Pressure is mounting for universities in England to offer rent rebates and academic safety nets for students, as staff and students say they have been left in limbo while institutions await further instruction from the government after a last-minute change to the start of the spring term.
The National Union of Students and the University and College Union, which represents staff, are urging universities to waive charges for the accommodation students are unable to use until face-to-face teaching resumes. For most students this is scheduled for when lockdown ends in mid-February, although the UCU, which tracked more than 50,000 Covid cases across campuses last term, is pressuring universities to remain online until Easter.
Some universities have already committed to moving teaching online longer term. The London School of Economics (LSE) has informed students that all compulsory teaching, learning and assessments will be online for the remainder of the academic year.
Halls of residence and some parts of the LSE campus will remain open, including limited access to the library. Its management said it hoped to provide voluntary in-person teaching from mid-February, depending on the progress of the pandemic.
LSE’s director, Minouche Shafik, said: “We have made these decisions with a heavy heart … We appreciate that students and staff valued face-to-face teaching in Michaelmas term, which was successful due to us all working together. However, the safety of our community is paramount.”
University College London has told its students to avoid returning to campus until the end of February, with studies online until at least 22 February. The University of York has moved all teaching online for the entire spring term, but specialist teaching in labs and performance spaces may go ahead in person later in the term if government guidance permits.
Financial support for students is patchy across universities. Some, such as Newcastle, have said no students will pay rent for the halls it operates until they return to campus. Universities where there has been pressure from student activists withholding rent as part of a growing wave of rent strikes, including Bristol and Manchester, have introduced 30% discounts on rent until face-to-face teaching resumes.
Other universities have no plans for rebates at present. Lancaster is instead offering some hardship bursaries, while Middlesex is considering requests on a case-by-case basis. Student Roost, which runs private halls across the UK, is also not offering rebates, although this is under review.
The NUS is also asking universities to reinstate “no detriment” policies, which provide a safety net for students from achieving below the average of their earlier grades due to disruption of their education. This demand has been echoed by thousands of students at universities across the UK, including Nottingham, Edinburgh, UCL and Exeter, who have signed open letters.
Many universities are awaiting government guidance before taking final decisions on the compensation and adjustments to offer their students. The Department for Education does not yet have a publication date for this and has not outlined what it will contain.
This guidance will also not apply to the majority of students who live in private rented accommodation. A parliamentary petition asking that students in England be allowed to leave their accommodation contracts early due to Covid-19, which would replicate law in Scotland, has gained more than 50,000 signatures.
Matthew Robinson, a third-year student at Liverpool who signed the petition, said the student-focused letting agency that runs his property contacted him by email after the government’s announcement. “They preemptively told us all they wouldn’t be giving rent rebates because the property was still ‘available for use’, which when we’re not allowed by law to return I find questionable,” he said.
Students are also stepping up grassroots campaigns for fee discounts. A parliamentary petition asking that fees be reduced from £9,250 to £3,000 has gained nearly 350,000 signatures. On 5 January, the Open University trended on Twitter as students turned to social media to complain that their degrees were now more comparable with its online courses, which cost £6,192 annually.
Larissa Kennedy, the NUS president, said: “As a result of [the government’s] incompetence students and the higher education sector are left scrambling for answers and guidance. Students urgently need the certainty that, having lost out on so much, they will now receive proper support on everything from housing to exams, to mental health.”
Jo Grady, the UCU general secretary, said: “Yet again, ministers have failed to prioritise education, and the chaotic way Boris Johnson has told institutions to move online has left staff and students in limbo.
“The government needs to let students learn online until at least the end of this term, allow university students to be released from accommodation contracts if they wish, and provide staff and students with the resources to make sure everyone can study remotely and gets sufficient mental health support.
“The government must also underwrite the sector against any lost income and any extra costs created due to these last-minute changes.”
