Medium of Instruction & Assessment

The Medium of instruction at the Institute of Business Administration is English. All classes (except foreign language courses), assignments, presentations, research projects and assessments are conducted in English.

Academic Calendar

Regular Semesters (Spring & Fall)

The Academic Calendar at IBA consists of two regular semesters (Spring and Fall) and a summer semester. A regular semester usually consists of 14 teaching weeks plus approximately ten days of examinations. IBA observes a 6-day week.

Duration:

Spring Semester - Mid of January to last week of May

Fall semester - Mid of August to December 31st

Click here for current academic calendar: https://www.iba.edu.pk/academic-calendar.php

Summer Semester (For removal of deficiency)

The summer semester is for the improvement of grades or removal of deficiencies if any. Students are not allowed to register for an advanced credit or additional course and can take a course that they have failed or dropped earlier. Students doing summer internships are allowed to remove deficiency in one course during the summer semester. Students not doing an internship, can clear up to two deficiencies. Students may withdraw from one course during the summer semester. Withdrawal should be sought within a week after the announcement of the midterm examination result.

Duration:

Summer semester - First week of June to first week of August

Conduct of Examination

Students will have to give midterm, summer and final examinations at the end of semester conducted simultaneously at both Main and City Campuses as per exam schedule uploaded on EMS (Exam Management System)  https://ibaapps.iba.edu.pk/ems/home/IBAExamSchedule. 

Current Exam Schedule: https://examination.iba.edu.pk/examschedules.php
Archive: https://examination.iba.edu.pk/exam_schedule_archive.php

Physical Exam

Students will have to appear in person with their identity card for midterm, summer and final examinations at the end of semester conducted simultaneously at both IBA Main and City Campuses according to exam schedule uploaded at EMS (Exam Management System).

Open Book Exam

In case of open book/open notes exams, candidates must follow instructions given in the exam paper by the subject teacher/resource person. Exchange of books and notes during such examinations is strictly prohibited.

Online Exam (LMS – Learning Management System)

This online exam option makes use of the Quiz feature available in the Learning Management System (LMS) on the following link (https://lms.iba.edu.pk/portal).  Students will need to complete the exam in one sitting withing the exam duration. Students are not required to prove their identity in the process. In case of an electronic exam all answers must be properly saved in relevant file formats and uploaded to LMS if required or saved on desktop for retrieval.

Back-to-Back Exam (Clash of Exam Timing)

If a student has two exams at the same time slot on either or both campuses, then he/she would have to give both exams one after the other i.e. back-to-back with a suitable break for refreshing or revision or power nap. A separate email sends to all students about this situation, but they might request faculty members for intervention. 

A designated room is the location for all back-to-back exams at the main campus. Exam office is the location at city campus.  Focal persons are allocated to facilitate the students at both campuses.

If a student has two or more exams at the same time slot on either or both campuses, then he/she would have to give both exams one after the other i.e. back-to-back with a suitable break for refreshing or revision or power nap. The student must remain in the designated exam hall until all the exams are over. A dedicated room is allocated for all back-to-back exams at both main and city campus.

Comprehensive Exam (PhD)

Every PhD scholar is required to pass PhD comprehensive exam (maximum 2 attempts are allowed) after completion of coursework in a maximum of 2 years. Any PhD student who fails to pass the comprehensive exam within 2 years shall be dropped from the program. This exam comprises sub-exams on different subjects studied during the coursework.

Make-up Exam

What is a makeup exam?

Makeup exams are conducted in lieu of the actual scheduled exam. The purpose of any makeup exam is to allow students, with legitimate reasons for missing a scheduled exam, to fulfil the requirements of a course, and hence avoid being penalized for factors beyond their control.

Legitimate Reasons

What are the legitimate reasons for which a makeup-exam can be scheduled?

