Universities won’t be returning until at least 17th May, ministers have said

University bosses have been told that students will not be returning to campus until at least 17th May, meaning many will only be allowed to return after all their teaching has finished.

After universities were left out of Boris Johnson’s announcement on the April easing of lockdown last week, leaders and students bemoaned the silence from the government.

Now, the FT reports that on Friday ministers told university leaders restrictions for higher education would not be lifted until mid-May, although an official announcement is yet to be made.

While students on a number of courses had been allowed to return to campus for face-to-face teaching, the majority have been kept away since before Christmas and told only to return on government instructions.

A return date of 17th May – at the earliest – would mean many students returning for only a week or two of term, or even after their teaching has finished entirely.

Steve West, UWE’s Vice Chancellor, said students had been sacrificed so that pubs could reopen.

“The reality is students have been pushed aside to open pubs,” West wrote on Twitter last week.

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