UCL closure leaves Human Sciences students with shock race against time for diss hand-in

Earlier today, Human Sciences third-year students were left appalled when they received an email informing them that they would be unable to submit their dissertations between 17:30 on Tuesday 16 April and 09:00 on Tuesday 23 April due to UCL’s Easter holiday.

The email came as shock, given that the dissertation deadline is 12:00 on Tuesday 23 April, leaving just a three-hour window for submission on the day. Recipients of the email were told that they should hand in their dissertations today or tomorrow, but also that they should make sure they are “definitely happy to submit it”. Unsurprisingly a lot of Human Sciences students were left unsure how to go about this considering the time pressure and late notice.

Should the third-years choose to submit their dissertations tomorrow, they were also informed that it should be done before noon in case of staff shortages! And to make matters even worse, the member of staff they were meant to hand it to has announced they will not be in the department tomorrow.

The hand-in situation is said to be due to the fact that Easter has come late this year, throwing the usual UCL term date structure out of whack.

Some students have expressed outrage at the limiting of the submission window, especially at such short notice. The issue is made worse by the fact that some students also have exams on that day.

Third year Human Sciences student Noemi said, “If I give in my dissertation tomorrow morning, I won't have had time to look over everything and check it with my supervisor, but if I come to UCL on the 23rd it's majorly stressful what with having to go to the Excel for my exam that day.”

Though an extension has not yet been confirmed, it is hoped that the Human Sciences students will be at the very least granted an extra day for hand-in.