Quality of uni student support being provided during pandemic?

[Linda H]

How is your university supporting students (well or less well) during the pandemic? To gather a summary overview please give name of uni & subject and say what your uni/department is doing or not doing. Please add both positive and negative feedback.

Uni name & department?

What is your uni doing anything to:- Please also say if they're not doing these.....

1. Contact students to regularly check how they are feeling and coping and how do they follow this up?

2. Provide any additional help to students having difficulties with coursework, labs, practical experience etc?

3. Provide quality tuition e.g. proportion of live online sessions, versus pre-recorded and other types of support, tutorials etc?

4. Manage the impact on assessment – e.g. steps to manage the impact on student grades - e.g. no detriment, changes to exams, grade boundaries?

 

[NigelSchwartz]

My DS is at Oxford studying Maths. Both his college and the Department have been excellent. He has around 10 hrs of lectures a week, 2 virtual tutorials or classes a week. Communication is clear and he feels little difference studying at home (apart from the obvious socialising with flatmates!)

 

[Pamela]

My son is at Queen Mary University London studying maths.
QMUL have been great actually. Son is in first year, in campus halls. He was getting 2 hours face to face before this current lockdown, none at the moment. Receives regular emails checking in and I've seen lots of official QMUL social media posts with information and support.
No food support during isolation period last autumn but it wasn't an issue to get grocery deliveries. This term saw an automatic reduction in accommodation costs of 30% for all students regardless of whether they are at home or had returned to campus and this is for next term's fees too.
Exams were open book and available to be completed over 24 hours, presumably for students back home in different time zones.
All lessons are live online but available to 'attend' recorded version later.
My son returned to campus on 2nd January, has no practical lessons or placements, and feels secure and safe there.
QMUL publishes daily figures of covid cases amongst students and staff on their website which I have found reassuring as their numbers have always been low (of course, these just reflect positive tests).
Security on site is present but not overbearing and the facilities remain open with restrictions in place.
All in all, pretty happy with how they've dealt with it.

 

[Juf]

University of Leeds - Data Science (Maths Dept)

What is your uni doing anything to:- Please also say if they're not doing these.....

1. Uni lecturers regularly check up to ensure attendance at all online lectures and expect assignments and exams done on time. Students given lots of online resources to help with their course and contact details for lecturers.

2. No difficulties experienced with any of this work throughout his time at Leeds but unfortunately the reality is that for most Russell Group Unis (possibly excluding Loughbrough) pastoral care is not a big thing. They are expected to be so academic that they are expected to just get on within and adapt. They ask for help from each other even online.

3. Can not fault the tuition in terms of quality and quantity during covid - in fact probably better than when not in covid situation BUT it does rely on your child being able to self motivate and manage themselves. For first years who have been hand-held (some year 13s have self taught themselves which is great prep for this type of Uni) throughout school and relied on being taught a subject by teachers or tutors I can understand why this would be a hard term. For current year 13 I would seriously consider how easily your child can self teach and motivate themselves when choosing a University.

4. In the summer term they introduced a lowest bar system where by as long as a student did every online exam and handed in every assessment where it is clear they tried hard then they couldn't go lower than their average. This year its a level playing field because the grade boundaries and marking is uniform for the year so like any other year. My son appears to be happy with this though as said the amount of work is a lot more so the fact there is nothing to do is actually helpful in getting the work done. Due to the volume of work he has stayed at Uni the whole time.

 

[Moomin]

My DD is at Warwick university studying business management

she is happy with the course, most weeks 4 lectures, 4 seminars, all live, then can access the recorded versions. Lots of resources, and info. Plus prep work and work after each so she is really busy.
However student support seems none existent. She and many uni friends have had issues with internet and being able to do exams at home, and no help or support given.
while at uni it was like a prison, and no compassion for how difficult they were all finding lockdown. No regular contact only a personal tutor once each term!

 

[Lou73ne]

Son is 2nd year Physics with Astro at York

When they went online from their Easter break last year he got a full refund/no charge for the final term in halls. All lectures online from home, some zoom meetings ups and supervisor catch ups.
They halved the number on site this year by splitting the year in half and doing 2 weeks online lectures then 2 weeks practical to start with - now 2 weeks webinars and zoom meetings. Regular catch up zoom meetings with supervisor for welfare check in.
For first years I saw they had arranged as much as they could for social life on campus when it was allowed, then they had zoned off the grass areas near the halls and you could book time slots with your flat to have time outside together in your bubble - take blankets and music and pizzas.
Lots of care packages for first years etc.
Testing pre Christmas was well organised.
Son still at home, happy with quality of physics lectures online. Daughter year 13 has York as insurance choice for Engineering.

