Eddie’s moved students out of rooms during exams for conference cash

Medical students were made to move rooms during Easter Term at St Edmund’s College to accommodate conferences or summer school programme guests

One students felt that the move affected their ability to study for their examsDroitetLiberté / Wikimedia Commons

by Ritika Singhal

Tuesday July 25 2023, 11:51am

Several medical students at St Edmund’s College have expressed frustration over being made to move rooms in the middle of their exams to accommodate guests for conferences or summer school programmes.

In an email seen by Varsity, St Edmund’s justified the move by claiming the costs of their “services and infrastructure” often exceed their income.

The college went on to state that to maintain a “sustainable budget”, it had to use accommodation over the summer months to generate income by hosting summer schools and conferences.

One medical student told Varsity that they, along with other students, were told to move rooms, and claimed that this impacted their “ability to study and stress levels” in the crucial exam period.

They said that this is not the first time students had faced this situation: “Year in, year out, there is no consideration for students who finish exams past the accommodation contract end. It’s like a TV sitcom where everything resets at the beginning of each episode.”

Another student told Varsity that they knew several medical students told to relocate: “Accommodation is generally an issue of friction at Eddie’s” they noted.

“There are long wait-times for email replies, if a reply is received at all”, they said. The student went on to state that although the accommodation officer had changed this year, “issues have not been solved”.

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St Edmund’s CR Committee president announced on the college’s Facebook page that the committee was “fully sympathetic with student’s disappointment about relocation during crucial times relating to their course”.

The president continued, emphasising that “students should not be hectically disturbed during examination and coursework deadlines”.

A spokesperson for the college said: “St Edmund’s is proud to be one of the Colleges that has students in residence all year round. There may be circumstances in which students are required to move; this is in line with the terms and conditions of their licence agreements. In all such cases, advance warning will be given, and students will be moved to alternative accommodation of the same grade or higher.”

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