Over 1,000 students affected by hour-long exam delay

The incident happened this evening in the RDS Simmonscourt venue

Over 1,000 students have been affected by an administrative error at an exam in the RDS Simmonscourt venue this evening. The incident is still ongoing, with a student present estimating that around 70% of students had re-entered the venue at 6.15pm.

According to students present at the venue, at 4.40pm, 20 minutes before exams were scheduled to start, a large queue to speak with invigilators had formed as students’ designated seats had incorrect exam papers, and many seats were assigned to two people.

A student sitting the Fluid Mechanics Engineering paper said: “All the invigilators huddled for 15 minutes and that’s when we sensed something wasn’t right. Then they announced everyone would be evacuated.” At approximately 5.20pm, all students then exited the exam hall, with each module called to re-enter the venue one by one.

A Philosophy student sitting the exam reported that many students had viewed the contents of their incorrect papers, and had informed students that were meant to be sitting those papers of the topics examined.

Cameron Hill, a second year French and English student, commented: “I’m annoyed if I’m honest, forgotten pretty much all I revised as a result. Also [I] have some work to do for tomorrow, so it just complicates everything. I just wanted to get this exam over with, but I haven’t even started an exam I should be half way through.”

Other modules affected by the incident include Moral Philosophy, Mathematical Economics, and Criminology.

A spokesperson for College stated: “Trinity College Dublin regrets the inconvenience caused to students in relation to the delayed start of an examination yesterday [December 13th] in the RDS which was due to start at 5pm. An issue arose before the examination commenced involving an inconsistency with the student seating and the appropriate papers assigned to the each student. The issue was discovered before any papers were opened. Students were apprised of the issue and asked to vacate the venue until such time as the correct papers were assigned to them. This involved some re-organisation and regrettably the students did not commence their examination until a later time of 6.35pm. All students were afforded the full time for their exam. Trinity’s Academic Registry is reviewing the matter in order to ensure that all future examinations run smoothly.” 

Niamh Lynch

Niamh was Editor of the 65th volume of Trinity News. She is a History and Politics graduate.