Extracts from the Examination Rules approved by TNNLU

Classes

Attendance

• The attendance status of every student shall be duly notified by the Academic Office every month, both on the Notice Board and the TNNLU web site, indicating the total number of classes held, attended and absent.
• Every student shall attend a minimum of 75% of classes held in every course, including the elective courses in a semester. Failure to put in the minimum required attendance in three courses in the semester will lead to compulsory re-registration in the said courses in the subsequent (immediately following) academic year on payment of the prescribed fees.
• (a) If a student has not been permitted to appear in more than three courses in the end of semester examination in an academic year due to a shortage of attendance, they should be re-admitted to the same class in the following academic year.
• (b) If a student has a shortage of attendance in more than three courses in the odd semester examinations, he/she will have to withdraw from the academic year and hostel and seek re-admission in the following academic year. He/She will not be promoted to next year.
• Explanation: If a student has less than 75% attendance in three courses, he/she will be promoted to the next higher class, (subject to fulfilment of conditions in the promotion policy of TNNLU) after compulsory re-registration in the said course. Upon re-registration, the student shall submit necessary assignments to the concerned course faculty to make up the required shortage of attendance in the following academic year and ensure that such a shortage of attendance does not recur.
• If a student has less than 75% attendance in more than three courses in a semester, he/she will be readmitted for the courses in following academic year.
• The students who have been granted Medical Leave as per the Rules of the TNNLU shall be eligible to appear for the End Semester Examination provided there is a minimum of 70% attendance in all the courses.
• The Academic Office shall declare the final attendance status of every student as well as the list of eligible candidates to appear in the End Semester Examinations, before the commencement of the End Semester Examination.

Medical Leave

• Request for medical leave from students shall be considered only against Hospitalization for any treatment or investigation or isolation of student(s) required for any contagious diseases. Such requests shall be considered by TNNLU provided the student has secured at least 70% attendance in all the courses in a semester.
• All the medical records, investigations etc., done during admission in a Hospital/Nursing Home along with the request should be submitted to the Academic Section soon after reporting back to TNNLU and in no case later than one week after resuming the classes after the discharge from the Hospital/Nursing Home concerned. No Medical certificate shall be entertained by the Academic Section thereafter.
• In all cases of hospitalization, medical leave shall be granted only for duration of stay in the hospital for treatment. If the doctors advise the student for additional rest after discharging him/her from the hospital, the Committee constituted by the Vice-Chancellor shall duly consider such requests for medical leave. However, on no account shall the total medical leave exceed 30% of the total number of working days in a given semester. If the student has prolonged illness or treatment beyond 30% of the working days in a semester, the student shall not be permitted to appear for the End Semester Examinations.
• Where the student is not admitted to any Hospital/Nursing Home, but isolation of student is required from the Hostel in the larger interest of other students, the same has to be certified by TNNLU doctor, supported by the reasons, causes, investigations, lab-reports etc.,
• Submission of improper Medical Certificates or Fake Certificates by any student (Parent/Guardian) shall result in mandatory disciplinary action being taken by the University authorities. If proved, student is liable to be rusticated with Transfer Certificate immediately.
• The decision of the Committee constituted by the Vice-Chancellor in accepting or rejecting the applications for medical leave shall be final.
• The decision in rejecting should be in a speaking order.

Condonation on Medical Grounds

Shortage of attendance on medical grounds shall only be condoned when a student falls short of attending 70% of the classes in a particular course but, has still attended at least 65% of the classes in the same course. Students seeking condonation of shortage of attendance on medical grounds shall submit the application in the given proforma, duly signed and sealed and supported by a certificate from the Doctor, or in cases of hospitalization - from the Hospital authority, along with the discharge summary. The condonation on medical grounds shall be granted only when the student is hospitalized or incapacitated, such that he/she cannot attend classes. The TNNLU shall verify the same. No condonation will be granted if the Doctor/Hospital fail to certify such illness. The application for condonation shall be submitted to the Academic Section as soon as he/she is fit enough to attend the classes.

