An Edi student has started a petition for a no detriment policy for fourth years

‘We are still expected to perform as if the world isn’t falling apart around us’


A fourth year Edinburgh student has started a petition for Uni of Edinburgh to reinstate the “no detriment” policy for final year students.

The policy in question allows university students to ensure their final academic year average would be the same as, or higher than, the average they had attained through assessment already undertaken.

The petition already has over 100 signatures and can be signed here. 

The student who started the petition told the Edinburgh Tab, “I started this petition because even though it has been almost a year since March, students’ studies are still being massively disrupted by Covid – perhaps now more than ever!

“Final years last year were blessed with a ‘no detriment’ safety net, saving both their grades and mental health, so why should we, who have suffered for even longer, be expected to complete our final year as if everything is fine.

“Surely those who suffer longer and harder deserve the same protection, if not more, than last year’s cohort of fourth years. I know the Uni is trying its hardest, but a ‘no detriment’ policy isn’t a huge ask in terms of protecting its student’s grades, health and wellbeing.”

In the petition description, the student added, “Having already faced a semester of online uni (not just a few weeks or so like in March/April), face-to-face teaching only in the rarest of instances, virtual dissertation meetings and now another national lockdown, these are some of the toughest conditions final year students have ever had to endure. And yet, somehow, we are still expected to perform as if the world isn’t falling apart around us.”

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