The RDS will be limited to 80 per cent capacity for exams taking place at the south Dublin venue over the coming assessment period.
The venue was limited to 50 per cent capacity at Christmas to ensure students were socially distanced.
In an email to students, Senior Lecturer Dr David Shepherd and Dean of Graduate Studies Prof Martine Smith said students will not be “required to wear a mask, but we encourage you to do so”.
The RDS hall will be opened 30 minutes before exams start “to avoid crowds of students congregating in the holding area”.
There will once again be no automatic right to exam deferral, but students sitting in-person exams who test positive for coronavirus are required to defer.
Those taking online exams who test positive may sit assessments “if well enough”.
All students who defer as a result of a positive test result but submit a screenshot of their HSE antigen test registration.
Students taking exams at the RDS will be able to purchase coffee, tea and sandwiches from an onsite catering service.
Many courses have retained online assessment methods despite the end of social distancing requirements.
During the Christmas exam period, College held many exams in-person despite a surge in coronavirus cases and a student campaign to move assessments online.
In an email statement to The University Times in the lead up to Christmas exams, Trinity Media Relations Officer Thomas Deane said: “Exams fall into the education category and as such have been deemed essential activity.”
“That being said”, he added, “the decision to move more of our exams online than originally planned has meant that we’ve been able to increase distancing further”.
In November, the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) co-signed an open letter with independent lobby group Students4Change asking Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to force colleges to cancel all in-person exams.
The letter, which has garnered over 5,000 signatures, raised mental health and safety concerns, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
