and NLP” course. In order to book a seat, you just have to click on the checkmark on the top-right corner of the exam row. Once you do that, you’ll see that the checkmark becomes black. Now click on Mostra appelli/Show Exam Sessions. You will be brought to a page with all the possible seats;

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Step 5: Select the exam that you want to book through the checkmark, and then click on Mostra appelli/Show Exam Sessions

  1. Finally, choose the date that you want to book. On the corresponding date, select first the checkmark on the top-right corner. After that, a pop-up will show on the bottom of the page. There, select from the attendance mode menu the voice In presenza, and finally click on Continua/Continue. If all went well, you will receive an email notification on your institutional email with the receipt of the exam, confirming that the booking was successful.

Step 6: Select the date that you want to book and choose the exam modality. After that, click on Continua/Continue

Warning

If you can’t book for an exam date, check whether the reservation period opened or not. You can check it by expanding the exam notes: on the before-last row there will be the row Prenotazioni da DD/MM/YYYY a DD/MM/YYYY/Bookings from DD/MM/YYYY to DD/MM/YYYY.

Q&A: InfoStud tells me that I have to complete the OPIS first. What do I do?

If you didn’t complete the OPIS before through a code that your professor shared in class, you will be asked to complete it. Once you’ll do the OPIS, just repeat the procedures to book the exam. More infos about the OPIS can be found here.

FAQ #

Where can I see all the exams to which I registered?

You can see the exams to which you registered within InfoStud.

  • In the desktop version, there is a section called Esami prenotati/Booked exams, which is right below the Prenota esami/Book exams menu. There, you’ll find all the exams that you booked for.
  • In the mobile version, you’ll find them in the same page where you can book the exams. They will appear on the top of the page with a yellow bar instead of a beige one.

How can I delete a reservation for an exam?
  • In the desktop version, you can delete a booking by searching it first in the Esami prenotati/Booked exams menu, and then by pressing the Cancella/Delete button.
  • In the mobile version, you can delete an exam by searching it first among the booked exams, then pressing the downwards arrow on the corresponding exam and finally pressing the trashcan glyph.

Once an exam ends, where and when can I see how much I scored?

This depends from the professor. Usually, whenever the professor finished grading all the exams, it will publish all the grades on his teaching platform (which may be either Google Classroom or eLearning, depending on what the professor uses). All the grades are published in the form Matricola - Grade.

The professor will also give you a deadline until which you can either accept or reject the grade. The way for accepting or rejecting a grade depends again on the professor: there may be a Google Form to compite, you may have to write an email, etc…

If you will accept the grade, it will be put on InfoStud by the professor after the acceptance / rejection deadline. If you refuse it, you will receive a mail from InfoStud that you officially refused the grade.

If you don’t see immediately your grade on InfoStud, it’s fine. The professors may take some time to upload them. If your colleagues got their grade registered but you didn’t, contact as soon as possible the professor, telling it that your grade is missing.


Where can I see my grades?

In the desktop version of InfoStud, do the following steps:

  1. Once in the homepage, click on the Corsi di Laurea/Bachelors and Masters Degree Programmes menu;
  1. Navigate on the left until the Esami registrati/Registered exams and click on that menu. On the page on which you’ll arrive, you’ll see a list of all the held exams. Alternatively, when in the main menu, click on the Statistiche/Statistics voice on the top right (above the Masters/Professional Master Courses menu);

In the mobile version of InfoStud, just click on the button where you can see your last registered exam: a new page will open up with a plot of your grades and a list of your passed exams.


How do I accept or refuse a grade?

It depends on how the professor organized the exam: it may be via a Google Form, or you may need to write it an email. The preferred way for accepting or refusing a grade will be told by the professor, so look out for any communication on its used teaching platform.


Is there any penalty for refusing a grade?

No, there is no penalty for refusing a grade. You can refuse any grade as many times as you want. Although it may not have any negative ripercussion on your participation to the academic life, remember that a bad grade does not bring the world to an end: there are many exams, and not performing perfectly on one exam is fine.


I successfully passed an exam, but I don't see my grade on InfoStud. Why is that?

The grades of an exam are uploaded on InfoStud after the acceptance/rejection deadline ends. Usually, they are uploaded some days after, because the professor has to write the grades manually on InfoStud.

Remember that, for those exams of only one unit out of two (for instance, for Calculus, which has two units), the grade for just one unit can’t be registered on InfoStud. In these cases, if you passed just one of the two units, you will receive a communication that you refused the grade. This is because InfoStud doesn’t allow to record only half of the grade, but just the total, and the professor must write on the platform if you joined the exam or not and with which result.

Whenever you will complete both units of a subject, the grade will be registered by one of the two professors. This could take some time, since the two professors must exchange the grades that you took for both units.

Do not stress the professors if you passed just one unit and you don’t see the grade on InfoStud. Many times has happened that some students asked to the professors why they received a “refusal” mail or why they can’t see their grades online, and many times the same things have been said. Ask to your course colleagues first if you need some information.


What's the difference between a registered and a non-registered grade?

Registered grades and non-registered grades are, with respect to the academic carreer, the same thing. When a professor uploads a grade on InfoStud, it is considered as non-registered. After it gets uploaded, the secretary will have to officially register your grade. Once it gets registered, it will be marked as such. You can ask for corrections regarding your grade only when the grade is non-registered or before the grade gets published on InfoStud.


I scored 30 cum laude in an exam, but I don't see the laude on InfoStud. Why?

If you scored 30 cum laude in an exam, you will see that the laude is not shown on InfoStud. This is because the laude does not count towards the academic average, but it used instead for the graduation (in the sense that a 30 cum laude is mathematically equivalent to a 30). You are not able to see it, but it got registered in the system.

Terminology #

TermMeaning
InfoStudOfficial Sapienza’s students’ platform
CICarta d’Identità
SPIDSistema Pubblico d’Identità Generale, one of the two possible official authentication methods for Italy’s PA services (with the other being CIE)
CIECarta d’Identità Elettronica, the second possible official authentication method for Italy’s PA services. Uses the CI and your smartphone, if said smartphone can read NFC tags
PAPublic Administration
PdSPermesso di Soggiorno (Staying Permit)
CdLCorsi di Laurea (Bachelor Programmes)
OPISStudent’s Opinions survey
22 October 2024 | matypist