EXAMS 2020

TRANSCRIPT
I’m Simon Askey, Dean of Undergraduate Laws at the University of London.
In the last few weeks we’ve all seen, and many of us have been directly affected by, the
global pandemic of coronavirus COVID-19.
I’d like to thank you for your patience and for your support as we have tried to find
alternatives to holding the May/June exams in the usual way. It’s heartening to see how
you’ve encouraged and reassured each other in discussions on the VLE. We are a global
community and supporting each other across boundaries is increasingly important in the
present crisis. I’m sure you’ll carry on helping each other in the coming weeks and months.
The decision we’ve reached, to hold exams online in July, will, I know not please you all. But
we had to balance the wishes and needs of students across more than 100 countries
against what seems likely to be possible in the coming months in what is an ever-changing
landscape. Those who want to postpone exams can do so and some of you may have to
do so. Many of you also told us that you want to move on. To move onto the next stage of
your life in a bar course or postgraduate studies or move onto the next year of the LLB.
And we want to help you to do that.
The alternative assessment that we’ll offer in July will follow a familiar format in terms of
the question paper. But it will be different in that you’ll answer two questions rather than
the usual four (or in some cases three) and you will take two hours rather than the usual
time. You still have a choice of whatever number of questions are on the paper usually be
that 6 or 8.
We’ll make sure that you have a chance to try this out well before the exams and for the
Level 4 students, for whom the University of London exams are entirely new, we’ll offer the
chance to take part in a pilot.
We will also provide additional support and resources in some key modules through audio
guides and other activities and will schedule some more Question and answer sessions for
you to engage with tutors online.
Over the coming months we’ll all have to cope with a whole host of challenges. The
alternative assessment we’ll offer online in July offers the chance for those who can to
move on. We need to assess your learning to ensure that you graduate with a valuable
qualification that will serve you well in your future career.
Please check the VLE regularly and keep in touch with what’s happening.
This pandemic will pass. When it does, we hope that you will be ready to move on and
we’ll do all we can to help you achieve that.
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In the meantime, stay safe, look after yourselves, appreciate the good things you have and
look forward to the post coronavirus era!

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