A survey by Student Hut has revealed that students are now more than twice as likely to consider changing their subject at university than they were before the Covid-19 crisis.
19% of students now say that they will definitely switch or consider switching to a new subject, compared to just 8% in the first week of lockdown.
Moreover, 16% of students say they would now definitely change or consider changing university, a number which has increased since the start of lockdown.
However, the overwhelming majority of students still want to attend university in September, with 91% still planning to go despite the current crisis.
“Students are unsure what the future holds, but it’s clear that they do still want to go to university this year.
“They may have been influenced to change subject by the current situation, or through having more time to consider their options during lockdown.
“Universities need to ensure they have the plans in place to allow students to attend in September if they wish, and be flexible with their subject choices if they want to retain their enrolment numbers this year” said Katherine Nicholls, Director of Research at Student Hut.
The findings have come from a project to track student opinion and attitudes during the Covid-19 crisis.
The project provides fortnightly updates showing the change in student attitudes from the UK’s most engaged and diverse student panel, taken from an audience of one million users and over 200,000 subscribers.
For press enquiries, please contact Nicola Jones [email protected] or call +44 (0)1273 734640. You can find previous Student Hut press releases and media coverage about the COVID-tracker here.
