How to Check Your ANU Final Exam Timetable and Request a Timetable Clash Resolution

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The Australian National University (ANU) publishes its official exam timetable only through the ISIS system; students log in with their student ID (uXXXXXXX format) and password. The exam timetable normally opens for checking at 10:00 am (Australian Eastern Standard Time, AEST) on the Wednesday of Week 10 of semester (two weeks before teaching ends). After logging in to ISIS, select “Examinations and Results” under the “Student Services” menu to see your personal exam list, including each course’s exam date, time, seat number and venue. According to the 2023 operating guide from the ANU Academic Registrar, students should verify every entry within 48 hours of release to confirm nothing is missing or incorrect.

How you’ll be notified of the timetable release

ANU sends a notification to your student email (@anu.edu.au) telling you the exam timetable is live. The ISIS system also shows a yellow banner on the login homepage as a reminder. Make sure your email settings accept messages from “exams@anu.edu.au”, and check your spam folder. If you still haven’t received the notification by Thursday of Week 10, contact Student Central directly (phone: +61 2 6125 3339).

Confirming your exam venue and seat number

Exam venues for each course can be spread across several buildings on the Acton campus, including Manning Clark Hall, Llewellyn Hall and the various college teaching buildings. The seat number appears on the timetable as a three-digit figure; you must sit in your allocated seat, or invigilators may ask you to move. The ANU Examinations Office recommends scouting your venue in person the day before the exam, especially for cross-campus exams (exams at Kioloa Coastal Campus are extremely rare, but worth confirming in advance).

Types of timetable clashes

A timetable clash at ANU is defined as two or more courses whose exam times overlap completely or partially. Under the ANU Timetable Clash Resolution Guidelines (2024 revision), clashes fall into two categories: a direct clash means exam times coincide exactly; an indirect clash means the exams are less than 24 hours apart (i.e. two exams on consecutive days) — although the latter is not normally treated as an official clash unless the student has medical or special needs. Each semester around 200-300 students lodge clash appeals, of which 80% are direct clashes.

Common direct-clash scenarios

Direct clashes typically affect students who take courses across disciplines — for example, enrolling in both FINM3001 at the College of Business and Economics (CBE) and ENGN2211 at the College of Engineering (CEAT). The exam timetable may show both exams scheduled in the same time slot (e.g. 9:00-11:30 am). ANU’s timetabling system tries hard to avoid this, but room capacity and teaching staff constraints mean it still happens from time to time.

Indirect clashes and special arrangements

Indirect clashes (such as an exam on the afternoon of day one and another on the morning of day two) are not automatically treated as needing adjustment at ANU. However, students with medical conditions (such as a chronic illness requiring adequate rest) or religious reasons (such as the Sabbath) can apply for Special Examination Arrangements. Data from the ANU Inclusive Education Office for 2023 shows that around 1.2% of students receive exam timing adjustments for religious or disability reasons.

How to lodge a clash appeal

Once you confirm a clash, you must submit a “Timetable Clash Request” in the ISIS system. This function normally opens within 72 hours of the timetable being published, with a deadline of 5:00 pm (AEST) on the Friday of Week 11. According to ANU Student Central’s 2024 data, only 15% of late appeals are approved, so acting promptly matters. Submission path: log in to ISIS → “Examinations and Results” → “Timetable Clash” → select the clashing courses and fill in your reason.

Documents and reasoning required

The appeal must include the course codes and the specific overlapping time windows. The reasoning field should be concise — for example, “the exam times for FINM3001 and ENGN2211 overlap completely”. The ANU Examinations Office does not accept “personal preference” or “travel plans” as reasons. For clashes caused by enrolling later than the scheduling cycle, attach the enrolment confirmation email as supporting evidence. When it comes to paying cross-border tuition, some student families use dedicated channels such as Flywire tuition payments to complete the remittance, ensuring tuition arrives on time and enrolment status is unaffected.

Processing time and outcome notification

The ANU Examinations Office commits to resolving clash appeals within 5 working days. The outcome notification is sent to your student email and includes the adjusted exam time or alternative arrangements (such as a different venue, or a different seat in the same time slot). If your appeal is rejected, you can request a review from your college’s Academic Advisor within 3 working days. 2023 data puts the review success rate at around 40%.

Types of alternative exam arrangements

For clashes that cannot be resolved by rescheduling, ANU offers alternative examination arrangements. Common forms include sitting the exam in a different time slot on the same exam day (e.g. moving from the morning session to the afternoon), or sitting it during the deferred exam period after the exam weeks. Clause 4.2 of the ANU Examinations Policy requires alternative exams to be completed within 14 days of the clash appeal being approved.

