The Examination Minutes
The minutes of an examination (transcript) must always be recorded if an examination is conducted in a form in which the procedure and assessment are not documented automatically. The purpose of the minutes is to document an oral (19 RPO) or practical examination or other type of examination (within the meaning of § 22 RPO) in a comprehensible manner and to serve as evidence in the event of a dispute. It is therefore about legal certainty, transparency and comparability. It is a public record.
![Sample Examination Protocol [de]](/storages/uni-greifswald/_processed_/e/5/csm_Muster-Pruefungsprotokoll_4a62b199f9.jpg "Sample Examination Protocol [de]")
In principle, the examination minutes (see Template for the examination minutes) should contain the following points:
Formal information
- Examination subject / module
- Date, time, duration
- Location of the examination
- Type of examination (e.g. oral examination, colloquium, practical examination)
Persons present
- Name of the examinee / student ID number
- Name(s) of the examiner(s)
- Name of the observer / person taking the minutes
Procedure and contents
- Introduction / start of examination (greeting, formalities, instructions on course of examination if applicable)
- Examination content (topics, questions and tasks set / order and prioritisation / references to aids or materials if applicable)
- Candidate's answers (key arguments, approach, explanations / not verbatim, but summarised and factual / recognisable level of knowledge and expertise)
Evaluation
- Assessment of the candidate's performance (brief, factual assessment of performance (strengths/weaknesses) / if applicable, suggested marks or points awarded)
- Final grade: the determined examination grade
- If applicable, justification: brief explanation of why this grade was awarded
Formalities at the end
- Comments, for example, on disruptions in the course of the examination, special circumstances, medical aspects (inability to take the examination), attempted cheating
- Signatures of the examiners and, if applicable, the observer/person taking the minutes
- Date the minutes were taken
Important:
the minutes are not a verbatim transcript, but a factual, structured documentation of the events. It should be written in such a way that third parties can understand the content of the examination and why the marks were awarded, even years later.
Further information on where and for how long the examination documents must be kept or stored can be found on the page Inspection of Examination Documents and Storage.
Special features of electronic examinations
On the one hand, the current status of the examination paper should be saved as often as possible in order to report a loss of the relevant examination answers in the event of system malfunctions. On the other hand, the course of the examination should be documented as comprehensively as possible in order to be able to counter complaints from the examinee that the electronic examination system had not saved or incorrectly deleted examination papers that had already been completed (Niehues/Fischer/Jeremias, Prüfungsrecht, 7. Aufl., Rn. 462).