Should I be allowed to go to the toilet in the middle of an exam?

So I had a 2 hour exam last summer (at Aston), and during the last 20 minutes or so of the exam I started to *really* need the toilet.

I put up my hand and asked the invigilator if I could go, but he said "no, you can't leave in the last 30 minutes of the exam, you should have gone before".

I explained that it's impossible to predict bodily movements like that, and I wasn't sure if I could hold it for another 20 minutes. He said "well you're not going anyway" and walked off before I could say anything else. I held it in, just, and by the end I was breaking a sweat!

This seems to seriously violate human rights? There were plenty of invigilators on hand who could've gone with me. Are there any rules regarding this kind of thing that I could use if the situation ever arises again?

Reply 1

username1799249

Are you my 5 year old son?

Aston University, Birmingham

Birmingham

Visit website

Reply 2

shawn_o1

Well when I was at uni the policy was that invigilators would lead a candidate to just outside the toilets if (s)he needed to go during an exam. And waited outside until said candidate was done, and lead him/her back to the exam room. I guess every uni is different :confused:

Reply 3

Killerpenguin15

Trust. Our Computing class (About 12 of us) in year 12, last year, went to the toilet, about what? 5 times on average. each. The exam was 3 hours. In that time, we saw the GCSE History students and GCSE Business students come and go in that time. Of those 3 hours, we were all practically done in about 1h30, so it left us with more time to twiddle our thumbs that that of which the buisness students had to compleet a whole buisness studies paper.

Reply 4

Kevin De Bruyne

I have also waddled back to the nearest toilet after drinking too much water during an exam. :colondollar:

So I'm not too sure about your question but:

1) Don't drink too much water
2) Go as close to before the exam starts as you can.
3) If you know that you'll have to go at some point during the exam, then go when you can (in your case maybe between the 1 hour and 1.5 hour mark). Even if you're not feeling it may be worth going so that it doesn't build up

Reply 5

LiquidGold

It's just the rules.
And tbh, if you start to need the loo desperately within such a small time frame, sounds like you could have a bladder problem

Reply 6

samina_ay

control your bladder fam

Reply 7

Lagona

I don´t think there is really anything you can do against this rule. What you can do is to plan ahead as good as you can to prevent the situation. Make sure you schedule a bit more time in the morning for having breakfast and toilet time afterwards, that should solve the "big" problem. If you have diarrhea (maybe due to nervousness) take a tablet (e.g. loperamide) before the exam starts or don´t sit the exam at all if you are really feeling sick. For the "little" problem make sure you drink a lot of water during he morning so your body stays hydrated during the day and you don´t need to drink anything during the exam. In any case visit the toilet right before the exam. I think two hours should be really easy to do for any adult without visiting a toilet. If you feel like you cannot do this at all, I would recommend you to visit your GP, there might be something wrong. Otherwise just try to apply the recommendations I gave to you and I am sure it will be fine.

Reply 8

CollegeStudent99

Original post by LiquidGold

It's just the rules.
And tbh, if you start to need the loo desperately within such a small time frame, sounds like you could have a bladder problem

And that’s the problem with modern society. Organisations, government just make up random rules on the fly and force people to accept them and don’t allow people to even question them, just going “it’s the rules.” I have to wear a mask at all times at college now, I asked my tutor why and apparently it’s “just the rules”. Even though there is no evidence that masks actually work to prevent coronavirus (I haven’t found any anyway) and young people are at extremely low risk of dying of Covid anyway.