The Students’ Union have has been working with the President and Registrar of the University and their senior team over the past couple of weeks on a series of measures that will support students who are anxious about their assessments and exams during this difficult period.

The Mitigation Policy – Enhanced Academic Supports for Students is the University response to the No Detriment Petition that surfaced around many colleges in the UK and Ireland, with a TU Dublin student starting it here and reaching 4,500 signatures at the time of writing. In recognising that some more measures could be put in place, the University worked in partnership with the Students’ Union on a proposal that was approved by the Academic Council on 28th April.

This information was sent to all students via email including the policy and FAQ. The following is the key measures in the policy:

Pre-Exam Deferral

If you feel you aren’t able to complete any assessment, you can apply to ‘defer’ it by filling
out a form and emailing it to your Head of School on or before May 5th 2020. No
additional documentation is required. The next attempt will be considered a first attempt. The deadline is coming up close but don’t stress as you will have a second chance to defer.

The way you submit is different for each campus so here is how it’s done:

  1. City Campus: Submit completed form by email to your Head of School.
  2. Blanchardstown: Complete an online deferral form.
  3. Tallaght: Submit completed form by email to examinationdeferral.tallaght@tudublin.ie.

Post-Exam Deferral

If, after you have completed an exam / submitted an assessment you feel your performance was negatively affected by the current situation, you can ‘defer’. To do so, complete the form within 2 working days of the exam/assessment date. In this case, the Examination Board will record the result for the module as a deferral. This means you can sit the exam/submit the assessment at the Supplementals (Repeats), as a
first attempt and no fees will apply.

  1. City Campus: Submit completed form to the relevant Examinations Office
  2. Blanchardstown: Complete an online deferral form
  3. Tallaght: Submit completed form by email to examinationdeferral.tallaght@tudublin.ie.

Deferring an exam/or an assessment has consequences, especially if you are in Final Year of your programme and hoping to graduate later in the year. So you if you are thinking About deferring, we would encourage you to get advice from your lecturer, Year Tutor or Students Union, before you make this decision.

Examination Boards

The policy also reaffirms the commitment of the University that Examination Boards will
address the totality of all your results and performance throughout the academic year when determining your award or progression. In addition, they will consider the impact of the current extenuating circumstances and can adjust the overall grade if they deem this to be justified.

This is an application of the ‘No Detriment Principle’ on a case by case basis as each Examination Board will be compassionate in assessing the grades of each student and look at the previous semester results and take COVID 19 into consideration before applying your overall grade.

The FAQ may answer more questions on the application of this policy and what implications it may have when you consider what steps to take with upcoming assessment. We encourage every student to give their best attempt with every assessment but if this is not possible, please reach out for the supports available. You can contact the Students’ Union by email – advice@tudublinsu.ie.

Best of luck and Stay Safe!

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