By Ellen Jones, Third Year, Politics and International Relations
As the first teaching block of the 2024-25 academic year draws to a close, students across all years and courses have felt the effects of the university’s adjustment to its term structures, with essay deadlines and exam dates taking place before the winter break, rather than upon students’ return in the new year as they had been in previous years.
In February, the university announced changes it intended to make to the structure of the next academic year; in an email to students, it explained that ‘for some time, the University has been concerned that students—and staff—have been feeling overloaded’, and so sought to ‘streamline when and how things are done, so that there is less activity during vacation periods and the results of assessments are processed as efficiently as possible.’
These concerns produced several key changes to the teaching schedules experienced by students in the teaching block just gone: most significantly, the academic year was brought forward, with teaching beginning on the 16th of September. The dates for the mid-block ‘consolidation week’, during which most courses suspend normal teaching, were standardised across schools and ran from the 21st to the 25th of October, where previously they had been varied and determined individually by each school.
However, one of the most notable differences for students was that the earlier start to the year meant that most of their deadlines and exams took place during an ‘assessment week’ which ran from the 9th to the 13th of December. To give students time to prepare for these assessments, most teaching ended in the last week of November, while the first week of December was allocated for independent study.
These adjustments were made in response to student feedback, where many had described how having assessments after the winter break put pressure on them to spend the period revising for exams or writing essays, rather than using it to relax after a busy term. In September, Epigram’s conversation with students found that the changes were generally welcomed, but after one teaching block, do they feel the new structure has made a difference to their experience?
In recent conversations with Epigram, most students felt that the new academic year’s unburdening of the winter break was an improvement upon past years, with one third-year History student describing the updates as ‘so much better’ than having assessments scheduled for January. Although he acknowledged that it made ‘less of a difference’ for his fellow third-year students who still had some dissertation work to do over the holidays, he continued that ‘for everyone else, [it] must be amazing.’
'As long as you can manage time it's better. For people who wait until the last minute, they have less leeway'
These feelings were primarily echoed by students studying exam-based subjects. A third-year Biochemistry student speaking to Epigram agreed that the changes ‘meant I can relax a bit over Christmas, and work on coursework.’ He added that his school had cut the number of exams scheduled for the end of the first teaching block, rearranging them for summer in order to alleviate students’ workload. ‘As long as you can manage time’, he summarised, ‘it’s better. For people who wait until the last minute, they have less leeway.’
One third-year Politics student wrote that she was particularly grateful for the assessment preparation week at the start of December, where having no teaching meant that she ‘was able to complete the bulk of my assessments during this time.’ On the other hand, she acknowledged that ‘students on other courses didn’t always receive this time to complete any coursework, and were very stressed as a result’, suggesting that if the changes to the academic year were to be maintained, ‘having no exams or coursework due that week should be standardised.’
A feeling of being a bit more stressed as a result of assessments being brought forward was another common experience among the students interviewed. One second-year Archeology and Anthropology student described her experience of being given less time to meet all her deadlines this year: ‘I think the deadlines were really poorly structured, as having them all being so closely timed meant we had to be working on multiple deadlines through the week.’ She continued, ‘I’m enjoying having my Christmas break without any work to do, but I haven’t received my essays back, so if I feel I haven’t done my best, I’ll be disappointed […] I think it would’ve been nicer to have had more time to work on certain assessments, especially the ones worth 100%, so I’ll say the old structure maybe works a bit better.’
One second-year Mathematics student expressed that he ‘definitely prefer[s] the new timetable, even if it was a bit more rushed’, adding that ‘having Christmas free for relaxing and a bit of preparation for my next units is a much nicer experience than the exam revision last year, which left me already feeling burnt out by the start of the term.’ Similarly, a third-year Neuroscience student felt that the new structure ‘helped with finding a balance’ with her workload. In discussing the demanding end to the term, she wrote: ‘It was definitely a tiring end to the term, going from quite intense teaching straight into essays and exams […] the main thing was having our Neurosoc Christmas social right in the middle of exams!’
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Overall, most interviewees concurred that while the assessment period at the end of TB1 was slightly more stressful, the prospect of a leisurely and restful winter break before returning in January has been comforting. The second teaching block of the 2024-25 academic year will likewise commence earlier, with TB2 preparation week falling just before spring break between the 31st of March and the 4th of April and assessments scheduled to take place in the three weeks following. It’s yet to be seen whether this longer assessment period will lessen the ‘rushed’ feeling described by students at the end of TB1.
Featured Image: Epigram / Daisy Yates
What do you think about the changes to the academic calendar?
