Warwick offers 1200-person conference spaces whilst capping lectures at 50

The University of Warwick has advertised conference spaces for up to 1200 delegates, despite keeping most lectures for students online.

The uni has set its maximum group size for in-person teaching to 50 students, with “appropriate social distancing”, meaning most lectures will be held online.

However, it advertises various spaces for corporate conferences, meetings and events on their conference website. One of these spaces includes the Conference Park, which boasts theatres, tiered lecture halls and meeting rooms, with a 1,200 person capacity.

Warwick’s conference spaces have capacities ranging from 130 to 1200 delegates

This issue was first noticed by the campaign group, Put Warwick Students First, who created a petition in protest. It calls for Warwick to prioritise a full return to in-person teaching over profit. With over 1,100 signatures, the petition claims that the uni’s actions “amount to the destruction of the degree and the undermining of the historic value of higher education, for the sake of wanting to rake in higher profits”.

The petition also alleges that the uni going against government guidance to return to in-person lectures “has a detrimental impact on the quality of teaching and student mental health”, calling it “deeply damaging”.

Sebastian Maxted and David Bush, the co-chairmen of Put Warwick Students First, commented: “It’s disgraceful that Warwick University continues to blatantly prioritise profit over the welfare of its students.

“The last academic year has been particularly tough on students, with many being unable to make and meet new and old friends, as well as not having access to the in-person high-quality education that they came to university for.