Having been cooped up in their bedrooms for much of the past 18 months, teenagers who are about to begin university need help addressing “socialisation issues”, according to an English university official. Universities will also have to give catch-up sessions to help make up for the amount of learning lost during school closures. The i has the story.
Last month, the London School of Economics and the University of Exeter estimated that pupils lost nearly a third of their learning time between March 2020 and April 2021 because of school closures and coronavirus disruption.
With many schools unable to complete the full A-level curriculum, students were only assessed this summer on the topics they had covered.
To make sure students will be able to complete their undergraduate courses, universities are therefore having to step in to bridge the learning gaps.
The elite Russell Group of universities has teamed up with the Open University to launch ‘Jumpstart University’ – a free resource designed to help students settle into university.
The platform – which is open to students in all universities – has subject-specific courses, and modules on study skills, student life, wellbeing and mental health. …
An official working for a university in the South of England told i that they were expecting to deliver “remedial work with a lot of students”.
“They cannot help but have had some of their intellectual and other development hindered by being at home for two years at such a critical part of their education.
“We certainly noticed at the start of last year, some students had problems typical entrants didn’t have.”
With the 2021 cohort experiencing disruption over two school years, catch-up would have to be provided “across the whole year” to make up for the amount of learning lost, they said.
The source said universities would have to address “socialisation issues” as well as academic study. “If you’re locked away from age 16 to 18… if we’re back to normal by October, you’ve gone from a period of being locked down for almost two years, to something like as much freedom as you’re ever likely to get.” …
With student unions planning traditional freshers’ week activities for the first time since 2019, there are also concerns some students may over-indulge after two school years in which socialising was strictly limited.
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