Instructions to the Candidates

Open Book Examination, LL. B Degree Programme

Department of Legal Studies,
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,
The Open University of Sri Lanka
Academic Year (2020/2021)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country, the Department of Legal Studies will
not be able to conduct onsite examinations for final examinations. Therefore, the Department is
compelled to locate on an alternative method to conduct final examinations. Therefore, the
Department of Legal Studies has decided to conduct an online Open Book Examination with the
approval of the University.

Mode of Examination
I. This is a paper-based written assessment. The mode of conducting the
examination is online.
II. Type of examination is an Open Book Examination.
II. Candidates who are unable to sit for an online examination due to lack of
technological facilities may seek assistance at the nearest Study or Regional Centre
to sit for the examination on the stipulated day and at the stipulated time. (The
Department encourages the candidates to take this option only if they have do
not have access to technological facilities and depending on the situation of the
country)

Note - Any candidate who wishes to sit for the online examination at a Regional or
Study Center should obtain approval one week before the exam date from the
Head of the Department by making a request via email to hdlaw@ou.ac.lk. Any
candidate who did not obtain the approval will not be allowed to sit for the
examination at the Center.

General Guidelines

I. Prior to the exam the candidates should note the availability of the following: suitable
writing papers, black/ blue ballpoint pens, appropriate electronic devices, compatible
technology, and internet connectivity (Candidates are advised to not to use highlighters).
II. Candidates are required to write answers only on a single side of white A4 size papers
(with or without lines) during the given time period for the respective question paper.
III. Candidates are not allowed to typeset, or word process the answers. Only handwritten
answers will be accepted.
IV. Candidates should write the Index Number, Student Registration Number and page
number on top of each page.
Eg. If an answer consists of 10 pages as “1 of 10, “2 of 10” etc. or “1/10, “2/10”.
V. Candidates should save their answer scripts by their Student Registration Number.
VI. Candidates should ensure that their handwriting is legible and that the scanned image of
the answer script is readable.

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 VII. Please ensure that you upload your answers within the stipulated time period. Answer
scripts submitted after the stipulated time will not be accepted for evaluation.
VIII. If any candidate has technical problems while submitting the answer, he or she is expected
to contact the Help Desk through the provided contact details.

Technical Guidelines (Preparation before the examination)

I. Candidates should possess a fully charged device.

(Smartphone/Tab,Macbook,Laptop,PC).
-If a candidate is using a Laptop/PC,Mac book,Tab it should have a document scanner.
-If candidates are using a smartphone with a camera, they should:
a. install a document scanning app on his/her smartphone (department recommend
“Microsoft Office Lens”, Cam Scanner or “Adobe Scan”) in order to scan the
answer sheets and create a single PDF document)
b. ensure that they download the above apps into their smartphone well in advance
and be familiar with them before the examination.
II. Candidates should ensure that they have access to the https://exams.openlearn.lk and
access to their OUSL email account (eg. S123456@ousl.lk).

Instructions to follow on the day of the Examination

I. The question paper will be available before the commencement of the examination at
https://exams.openlearn.lk. However, candidates are allowed to access the paper only at the
scheduled time of the examination.
II. Candidate is expected to follow the instructions given in the question paper carefully.
III. Duration of the question paper is 04 hours. This 04-hour time period includes writing
answers and submitting answer script to the Google drive through a link provided in the
exams.openlearn.lk.

IV. After the stipulated time period candidates are expected to scan and submit the answer
scripts. They should scan and compile all pages into a single PDF document using the
mobile app you downloaded previously (Microsoft Office Lens” “Cam Scanner or “Adobe
Scan”). All pages should be included in the correct order as expected in the PDF document
before submission. (Candidates should ensure that the PDF document is less than 10 MB
in size and renamed with their Student Registration Number)

V. Candidates should ensure that clear and legible photos of handwritten answer sheets are
captured when creating the PDF document. Illegible PDF documents will not be accepted
for evaluation.
VI. Any format other than PDF will not be accepted for evaluation.
VII. Candidates are required to sign in to their OUSL email accounts when the files (answer
script) are submitted.
Username for OUSL email - student ID number @ousl.lk
(Initial) Password - NIC number
VIII. Candidates should ensure that they submit answers within the time limit. Answer scripts
submitted after the stipulated time period will not be accepted for evaluation. If candidates

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 encounter technical problems while uploading answer scripts, they should immediately
contact the Help Desk.

IX. Candidates are advised to retain the original answer scripts with them to be submitted
to the university upon request.

Contact details in case of emergency

A Help Desk will be arranged for each final examination. The Help Desk will be functional only
during the examination time period and could be contacted through, telephone and e-mail. The
relevant details of the Help Desk will be displayed on the respective courses in
https://exams.openlearn.lk along with the question paper.

Examination Misconduct
I. All rules relating to examination misconduct apply during online examinations as well.
Candidates are hereby reminded in particular about the following rules.
● Candidates should refrain from obtaining any form of assistance in writing answers
or in providing assistance to another candidate.
● Candidates should refrain from sharing screenshots/photos of their answer scripts,
exchanging them with any other person, through any kind of media.
● Candidates should refrain from requesting any form of clarification of subject matter
related to the examination during the period of the examination.
● Candidates are not allowed to write answers by gathering as groups or connecting
via any other electronic device or social media.
II. Any form of plagiarism is an examination offence.
III. Action will be taken against any candidate/s if found guilty of any examination
misconduct.

Mock Examination

A Mock Examination will be conducted in order to familiarize candidates with this newly
proposed method of final examination. The dates and the time of the Mock Examination will be
informed through MYOUSL.

Students who wish to sit for the examination through the online mode are expected to submit
his/her consent using the Google form given below.
https://forms.gle/sUjBXMdz73JPuP7c7

In case a student is unwilling to take part in the proposes alternative assessment method, the
University will allow the student to defer the Final Examination up until the immediate next
academic year and complete the course on site (if it is applicable) without any academic penalty.
Students who do not submit any response through the Google form and absent for the
scheduled online examinations are automatically considered as those who do not wish to sit for
the examination through the online mode and they will be enrolled for an onsite examination as
prescribed above.

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Kindly note that all candidates who are taking the online examinations are expected to have
read and understood the information and instructions provided in this Guide.

Edirimuni Nadeesh de Silva

Head/ Department of Legal Studies
The Open university of Sri Lanka
2021.08.09