The High Court has rejected a judicial review application by Catherine Galbraith, a Dublin City University student who sought to progress to Year 4 of her Bachelor of Education degree without completing a required Year 3 school placement.
Mr Justice Max Barrett ruled on 14 September 2022 that the dispute was not amenable to judicial review because the relevant decisions concerned a private relationship governed by DCU’s rules. He added that, even if judicial review were available, Ms Galbraith’s claims would still fail. The court granted no relief.
Ms Galbraith missed the entire SP3 placement after sustaining a serious ankle injury while playing camogie in August 2021. She had been due to attend the placement from 27 September to 15 October. After receiving medical advice that she could not attend, she submitted an extenuating circumstances form to DCU.
She proposed completing the placement at other schools on dates between November 2021 and June 2022. DCU did not accept that proposal. Under the applicable programme rules, a student absent for more than 10 days of a school placement receives no mark, and SP3 could not be repeated in the same academic year. The judge said the rules required Ms Galbraith to repeat the placement in the next academic year before progressing.
The Progression and Awards Board recorded a deferral for SP3 on 25 May 2022. Ms Galbraith appealed, arguing that the board had not given sufficient weight to her extenuating circumstances. The Examination Appeals Board rejected that appeal on 21 June, finding that the circumstances had received sufficient weight given the programme rules.
Ms Galbraith argued that DCU should have shown flexibility, including in light of arrangements for bereavements and the pandemic, and challenged the reasons and timing of the decisions. The judge found that DCU had no discretion under the rules to approve the alternative placement arrangements. He also said she had been told repeatedly that missing all of SP3 meant repeating Year 3, and that the appeal board had given reasons for its decision.
The judgment says the court heard the application at a one-day hearing the previous week. On costs, the judge said an order against Ms Galbraith would appear appropriate if DCU sought one, but asked the university to consider each side bearing its own costs. The judgment records no final costs order.