The number of Cambridge students applying to the University’s exam mitigation committee has more than tripled over the past nine years, Varsity can reveal.

The Examination Access and Mitigation Committee (EAMC) received a record 1792 applications in 2021/22, compared to 500 in 2013/14.

Over the past nine years applications have increased by 258%, rising almost every year since 2013.

Applications made to the EAMC range from exam appeals and coursework extensions to requests for intermission and grade exemptions.

Notably, there was a slight dip in these applications in the academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21 when take-home exams were introduced during the pandemic.

Varsity has also learned that the number of Cambridge students applying to take a break from their studies on the grounds of “medical or grave cause” has more than doubled over the same period.

The EAMC received 188 applications for “disregarding terms” in the period 2013/14. For comparison, the EAMC received a record 484 this past academic year (2021/22)

A student on “disregarded terms” is allowed to take up to a year out of Cambridge on intermission or “be put in standing for examinations”. These terms are only awarded on exceptional grounds.

This news comes at a time when mental health at Cambridge is under scrutiny, following a string of five suspected suicides last academic year and the leak of a damning external report into the University’s mental health services.

That report described the University’s provision of care as “ineffective”, “untargeted” and “unsustainable”.

These figures also follow a Varsity investigation into the EAMC which revealed a series of failings, including a lack of transparency and over-complicated bureaucracy.

One finalist on intermission told Varsity: “the main problem [with the EAMC] is that there really isn’t any transparency in the process [...] there’s so many layers of red tape that it’s baffling how the intermission system hasn’t been revamped already.”

Discussing the figures revealed by this newspaper, Daisy Thomas, the Students’ Union (SU) welfare officer and Elia Chitwa, the SU’s disabled students’ officer told Varsity: “The fact that students feel more able to take time away from their degree could be an indication of the de-stigmatisation of mental health and taking time for your own welfare.

“However, we worry that intermission is often being used by colleges as a plaster that removes students from their support systems and does not tackle the real issue of an inflexible and highly pressurised academic context.

“The increase in academic allowances shows students are more aware of their options. However, this rise, as well as the drop in applications in the 2019-20 period where there was more assessment flexibility, is indicative that the current system of assessments and the current process around mitigations are not working for students.”

The University declined to comment