Second years unhappy at being guinea pigs for new online testing

In the coming exam period, second year Environmental Science and Geography students will sit unseen essay exams at computers instead of on paper.

They were made aware of the changes to their normal exams in the module information pack, causing panic among students who have never sat an exam in this format before.

Second year Jade Rogers said: “We’re supposed to answer the essays in various computer rooms dressed up as formal exam halls, which none of us have ever done before.”

“Everyone’s pissed off because it’s a style of exam we’ve never had the opportunity to practice, and the constant typing noises are going to be an added distraction.’

“Don’t panic”

“When we asked our lecturers about the change, they told us it ultimately wasn’t their decision, as the University have chosen seemingly random modules to trial the system on.

“They said their plan is to eventually replace all paper exams with online papers instead if the trials are actually successful.”

The move might be viewed as a progressive step in the eyes of eco-warriors everywhere, as switching online means saving paper – an initiative environmental science students should surely be pleased about?

But the outrage lies in the University’s decision to randomly select who will be sitting the online exams.

Distress

Jade continued: “I think switching to online is a good idea overall because everything moves online eventually.’

“But to us, it feels unfair that the university would pick second years to trial the online exams, as our Spring exams actually contribute to our final qualification unlike last year, and we have no chance to practice.’

“5% of our marks come from grammar and terminology anyway, so it’s just going to make people lazy if the computer can do that for them.’

“A lot of people would be happier if they’d stuck to testing it out on freshers because their exams don’t even count.”