Repeat fees too high says union

THE £100 fee charged to repeat exam students at UCD cannot be justified the students' union has said.

The union is to press the college authorities to provide what it terms "an adequate explanation" for the charges it levies on repeat students.

Currently, students in UCD who fail an exam at the start of the summer and choose to repeat in the autumn are charged a fee of £100. Last year 2,000 students repeated examinations in UCD, generating £200,000 which the union says is more than is needed to cover the cost of the examinations.

"The only costs involved are paying for invigilators, marking and the hall used," says UCD students' union education officer Cormac Moore. "The college is using the £100 fee to pay for other expenses apart from repeat examinations."

Moore argues that UCD students are being charged a fee far in excess of that levied on their peers in other institutions. Currently, Athlone RTC sector charges £24 to repeat examinations and UL charges £64.

TCD, meanwhile, in a gesture of laudable magnanimity, doesn't charge anything for students who repeat, although those will have to sit exams a third time are charged £102.

"The charge is excessive," says Moore of the UCD fee. "All I want is for the college to be accountable for the cost."

According to a spokesman for UCD, the fee is in line with that charged in the other NUI colleges. "Basically we have to pay for a place to hold the exams, we have to pay for the printing of exam papers, we have to pay people to supervise those exams and we have to cover all the funding of the examinations office, he said.

. The Irish Times' student debating competition for the Demosthenes Trophy is about to start in third level colleges throughout the country. This is the 38th year of the competition. The preliminary rounds will commence on the week of Monday, November 18th. Auditors of all college debating societies will be contacted this week and invited to submit teams.

The auditor for this year will be Kerida Naidoo, who can be contacted directly at the Law Library, telephone (01) 872 0622. Completed application forms to be returned to: Kerida Naidoo, Convenor, The Irish Times Debate, Newspaper in the Classroom, The Irish Times, 10-16 D'Olier Street. Dublin 2.