University return in January

[grenadines]

Does anyone know what the plans are for universities in January? My DS is due to return to a hall of residence at the start of January but we are wondering if this will happen now that a large part of the country will be in T4.

Assuming they can go back when they want for educational purposes and they’ve a right to their paid accommodation. My dd will hopefully return to England from NI mid January if not before ...her uni is still currently tier 2 and we will be in lockdown so there’s more for her to do over there.I would think even Tier 4 is allowing uni students to travel. They can’t stop them unless it’s a national lockdown surely?

I'm not sure even the universities themselves know yet. I think the government is waiting to see what happens with infection rates over the next couple of weeks.

DS has lab work scheduled from the third week of January which would be difficult to do online, so he would prefer to return if possible. His university has a weekly asymptomatic testing programme and by the end of term the infection rate had come right down.

The last I heard, his university was planning for the students to return in mid-January, do a PCR test within the first few days (the tests are delivered to their households), learn online from their rooms until their test results come back, then hopefully (if result negative) be free to resume blended learning in the last week of January. Then they will continue with the asymptomatic weekly testing to try to prevent outbreaks.

However, things may change by then, so we'll have to wait and see.

I thought return was going to be phased: those students on courses with practical elements returning fist (medics etc) and those studying subjects where the transition to online learning is more straightforward returning later. Ds is a third year at Warwick and due to return in Feb.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/students-returning-to-higher-education-from-spring-term?priority-taxon=774cee22-d896-44c1-a611-e3109cce8eae

• has the current 'timetable'.

However...
HEproviders should also consider allowing the return of students who may need to return earlier for other reasons, for example, students who do not have access to appropriate alternative accommodation, facilities, studying space, or that need to return for health reasons. In these circumstances,HE providers can make plans to welcome these students back on campus from their original start date but their courses should not resume face-to-face teaching, unless they study one of the practical courses defined above.

My daughter (final year) has two exams in January so wants to do those from home as our wifi is more reliable than at her student house, and there are fewer distractions.

She hasn't had any face to face teaching this year at all so won't need to rush back for that and she expects to go at the end of Jan or early Feb. We are about to go into tier 4 though, which may complicate things. University is in tier 2.

My DD has been advised to return shortly before face to face teaching for her course resumes.....which is the middle of March!

The Uni advises them to test before returning.

No word about whether to expect a reduction in accommodation costs due to this advice.

She's not sure what she's going to do. She misses her flatmates but equally has found the first term very isolating as they've been pretty much online learning and "confined to barracks" since September.

My DS is due to return to a hall of residence at the start of January but we are wondering if this will happen now that a large part of the country will be in T4

Tell your DS to check his emails. Certainly at my university, students were emailed with very specific instructions about when they should return, within 24 hours of the most recent government announcement of a staggered start to the university term.

We in the universities are trying to help students through this - in the face of government incompetence. But students need to read the advice we are sending them!

The situation up to now is that students in lab-based STEM and practice-based Arts degrees should return in person in January. All other teaching will be online, and students should stay in their family homes until a 2 week period 25 Jan -2 Feb - according to government guidance.

But your DS should have received discipline-specific information from his university & his department about the specific date on which on campus teaching may resume.

But go to the GOV.UK site linked upthread.

Posdobly something else to consider is what their insurance policy says about theft from properties left empty for more than a certain length of time...?

Tier 4/3 restrictions say students are allowed to move home and back to uni once.

Obviously they can move to their accommodation whenever they like - they’re renting it. If they’re in a flat or house they might want to arrange to all move back at the same time, to reduce the number of isolation periods they end up doing (if they all get tests and anyone is positive).

Dd’s Uni has offered them a rent reduction if they go back later but obviously it is up to the individual student what they choose to do.

I suspect plans to reintroduce face-to-face learning might get postponed.

As far as I know at present within England you cannot be prevented going back to your private rented accommodation for which you have paid even between tiers. My son (post grad) has not had any emails or advice from his institution and he is 100% on line or has been since September anyway. I expect he will go back when his flatmate goes back in January. This course (online) restarts on about 11 Jan. I just paid over £300 for water rates alone never mind £6k for this year's rent so I do hope we get some value from all those costs.

