Three thousand UU students take exams as usual despite the heat

On Thursday afternoon, Utrecht University decided that all Friday’s exams would go ahead as planned, despite the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute's Code Red warning.

These are the final days of the exam season before the summer holidays, so many students already have other plans for next week. The same goes for many international students, who have already booked their flights back home. For this reason, Utrecht University has decided not to cancel any exams. “We understand that working or sitting an exam in this heat is far from ideal,” UU Rector Wilco Hazeleger says in a statement.

The Faculty of Social Sciences was the only one that requested permission to postpone four exams for around 750 students. The university has granted them this permission. The faculty felt it was irresponsible to examine students in such high temperatures, so it has rescheduled all exams for next week.

For students unable to attend exams today, the same arrangements apply as for those who miss an exam due to a Code Red alert. Anyone with a valid reason can invoke the force majeure provision of their faculty and may be granted an additional exam slot.

Heat stress
Some 3,000 students are still due to sit exams at several locations across Utrecht Science Park and the university's premises in the city centre. Bottles of water will be distributed during the exams. Invigilators have been instructed to watch for signs of heat stress among students. The university is not yet aware of any problematic situations.

Fortunately, trams are still running. After the entire timetable was thrown into disarray on Thursday because the heat caused certain points to malfunction, U-OV decided to run only tram 21 on Friday, meaning trams will stop at Utrecht Science Park four times each hour.

Relocations
Some students had to contend with exam relocations earlier this week. Temperatures rose too high in places such as the Olympos sports centre and the halls on the north side of the Ruppert Building. As a result, 37 of 186 exams had to be moved to other venues. 

Conditions were slightly more bearable in the Educatorium halls and the Hijmans van den Bergh Building, but a UU spokesperson admits that even there, conditions were far from ideal.

Exams were also moved to the Jaarbeurs Convention Centre near Utrecht Central Station. However, digital exams could not be held there and had to be converted to written exams at short notice. “We greatly appreciate all these efforts, as well as the dedication of all timetable coordinators, emergency response team members, invigilators and other colleagues,” states the spokesperson.

Flexible resit arrangements
The student union Vidius has received one complaint from a student regarding this week's exams. This student initially had two exams back-to-back at Utrecht Science Park, but one of them was moved to the city centre. The unexpected travel time subsequently caused sudden problems.

Although Utrecht University states that it kept students informed in various ways, Vidius believes the university could have communicated more effectively about changes to exam timetables and other measures. “We are seeing a great deal of confusion among students and lecturers.”

The student union supports Utrecht University’s decision to go ahead with the exams. Vidius also believes it is important that students are able to bring the academic year to a close this week. At the same time, Vidius chair Dante Glastra van Loon points out that students have faced many obstacles. “Public transport is less reliable, studying is more difficult, and many students are sleeping poorly due to the heat. So, there must be an extra resit opportunity for them.”