Sheffield University students unable to access teaching timetables on first day

Hundreds of Sheffield University students have been left unable to access their teaching timetables for the start of the academic year.

As students returned to campus to start their university year, timetables were unavailable due to the online system experiencing technical issues.

On the timetable login page, the following message was shown: “Sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Visit our service status page for the latest information.”

The timetable disruption has affected students across university departments.

Dan, a second year business management student told The Sheff Tab: “It was hard to plan your first week back at uni when you had no indication of when you would actually be in. It could be quite stressful for people trying to get back into the swing of things.

“Some students are going to end up missing things that will affect their attendance records.”

A first year English lit and language student explained her frustration over not having her timetable yet: “I think everyone understands that it’s a busy time of the year and there’s a lot going on, but it’s quite frustrating when you can’t find out when your lectures are or where you’re meant to be during the day.”

Rose, a part time masters student said that her department have been very supportive with the ongoing issue: “I haven’t had access to my timetable since last checking on Saturday. Thankfully, my department have been really helpful and have been emailing information for all my classes.”

Finlay, a second year aerospace engineering student explained to The Sheff Tab that there was a timetabling issue last year too and thought it was a normal at the start of the year: “I checked my timetable early last week and it was working fine until Wednesday and then it just disappeared.

“I’ve been trying to log on for the past few days and still don’t have a working one now. The Aerospace department have sent out a temporary schedule for this week but that’s all I have at the moment.”

A spokesperson from the University of Sheffield said: “We are aware that the timetabling mobile apps and browser have been unresponsive for some students due to a technical issue.

“We understand the inconvenience this may have caused and have been working hard to resolve the issue, which we hope will be back online as soon as possible.

“Students can contact their department if they continue to have an issue accessing their timetable.”

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