ALL UNIVERSITY OF EXETER EXAMS SHOULD TAKE PLACE ONLINE IN JANUARY !!! 

The majority of Exeter Students will be taking online assessments this January HOWEVER some students are unfairly being made to take in-person/on campus exams despite the "High case numbers in the UK over the Christmas & New Year Period." (UofE) "Omicron continues to surge through the country." (Boris Johnson)

This is putting a huge disadvantage on the students degrees & endangering their personal health. 

The University states that if you contract Covid and cannot sit your exam, you have to apply for mitigation or provide evidence of a positive PCR test.

If this is the case, the student's exam is deferred to August 2022. As a result, the student's result is delayed. As a final year student you will have a delayed final classification result & have to wait until after the Summer when you have taken the exam.  

In-person/on campus exams will cause students to: 

1)Disadvantaged against rest of year group who take exams online

2)Deferred graduation will put placements & jobs at risk - when questioned :  the university responded with uncertainty : "This should not necessarily jeopardise your placement & our advice would be to speak to them about the possibility of having your confirmed degree marks later. " (UofE)

3)Possibility of catching Covid in exam hall as cases are at their highest ever > facilitate outbreaks

4)Students not testing honestly before exam as worried about testing positive

5)Negatively impact students well-being : mental & physical health

6)Cause students to suffer from high stress & anxiety levels considering the current climate

7)Some final year students miss out on graduating with fellow peers

8)Final year students have not taken an in-person exam for the last 2 years (requires different format of revision & writing) 

9)No student circumstances are being taken into consideration : all are expected to attend whether your UK based, International, a student who is vulnerable or who has a vulnerable family member. 

10)Boris Johnson states 'we should work from home where possible.' - exams online supports this.

Questions: 

How is it fair that the majority sit online exams & others have to do theirs in-person? -   Discriminatory against students - going against a part of UofE's ethos which is equality & fairness. 

How is this not risking the spread of Covid amongst students, staff and the local community as students will do anything to be able to sit the exams ? 

If you confidently believed Covid would not spread, then surely all exams would be in-person? 

How can you expect final year students to defer their exams > defer their results > risk of losing placement or job? employability is a main objective for the University, why jeopardise this for students?

How is this impacting your students mental & physical health ?

Recent University statement : "Due to the high case numbers in the UK over the Christmas and New Year period, we may experience a higher number of staff absences than normal for the start of term, due to colleagues self-isolating. I know that you will all show respect and compassion for University staff if some services are impacted, and we will keep you up to date if any key services are badly affected." (UofE) Where is the respect and compassion for the students? 

This situation is causing students a lot of anxiety and stress. It needs to be seriously reviewed with a matter of urgency and ALL EXAMS SHOULD TAKE PLACE ONLINE THIS JANUARY. 

The latest update : Boris Johnson holds press conference as UK reports 218,724 new cases; more NHS hospital trusts declaring critical incidents. (The Guardian, 4th January 2022)