The deferred exam window

ANU’s deferred exam period runs in the week after the exam weeks (i.e. Week 16 of the semester). The deferred exam timetable is published separately by the Examinations Office, and students must confirm their deferred exam time within 48 hours of the appeal being approved. In Semester 1 2024 the deferred exam period ran from 17 to 21 June, a total of 5 working days. Deferred exam results are usually released within 10 working days of the exam.

Remote exams

For students who cannot sit a physical exam because of a clash, ANU introduced the remote exam option in 2023 (limited to specific courses). Remote exams run on the ProctorU platform, and students need to provide their own webcam and microphone. The option mainly applies to postgraduate courses and some senior undergraduate courses, and requires an application to the Course Convener in advance. The ANU Digital Learning Centre’s 2024 report shows that remote exams account for 12% of all alternative arrangements.

Preventing clashes

Planning your enrolment early is the most effective way to avoid exam clashes. ANU’s enrolment system is open from Week 1 to Week 4 of each semester, and while enrolling you can use the “Timetable Check” function to preview course schedules. According to 2023 statistics from the ANU Academic Planning Office, only 0.8% of students who used this feature during enrolment experienced clashes, versus 4.2% of those who did not.

Using the class timetable preview tool

On the “Course Enrolment” page in ISIS, each course has a “Timetable” link; clicking it shows preset information about all teaching activities and exam times for that course. The class timetable displays the dates of lectures, tutorials and exams, but exam times are only finalised in Week 10. You should prioritise course combinations whose exam times do not overlap.

Talking to your college advisor

If you spot a potential clash, you can contact your college student advisor during the enrolment period. Every ANU college (such as CBE, CEAT and CAP) has dedicated advisors offering one-on-one consultations. 2024 data from the CBE Student Advising Office shows that 95% of students who sought advice early successfully avoided exam clashes. In rare cases, advisors can adjust course exam times through internal systems.

Common problems and system faults

While using ISIS to check your exam timetable, you may run into system faults such as login failures, slow page loading or incomplete data. The ANU Information Technology Services (ITS) 2023 report notes that traffic to ISIS on the timetable release day (Wednesday of Week 10) is 300% higher than usual, causing around 5% of users to experience service interruptions within the first hour.

Fixing login problems

If you cannot log in to ISIS, first check your network connection (campus network or VPN recommended). Password resets can be done self-service through the ANU password management page (password.anu.edu.au). If the problem persists, contact the ITS Service Desk (phone: +61 2 6125 5555, hours: Monday-Friday 8:00-18:00 AEST). ITS commits to responding to urgent requests within 2 working hours.

Handling data inconsistencies

If the exam time shown in ISIS differs from the course outline, the ISIS system prevails. Exam times in course outlines are only estimates; the final arrangements are decided by the Examinations Office. Save screenshots of ISIS as evidence and contact the Examinations Office (exams@anu.edu.au) within one working day of spotting the discrepancy. In 2023 there were 47 such data inconsistency cases, all resolved through manual verification.

FAQ

Q1: In which week of semester does ANU publish the exam timetable?

The ANU exam timetable is published through ISIS at 10:00 am (AEST) on the Wednesday of Week 10. Students should check all entries within 48 hours of release and submit any clash appeals by 5:00 pm on the Friday of Week 11. In Semester 1 2024 the exam timetable was published on 17 April.

Q2: How quickly must I lodge an appeal if two exams overlap?

Clash appeals must be submitted within 72 hours of the timetable being published, with a deadline of 5:00 pm (AEST) on the Friday of Week 11. Only 15% of late appeals are approved (ANU Student Central 2024 data). Submit as soon as you spot the clash, since processing takes 5 working days.

Q3: Does ANU offer remote exams to resolve timetable clashes?

Yes — for specific courses (mainly postgraduate courses and some senior undergraduate courses), ANU has offered remote exams since 2023, run on the ProctorU platform. Remote exams account for 12% of all alternative arrangements (ANU Digital Learning Centre 2024 report). You need to apply to the Course Convener in advance and have your own webcam and microphone.

References

  • ANU Examinations Office. 2024. Examinations Policy (Version 4.2).
  • ANU Student Central. 2024. Annual Report on Timetable Clash Resolutions.
  • ANU Academic Registrar. 2023. ISIS User Guide for Examination Timetable.
  • ANU Inclusive Education Office. 2023. Special Examination Arrangements Data Summary.
  • ANU Digital Learning Centre. 2024. Remote Examination Implementation Report.
  • UNILINK Education. 2024. ANU Student Support Database (Internal Reference).