Only three of the top 27 U.K. universities have decided to stop bending to fear (or, perhaps, financial pressure) and to focus instead on proper education by returning to full in-person teaching this term. The other 24 say they have opted for a ‘blended’ approach which will include students ‘attending’ lectures online. The Times has the story.
The universities of Sheffield, Sussex and Southampton expect to return to in-person studies, with students expected to be on campus from the beginning of the academic year. …
The University of Sheffield has told students that they are “expected to attend in person, on campus, from the start date of your studies”, while Southampton said it would conduct all teaching “in-person and on campus”.
Sussex is planning for large lectures to go ahead in person, with alternatives available to students who cannot come to campus because of travel restrictions. The majority, including Oxford and Cambridge, will hold smaller group sessions such as seminars in person but larger lectures will remain online. …
Students overwhelmingly believe that the move online has affected their education, according to the latest monthly survey by the Office for National Statistics, conducted in June.
More than 60% of students who were in higher education before the pandemic said the lack of face-to-face learning had a major or moderate impact on the quality of their course. …
Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, the Vice-President for Higher Education at the National Union of Students, said she was concerned that some universities could be using online learning as a way to cut the costs of running lectures.
“Nothing can replace the ability to socialise with and learn from your peers, or to engage with face-to-face, interactive teaching and learning and to have a full campus life,” she said.
Some universities are keeping lectures online so they can continue to increase their intake of students, particularly those from overseas, a source at a sector think tank said. “If you don’t have to worry about accommodating people or about the size of lecture theatres, how big can they get before it’s an outrage? You’re not even paying for the cinema at this point, you’re paying for Netflix,” the source said.
A record number of U.K. candidates secured a place at university this year, with 448,080 students expecting to start degree courses from next week, up from 441,720 last year.
Worth reading in full.
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Why should we (not “the Government” which has no money of its own) fund a 30% rebate? Why not just withold the money, with the universities taking the hit as the private sector has done?
Spot on.
The education industry along with our bleeding sainted NHS have been an utter disgrace throughout the Scamdemic and with only a few commendable exceptions proven to be spineless.
Yes, the universities and the NHS cheerleaded the lockdown and the suppression of low-cost safe and effective treatments – they should at least pay their fair share of the cost of those policies.
“A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Universities have a strong track record in delivering excellent blended tuition, and we have been clear from the start of the pandemic that the quality and quantity should not drop.”
What utter bollocks. The detachment from reality is immense.
Even a certified moron knows that the quality of education has been shockingly compromised by the idiocy of the Big Panic. To pretend otherwise is just lying, reminiscent of the worst sort of totalitarian propaganda.
This isn’t an opinion. It’s a fact, gleaned from both staff and students at Russell Group and other universities.
Spot on.
The D of E comment is Pravda esque.
Utter groupthink garbage.
So the LSE is happy with a situation where the debts “would be repaid only by the highest earning graduates.”
Great, let’s “educate” the masses and tell them they can have it for free by not bothering to aim for a well paid job. Yeah. It’s exactly this kind of backwards thinking which leads to these “intelligent” people walking around in the fresh air with surgical masks on their faces.
Yadda, yadda!
It would be 6.2 per cent plus inflation, I believe. It’s going to be a staggering percentage of, effectively, graduate tax on English students only.
On a related point, why would anyone start university this year? We know the experience will be a nannied nightmare, with little proper teaching. Defer entry. Get a job, any job. Read and learn in your own time.
Exactly. I have a 14 year old son and unless things go back to how they were I doubt if I’ll be encouraging to go to university in 4 years’ time!
Unless the lad loves academic study entirely for its own sake, he’ll be infinitely better off with an apprenticeship.
Even if he is truly academic, he won’t get anything worth having from universities if they are anything like they are at the moment. Except possibly the Open University.
Excellent advice!
The country is bankrupt
Why are they preventing people going abroad? To prevent money leaving the country
Remember the 1970’s and Healey going cap in hand to the IMF
Healey introduced a £50 limit on taking money out of the country
This time there will be no IMF bailout as the IMF is also bankrupt
The party is over
Gimme a discount but jack-up the interest rate?
What kind of innumerate nonsense is this?
These buffoons should be given failing grades in whatever course they are on.
Which rather points up the sub-standard quality of the education these youngsters are receiving from the Bliar “educashun, educashun, educashun” legacy system which he imposed on this country.
Majority of students will never repay the fees so it’s not that helpful
Better to offer them a free extra year of proper teaching and full university life
Michael et al, please ask Glen Bishop the second year Maths student at the University of Nottingham to calculate why this is an incredibly short-sighted idea.
As loyal Outer Party members, academic and non-academic higher education staff have been instrumental in driving the Covid orthodoxy, and not just within universities. It is significant that so many of them crop up on the creepy committees currently running the country.