Medical Conditions Description Required Documents Who can apply
Hospitalization Severe Illness or accident Documents that show proof of illness, treat, admittance and discharge from the hospital All regular students
Day Care Procedure Surgery, dialysis, blood transfusion, ICU & CCU for a heart attack  
Maternity Childbirth or Miscarriage In case of surgery or any procedure, a letter that is verified by the surgeon must be submitted that can be authenticated
Relative Illness Offspring/Spouse/ Parental/Guardian illness if the student is a single child  
       
Bereavement Description Required Documents Who can apply
Parents / Guardian If they are the main caretakers Death Certificate All regular students
Spouse  
Sibling Unmarried or age limited to 21years
Offspring If the death happens on or a day before the scheduled exam day
  Out of town travel for burial is subject to approval of the academic committee
Interview or Court Proceedings Description Required Documents Who can apply
Specific Interview or Test For specific interviews like CSS or Special Tests like ISSB Invitation letter Subject to approval of the competent authority
Job Interview Unmarried or age limited to 21years Job invitation letter
Court Proceedings To be approved by the AC Court Order
Official Travel Description Required Documents Who can apply
Allow only to MBA Executive Brief def and applicability – part time (MBA executive) students A certificate or official letter from his / her organization giving details of his / her official assignment. MBA Executive students only
  Evidence of official travel comprising of tickets or boarding cards for air travel as applicable
Executive Students or Students serving in the Armed Forces, and they have to travel for special tasks. Advance Notification is Required Letter from the organizations HR department must be submitted with prior notice of travel. The letter must have complete contact details for the purpose of authentication

 

 For personnel of armed forces, the letter of verification has to be approved from the commanding officer. In cases where prior notice cannot be given, documents must be submitted post facto

 

 In case of international travel, copies of entry/exit stamp on the passport, visa pages and the first and second page of the passport must be submitted
Participation in IBA approved event Description Required Documents Who can apply
Conferences / Seminar / Workshops Representing IBA at national or international level Official document from event organizer / Program exchange Subject to approval of the competent authority
Sport Events Representing the country / IBA in a reputed sports event at national or international level like Olympics, FIFA etc

 

Extraordinary Circumstances

Note: Students should note exam dates and times that are provided in the beginning of semester, so that they may avoid engagements on those specified dates. An example of this could be scheduling wedding ceremonies around the specified dates.

Make-up Exam Rules: https://examination.iba.edu.pk/General.php#Makeupexaminations

Note: Students should note exam dates and times that are provided at the beginning of the semester, so that they may avoid engagements on those specified dates. An example of this could be scheduling wedding ceremonies around the specified dates.

Cheating & Plagiarism

Click here: https://examination.iba.edu.pk/General.php#Cheating-and-plagiarism

Grading & Evaluation

Click here: https://examination.iba.edu.pk/GradingEvaluation.php

Improvement of Grades

Click here:  https://examination.iba.edu.pk/General.php#Improvement-of-grades

Non-Credit Course Request (Elective Course)

Only students in their 7th or 8th semester may request to declare a completed elective course as non-credit. This can help overcome a course deficiency due to a failure. 

There is no minimum CGPA requirement for declaring a course as non-credit in the afore mentioned cases. 

Students may enrol in an additional course without special permission from the Dean, and such courses are not included in CGPA computation but do appear on the transcript. 

Students requesting non-crediting of courses should review their Degree Progress Report accessible via the self-service menu when they log in to the UMS. They can also submit a request online via the provided link. 

If multiple courses need to be declared as non-credit, students should fill out the form separately for each course. 

Students who have studied additional electives must submit an online request for each course to be declared as non-credit through the relevant program office. 

Students may request to make one or more courses non-credit by submitting an application to the program office, either on paper or via email. The grades and marks will still be shown on the transcript. However, a course cannot be declared as non-credit after the issuance of the official transcript.

Include/Exclude (Core Course)

If you have repeated a CORE course and want to include a better grade, you must submit a formal request to the examinations department.

You can fill and submit the include/exclude better/poor grade request through the following link: Improvement of Grade Request Form.