COVID-19 is creating unrelenting change for everyone. Students are no longer taking exams, education is moving online, and entire societies are in lockdown.
Each day brings new measures and impacts. And we want to know how students are feeling at this unsettling time and how the ongoing crisis is affecting their lives.
So first things first, what’s actually happened in the past couple of weeks?
Well… Lockdown started on the 24 March, the OfS told universities not to make unconditional offers, and UKVI announced that universities can now teach students who are on Tier 4 visas) via online learning.
We asked our panel what they thought about it all. Here’s a taster of what week one of our COVID-19 tracker uncovered. This research ran from 27 March - 30 March 2020.
How are students feeling about the changes to the offer system?
- Half of prospective students would rather sit exams but 4 in 5 think predicted grades will be better for them
- Less than 30% of students want universities to offer unconditional offers
The new system is unexpected and unsettling. Students want universities to look out for their best interests through taking action such as changing grade boundaries, not just giving them unconditional offers. They need reassurance that their predicted grades won’t negatively impact them, access to early course materials to ensure that they don’t miss out due to timings and support with their mental health and wellbeing.
In order to support and engage with students in a way that works during this difficult time, you have to first and foremost understand what they’re thinking. If you like to find out the many more interesting and insightful findings from the Covid-19 Tracker, you can subscribe to receive our full report delivered to your inboxes weekly, or download our whitepaper ‘Living through a pandemic - how students feel about COVID-19’.
