Overrides for testing center exams

Overrides allow course staff to extend the reservation window for specific students, enabling them to self-schedule exam sessions at a testing center outside the normal dates. This is useful when students miss the regular scheduling deadline due to late enrollment, illness, or other circumstances.

Note: Overrides only apply to exams linked to testing centers. For course-run sessions (in-person, online, or unproctored), you can directly assign students to sessions from the Reservations tab without needing an override.

When to use overrides

Overrides are typically used when:

• A student missed the normal reservation deadline
• A student was added to the course after the reservation window closed
• A student needs to reschedule due to illness or emergency
• Special circumstances require extending access for specific students

Prerequisites

Before you can create overrides for an exam:

1. The exam must be linked to at least one testing center
2. The testing center must allow override creation (configured by center staff)
3. The testing center must have available override quota

Creating overrides

To add overrides for students:

• Go to Exams tab and select the exam
• Click the "Overrides" tab
• Click "Add overrides"
• Enter the student UIDs (separated by commas, spaces, or line breaks)
• Select the testing center
• Set the override start and end dates (the range of session dates students can book)
• Click "Add overrides" to confirm

The testing center dropdown shows the current override count and remaining quota for each center. For example: "Testing Center (Fall 2024): 5 overrides created; 10 more allowed".

Override date window

The start and end dates define which sessions students can book:

• Start date: Students can only book sessions on or after this date
• End date: Students can only book sessions on or before this date

Students with an override can access the reservation page at any time; the dates only restrict which sessions are available to them.

If the testing center has configured default override dates, these will be pre-filled. Otherwise, you can specify custom dates for each batch of overrides.

Viewing overrides

The Overrides tab displays all overrides for the exam with the following information:

• UID: The student's identifier
• Name: The student's name
• Testing center: Which center the override applies to
• Override start/end: The range of session dates the student can book
• Added by: Who created the override
• Reservation: Shows the session date if the student has made a reservation

Deleting overrides

To delete an override:

• Click the actions dropdown next to the student
• Select "Delete override"
• Confirm the deletion

Warning: If the student has already made a reservation using the override, deleting the override will also delete their reservation. You will see a warning message indicating this before confirming.

What students see

When a student has an override:

1. They can visit the testing center's exam page at any time
2. They will see available sessions that fall within their override date range
3. They can select a session and create a reservation
4. The reservation is linked to the override

Testing center limits

Testing centers control several aspects of overrides:

• Allow overrides: Whether override creation is enabled for this exam
• Maximum overrides: The total number of overrides that can be created
• Default dates: Pre-configured start/end dates (optional)

If you need more overrides than currently allowed, contact the testing center staff to request an increase in the quota.