Allow all students to return to university at the start of the Summer term

It is abhorrent that the Government has repeatedly ignored students in their briefings and trivialised our education. We urge the Government to prioritise the return of all students in Higher Education in their roadmap and ensure that we are all able to return at the beginning of the Summer term.

With pub gardens and salons set to open next week, the question we must ask is why have university students not been prioritised in the government’s roadmap out of lockdown? Why can our younger peers unite with their friends and resume their studies in-person while students in higher education are forced to remain and continue their studies online at home? If we cannot return, students will have missed one third of their time at university. We cannot allow for students to be sidelined again.

This Government recognises just how difficult the past year has been for students. Since the arrival of new and highly transmissible variants, we have had to adopt a cautious approach, in line with the wider restrictions. In January, we enabled students on critical key worker courses to return and, from 8 March, we advised practical and creative students to resume in-person teaching.

On 13 April, the government confirmed that the remaining students should return to in-person teaching alongside step 3 of the roadmap, which will be no earlier than 17 May, This is subject to meeting the government’s 4 tests for easing restrictions. This decision was made, as we committed to do, following a review which concluded during the Easter holidays. We wanted to take account of the latest data before making the decision as to when remaining students should be advised to return to in-person teaching.

We recognise the disappointment this announcement has caused and we fully understand that all students want to resume in-person teaching. This is precisely what we want to see too. To achieve this, it is important that we continue to take a cautious – but hopefully irreversible – approach to re-opening. Moving too fast, too soon, risks a resurgence in infections, hospitalisations and deaths. Whilst we are aware that there is limited evidence of transmission in in-person teaching environments, we must not lose sight of the risks the virus poses and must stay vigilant throughout to ensure this roadmap provides a one-way passage to returning to a more normal life. It is vitally important, at this stage, for students and HE providers to engage with the government’s testing programme as we believe this will play a fundamental part in mitigating the risk of transmission.