Unauthorized exit from the class

If a student walks out of a class without the permission of the teacher, after having obtained attendance for that hour, the student shall lose attendance for that hour in that particular course. Repeated violation will result in disciplinary action by TNNLU. The concerned teacher shall inform the student of such loss of attendance.

Access to Attendance Register

A student shall be allowed to view the Attendance Register with the permission of the concerned faculty, as and when required, at the convenience of the course faculty, to check the number of classes she/he may have missed.

Examination

Examination Scheme

Marking Scheme

The total marks for every course shall be 100. The Continuous Evaluation will be for 50 marks, Mid Semester Examination for 20 Marks and End Semester examination would be evaluated for 30 marks. However, if the nature of course requires total continuous evaluation, it shall be evaluated as such by drawing up a suitable scheme for the course with prior approval of the Vice- Chancellor.

Passing Criterion in Courses

Assessment Components	Total Marks
A. Mid Semester Examination	20
B. Project / Term Paper Submission	25
C. Class Report	15
D. Viva-voce on Project/Term Paper	10
E. End semester Examination	30

In order to pass a course, a student shall secure a minimum of 50 out of 100 marks.

The following scheme is to be adopted in allocating the marks for assessment:

Project Assignments

• Project work/Term paper writing may be allowed to be undertaken by a group of students which shall not be more than five students in each group. The ultimate aim of the project work shall be the creation of publishable research writing. This shall be adopted by the concerned teacher at his/her discretion.
• All project assignments shall be evaluated for 35 marks. i.e. 25marks for written submission and 10 marks for viva-voce.
• The project topics for the semester shall be approved by the concerned course faculty. Any change of project topic must be in writing with the permission of the course faculty.

Last Date for Submission

The last date for submission of Projects shall be notified in the Academic Schedule at the commencement of every semester.

Submissions

The projects shall be submitted in soft copy to the concerned course faculty as per the instructions of the Course Faculty and the hard copy of the project shall be submitted to the Examination Department by the concerned student, by signing for the same in the concerned Register.

Plagiarism

• Any evidence of plagiarism, if found by the concerned course faculty in the final submitted project, in the form of non-citation of sources or copying from another student’s project or from his/her own earlier project without acknowledgement of the same, will result in the matter being referred to the Vice- Chancellor by the course faculty in writing together with written intimation to the concerned student in this regard.
• If the matter is referred to the Vice-Chancellor by the concerned course faculty, he/she in turn shall look into the matter and decide at the earliest whether to refer the matter to the Grievance Committee. In the event that the Vice- Chancellor decides not to refer to the Committee, he/she shall record his/her reasons in writing for the same and inform the Examination Department as well as the student and course faculty concerned.
• Pending the decision of the Vice-Chancellor the viva-voce for the project shall be conducted.
• If the student is found guilty of plagiarism, he/she shall be penalized by the Vice- Chancellor for such plagiarism.

Penalty for late submission of Project Assignments

If a student does not submit the Project on the notified date, the following penalties will be levied:

• Half a mark for each day of delay, including holidays (excluding public holiday when the library is closed) shall be deducted from the total marks scored by the student in the concerned course.
• No Project shall be accepted after the sixth day from the notified date for submission, and the student shall receive no marks for both project and the viva-voce in the concerned course.

Viva-Voce

• In every Course, there will be a viva-voce conducted by the concerned faculty member at the end of each semester. All viva-voce shall carry 10 marks.
• In case a student fails to attend a viva-voce on the scheduled day, without prior written permission of the course faculty, the student will be awarded zero marks for the viva-voce in the concerned course.
• All viva-voce shall be completed before the commencement of the End-semester examinations.

Procedure for extension:

• A student has to send a mail to the course faculty with a copy marked to the class teacher with valid reasons and medical proof.
• The decision taken by the course faculty is conveyed to the class teacher.
• If a student is seeking an extension for all subjects in a particular project slot submission, the requests shall be decided by the class council and a uniform date shall be decided.
• The class teacher will consolidate the number of students for whom an extension is granted for every slot and submit the report to the Academic section and Examination Department ten days after the slot submission deadline.

