Examinations (Amendment) Regulations, 2017

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L.N. 85 of 2017

EDUCATION ACT

(CAP. 327)

The Conduct of the Matriculation and Secondary Education Certificate

Examinations (Amendment) Regulations, 2017

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred upon him by articles 74 (5) and 75 (6) of the

Education Act (Cap. 327), the Chancellor of the University of Malta has promulgated

the following regulations made by the Senate of the University of Malta by virtue of

the powers conferred upon it by articles 75 (3) and 79 (b) of the said Act

Citation

These regulations may be cited as The Conduct of the Matriculation and

Secondary Education Certificate Examinations (Amendment) Regulations, 2017

and shall be read and construed as one with The Conduct of the Matriculation and

Secondary Education Certificate Examinations Regulations, 2013, published as Legal

Notice 132 of 2013, hereinafter referred to as “the principal regulations”.

Applicability

These regulations shall apply to examinations held from 1 March 2017

onwards.

Amendment to regulation 11 of the principal regulations

For regulation 11 of the principal regulations there shall be substituted the

following

“Disciplinary Committee

(1) Cases of cheating, attempting to cheat or attempting to take unfair

advantage during an examination in any other way shall be investigated by a

Disciplinary Committee appointed by the Senate.

(2) The Disciplinary Committee shall consist of the Chairman of the

MATSEC Board, the Principal Subject Area Officer responsible for the subject

in which the irregularity took place, the Chairman of the Markers’ Panel of the

examination, the Director of the MATSEC Support Unit and a member appointed by

the MATSEC Board.

(3) The Disciplinary Committee shall impose penalties in cases where it is

established that a breach of the regulations has been committed.

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(4) Penalties shall differ in severity depending on the extent and nature of

the breach of these regulations as ascertained by the Disciplinary Committee, previous

instances of misconduct by the candidate, and any extenuating circumstances.

(5) The Disciplinary Committee may apply a penalty as it deems

appropriate. The Disciplinary Committee may

(a) reprimand the candidate and issue a warning to the candidate about more

severe penalties if any future breach of regulations is committed;

(b) issue a warning and lower the result of the examination in the subject;

(c) issue a warning and assign a failing grade in the subject;

(d) cancel the results of all the examinations which the candidate sat for in the

particular session when the irregularity took place;

(e) require the candidate to pay for, or otherwise make good for, any damage/s

caused, or other costs incurred by the MATSEC Board as a direct consequence of the

misconduct;

(f) temporarily suspend the candidate from sitting for any examinations with

the MATSEC Board for a definite period of time;

(g) reserve the right to nullify previously awarded certificate/s;

(h) cancel the results of all and/or any of the examinations which the candidate

sat for in any preceding session, provided that this sanction shall be applied only

when the Disciplinary Committee deems it in the interests of justice to do so; and

(i) adopt any combination of the penalties defined above.

(6) A record of all meetings held by the Disciplinary Committee and the

penalties applied as a result of these meetings shall be kept by the MATSEC Board.

(7) Any candidate whose conduct during an examination is being

investigated shall be informed in writing about the nature of the allegation and invited

to attend the meeting of the Disciplinary Committee when his/her case is discussed.

In cases where candidates are minors, the parents/guardians shall also be informed.

The candidate may be accompanied by a representative of his choice. If the candidate

is accompanied by a legal adviser, the role of the legal adviser shall be to provide

the candidate with support and not legal representation. The candidate shall be

responsible for all arrangements involving the legal adviser. In such case, the other

parties must be informed beforehand.

(8) The Disciplinary Committee has the power to summon persons for the

purpose of giving evidence at any meeting.

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(9) Should a candidate fail to attend the meeting of the Disciplinary

Committee, the Disciplinary Committee may proceed in his/her absence provided

that candidates who fail to appear before the Disciplinary Committee shall be deemed

to have renounced the right to be heard.

(10) The candidate shall be allowed to sit for any other examination s/he

registered for during that same session of examinations.

(11) The issuing of a candidate’s results may be suspended until a decision

is taken by the Disciplinary Committee.

(12) The Disciplinary Committee may, in special circumstances,

reconsider its decision either on its own motion or following a request to that effect

by the candidate concerned,

provided that, for the purpose of this regulation, ‘special circumstances’ means only

when new (fresh) evidence is available which could not have been provided earlier to

the Disciplinary Committee when the case was being heard and/or was not available

then.

(13) Before reconsidering the case, the Disciplinary Committee shall

first determine whether such evidence is new evidence which could not have been

provided earlier to the Disciplinary Committee when the case was being heard and/

or was not available then.

(14) A request for reconsideration may be made by the candidate in

writing to the Chairperson of the MATSEC Board by not later than fifteen days from

the date of notification of the Disciplinary Committee’s decision.

(15) Where the Disciplinary Committee decides to reconsider its

decision, it shall inform the candidate accordingly of the new (fresh) evidence it

may have received and it shall allow the candidate the opportunity to rebut such new

(fresh) evidence.”

€0.27