Coronavirus: University of Portsmouth students left unhappy by support over exams

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth, Graham Galbraith, announced new measures on Friday, including deadline extensions and exam boards able to disregard marks out of line with previous, to ensure students aren’t disadvantaged due to the Covid-19 situation.

But many have told The News that the policies are ‘unclear’ and the announcement is too late in the day.

Third-year graphic design student Tamlyn Izzett said: ‘Myself, and seemingly all other students, are still very apprehensive about this. I will say I am irritated that it has taken this long.

‘Many students such as myself are in a position now where completing work is pretty much impossible so we are hopeful but ultimately untrusting of the university. These problems were undeniable and unfair.’

More than 8,500 people signed a petition that was set up calling for a ‘no detriment policy’ to be adopted by the university. The policy acts as a ‘safety net’ to ensure students obtain at least their average grade achieved so far based on already submitted assessments.

It was a stance supported by the University of Portsmouth Student Union.

Tamlyn, 21, told The News that further clarification on the policies is expected tomorrow but felt they did not equate to a ‘no detriment policy’.

She added: ‘At the moment we are still waiting for clarification on what it really means. These problems were obvious from the start and this should have been sorted sooner.

‘At this stage what I can say is it seems like they may be using a the blanket statement.’ Whether it is the right decision will come down to what it actually means.’

A final year politics and international relations student, who wished to remain anonymous, felt similar to Tamlyn.

The 21-year-old said: ‘The email we got was very unclear on the actual terms of the new policy and from what we were sent nothing has changed, they've just termed it a no detriment policy.’

In the annoucement to students, Mr Galbraith wrote: ‘We are currently living in a very different and often challenging situation, during this pandemic, which obviously has an impact on our University community in many ways.

‘Students are at the heart of all we do at the University of Portsmouth, and I and my senior team have been working closely with the Students’ Union, listening to their representation.

‘When considering the measures we are introducing, we have also looked at the approaches of other institutions who have put in place a ‘no detriment’ or ‘safety net’ policy. I’m confident that the package of measures that we have are as good as, if not better, than many of these other policies, and that the University of Portsmouth is supporting our students by being more generous and flexible than many universities.’