Criteria for project extension requests:

• Project extension requests shall be entertained only for health reasons and health-related emergencies of students or their family members. No penalty will lie for such requests granted until the extended date of submission.
• No project extension can be entertained for reasons such as celebrations, family functions, internet issues, laptop crashes, and other personal non-health reasons. Group requests by the entire student community also shall not be entertained. Penalty for late submissions will apply to the projects where no extension is granted.
• No Project shall be accepted after the sixth day from the notified date for submission, and the student shall receive no marks for both project and the viva-voce in the concerned course (as per Rule 3.4.2 of Examination Rules, UG Handbook).

Project Evaluation Criteria

The criteria for project evaluation as approved by the meeting on 31.10.2020 was revised and the following criteria were accepted for all the undergraduate courses from first to fifth years.

Project Evaluation Criteria	Max. Marks
Abstract/Synopsis	2
Bibliography/References	2
Footnotes/Endnotes	2
Cases and Statutes	2
Literature Review	2 (4, if cases and statutes are not applicable)
Research Methodology and Objectives	2
Analysis	2
Reasoning	2
Presentation	3
Conclusion/Suggestions/Recommendations	3
Originality	3
Total	25
Viva-Voce Criteria	Max. Marks
Articulation	2
Defence	3
Presentation skills	3
Overall assessment	2
Total	10

Schedule of Examinations

The schedule of examination for each semester shall be notified in the Academic Schedule at the commencement of each semester.

Changes in Results

Ordinarily, no changes shall be permitted in the results of examination once they have been announced. However, in the event of any change, the faculty concerned shall record the reasons in writing before carrying out the corrections in the marks so awarded.

Malpractice

The examination malpractice shall mean the following:

• Possession of mobile phones or any other electronic gadgets inside the examination hall;
• Possession or the use of any materials not permitted by the course teacher/invigilator;
• Not maintaining silence from the commencement till the end of examination;
• Taking the examination answer script outside the examination hall at any time during and after the examination;
  1. Any misconduct in the Examination Hall and
  2. Use of any special marks in the Answer Paper.
  3. Necessary Disciplinary action will be taken if any student is found indulging in any kind of examination malpractice.
  4. Copy of Answer Scripts
  5. Students may take a photocopy of the answer script from the Examination Department upon payment of Rs. 250/- per answer script.

Repeat Examination

For students who obtain “F” grade in a course, a Repeat Examination shall be conducted on payment of Rs.1000/- per course.

The Repeat Examination shall be for 70 marks/50 marks and the remaining 30 marks/50 marks obtained for the Project, viva-voce and Class Report shall remain the same.

Students, who have failed in the end semester examination/repeat examination held for 50 marks in a course, will have to re-register for the course in the following year after payment of Rs.500 per course if they have been promoted under Rule 6. The Continuous Assessment component for such re- registered courses shall comprise a re-submitted project, viva voce and two assignments or two tests (50 marks in all).

If the student does not clear the course at the end of the succeeding year also, the student will only be permitted to appear in the repeat examinations after payment of examination fees of Rs.1000 per course, and no further chance to re-register for the project, viva voce etc., shall be given

Schedule: The Schedule for Repeat Examinations also shall be notified in the Academic Schedule. All Repeat examinations for the Odd Semesters shall be held in the first week of the following semester. For the Even Semesters, repeat examinations shall be held during the vacation prior to the commencement of the next academic year.

Declaration of Results

• The Mid-Semester, End-Semester and Repeat Examinations results shall be made available via e-mail to the students
• Students may discuss the mid-semester answer scripts with the concerned course faculty within 5 days of the declaration of results

Evaluation

Students shall be evaluated by grading system, Semester Grade Point Average (SGPA) and Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) as recommended by the University Grants Commission (UGC) as indicated below

Grading System

Semester Grade Point Average (SGPA)

S. No.	Percentage of Marks	Letter Grade	Grade
1	80% and above	“O” [Outstanding]	10
2	75% and above but below 80%	“A+” [Excellent]	9
3	70% and above but below 75%	“A” [Very Good]	8
4	65% and above but below 70	“B+” [Good]	7
5	60% and above but below 65%	“B [Above Average]	6
6	55% and above but below 60%	“C” [Average]	5
7	50% and above but below 55%	“P”[Pass]	4
8	Below 50%	“RA” [Reappear]	0
9		“Ab” [Absent]	0

SGPA is the ratio of sum of the product of the number of credits with the grade points scored by a student in all the courses taken by a student in all the course taken by a student and the sum of the number of credits of all the courses undergone by a student.

Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)

• CGPA is also calculated in the same manner taking into account all the courses undergone by a student over all the semesters of a programme;
• The SGPA and CGPA shall be rounded off to 2 decimal points and reported in the transcripts.
• All the courses taught in the B.A. LL.B. (Hons.)/B.Com. LL.B. (Hons.) Programme shall all be for 4 credits each.

Promotion Scheme/Continuance Scheme

Implemented from the batch of 2021-2026

To motivate the student, to have consistently good academic record the promotion scheme is prescribed as follows:

• A student will be promoted from 1^st year to 2^nd year on passing a minimum of 8 courses out of 12 courses prescribed in the 1^st year.
• A student will be promoted from 2^nd year to 3^rd year on passing all the courses of the first year and a minimum of 8 courses out of 12 courses prescribed in the 2^nd year.
• A student will be promoted from 3^rd year to 4^th year on passing all the courses of the 2^nd year and a minimum of 8 courses out of 12 courses prescribed in the 3^rd year.
• A student will be promoted from 4^th year to 5^th year on passing all the courses of the 3^rd year and a minimum of 6 courses out of 10 courses prescribed in the 4^th year.

Note: Where in a particular academic year, only 12 courses have been offered, a student must pass 8 courses out of 12 courses.

Implemented for the batches of 2018-2023, 2019-2024 and 2020-2025

To motivate the student, to have consistently good academic record the promotion scheme is prescribed as follows:

• A student will be promoted from 1^st year to 2^nd year on passing a minimum of 6 courses out of 12 courses prescribed in the 1^st year.
• A student will be promoted from 2^nd year to 3^rd year on passing all the courses of the first year and a minimum of 6 courses out of 12 courses prescribed in the 2^nd year.
• A student will be promoted from 3^rd year to 4^th year on passing all the courses of the 2^nd year and a minimum of 6 courses out of 12 courses prescribed in the 3^rd year.
• A student will be promoted from 4^th year to 5^th year on passing all the courses of the 3^rd year and a minimum of 6 courses prescribed in the 4^th year.

Note: Where in a particular academic year only 12 courses have been offered a student must pass 6 courses out of 12 courses.

Students who are Promoted and Re-Registered

The Promoted students who have backlog courses are permitted to Re-register for those course/s along with the current semester courses of his/her Academic Programme and have to undergo all the examination components of their backlog courses, including completion of all the components of Continuous Assessment and appear for Repeat examination. The Re-registration fees is Rs. 2,000/- per course.

Students who are detained and Re-Admitted for the Programme

The students who are not promoted to the next higher class in view of the Promotion Policy and are readmitted to the same year of his/her Academic Programme, have to attend the classes only for those courses which were not cleared and have to undergo all the components of the backlog courses including attending the classes, appearing for the Mid-Semester Examination, completing all the components of Continuous Assessment and Written Examination.

Note: The Re-admitted students shall be required to carry out research and spend their time, whenever they don’t have classes, in work related to any of the 14 TNNLU Research Centres, of their choice and to assist the Centre Coordinator and publish at least one research paper per semester.

Procedure for re-admitting UG students who have to repeat the year in the following academic year due to a shortage of attendance and the students who are not promoted to the next higher class in view of the Promotion Policy.

Students who have to repeat the year due to shortfall of attendance have to obtain the permission from the Vice-Chancellor for re-admission to the same year of the programme and only after getting such permission students will be allowed to fill out the necessary application, pay the fees and repeat the programme

Maximum Duration for Passing the Under Graduate Programmes:

The maximum duration for passing the undergraduate programmes offered by the TNNLU is “5+2= 7” (Seven Years) from the academic year in which the student registered for the programme. The Executive Council may extend the span period by an additional one year in exceptional cases.