Procedures for Organizing and Holding Independent Examinations on Digital Skills

This page is dedicated to main procedures regarding Independent Examinations on Digital Skills (hereinafter – examinations) that are subject to Annex 6 to the Regulations for Interim and Ongoing Assessment of Students at HSE University

Examination Dates

Independent Examinations on Digital Skills are conducted during the 3rd and 4th modules. The corresponding module is specified in the curriculum of each educational program.

During reserve days exams shall be taken by the following students:

– who were unable to take the exam for a valid reason at an earlier scheduled time,

– whose works were invalidated with the option of retaking a respective exam on a given reserve day.

The Independent Digital Literacy Test for the 2024/2025 academic year will begin on February 1, 2025.

Examination Language

Examination language depends on the language of the given programme:

– students pursuing programmes offered only in English, and students pursuing programmes offered in two languages, shall take digital skills exams in English,

– the remaining students shall take digital skills exams in Russian.

Examination Grades

Students shall be informed about grades no later than three weeks after the completion of the period for the digital skills exam process. Grades shall be included in the diploma supplement and converted into a 10-point scale

Grades for each exam shall be considered in the current rating measuring 3 credits, as well as in the particular study year rating according to a study curriculum of a degree programme.

Grade rounding rules:

– grades above 4 shall be mathematically rounded. Example: 4,5 shall be rounded off to 5; 6,4 shall be rounded down to 6.

– grades below 4 shall be rounded down by removing the fractional part (to the smaller integer). Example: 3,9 shall be rounded down to 3.

If a student receives an unsatisfactory grade (below 4) on any of the digital skills exams, it means that he/she has an academic failure, that should be removed by the end of studies.

Effect of Grades for Independent Examinations on Digital Skills on Scholarships, Discounts, etc.

Since grades for Independent Examinations on Digital Skills are considered in the current rating, they have an effect on scholarships and discounts. 

Transfer results

According to the Regulations for Interim and Ongoing Assessments of Students at National Research University Higher School of Economics, students can transfer their positive result of Independent Examinations on Digital Skills with the assessment of a prerequisite course, if such a prerequisite course is available in the programme curriculum. The transferring of results is carried out centrally, students do not need to make an application for this.

Organizing Examination Processes

The timetable for holding the exams shall be published by the programme office no later than 10 days prior to the start of the respective period for holding the exams on the degree programme’s homepage, students shall be informed about the date, place (i.e., online platform) and time for holding each exam 3 working days prior to its scheduled date.

– Exam registration shall be done by students on their own.

– Registration shall be made accessible to students 3 weeks prior to the first date for a digital skills exam. Date and time for taking an exam shall be determined by a student, based on the registration slots currently available.

– No later than 3 working days, students should input information about their selected slots in the registration forms.

If, for health-related reasons, a student is eligible for special conditions for them to take a digital skills exam, no later than one month prior to the start of the exam, he/she must submit a request to the programme office, addressed to the Vice Rector S. Roshchin that should describe the necessary conditions and cite the medical documentation , which justifies the creation of special conditions.

Registration for the 2024/2025 academic year Independent Examinations on Digital Skills is not yet open.

Examination Rescheduling

If a student has a valid reason for rescheduling the date and/or time of an exam, then, prior to the examination, he/she must e-mail a well-grounded request (in a free format) addressed to the manager of their programme office describing the reasons for rescheduling.

The date and/or time for holding an exam can only be rescheduled no more than two times during the timeframe for providing a respective exam.

Holding Digital Skills Examination

Independent Examinations on Digital Skills in 2024/2025 study year shall be held online with synchronous proctoring at edu.hse.ru.

Prior to the start of an exam a student shall:

1. at edu.hse.ru read the examination rules;

2. be identified (using their domestic passport, passport for international travel, driver’s license or temporary Russian ID).

During an exam students:

– may keep writing implements with them (i.e., blank pages, a pen on the desk), water and medications (in a transparent packet);

– are not allowed to have any gadgets (cellular phones, except for those used as cameras, tablets, etc.), headphones, additional monitors and computer equipment, as well as reference materials (e.g., books, records, etc.).

Students:

– During the exam for Digital Literacy shall not be permitted to leave the room where it is taking place;

– During the exam for Data Analysis and Programming may leave the room one time for no more than 5 minutes upon agreement with the proctor.

If a student is absent for more than 5 five minutes, the proctor shall have the right to dismiss him/her from the exam. In such instances, the student’s work shall be invalidated.

In case of banned items possession or examination procedures violation a student could be removed by a proctor.

If technical issues arise during an exam, students may pose a question/request with the proctor via the proctoring chat system.

To view the rules for the Independent Exam in Digital Literacy, please click here.

To view the rules for the Independent Exam in Programming – Elementary and Intermediate Levels, please click here.

To view the rules for the Independent Exam in Programming – Advanced Level, please click here.

To view the rules for the Independent Exam in Data Analysis – Elementary Level, please click here.

To view the rules for the Independent Exam in Data Analysis – Intermediate Level, please click here.

Appeals Process

The results of the Independent Exam in Digital Culture cannot be appealed.

If you encounter any technical issues or failures when trying to complete the form of the Independent Exam in Digital Culture, you may send a reasoned request to your Programme Office by corporate mail or via the automated service available in the HSE University E-Learning System until 11.59 pm of the day when the Independent Exam in Digital Culture was held. Your request should include a description of technical issues you encountered as well as related supporting materials (a screenshot featuring relevant system time, a photo, video, etc.).

If the Programme Office approves your reasoned request, your exam result shall be cancelled, and you shall have an opportunity to repeat the Independent Exam on another day during the additional examination period.

In this case, you should submit a request to repeat the Independent Exam in Digital Culture to your Programme Office two business days before the first day of the additional examination period. The Programme Office will get you registered for a retake of the Independent Exam in Digital Culture during the additional examination period.

Reasoned request template

The following complaints shall not be considered:

• Exam form structure, checker plugin settings, checker rules, weight of individual tasks
• Any questions related to the violation of the established exam requirements by the student
• Wording used in the Independent Exam in Digital Culture

Retakes

Retake of digital skills exams takes place in the autumn retake period.

The date for the second retake shall be appointed for the spring period of the same academic year, when the first attempt at a retake was made, or for the autumn period for retakes of the following academic year following the decision of the working group.

Respective programme offices may appoint an examination on a reserve day to students who have missed their exams for a valid reason. If a student cannot take an exam on a reserve day for a valid reason, the programme office may appoint the examination for the autumn retake period.

If, prior to April 1 of the last year of study, a student has not removed academic failure in Independent Examinations on Digital Skills, he/she shall not be permitted to progress to taking the final state examination.

Specific Cases

1. If a student has not mastered courses as planned in their degree programme’s curriculum for preparing for a digital skills exam, he/she may submit an application to repeat these courses under an individual curriculum. In such instances, the exams shall be deferred to the following year and shall not be considered an academic failure.

2. If a student has missed the date for taking a digital skill exam while on an exceptional leave of absence, maternity leave or leave to care for a child, he/she shall pursue courses in the sequence as specified in the degree programme’s curriculum for exam preparation and shall register for taking the exams after the completion of respective courses.

Preparation Materials

Online courses for independent examinations preparation (available with corporate e-mail @hse.ru and @edu.hse.ru):