Queen's visit will disrupt Trinity College exams

QUEEN ELIZABETH’s visit to Ireland means some Trinity College Dublin students will have to decamp for examinations next month, although a plan to make them sit tests earlier has been reversed.

The programme for the State visit includes an event at Trinity, which was founded in 1592 when Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to “the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin”.

Anxious students prepared to cram after receiving an e-mail from Trinity authorities last week advising them to check the college website as a matter of urgency because “it has been necessary to amend the annual examination timetables in some respects”. Some discovered exams scheduled for Tuesday, May 17th, would take place on Saturday, May 14th.

On Tuesday evening students received another e-mail assuring them exams would take place on the original date. “Please be aware that examinations for this date will take place as originally timetabled, but in some cases in alternative venues,” the e-mail said.

A spokeswoman for the college yesterday confirmed examinations originally timetabled for May 17th would take place on that date, but at alternative venues in some cases. Full details would be made available as soon as possible.

The students’ union at the college has claimed credit for the reversal. In an e-mail to students, it said the proposal to change the date of exams was “due to the security arrangements put in place to ensure the safety of the queen”.

The union encouraged students to complain to heads of departments, senior lecturers and other personnel by e-mail, providing a suggested wording: “Your decision to move examinations is an unfair change that has caused great distress to many students. The changes made to the exam timetable will have a detrimental effect on exam results for thousands of students for reasons including, but not limited to, concentration of exams within a short period, reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities, religious accommodations, and the overall mental health of the student population...”

The State visit will run from May 17th until May 20th.