On 23 March, Milla Skaug Ødegaard, a student from King’s, created a petition to cancel first year assessments, following the continuous disruption of lectures and seminars.
The second half of the second semester at King’s has been plagued by strikes and COVID-19 cases which have disrupted studies in the university. Some of the reasons stated in the petition are as follows:
- Pension strikes and the COVID-19 outbreak have left many students confused
- Due to this, students were forced to return home
- Many students are in quarantine or volunteering to help the elderly/sick
- First years have little to no experience with summative assessments, therefore being disadvantaged
- Anxieties over loved ones, falling ill, losing someone
- Unequal nature of take-home assessments (for law) as some parents may have a legal background which could be used to a student’s advantage
On 20 March, UCL cancelled their first-year assessments. This petition was created in hopes of King’s taking the same actions.
This year has been particularly tough on freshers where they have been facing problems with administration, visa, accommodation and missing lectures.
At the time of writing, there have been almost 1000 signatures. The petition can be found through this link.
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