We asked final year Cov students how uni has been during Covid-19

I think we can all agree that Covid-19 has drastically changed how university has been delivered and experienced. Nearly all lectures across many courses are now delivered online and exams are also being delivered online, or converted into coursework.

On top of everything, we’re also in the middle of our second lockdown and it’s merely added to the list of issues that students are dealing with right now. With everyone in the same boat of blended learning, we wanted to find out how Cov students are finding their uni experience so far.

Tori Keys, Nursing

I think the Covid-19 pandemic has been a struggle for everyone but especially for university students. As soon as I heard that lectures and seminars would be online, I was instantly worried about returning to university. Now I am coming to the end of my first semester of year three, I can wholeheartedly say at no point did I feel lost within my studies or unsupported by my lecturers.

They respond to emails normally on the same day, they are happy to have Zoom calls or teams meetings outside big group sessions and always answer my questions to their best ability. University being online could have been a lot worse but thanks to technology and supportive lecturers, it hasn’t been too bad at all.

I would be lying however if I said some days, I didn’t have any motivation to complete my work. I have experienced this before but I think not having the routine of actually going to a lecture influenced this but it cannot be helped at the moment. As a whole, university during the Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t been too bad in my opinion but I would like to return to face-to-face lectures soon.

Liv Southall, Fine Arts

I feel quite frustrated with the way my final year has ended up, especially being an art student, we’ve all lost so much that we relied on to produce work to our best ability. With minimal studio time and working from home, I’ve found it really difficult to stay inspired and motivated, and I know my course mates feel the same.

Paul Saloman, Mechanical Engineering

Coming into this academic year I expected it to be quite rough, but apart from the first week where lectures were a shambles, the lecturers got used to it all quick and it’s been quite smooth since then. It’s been quite nice having everything recorded and well organised on Aula to look back on for coursework and revision.

The only real difficulty I’ve had has been with the registry being really slow to reply on important matters. I’ve seen many people struggling with stress during lockdown. Personally I’ve been trying to go out and be active everyday which has really helped.

Josie Colquhoun, Architecture

Being in my final year means I was ready to take it seriously (lol) and I was super stressed about how Covid-19 would affect this since I had second year submissions during lockdown. To be honest it’s not ideal, and a small part of me is praying that we get marked with everything in mind.

I would say university has been harder, I study architecture so normally I’d be in the studio all day and obviously I haven’t been able to do that so far. I get one five hour studio session a week which really sucks, and we’re not allowed to go in outside of our timetabled hours which is understandable but super annoying.

My bedroom has turned into my studio which is great until you realise I spend 20/24 hours of a day in one small space. I do have a hamster to keep me company but she has the audacity to be nocturnal so she’s a good study buddy if I need to pull an all nighter. I’m just glad that I live with my friends and I’m not a fresher as I can imagine Freshers’ Week was pretty awful.

Duncan Jennings, Automotive Engineering

This year has been different due to Covid and how we interact with the lecturers. From my experience I haven’t enjoyed the experience as much as being able to go in and have a face-to-face lecture and being able to have a conversation with my lecturers.

This has lead to problems being resolved later than usual because you don’t get the same interaction. The lecturers and students have responded to this experience in the best way possible, but as we all would rather have teaching in person, it’s hard to adapt to the change because we’re stuck just watching a screen all day. It’s very hard learning lots of new software when in a Teams call because you cannot get help for simple things or ask a friend when in a tutorial because you’re on your own.

It seems many people are having different experiences on every course and while Covid is starting to see hopes of change with a potential new vaccine, it is a shame that many students have had such a pivotal moment in their lives affected.