Wednesdays now free after 1pm

University of Warwick has changed the policy on lectures on Wednesday afternoons bringing the time advised for lectures to finish to 1pm instead of 2pm. This is a success for the Students’ Union who have been campaigning for this change.

This means official guidance from the University to Heads of Department is to not schedule lectures after 1pm for undergraduates. This will allow sports, society’s events and other extra-curricular activities to be scheduled during this time.

The current Sport’s Officer, Terry Marshall, and Education Officer, Mo Surve, spearheaded the campaign. Marshall said, “I’m really pleased about the Universities change in position. More than anything it signifies the importance of University sport and confirms that the University recognises this importance.”

Mo Surve commented, “This will benefit students in several ways: being able to get to sports fixtures sooner in some cases; more time for everyone else to be involved in sports or other extra-curricular activities.”

He also added that “Wednesday afternoons are not just for sports – they are also an opportunity for students to get involved in other extra-curricular activities whether it is through societies or volunteering.”

“I think it is very important for students to come out with more than just a degree in an increasingly competitive world.”

However the newly elected Sabbatical Officers still see room for improvement.

Sumaiya Khaku newly elected to the position of Education Officer said “I ran on a manifesto where I stated that I would try and get Wednesday afternoons free for post-grads. This will be my main policy since undergraduates are catered for in the current policy.”

The new Sports Officer Alex Twiss said, “I think it is key that the University doesn’t make its students choose between academic work and sport, there is time enough in the week to do both.” He described the change in University policy as “fantastic”.

However Twiss is more ambitious for his term in office. “I do believe though that the recent policy change is only half the battle. It addresses the problem of clashes in regards to home sports fixtures but still leaves students having to often make the choice between work and sports for away fixtures.”

“For that reason I think it is key to convince the University to push back the time to 11am for Undergrads and Postgrads alike.”