After a major blunder on a recent university exam, the University of Bath’s physics department has released a groveling apology. First-year physics students were scheduled to complete a three-hour examination on Tuesday, 27th May 2025, from 9:30 to 12:30. But the students only had two hours to complete the exam. This unexpected time pressure caused panic and concern among many of them.
The cover of the exam paper explicitly said that the exam was supposed to be for three hours, or 180 minutes long. The difference between the planned 4 hour timeframe and the 3 hour timeframe given on the actual exam paper created a lot of anxiety among the first year students. They were forced to scramble to complete their assessments with the shortened timeline.
Prof Ventsislav Valev, head of the University of Bath’s physics department, admitted the error. He apologised on behalf of the institution.
“We are deeply sorry for the confusion and concern this has caused.” – Professor Ventsislav Valev
The university stressed its concern for making sure that no student suffers negative consequences due to this mistake.
“Our priority is to ensure that no student is disadvantaged. We are reviewing our processes to ensure such an error does not occur again.” – Professor Ventsislav Valev
The university’s response underscores its commitment to advocacy for student success, and redress when injustices occur along the winding road of a student’s college experience. The University of Bath is currently working hard to ensure that this kind of incident doesn’t occur again. They intend to adopt more rigorous scientific review procedures.