We got a timetable from uni about what faculties were returning when - it's placement-based healthcare students first... think education students come quite soon as well and on from there. My course are very laid back about people not coming back to do the face-to-face stuff if they have telehealth placements sorted out or live nearer their placement than campus though so lots haven't moved into uni accommodation at all this year (I've been onto campus twice - and once was to pick up a car parking permit).

Nothing from DD's Uni yet.
Meanwhile she's paying almost £150/week for halls accommodation she was asked (by the government, not the Uni) to leave two weeks early in December and now we're assuming she won't be back until 2-4 weeks into the spring term if she follows the rules .... so that's potentially 6 weeks / (£900) of rent paid for accommodation that the govt say she can't use
Unless the government instructs the universities to close the accommodation and refund the rental, I can't see how they can shut even first years out of their halls. Second and third years in private rentals, the Uni has even less control over.
This is why the government needs to step up and pay up to reimburse these poor students.

Dd has heard her classes will be online only until 8th Feb so is not expected back much before then unless her circumstances dictate otherwise (overseas and med students are earlier). Her uni is refunding unused time in halls. However she does not reliably receive all the general emails and checks the uni/faculty website for updates.

My DDs have been allocated staggered return dates.

Dds course is online until at least the beginning of Feb and that's when she may put off returning. She stayed on campus this year and the uni are allowing a reduction on rent if they are returning later. She just needs to fill in a form online to let them know when she goes back. York uni would like them to be tested on their return too.

It's going to vary from university to university, so keep checking their websites. Oxford is aiming to maintain their residency requirement and allow students back in College as planned.

Exeter DD has been told not to come back until face to face tuition restarts in early Feb. York DD will go back early Jan as she counts as a medic

My son has only had a couple of "face to face" sessions in the first term anyway (both by phd students not lecturers), so wasn't really any need to be on campus at all. His uni have sent a vague email about a "staggered" return to uni during January but without any actual detail - just a generic "we'll email you later" about the detail. He's not sure whether to go back at all as there's just no point without proper face to face - none of his lecturers are even on campus - they're all WFH as his course (Maths) doesn't involve lab work/practicals etc. Very annoying that he's paying for accommodation that he's not using, and may not use again this academic year.

DS1- postgraduate, Bristol, shared privately rented flat - has said that he would like to go back sooner rather than later, possibly in the next few days. Apparently the relative comfort of his mattress here makes getting work done more difficult. Perhaps I shouldn't have bothered to put a nice new memory foam one on that bed when I noticed that the old one was on its last legs, although I suspect that the randomly escaping springs might have sent him back even sooner.

Mine are going back this Saturday in time for exams the week after-they’ve heard nothing telling them otherwise.

Very much depends on the Uni. DD is 2nd year so off campus in private accommodation and her Uni has delivered a fair bit if face to face learning on her course compared to others. Her instruction is to get 2 LF tests in the week prior to her first face to face session which for her is mid Jan on current schedule. There is nothing to stop her going back to her house at any time, the testing regime will only impact her presence on campus.

DD2 has quite a few face to face tutorials, but they start in February. Her lectures are still online. She is, amazingly for a fourth year, in a university owned flat, so will have her January rent written off.

DD3 has exams early in term, but will do them at home.

Most Manchester students are being told not to return.

I'm a lecturer and I still haven't been told. I start online tutorials on Monday, which I planned before Christmas, and will have to ask my students please not to expect me to know what's going on because we haven't been told! It's awful. But I know it's also been awful for the staff working throughout Christmas to try and keep on top of it while the government have provided no guidance but have changed the tiers we are in. Can I urge everyone to please be kind to the front line uni staff trying to deal with this - it's not their individual fault. I'm dreading Monday!

Yes, trying to be kind to others is probably the best thing we all can do as we have no idea what each person is currently facing in their home and work life. Students have parents losing every penny they ever worked for for 20 years in some industry sectors. Others have relatives dead. Others have parents who have been working throughout in the private sector more hours and 20% less pay and much else. Not easy times for anyone.

The state is only very selectively financially helping people rather than saying parents who paid student rent for unused places should be able to deduct the whole lot from their next tax bill for example or if a course is 10-0% online then the state will pay you back 2/3rd of the fee costs - nothing like that is happening and students are not even being told if there will be books, libraries etc. My sons are just guessing that as with last term their course will be 100% online but no one has actually told them.