A survey questioning students over their interest in a January break after exams has closed, resulting in a significant majority in favour of the extra holiday.
The poll, proposed and distributed by Education Officer Rowan South, closed on Friday following 1023 votes, 62% of those in favour. With the survey now concluded, South, who was elected with the proposal as a key manifesto point, will be looking to use the results as a mandate to take to the university in January.
The result comes after months of communication with faculty deans and University heads in order to gauge the interest and the viability of the proposal. Now with the backing of the student body and plans to submit a formal paper to the university on the matter in the new year, South will hope to get the change implemented before the end of the academic year.
Student surveys are rarely well responded to, but with over a thousand votes, the Education Officer is hopeful that it will prove to the university that the change is necessary. Speaking to the Courier, South said “It's great to see so many people voting on this idea; clearly there is a significant majority of students that agree with the proposal so I'm looking forward to bringing this to the university in January!”
Students currently complete their exams and assignments during the January exam period, before beginning the university’s second semester in early February.
This, in turn, throws up the possibility of sitting an exam on a Saturday and restarting lectures the following Monday – a potential inconvenience that South is keen to rectify in order to aid students’ mental recuperation following a commonly stressful period.