Power played out

Rather than enjoying a summer of fun or job applications, a group of engineering graduates at Nottingham Trent University are embroiled in a row over their results, which they claim are invalid. Sitting down to what they believed to be a three-hour exam in electrical power engineering, they were staggered when after only two hours they were told to put their pens down.

Following intransigence from the institution, the students took their dispute to The THES. We can confirm that the course literature clearly states that the exam should have been three hours. The students' case would look convincing, but for one small point - the rubric for the paper clearly states that it was a two-hour exam. "The university is confident that the results for this group are a true reflection of their academic abilities," the institution said. After the students' failure to heed the first tenet of examination practice - always read the question paper - perhaps the university is right.