Petition for exams to be removed for English students in their final degree cycle.

To our English students & English department, 

We are presenting this petition to request the removal of English exams for final-year students in Maynooth University. 

For many of us, these will be the first exams we have sat at a university level, but for all of us, these are the first exams in the Department of English. As you can understand, this is causing considerable stress given the fact that this year carries the largest percentage weight for our degree overall, which is stressful in itself, without also learning how to carry out a timed examination for the subject.

We have had plenty of experience with continuous assessment up until now; we know how to research, analyse and formulate opinions, presenting them in the form of a coherent essay. We have had the time and space to make mistakes, learn from said mistakes, and improve going forward. Having never had the opportunity to sit English exams, this will be a trial and error basis for most of us, and should have been an opportunity afforded to us ideally in first year, at the very least in second year. This carries a high risk, and could potentially cause students to lose out on well-deserved grades due to our inexperience in exam settings. Many of us are relying on results to progress to our chosen Masters. This coupled with the stress of a new, unknown setting means that many students will not be able to work to the best of their ability and produce the work they are capable of.

We are also concerned that the last exam papers we have access to are from 2019, as English exams have not been carried out in the college for the past number of years, which will limit our capacity to prepare adequately.

There are many students among us whose first language is not English, and therefore find it necessary to utilise various tools to ensure their work is written to a high level of English. This will result in a loss of marks, as well as the opportunity to learn as they go, by researching and improving their skills without being penalised, as they would be in an exam setting. 

We would also like you to consider the fact that there are numerous mature students among us who have not sat exams in a substantial number of years, as well a large percentage of students who finished their Leaving Cert cycle during Covid-19, who will not be accustomed to high-pressure examination situations either.

We have chosen English for a reason, and we thoroughly enjoy the research and learning that comes with our chosen modules. We understand the need to be tested or assessed, but the introduction of said exams takes away the research, learning, and even enjoyment of these modules, as we are instead forced to cram and regurgitate knowledge. 

We hope that you will take our points into consideration and will be open to discussion around the topic of examinations, if not for first semester, at least for second semester of our final year.

Kind regards,

Final Year Students 

3rd Year English Students - Maynooth    Contact the author of the petition