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Dear colleagues, We have just had a situation where a student missed all of her end-of semester exams due to premature labour. The school originally stated that she would have to defer and take her first year exams next June, along with that year's exams, as they did not intend to offer a September paper. Alternatively they were prepared to let her sit this year's exam on a referral basis, with a maximum mark of 35%. Clearly both of these solutions represented detrimental treatment (all of her marks have been 70%+, even when heavily pregnant), for reasons associated with pregnancy, but we found nothing in our internal procedures that covered this. A solution has since been found that will enable the student to progress to next year, with her overall grade intact, but obviously there are wider policy implications. The tutors are particularly concerned about other students who missed the exams for valid medical reasons, and have to defer to next year (the tutors still don't accept that receiving less favourable treatment for pregnancy-related reasons is intrinsically unfair, and don't feel ready to defend the position). How have other institutions coped with this, and does any one have a policy or procedures that addresses the matter? One thing I wholly agree with the tutors concerned is that there should be a University-wide policy to refer to in such cases. I haven't got a bottle of wine to hand, but there is half a bottle of flat Orangina on my desk for any brilliant ideas... Maya Middlemiss Equal Opportunities Officer University of Greenwich Student Services (Island Site), Wellington St, Woolwich, London, SE18 6PF [log in to unmask] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%