HIGH-SPIRITED students messing around outside exam halls can usually expect a stern telling off from staff.
But Edinburgh University has gone one step further in a bid to enforce exam etiquette – by threatening students with police action.
Posters warning them that drinking alcohol or "causing a disturbance" outside exam halls will get them into trouble
with police have been put up at the university's St Leonard's Land building on Holyrood Road. University chiefs are also warning students they will be liable for any "clean-up costs" incurred by the university or the city council as a result of their behaviour.
The university insists it does not want to be a "killjoy", but says it has to promote consideration for members of the public.
Students have also been sent e-mails asking them to keep the noise down after exams. It is understood the signs have been put up following incidents in previous years where students have thrown eggs and flour after leaving exams.
But the warnings about post-exam behaviour have not gone down well amongst some students, who find the tone threatening.
Second-year student Katie Linsell, 20, believes some people feel "victimised" by the threat of police action. She said: "In some cases the exam rooms are shared by people sitting different exams, but I have never suffered huge disruption when I have been in an exam. I was sitting in George Square on Monday and there were people celebrating and drinking champagne in the gardens, which are directly outside the exam rooms – but they weren't being rowdy.
"The fact that the poster begins with talk of police action makes it seem very threatening."
Josh McAllister, president of the Edinburgh University Students Association, says most students do behave themselves, but added some might take offence at the tone of the posters.
He said: "A couple of years ago students would throw flour and spray champagne after exams, so the university is keen to make sure that doesn't happen again. An e-mail was sent to all students saying it wouldn't be appropriate to do these sorts of things, but I think there are issues with the language used in the posters.
"Most students wouldn't participate in these kinds of things, and I think it's encouraging they are celebrating after exams in a responsible way."
An Edinburgh University spokesman said: "The university recognises that students will want to celebrate at the end of their exams. However, from time to time, celebrations can get out of hand in terms of the noise and disturbance they create for the general public.
"The university always seeks to remind students at this time of year about the importance of showing consideration for others."
A police spokeswoman said that anyone caught causing a disturbance in a public place would be "dealt with accordingly".
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Edinburgh University Students Association websiteThe full article contains 486 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
