The Treatment of University Students Throughout the Pandemic

With a third national lockdown looming over us, it only seemed just for me to discuss with readers a topic which has been neglected by the people in power – the treatment of university students throughout the pandemic

I would like to note that any opinions given in this post are not intended to attack university lecturers, but the universities themselves and the UK government’s leadership.

In September, students from all across the country were forced into isolation within weeks of arriving at their universities, after mass coronavirus outbreaks were confirmed at campuses. Students at Manchester Metropolitan University were ordered to isolate or be met with ‘’disciplinary action,’’ then fenced inside their accommodation with security guards and patrol dogs circling outside – and university students in Scotland were banned from visiting bars, pubs and restaurants, and were told they must not socialise or mix with other households.

The media has not shied away from plaguing our socials with headlines about the ‘snowflake generation’ engaging in accommodation strikes and ‘missing out on freshers.’ However, what they haven’t spoke so much about, is the lack of support, information and guidance offered to students.

­A False Sense of Security

I graduated in the summer of 2020, when the UK was in its first full national lockdown. I finished my master’s degree in my partner’s bedroom on a tiny desk, completing my final exams whilst listening to the neighbours argue loudly about what they want for dinner, and the parrot downstairs shouting for me to turn the hot water on. It is safe to say, it is not how I foresaw finishing university would be like.

I remember, between the months of March and June, experiencing severe levels of stress and anxiety. There was a constant feeling of hopelessness, as I was unsure whether I would be able to take my final exams, if I would still achieve my desired grade without any in person teaching, and how I could possibly get a job and pay off my student overdraft, (amongst other money worries), when I graduate if the country is in lockdown. This fear then shifted to extreme sadness, as my graduation was cancelled, and it hit that I may never get the opportunity to properly bid farewell to one of the biggest chapters and milestones of my life. I had gone from living the best four years of my life, living with my best-friends and working towards a fantastic future, to feeling as though everything was all of a sudden ‘’up in the air.’’ My mind was in a downwards spiral as I convinced myself I was being set up to fail.

I was lucky, because I had one or two amazing tutors who consistently and unconditionally offered their full support – both mentally and for my learning. However, for many students who I have spoken to, as part of a charity I work with, this has not been the case.

Students have been fed a false sense of security by their universities, and their government. They were actively encouraged to start or return to university, and absolutely convinced that they would receive the same quality of teaching and support. However, upon arriving at campus, this was not the case.

A 21 year old final year student from Leeds Beckett, who wished to remain anonymous, told me, ‘’were just the cash-cows for the university. We were pressured left right and centre to come back, then locked in our flats and blamed for spikes after the eat out to help out scheme,’’ he continued, ‘’the government knew that with students travelling all over the country that there would inevitably be a spread, and they [universities and the government] had months to prepare for that, but they didn’t do anything. We just got online video lessons. I haven’t had a reply off my dissertation supervisor for weeks.’’

Holly, a fourth year Leeds Beckett student studying fashion, explained how she simply felt cast aside by the government, stating, ‘’it’s just disappointing receiving three hours of online learning a week – I feel like I’m getting myself into a huge amount of debt for not an adequate amount of teaching, it makes you feel hopeless for your future and job prospects too – I have no idea how I’m going to pass the year without access to campus facilities.’’ She continued, ‘’I know my lecturers are not to blame, mine personally have been quite supportive and I know they resent the current situation too, but it’s impossible to properly study a course like mine just over zoom.’’

Final year Leeds Beckett students were informed via email that they would be receiving ‘blended learning’ and face-to-face support for their dissertations. However, as soon as they returned to campus, tutors were ‘out of office’ and many students had not had contact with their course leaders/teachers for weeks, despite having multiple deadlines to submit.

Many students expressed fear of failing their courses, and anger at the government for remaining silent in terms of addressing support for universities. Primary and secondary schools have consistently been of paramount importance throughout the entirety of the pandemic, with the government allowing them to open in alignment with social distancing rules and rewarding GCSE and A-Level students with their predicted grades. Universities on the other hand, have simply just been told to remain closed.

What’s more, students have still had to pay full tuition and maintenance fees throughout the pandemic, despite not being on campus since March due to the facilities remaining closed. Many have only had online lectures and video recordings – which are simply not adequate enough to facilitate the ‘proper’ teaching of many courses, including the Arts, Sciences, Fashion and Music, which require things such as the use of laboratories to pass their degrees. Many more courses, such as Education, require mandatory work placements in order to complete their degrees and are still currently awaiting confirmation if they can return to their placements in January. Some students explained how at the start of term, their university had also failed to even post their timetables online in time, leading them to miss out on even more teaching. If this was the case for paid secondary-private schools, there would be public uproar. I struggle to comprehend why this isn’t the case for university students, who are paying £9,000 a year for advanced higher education to prepare for their future professional careers.

