Students who are studying in a semesterised system may be underperforming in their first semester exams, the registrar of DCU has said.

Professor John Carroll said that while students generally reacted positively to semesterisation, there was some evidence that first-years, in particular, were underperforming in semester-1 exams. It was likely that college entrants lacked the time-management skills to cope with a set of college exams so quickly after the Leaving Cert exams, he said.

The solution might be to dilute or weaken the impact of assessment in semester 1 and integrate it with assessment in semester 2.

Generally, students who were well organised and disciplined in their study timetable found that semesterisation worked to their benefit, but young people who wished "to participate in a more complete way in student life" found the semesterised system more difficult.

In introducing a semseterised system, there was a need to involve students on programme boards and for student organisations to be informed in advance of the implications of the system for their activities, he said. As it stood, students in semesterised courses were finding it more difficult to participate in extra-curricular activities, particularly intervarsity competitions. Such a phenomenon was a "very negative development" and a problem "we will have to address".

While "the jury is out on whether semesterisation is a good thing or a bad thing for students", it did have the important advantage of making it easier for non-standard applicants to enter college, he said.

The former Education Officer of USI, Malcolm Byrne, said that while students were often initially opposed to the introduction of a semesterised system, they quickly adjusted to it. "Administrators know that if students moan, there will be a new bunch in two to three years time who've never experienced a different system, so they feel that the short-term pain is worth the long-term gain". Byrne said semesterisation also compromised students' ability to earn money from part-time jobs during the Christmas and summer holidays. In general, the system led to "better academic results, but a poorer university experience".