University of Chichester students call for exams to be scrapped amid coronavirus crisis

A petition has been set up which has more than 1,400 signatures at the time of writing. You can find the petition here.

It was set up by Jessica Doe who, in a statement on the petition's website, said: "With the current ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, we are in the midst of an incredibly uncertain, worrying and unprecedented time.

"We as students believe that it is now vital to seriously consider the wellbeing of everyone at the university, and what measures can reasonably be put in place in order to combat additional stress and anxiety. With the current situation, people are feeling isolated, anxious, unsupported and levels of stress are currently really high."

Similar steps have been taken at other universities including the University of Southampton which has in place a 'no detriment' policy meaning students cannot achieve lower that their current grades.

The statement continued: "We acknowledge that some measures have already been put into place, but believe this is not enough and more can be done not only to benefit our wellbeing, but to ensure that grades aren't negatively impacted."

The university announced on Friday subjects would be taught online, learning resource centres were closed, parking restrictions were relaxed at the Chichester and Bognor Regis campuses and more.

A University of Chichester spokesman said: "We are aware of a petition calling for a decision to be made on academic assessments. We are currently taking advice from the government and will wait for official confirmation before we decide on the best course of action for our students.

"We recently wrote to all students explaining our regulations and highlighted the flexibility within these rules to ensure they are successful. At this time our focus – other than the health of our students and staff – is to continue to provide the best learning experience for our community."