Phones banned and tablets must be charged, students told ahead of exams in UAE schools

School administrations have intensified their preparations ahead of the start of the end-of-third-semester exams for the academic year 2025-2026, by issuing a set of alerts and instructions to students and parents via approved digital platforms, to ensure students' technical and organisational readiness, and to avoid any obstacles which might affect the smooth running of the exams or students' performance inside the examination halls.

School administrations emphasised the importance of strict adherence to the specified times for entering the examination halls, warning against being late for the start of the exam, affirming that exceeding the allowed delay period, 15 minutes from the start of the exam, will result in the student being recorded as absent from the current exam and their name being included in the "retake exams" lists according to approved procedures.

Schools urged students to arrive early and complete entry procedures, to avoid any consequences which might affect their exam performance.

They also stressed the necessity of completing all technical preparations well in advance of the exam time, noting the importance of updating the "Swift Assess" application to the latest approved version, especially after some technical observations were noted during the trial exams that students underwent during the past period, to avoid any problems which might arise when accessing the exam browser or during the exam itself.

Schools also recommended ensuring that personal chargers are brought on exam day, in addition to verifying each student's username and password in advance, to avoid any delay or confusion which might occur at the start of the exam.

Adherence to the instructions and regulations governing exams is a shared responsibility between the school, the student, and the parent, schools added, noting that approved procedures will be applied to violating students in accordance with the systems and regulations in force at the Ministry of Education (MoE).