I like exam period. That statement might sound kind of insane, but I find it relatively peaceful. I know classes are over, all of my assignments are handed in, and I can dedicate my time to studying in a healthy fashion. I honestly prefer exam period to the rest of the school year, when I have to attend classes, write multiple essays, and study for midterms all at the same time. Exam period is pretty relaxed, and it’s a sign that I’m almost done the year and ready to head into summer.

Being a moderate fan of exam period, the real bane of my existence is the last week of classes. Every prof seems to decide this is the perfect time for their final essay to be due (a fate I was thankfully spared from this year), while others simultaneously think that it’s the best time to hold their “final tests” (read: exams). If studying for an exam during exam period is the closest I can get to peace during the school year, studying for an exam in the last week of class is the definition of hell.

When professors schedule exams during the last week of class, students are forced to juggle a ridiculous number of obligations at the same time. Students have to attend class or tutorial, often as part of their grade, and finish large final projects or essays. Beyond academics, while extracurriculars tend to die down in exam period, they seem to be in full swing in the last weeks of class. Various clubs and organizations hold their final meetings, elections, and other important events just as courses are finishing up. Forced to balance competing academic demands, extracurriculars, and potentially a part-time job, students are not given their best opportunity to succeed on finals during the last week of classes. Professors are able to replace final exams with in-class tests under section 2.12 of the Academic Handbook. Term tests are considered different from exams, as they cannot be worth more than 25% of the course grade. These tests may not “be scheduled in the Final Examination Period, nor in the November Break, Reading Week or the Study Period after the end of classes and before the beginning of the Examination Period”.

The Academic Handbook does make some provisions to attempt to help students by stating that “no term test or combination of term tests having a value greater than 25% of the final mark may be held in the final two weeks of classes at the end of any session” (by the same course). The section goes on to say that is is acceptable to have assignments worth over 25% due in the final two weeks, provided they were assigned more than two weeks prior so that students can “manage [their] time in that intense period”. It is only considered unfair to have weighty assignments due in the last two weeks if “the question or topic is assigned or revealed to students within the last 2 weeks… since it necessarily commandeers an unacceptable amount of the student’s time in that critical period with no possibility for the student to manage in advance”. I’m glad that U of T thinks that I have such impeccable time management, but the reality is that most students have multiple midterms and assignments due each week from the beginning of March onward, and are often left to complete the most important assignments “in that critical period”.

Some of the worst last-week-of-class-schedulinghorror-stories I’ve heard include one of my friends, who had three exams within two days and three final papers due within the week. I also know someone who had three exams and two final papers within the same week, spread out more evenly but nonetheless stressful. This raises another serious issue with in-class finals: there is no formal process for deferring conflicting tests.

If a student experiences scheduling conflicts or three consecutive exams within the exam period (a ridiculous policy, but I’ll talk about that another day), there is a formal process for getting exams deferred. This rule does not apply, however, for final tests in the last week of classes. This becomes doubly complicated when final papers are added into the mix. There exists no set of policies whatsoever to help students get extensions or defer exams when different types of academic obligations conflict with each other. Though every student knows that having an exam and two papers due on the same day is recipe for disaster, this is not formally recognized by the university. Students are left to negotiate extensions and deferrals independently with their professors, who are often accommodating but are not guaranteed to be.

I can understand that in-class final tests can lessen the burden of exams during exam period, and if you only have one it really isn’t too much to balance. The issue is, as I see it, that there are no mechanisms to prevent students from having an unmanageable number of final tests and assignments within the same week. They are left to fend for themselves and hope that their professors will understand their predicament, a situation that can often lead to more stress and anxiety for already overworked students. In my opinion, final tests should not be separate from final exams. They’re equally important, equally stressful, and equally demanding. Exam period exists for a reason, and professors should be more conscious of students competing demands in the final week of classes before they schedule term tests. Though they’re slowly leeching out, exams need to go back where they belong—in exam period.

Student opinions on in-class final tests

The Herald asked students on Facebook whether or not they think final tests should occur outside of exam period. Here are their responses:

“I think that having one or two finals before the official exam session helps reduce the workload, as you focus on fewer exams at the same time!”
Anna Andreevna | 3rd Year | St. Mike’s

“Personally, I really like final tests and assignments that fall out of the exam period because they really lighten my overall load and give me more time to study for other exams during exam period. However, I feel it would not be as beneficial if all my final assessments fall outside of the exam period.”
Bela Chen | 2nd Year | Innis

“Nope! It’s an exam period for a reason! [People] have places to be!! U of T is a strong enough institution to manage when exams should and shouldn’t be.”
Stephanie Xu | 3rd Year | Vic

“I think “last day of class” tests should exist, they take pressure off, but I think you should be allowed to postpone them if you have more than two a day.”
Dasha Oleinichenko | 2nd Year | Innis

“In general, I think that the end of classes period is for essays and lectures, and that the entire point of having three weeks dedicated to final exams is to you know, actually have the exams then. But, final tests are theoretically easier and if profs have to write an actual exam they tend to contain at least two hours worth of content and are less likely to be non-cumulative. So take your pick?”
Sydney Narciso-Wilson | 2nd Year | Trin

“This may be an over-simplification, but I think if you’re going to be testing an entire semester’s worth of material in a ‘midterm’ for a full-year class, it should be during the exam period. I don’t believe these midterms are easier or shorter than semester exams, so it would be nice to have time to study. That being said, having one exam before exam period does space out my exams.”
Louisa You | 2nd Year | Innis

“It’s really one of those old collective action problems. If one of my courses does it, then it makes my life easier as a whole because it spreads it all out. If all of my courses do it, then my life becomes hell for one very unreasonable week. Maybe the profs should all coordinate with each other so that people who are probably taking the same courses won’t have too much conflict. Oh wait, that’s what exam period is for.”
Benjamin Gormley | 2nd Year | Vic