Petition launched to bring back Exeter Uni’s no detriment policy for this academic year

 An open letter has been written calling for Exeter Uni’s no detriment policy to be reviewed for this academic year.

Bella Enoizi, a student at the uni, has written the letter in response to the University’s announcement that last year’s policy, which made sure students grades wouldn’t be lowered by Covid issues, wouldn’t be bought back for the 2020/21 academic year.

As all returning students are familiar with, last year the university introduced the “no detriment policy” by which each student was given a benchmark grade (their average mark thus far, at that point in time), meaning you wouldn’t finish the year with mark lower than your benchmark.

However, this academic year, an email to students said: “The No Detriment Policy will not be applied to assessments relevant to this academic year (2020/2021).”

They argued, “blended learning” and “support tools to support [our] wellbeing” mean that the policy is no longer necessary.

Bella argues the efforts of the uni to recreate a normal experience are “still not enough” and that there has been “little to no adjustment” to the way we’re being assessed.

The student group Students for Academic Mitigation (S4AM), of which Bella is a member, has said: “We’re really glad to see the student support for this movement. We encourage students to both sign the petition and get behind our campaign. Likewise, we hope they spread the word so their friends from all universities can do the same too.”

The University has been contacted for comment

You can read the full letter

You can sign the letter here

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• This is what socially distanced TP Wednesday was like, before lockdown 2.0 started

• Exeter students told not to go home during second lockdown

• Exeter freshers and campus security ‘injured’ after ‘incident’ at Holland Hall last night