*UPDATED*

Brendan Hughes

The School organised a compulsory module to concentrate on coursework, group discussion and presentations, despite the fact that Law and Accounting students must take a separate exam.

The ‘Law of Business Organisations’ module (LBO), which is compulsory in order to have a formal accountancy degree, is traditionally assessed by an exam. Successful completion of this test also gives students an exemption from some Chartered Accountacy examinations, and so is important for those wishing to follow this career path.

However, attending their first LBO class last week, Law and Accounting students were told that they would not be permitted to sit this exam.

It also emerged that while Law students would be taught a coursework-based version of LBO, Accounting students taking the module would be educated separately, with an exam-focused structure. The divide has caused Law and Accounting students to be lumped with the straight Law students.

Upon realising the problem, the School of Law changed the module to allow the option of being “assessed by an opt-in exam”, instead of coursework. However, Law and Accounting students must still participate in the straight Law class, which some students believe to be to their disadvantage.

Staff at the heart of the issue have been reluctant to speak, with both the advisor of studies for Law and Accounting, Dr Ciarán O’Kelly, and the LBO module coordinator, Dr Qingxiu Bu, refusing to comment on the situation.

The students affected are the last full class taking the Law and Accounting course at QUB, as the four year degree was dropped from the University prospectus in 2007. The degree’s axing has fueled speculation of a rift between the School of Law and the Management School.

Sources suggest that the Law School has been reluctant to collaborate with the Management School, evidenced by students from each school being taught separately for the same module.

Advisor of Studies for Accountancy, Mrs Jill Lyttle, said it was the Law School that took the decision to split the module.

“My understanding is that, shortly before the semester started, [the Management School] discovered that BSc (Accounting) students would no longer be permitted to take LAW3004 [Law of Business Organisations]”.

Mrs Lyttle recalled that, as a result, the Management School had to make “emergency arrangements” in order to cater for their students.

Yet the lecturer quashed suggestions of a ‘rift’ between the schools saying, “[The Law and Management Schools] are cognate Schools within the same faculty and work together as far as possible.”

On the other hand, Dr Peter Shirlow, the Director of Education for the School of Law, implied another version of events: Meeting with Law and Accounting students today, Dr Shirlow said the reason for the students being taught separately was due to the Management School “not liaising with us”.

Dr Shirlow offered his assurances that students taking LBO would not be worse-off for the confusion.

“Nobody is going to be disadvantaged whether they do [the exam or coursework],” he said.

Many Law and Accounting students are frustrated with the state of affairs.

“We have been the unfortunate victims of a disagreement between two schools, and the only satisfactory solution…is to be returned to the LBO class scheduled for straight Accountancy,” said one student.

The split LBO classes will continue as scheduled next week.

UPDATE: The School of Law have issued this statement:

“The School of Law has confirmed that it is running the ‘Law of  Business Organisations’ module as normal. Students undertaking this module have been advised on how it will be assessed and have thanked the School for clarifying the situation.”