Hilary Term assessments to take place online; no mitigation measures planned

Mitigation measures from semester one are not currently planned for May

The vast majority of undergraduate assessments for the current semester will be conducted online, College has announced.

Mitigation measures that were offered to students last semester are not currently being proposed.

Real-time online exams and take-home exams are to be held during the period already designated on the academic calendar for assessment from Monday, May 10 to Saturday, May 22, with a subsequent third week from Monday, May 24 to be used for submitting “essays or other work that replaces a final examination”.

The week of May 24 will also be used to schedule those assessments which students chose to defer from semester one.

In an email sent to students this afternoon, Senior Lecturer and Dean of Undergraduate Studies Dr Kevin Mitchell said that the University Council had approved the assessment plan at a meeting last Wednesday.

Mitchell said that the decision was made in light of the “possible trajectories of the public health situation and the recent experience of its volatility”.

The only exceptions will be clinical and practical assessments that “must take place in person”.

Mitchell said that those who did not pass at their deferred first attempt at an assessment would have the opportunity to re-sit the relevant module during the supplemental session later in the year.

Mitigation measures offered to students during semester one assessments are not planned to be implemented this semester. The email said that these were “in response to the extreme and sudden deterioration” of the Covid-19 situation in Ireland during December and January, and that College does “not envisage that similar emergency measures will be needed” this semester because of current restrictions and the vaccine rollout.

Mitchell did say however that Trinity would “monitor the situation closely and make a final decision on this matter” closer to the semester.

During the semester one assessment period in January, students were permitted to defer their exams to May if they chose, and to apply for re-sits if the exams counted towards their final degree grade, even if they achieved a passing grade.

At the time, the Senior Lecturer and the Vice Provost Dr Jürgen Barkhoff said that the right to apply for re-sits was valid for “either the first or second semester”, but that these applications could only be made “following the…release of module and overall degree grades to students”.

The Hilary teaching term ends on Sunday April 25, with Trinity Term and Trinity Week beginning the following day. Trinity Week is followed by a week set aside for pre-exam revision, after which the assessment period begins.

Jack Kennedy

Jack Kennedy is the Editor-in-chief of the 68th edition of Trinity News. He is a Computer & Electronic Engineering graduate, and a former Assistant Editor, Online Editor, and Deputy Online Editor.