College officers will begin to examine alternatives to the proposal.
Trinity College Dublin’s board has agreed with the Students’ Union to scrap its examination resit fees.
In a statement, it was confirmed that the Board would follow up the Union’s proposal of returning to the status quo regarding modular billing and fees for taking supplemental assessments.
Furthermore, the Board agreed to give “fee certainty” to postgraduate and other students paying full fee as undergraduate level, meaning any student to enter Trinity will know in advance how much fees will increase annually.
College officers will begin to examine alternatives to the proposal.
The decision was reached following a week of discussions between Officers and student representatives.
Commenting on the news, Provost, Dr. Patrick Prendergast said: “I undertook that we would seriously consider alternative proposals, and we have done so.”
“I look forward to continuing the dialogue with student representatives to find a solution to the issues confronting Irish higher education, taking account of both fairness to all students and the College’s financial position. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed so far.”
The decision to scrap the fees follows a fortnight of student protests, during which time a group known as Take Back Trinity occupied the campus dining hall on 13 March.
Listing out a set of demands, which included the scrapping of supplemental fees, the offering of affordable rental options for the full academic year and an end to the increase in student fees, the protest reached its boiling point when 60 students claimed that they were locked into the hall without access to food, water or toilets.
Subsequently, the entrances were blocked by an external security service group, with the occupiers being informed that an alarm was to be set and that if it were triggered, the authorities would be called.
The claims were contested by the college’s press spokesperson and the occupation ended on 15 March, but the ordeal resulted in a major backlash against the Provost.
#TakeBackTrinity has won! Supplemental Fees have been scrapped! Students celebrate outside House 1 where the decision by College Board was made. pic.twitter.com/6UGAPdDs3B
— TCD Students' Union 🇵🇸🏳️🌈 (@tcdsu) March 28, 2018
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
