Education

UCD removes €180 exam re-sit fee for students who fail first effort

Long-running Students’ Union campaign had suggested fee proved ‘barrier to higher education’

Re-sits are offered to students who fail many modules the first time around, though in some cases repeating the entire module is necessary. Photograph: Alan Betson / The Irish Times

Hugh Dooley
Fri Aug 4 2023 - 16:33

UCD has eliminated a €180 fee students had to pay to re-sit a failed exam after long-running student campaigns.

Students in University College Dublin had previously been charged a “re-sit fee” in order to reattempt a failed exam. The fee was reduced from €230 in 2018 following a campaign from UCD Students’ Union, which labelled it a “financial burden putting pressure on students”.

In addition to the financial penalty incurred from failing an exam, students’ grade for that subject would be subject to a significant cap, to a grade-point average of 2.0 or a D- grade. This cap is still in place.

“As a result of years of campaigning from UCDSU, we have worked successfully with UCD to abolish fees for re-sit exams for all students!” the students’ union announced on X, previously known as Twitter. “In a time where cost of living is at an all time high, this is a welcome change for students to limit barriers to higher education!”

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A spokesman for the university said “In early 2023, a proposal to remove re-sit fees was developed by a staff and student working group and supported by the Dean of Students, Professor Jason Last and the UCDSU President, Martha Ní Riada.”

“This resulted in a decision to remove re-sit fees from the next academic year onwards.”

Not all modules in UCD offer re-sit options, instead charging €230 for students to repeat the module when it is next available. This option does not incur a grade cap, instead penalising students with a deduction of 3 grade points, an A being penalised to a B+. This structure had come under criticism from students, who characterised it as offering students the ability to pay extra money for a less severe academic penalty.

Latitude is offered in cases where an exam is missed with extenuating medical or personal circumstances.

A similar fee structure is in place in Dublin City University, where students who fail an exam pay a registration fee of €150 to retake exams. Should students be required to repeat a module, however, a significantly higher fee is charged of €55 per credit as well as a full-time levy of €277. Repeating a typical single 5-credit module could cost as much as €552.

Students in University of Galway face a repeat exam fee of €295, and those in Trinity College Dublin do not have to pay to repeat an examination. Students in Technical University Dublin are liable to pay a €100 fee to reattempt exams.

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