The only occasion that students were seemingly addressed so to speak, was during the ‘Eat Out to Help Out Scheme’, which was aimed to encourage young people to ‘eat out’ at local business’ and fuel the economy. Although this scheme was beneficial for business’s, the consequences of such were easily foreseen, and despite individuals of all ages participating, students were accused of being at fault for the spike as a result. It was an almost vindictive ploy by the government to line their pockets whilst preaching ‘its good for the economy’, whilst exacerbating a societal ageist divide between old and young, deeming young people as ‘selfish’ and solely at fault for being ‘super spreaders’, whilst anti-maskers and conspiracy theorists continue spreading false information and storming the streets with ‘anti-lockdown’ protests without discipline.

Students are in Financial Jeopardy

Student poverty is a thing. It was a thing prior to the pandemic, and it has now been exacerbated even further as a result of the pandemic. I’m sure students and graduates alike are all too familiar with having to choose between affording heating in January when the loans have run out, or being able to afford food which isn’t pasta – ‘but that’s just student life.’ The recent news of a flat of six students being expected to live off and share between them one bag of pasta, whilst their accommodation was locked down, exemplifies how normalised student poverty actually is. They are dealt crumbs, and expected to just deal with it. A student I spoke with who experienced something very similar stated, ‘‘they may as well have given me 50p and just told me to make do.’’

You pay £9,000 in tuition fees, and up to another £9,000 in rent and maintenance. For many, (like myself), the student maintenance grants are not ‘viable’ (if you know, you know) in adequately supporting students throughout their academic year, and so many also work part or full time to be able to support themselves.

I paid £485 a month throughout the pandemic for a house that I wasn’t living in as my letting agents were privately run student lettings, and thus I was told that I still had to pay. However, since the beginning of the pandemic businesses have had to close, which has consequently led to many losing their jobs and being made redundant. What’s more, many students have had to drop out of their courses due to not being able to afford the cost of living.

Given these unprecedented circumstances, I’d like to imagine universities could offer some form of supportive grants. With universities remaining closed, they will have saved thousands, perhaps millions, of pounds. Thus, surely there must be a spare savings pot which could be used to help support their students paying extortionate prices for their education? However, this is not the case. Yet, university lecturers can claim tax rebates as they are working from home. If the government can offer financial support for lecturers, why is it that they are not offering university students and new graduates, unable to find work as a result of the pandemic, some form of financial support?

Granted, it has very recently been mentioned by the Higher Education Watchdog that students may be compensated for lost teaching time, after an institution was told to pay £1,000 to an international student. However, the National Union of Students have described the process for dealing with these complaints as ‘farcical’ and ‘inadequate.’ To me, this gives the impression that both universities and out government are quick to take money from students, which often leads to them incurring masses amount of debt, yet are much less enthusiastic about actually supporting students. If this exchange was between any other agencies, hypothetically for example between two business’, there would undoubtedly be large civil and potentially even criminal law suits. Why are students being cast aside again?

The Student Mental Health Crisis and Lockdown

Student mental health and wellbeing is at the exact same place as it was in March for many, and there is still a severe lack of funding in general for mental health services at both universities and the NHS.

University services and news media often encourage you to reach out and ask for help. However, what they fail to tell you is how over-stretched their services actually are, and how many or left on waiting lists for weeks on end. The pandemic has been difficult for absolutely everybody, but particularly students who have to battle with their anxieties daily whilst solely being blamed for the spread of Covid-19. I feel as though many do not consider how much it burdens a young person’s emotions when they are blamed entirely for something which has killed thousands of people – especially when most have been following government guidelines.

There has been so much upset and anxiety over the Christmas period about whether students can go home, with many spending their first Christmas’ without their families – compounded with worries over becoming ill, making somebody else ill, and the pressure to complete assignments and exams with very little teaching.

Universities often pride themselves on their mental health services, and I am sure that when they are available they do a brilliant job. However, the problem is that they cannot always be accessed. If universities took the preventative steps to help stop a young person from reaching a point of poor mental wellbeing in the first place, this would sufficiently reduce the overwhelming pressures placed upon mental health services. The solution at first hand appears so simple – listen to your students about how you can support them further and act upon this information. Yet, this isn’t happening. We need to bridge the gap of miscommunication between universities and students to improve this.

Students are paying so much money to try better their lives and their futures, to be met with a lack of adequate teaching (through lack of government guidance for universities), no support and no contact time. It is shameful what the government has done and they need to acknowledge this.