St Andrews announces classes will remain online for the rest of the academic year

St Andrews has announced teaching and assessment will be online for this academic year.

The University announced it would be reimbursing students for accommodation fees in January.

In an email Principal Mapstone said: “We have taken the difficult decision that teaching and assessment for the majority of our students must remain online only for the rest of this semester.”

She said final year students “will be unable to conclude their studies in St Andrews in the way we had all hoped.”

The Principal said that the University had taken this step to provide students and staff “with as much certainty as early as we can”.

She said: “Certainty also offers more stability, and allows us to concentrate fully on supporting all of you”.

She ended the email with an optimistic tone, saying: “As difficult and disrupted as this academic year has been and will continue to be, we are not too far from the turn of the home straight.”

“Vaccines and our collective adherence to simple prevention mean we are finding a route out of the pandemic, and the promise of an eventual return to most of those things we were taking for granted just one year ago.”

Principal Mapstone said she would keep students informed about how the University plan to support its students throughout the remainder of the semester, and their plans for Graduation.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• 10 shows that all St Andrews students have seen this year

• St Andrews students told to remain at home until in-person teaching resumes

• What you need to know about St Andrews that the prospectus doesn’t tell you