Fewer students granted special exam consideration

There are a decreasing number of students being granted special consideration for their exams, a Freedom of Information Request submitted to the Information Compliance Office at Warwick University has revealed.

Special examination arrangements are organised through the administrative bodies of individual subjects.

They can grant students extra assistance in their exams with the use of a computer, extra time to complete the exam, and a scribe should a student require them due to medical or personal difficulties.

The Boar has received information on students with special examination arrangements in seven subjects from 2011/12 to 2012/13 in a Freedom of Information Request to the University’s legal department.

English Literature, Maths and Psychology all saw significant decreases from 2011/12 to 2012/13.

The number of students requiring special examination arrangements in Engineering, Law and Physics went up slightly in the same period, while there was no change in the French department, with 22 students across years one to four in both years.

In the last two years, the overall number of students granted special examination arrangements in these subjects decreased from 213 to 204.

In 2011/12, 68 of these were female and 145 of these male, while in 2012/13, 63 were female and 141 were male.

Of the seven subject departments sampled, Engineering granted the most special examination arrangements to students.

70 Engineering students successfully applied for special circumstances in 2012/13, 31 more students than for Physics, which had the second most successful applicants. This figure accounts for over five percent of the total student body of around 1280.

However, all seven subjects recorded roughly the same figures for both academic years. There was a fluctuation of five students or less in Engineering, English Literature, Physics and Law.

The greatest change was for Psychology, with the number reduced by 18 from 30 students granted special examination arrangements to 12.

Maths also recorded a fall of 16 students, from 43 to 27.

Second-year History undergraduate, Alex Schiphorst, commented on the overall decrease: “The fact that special consideration in exam situations has decreased can be seen in a positive light as it shows that the process is stringent and not being misused in order to benefit from it.

“However, it is important that access to this special assistance is not too restricted, and it is essential that all students have the right to use it should they need it.”

Second-year English and Creative Writing undergraduate, Andreas Avraam, added: “The fact that the amount of students getting special circumstances has gone down possibly indicates the system is becoming stricter, which could be good if they are specifically targeting those who really need help.

“It’s all fine as long as no one who needs help is being left out.”