 

[Cat_Lover]

Newcastle - Biomedical Sciences year 2

1. Contact students to regularly check how they are feeling and coping and how do they follow this up? No

2. Provide any additional help to students having difficulties with coursework, labs, practical experience etc? No

3. Provide quality tuition e.g. proportion of live online sessions, versus pre-recorded and other types of support, tutorials etc? No

4. Manage the impact on assessment – e.g. steps to manage the impact on student grades - e.g. no detriment, changes to exams, grade boundaries? No detriment last year. Not sure what is happening this year

 

[Sharonlakeland]

Son isreading Masters in Chemistry with year in Industry at Leeds. After March 2020 literally had nothing until September 2020. Since then everything online. The workload is unbelievable and deadlines impossible. I’m not sure how much is due to the fact he’s dyslexic so obviously it takes him more time. But he says everyone has been complaining. Plus the exams were a joke. You were given a 2 hour exam to do online ( but they gave you 48 hours) and it took him 48 hours. He literally didn’t move from his chair even to eat! And there were 4/5 exams! I’ve never seen anyone work so hard! Can’t be good for them!
When I tell him to complain. He doesn’t!! Maybe if someone spoke up something would be done!

no lab work apart from twice last term which he had to do on his own and he was self isolating when his week came up. ( due to another boy in his flat testing positive for Covid). Hewas so anxious about it he didn’t sleep night before and was talking about jacking it all in. Decided not to but it has not been a positive experience.
Due to the lack of university experience he’s probably decided not to do the year in industry because he’s had no university experience.

 

[admin@]

Would be great to get an update on this if anyone has anything to add about any of the universities

 

[Tefal]

My DS is at Oxford studying Maths. Both his college and the Department have been excellent. He has around 10 hrs of lectures a week, 2 virtual tutorials or classes a week. Communication is clear and he feels little difference studying at home (apart from the obvious socialising with flatmates!)

This is lovely to hear. Which college may I ask? My son has firmed St Catherine’s for maths and CS.

 

[egb1708]

I’m a first year Student at Edge Hill University, studying Film and Television Production, which is in the Creative Arts department.

1. We have received fairly regular emails from the university with any updates on covid guidelines, although not personalised. They contained information such as facility opening hours, where to get covid tests, how many cases on campus, accommodation updates (e.g. rebate information), how and where to contact well-being services, etc. Sometimes these emails have been a few days after government advice, which was a little frustrating, and sometimes didn’t clarify much, however often this was because universities received little clarification from the government.

2. I’m not too sure about this as I didn’t need anything particularly, but can say that my personal tutor has been great and really easy to contact by email, and she has made an effort to have online meetings with me whenever I have asked. The media store has also been open for most of the academic year, as far as I am aware. Nearly all of my tutors have been available via email for any issues I have needed to raise, and adapted the course so that it could more easily be done at home, even with limited software or resources. I am also aware that it has been easier to get extensions on coursework.

3. Almost all of my sessions this year have been live online when not in-person, with only one short recorded ‘mini-lecture’ a week for one of my theory modules due to how the course was structured (difficult to explain, but I actually found these lectures very useful). I felt that this was, for the most part, quality tuition, and most issues I or others on the course have brought up were fairly easily sorted out - usually smaller things like technical issues, although sometimes there seemed to be a lack of communication between some lecturers leading to some confusion for us students on occasion. Like I said above, my personal tutor has been great! I can also say that the wellbeing and counselling teams are brilliant; there is so much support available if you ask for it.

4. My course has no exams so I am not sure how they were assessed, however I believe there may have been a no detriment policy in place? But I really can’t say for sure as it didn’t really impact me. I also know that some courses changed exams to ‘time limited assessments’ but I didn’t have to do any. As I said earlier, I believe it was made easier to get extensions on assessments.

Of course, this is all just from my experience! Personally I have had a great time at Edge Hill this year aside from a few wobbles with accommodation at the start, and have overall felt very supported by the university. Rent for on-campus accommodation was refunded in full for the time not living there, which was great too. However, some of my friends have not felt as supported by their departments and course tutors, which is a shame. I have two flatmates who I know have felt this way, one studying Business and Management and one studying Psychosocial Analysis of Offending Behaviour. I definitely feel that the Creative Arts department seems to have done a better job than some of the other departments in terms of still having live online sessions and practical in-person sessions when government guidance allowed, and everything has been fairly well-organised!