The winter of our discontent

The University’s commitment to giving students fair and equal opportunities in examinations has been called into question after a series of blunders left students unprepared and without adequate information for last week’s exams.

Mistakes and misjudgements were found to have been made at every level of exam organisation. Departments were accused of poor communication with students, and exam invigilators of poor exam-room preparation and unprofessionalism in extra-time exams.

Exam timetable organisers also came under criticism from YUSU Disabled Students’ Officer Liam Haakon Smith for showing a disregard for the requirements of some disabled students, for whom the irregular exam scheduling would have a detrimental effect.

Miscommunication

Tutors have come under fire for withholding crucial information and spreading misinformation about exams, as when History of Art students were told by a seminar tutor to prepare for a two-day open exam, only to be told just before Week One that they would be taking a two-hour closed exam.

Second-year History of Art student Georgie Siddall was one of the students affected by this mishap, telling Vision: “I’m really angry and quite disappointed in the History of Art department. It’s almost as if they want us to fail. How are we supposed to study for and do exams when they don’t even tell us what to expect?”

Michael White, deputy head of the History of Art department, confirmed the mix-up, telling Vision: “The module tutor gave incorrect advice to the students at one point about the exam; she was teaching another module that term which was to be assessed by open paper rather than a closed exam and at a certain point confused the two.”

He denied any serious wrong-doing, however, stating: “She realised her mistake and informed all of the students on 4 January, one week before the exam.”

White went on: “The students had the correct information from the beginning of their module, as printed in their module booklet. Those who checked with the departmental office were given correct information and the correct information also appeared on their exam timetables.”

History of Art students were also left confused over exam requirements. Hours before one exam, third-years were sent a Facebook message telling them they needed new student cards to sit their exams, prompting a rush to the Information Centre, where a single member of staff dealt with the queue of students.

Elsewhere, Biology students who had been told to prepare for an exam in which they could use calculators were given a non-calculator exam. A third-year who was in the exam room told Vision: “After someone complained that calculators should be allowed, invigilators rang the Biology department, who said that they were not allowed – but then halfway through the exam they came round with a box of calculators and started handing them out.”

Poor preparation

The Economics and Management departments have also been criticised for poor preparation over the exam period. Second-year Economics students opened their exam paper on Friday to find that a large part of it was missing, and were made to wait almost half an hour to receive it.

One of the disrupted students said: “It was pretty off-putting to turn the paper over and see that half the questions were missing…Eventually the invigilator came round and ended up stapling the second half of the exam to each person’s paper but it wasn’t ideal.

“Students spend so much time revising for these exams, you don’t want to have to worry about any mistakes on the University’s behalf on the day as well.”

The treatment of students who receive extra time has also come under question. One student, who wanted to remain anonymous, spoke to Vision of being taken into a room, “already behind schedule, without many lights on and the desks incorrectly set up,” which added disruption to the exam. There were then further distractions as the invigilators later had to hand out missing parts of exams which should have been delivered earlier.

Elisa Wubs, a third-year Biology student, criticised examiners for a separate incident, stating that “in the room for extra time the invigilators were having a conversation during the whole exam.” This is sure to prompt questions about how seriously invigilators treat students’ extra time requirements.

Insensitivity

The University has also been criticised for a lack of foresight in arranging timetables. Disabled Students’ Officer Liam Haakon Smith voiced his anxiety to Vision: “The student who spoke to me has Seasonal Affective Disorder, a mental health condition which makes people feel lethargic, unmotivated and depressed in the winter because it is dark… I wouldn’t want to do an exam whilst exhausted and the University must have known that it would be dark when they chose to timetable exams late in the evening.

“Other students may have medication they have to take with meals but didn’t think the University needed to know about medication they take in the evening. Some people have to eat regularly throughout the day so they don’t collapse – I don’t know if people have actually had those problems this time, but the University doesn’t seem to have thought about them.”

When asked if an official complaint would be made, Haakon Smith continued: “I will do my best to help any disabled student who wishes to make a complaint about either the timing or handling of their exams and would point students in the direction of mitigating circumstances forms if they feel their ability to do any exam or assessment was compromised by circumstances beyond their control.”

YUSU President Tim Ellis expressed his concern to Vision: “Anything that gives some students an unfair disadvantage in exams should be taken very seriously by departments. It is important that students get in touch with their departments, and their course reps, if they feel that any assessment or exam has been negatively affected because of something outside of their control.

“I would urge all departments to ensure that any kind of information given out to students about exams is correct, and that it is clear and transparent what is expected from them.”