Only three top unis will be providing full face-to-face teaching this term

Just three out of the 27 best universities in the UK will be resuming full in-person teaching this term, according to research conducted by The Times.

Sheffield, Southhampton and Sussex are planning to go back to full face-to-face teaching after over a year of online tuition.

Blended learning – a combination of online and in-person teaching- is the preferred option for the remaining 24 unis surveyed by The Times.

Over 60 per cent of students who started uni before the pandemic said that the lack of in-person teaching had a major or moderate effect on the quality of their teaching, according to an Office for National Statistics survey.

Some students, like Leeds second year Ruby Benbow, are yet to actually attend a lecture on campus.

“Asking questions online doesn’t really work,” Ruby told The Times. “By the time you type out your question and post it on the Zoom chat everything has moved on and you’ve disengaged.”

Vice-president for higher education at the National Union of Students Hillary Gyebi-Ababio said: “Nothing can replace the ability to socialise with and learn from your peers, or to engage with face-to-face, interactive teaching and learning and to have a full campus life.”

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