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UEA bosses want to cram all exams into summer term BY NIKKI MALLETT
LAW BALL SIT POI BBTUBI. TO BAILBAI BALL?
A radical shake-up of UEA's semester system is underway - raising the prospect of a huge increase in the number of year.end exams. Tests from both the autumn and spring semesters could be piled together in June after the plans have been imposed by University bosses in the year 2000. But the scheme, which would force radicaI students to move to two 12-week c hang e s e terms followed by a six week period for a revision , has run into a series of necessary. hitches. " T h e present system has a number of Abolition problems, including the fact that Some schools are fighting the semesters run into each other - the abolition of the post-Christmas exams, second semester starts while teachers insisting that courses depend on are still assessing the first semester, it is not an efficient way of working." regular tests. And the planned 路12-week spring Lose out semester will often run over into the However, not all school deans have Easter holiday, forcing UEA to break backed the proposals because of fears the term in two. that students will lose out. Stress Said Professor Alan Dawson , Dean Union Academic Offi cer, Katy Fixter, of BIO, "Students prefer to have their has lashed out at the proposals, exams at th e end of- the semester so accusing the University of putting we need to keep this examining time at the end of autumn." students under unnecessary stress. "The pressure of finals was Plans something that the introduction of Students themselves have given the semesters was trying to get rid of in the first place," she said. plans a mixed reception. "Students can't fully maximise their "This is just going to cause more potential if they have all their exams at stress. the end of the year, it's better to have Revise two sets of exams," argued Francine "When you come to revise, if things Naidoo (LAW 1). aren't fresh in your mind it just piles But Rosie Hill (ENV 2) was more optimistic, "lt will be much better, you more pressure on ," she added . Director of Undergraduate Studies, have exam pressure anyway but this Or Richard Crockatt, has hit back at will mean that we'll only have the the criticism though, insisting that the pressure of exams once a year."