Attendance
As a UBC student, you are expected to regularly attend all of your classes, including associated lectures, labs, tutorials, seminars, and any other course-related activities.
Instructors reserve the right to exclude students from final examinations if they have been unjustifiably absent from class or have neglected their academic course work and assignments.
Legitimate absences
If you know that you are going to be absent from classes, please pay your instructors the courtesy of informing them in advance of your absence.
If you are experiencing a problem, medical or otherwise, that is causing you to miss classes, coursework, midterms, final exams, or to perform poorly in your courses, please notify the Undergraduate Office (UGO) immediately by submitting an Academic Concession Request. The UGO can help you to determine your options and refer you to the appropriate support services so that you can successfully complete your courses. Please be prepared to provide medical or other relevant supporting documentation.
Missing an exam
If you miss a midterm or final exam for medical reasons or extenuating circumstances, please contact your instructor and submit a request for academic concession to the UGO within 48 hours of your absence. You must then discuss your request with an academic advisor within 72 hours of submitting the online form for your request to be considered.
If a concession is granted for a missed midterm, you may be able to write a makeup exam; in other cases more weight will be placed on the final exam in your course.
If a concession is granted for a missed final exam, you will write your exam during the official deferred exam period set by Enrolment Services unless alternate arrangements have been made.
Late registration
While UBC provides flexibility for you to add/drop a course(s) up to two weeks after the start date, joining a course(s) after the start date means you have missed the previous lectures and any coursework completed thus far. Since courses often commence at a rapid pace from the time they begin, missing classes may impact your ability to be successful in the course(s) if you have fallen behind. If you decide to join a class after its start date, or decide not to attend all of the classes from the start of the term, it is your responsibility to catch up on any missed coursework and material covered in the previous lectures. This includes completing all previously assigned readings. The expectation is that you are fully prepared to contribute to class discussions and engage in group work upon joining the course. Note that in some courses, instructors may advise that you deregister from their course if groups have already been formed and/or you have missed too much coursework. So it is highly recommended that if you plan to add courses in the first two weeks of the term that you register for them as early as possible.