Learning and Teaching
Committee
Subject: Semester
2 Examination Period
Origin: Academic Registry
Learning
and Teaching Committee is asked to consider proposals in relation to the
Semester 2 Examination Period and, if appropriate, make recommendations to
Senate.
Background
A
significant increase in student numbers has led to the re-introduction of
Saturday examinations in Semester 2 in both 2008 and 2009. A limited number of examinations for
Constraints
on the examination timetabling processes (eg scheduling all finalist exams in
the first two weeks, all three hour exams being held in the morning, avoiding
students having more than one exam on any day) and increased student numbers
mean that it is impossible to schedule the Semester 2 examinations across 15
days (Monday to Friday, weeks 13-15).
The
Academic Registrar met with representatives from UCU in April 2009 to provide
background to the situation. Whilst it
was accepted that there was no alternative for 2008-09, it was requested that
further consultation on other options was undertaken before Saturday exams were
confirmed for 2009-10 and beyond. The Students’ Union
has also received some representations from students this year although these
are partly related to the timing of release of the timetable. No significant
complaints were received last year and to date the Academic Registry and
academic departments have received very
few enquiries or concerns from students.
We
anticipate that student numbers will not change significantly for 2009-10 so we
will be faced with the same constraints and capacity issues. There is an additional challenge in that
Monday of Week 13 will fall on a Bank Holiday, meaning that the week days
available next year will be reduced from 15 to 14. Thereby, unless the examination period is
extended beyond Weeks 13 to 15 for 2009-10, it will be impossible to avoid
timetabling examinations on Saturdays and/or the Bank Holiday Monday.
Consultation
An
initial consultation document has been circulated to Heads of Departments,
ADTs, Deans, departmental administrators, LSU and UCU representatives for
comment. The purpose of the initial consultation
was to seek a range of views on the feasibility and desirability of extending
the examination period either into week 12 or into the first week of the Summer
Vacation. Both of these options have
venue implications as it is unlikely that the Sports Development Centre would
be willing to provide use of the sports hall for additional dates. Alternative venues would need to be
investigated in terms of size and cost.
Additionally,
- using week 12 could
also have teaching timetable implications.
- using the first week of the summer vacation in isolation to other
policy/practice amendments will not alleviate the need for Saturday exams;
the requirement to schedule finalist exams prior to week 15 has been the
significant factor in the need to hold exams on Saturdays (ie the number
of finalist-student-exams requires 12 days of examinations).
Any
change to the examination period would need to be agreed by Senate at the start
of July in order that the Student Handbook be updated for the start of the
2009-10 academic year. Therefore views were
sought from colleagues in academic departments and students (via LSU) on the
following four options:
- Continue with recent
practice of scheduling examinations on Saturdays (would require 3
Saturdays including the Saturday of week 12)
- Continue with recent
practice of scheduling examinations on Saturdays (would require 2
Saturdays) plus Bank Holiday Monday
- Extend the examination
period to incorporate all of week 12
- Extend the examination period to incorporate first week of Summer
vacation
Feedback
1. Academic Departments
15 out of 21 departments responded to the email consultation. A summary of responses is presented below.
|
Proposal (see above for
detail) |
Supported |
Not Supported |
No Comment |
|
Proposal 1 (Saturdays) |
11 |
1 |
3 |
|
Proposal 2 (Saturdays + Bank Holiday) |
6 |
5 |
4 |
|
Proposal 3 (Week 12) |
5 |
9 |
1 |
|
Proposal 4 (Beyond Week 15) |
2 |
11 |
2 |
Extending
the examination period beyond Week 15 was the least supported proposal due to
increased pressure for marking/external examiners and the impact on research
activities. Proposal 3 has met with some
support, in particular, the
In
general it appears that the majority of departments support the proposal to
retain Saturday examinations. That said,
some departments wished there to be further investigation into minimising the
number of examinations scheduled on Saturdays. Suggestions were:
- changes to the length
of Easter and/or Christmas vacations to reduce pressure on the time
between the exam period and programme boards/graduation
- changing (ie delaying)
the date of graduation
- exploring
larger/multiple venues
- stop the practice of
avoiding more than one exam on a day for individual students
- hold less formal
examinations
Suggestion
a above would require a review of the timing of semesters and so cannot be
achieved for 2009-10. Learning and
Teaching Committee is asked to comment on
whether it would support such a review.
The
Academic Registry is willing to further explore suggestions c. and d. but
neither would entirely remove the need to schedule exams outside of Mon-Fri
weeks 13-15 (although they may reduce the number of exams required outside of
these dates).
2. UCU
UCU
will be discussing the proposal at their AGM on 10 June.
3. LSU
The
Students’ Union have undertaken some research on student opinion and a
separate paper on the outcome of this, prepared by Danny McNeice, is also being
presented to Learning and Teaching Committee as part of this item. In relation to the specific consultation
covered by this paper, the students’ response can be summarised as:
- Proposals 1 & 2
– Examinations on Saturdays and Bank Holidays (although scheduling
exams on Bank Holidays not covered by their questionnaire): Mixed
reactions in relation to Saturday exams.
Although more students were against them than in support of them,
it seems that Saturday exams would be favoured over extending the exam
period outside of Weeks 13 -15. The
research suggests that students having examinations scheduled on a
Saturday would appreciate the timetable to be released earlier than was
possible in 2008-09.
- Proposal 3 –
Examinations in Week 12: Strongly opposed by majority of students
responding to the questionnaire.
- Proposal 4 –
Examinations beyond Week 15: not really covered by the questionnaire but
in view of the comments regarding the late finish of our Semester 2,
probably safe to assume that this would be opposed by a significant number
of student.
Like
the academic departments, students would appreciate further investigation into:
a.
changes to the academic year and in particular a reduction in the length
of Easter and/or Christmas vacations
b.
holding less formal examinations
Unlike
the academic departments, the responses indicate that students definitely would
not favour a move to scheduling more than one examination in a day.
Reducing
the number of three hour exams was also suggested with the perceived benefits
of allowing more examination slots in each day and also the avoidance of three
hour examinations on a Saturday.
Action Required
Learning
and Teaching Committee is requested to:
1.
Agree which of the four proposals regarding examination periods for
2009-10 to recommend to Senate.
2.
Comment on whether or not it would support a review of the timing of
semesters.
3.
Note that, should proposal 1 or 2
be agreed, the Academic Registry will undertake further investigation to
establish whether Saturday examinations can be minimised by running multiple
venues, scheduling more than one examination on one day for individual students
etc. Further proposals will be presented
to LTC during 2009-10 if appropriate.
Miranda Routlege
2 June 2009
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