Preparation for August Assessment Period

The August Assessment Period is taking place from 4th to 15th August 2025, with Inspera Digital Exams running from 7th to 15th August. In this blog post, we are sharing communications that are useful for Module Teams to share with their students ahead of their Inspera exams, along with information around support with marking.

Communications for Students 

Module Teams are encouraged to share the following communications with their students. These communications are also shared via emails with module teams once the exam is set up by our Digital Exams Team:

Preparing for your [module code] Inspera digital exam: make sure you know your log in details 

To sit your upcoming Inspera digital exam you will need to know your University login details (username and password).  

Please check that you know your login details before the day of the exam and that you can successfully sign into a campus Cluster PC. If you do not know your login details on the day of the exam it may not be possible to reset them before the exam starts. 

Your username begins with a letter (usually c) followed by the middle 7 numbers from your student number, which you can find on your smartcard. E.g. if your smartcard shows your student number is 212345678, your username is c1234567. 

If you cannot remember your password, you can reset it online or you can contact the IT Service Desk for help. If you have your password but would like to change it to something that is easier to remember you can change your password online. 

To help you prepare for your assessment, you can try out our demo exams via Canvas. There is a locked down demo and an open book demo. Both demo exams reflect the same demo content. The locked down demo allows students to experience the in-person Inspera exam security, therefore this particular demo should only be taken within a Campus PC cluster (as the required software will be installed). 

There is also a student page on the Academic Skills Kit about Inspera which students may wish to look at ahead of your exams. 

Marking your Inspera Exams 

Once the Inspera exams have taken place, Module Teams mark the exams under the Grade area of Inspera. You can find various marking hints and tips in a previous blog post about this. You can also view our Marking Exams in Inspera webpage, as well as our Inspera Feedback Release webpage.

Save the Date 

Inspera are hosting an on-campus event with our users on Wednesday 5th November (Time TBC – but will be PM). Further details will be circulated to Module Teams using Inspera. 

Questions? 

If you have any questions, please contact digital.exams@newcastle.ac.uk where a member of our team can assist you.  

You may also wish to join our Inspera Assessment Teams site to stay up to date with updates. 

Inspera Resits 23-24 & Updates for 24-25

Resit and Deferrals 

In the last academic year, our cycle came to a close with the support of Resit and Deferral Digital Inspera exams. Overall, there were 103 Resit/Deferral Inspera exams which ran between 8-16 August, with 101 exams being held successfully on campus. The Digital Exams Team were delighted to see an increase in the use of content features for this period, showcasing the wide range of benefits Inspera can provide.  

The removal of the minimum threshold for the August assessment period, (in 22-23 Inspera could only be used for Resits if a certain number of students were due to take the digital exam) saw a vast increase in the number of module teams using Inspera. We can confirm the removal of the minimum threshold was a success and all Inspera users can opt for a Resit in 24-25 if their Semester 1 and/or 2 assessment runs as an Inspera Digital Exam.   

Inspera Training 24-25 

Training for Semester 1 preparation is now available to book via the Newcastle University LMS. Please use the links below to book onto appropriate training as required: 

Inspera Deadlines for 24-25 

Here are the important deadlines you need for the new academic year: 

Deadlines for Semester 1 and 2 assessment periods 

TaskDeadline
Deadline to complete the digital exam form for Semester 1  25 October 2024 
Deadline to prepare question set in Inspera for Semester 1 15 November 2024 
Digital exams: hard deadline to submit backup paper for digital exams to Exam Paper Portal for Semester 1  Within 2 working days of backup paper being sent to module team by LTDS, and no later than 6 December 2024 
Deadline to complete the digital exam form for Semester 2 19 February 2025 
Deadline to prepare question set in Inspera for Semester 2   8 March 2025 
Digital exams: hard deadline to submit backup paper for digital exams to Exam Paper Portal for Semester 2  Within 2 working days of backup paper being sent to module team by LTDS, and no later than 11 April 2025

Deadlines for August assessment period 

For Resits/Deferrals from Semester 1 

Task Deadline  
Deadline to complete the digital exam form for the resit period exam (which was originally a Semester 1 exam) 17 March 2025 
Deadline to prepare question set in Inspera 17 April 2025 
Digital exams: hard deadline to submit backup paper for digital exams to Exam Paper Portal for the resit period Within 2 working days of backup paper being sent to module team by LTDS

For Resits/Deferrals from Semester 2 

Task Deadline  
Deadline to complete the digital exam form for the resit period exam (which was originally a Semester 2 exam)  1 July 2025 
Deadline to prepare question set in Inspera  8 July 2025 
Digital exams: hard deadline to submit backup paper for digital exams to Exam Paper Portal for the resit period Within 2 working days of backup paper being sent to module team by LTDS 

All information regarding deadlines for Inspera Digital Exams is also posted on the colleague facing website along with a wide range of helpful resources on all aspects of Inspera. Go to the Frequently Asked Questions section and deadline information can be found under ‘How should I prepare for an Inspera digital exam?’ and ‘Can I use Inspera for August assessment period exams?’.

Further Support for Students 24-25 

ASK webpage 

The Digital Exams Team have recently updated the student facing website which includes access to newly created demo exams for students to practice using Inspera.