As we’re coming out of lockdown and social distancing measures are being lifted, the College is looking at what next year will look like. So, what are the plans, and what is the Union doing to advocate for the needs of students?
What is the current government guidance?
While kids have been back in school since March, similar exemptions do not apply to universities. Where in-person teaching is not essential (i.e. not lab-based) students were only allowed to come back to their university in May, five weeks after outdoor pub spaces reopened. However, unlike in schools, strict social distancing rules still apply:
You should consider how to reduce social contact and maintain social distance in university settings. This means keeping people 2 metres apart from those they do not live with, where possible. Where 2 metres is not viable, you can reduce the distance down to a minimum of 1 metre but only if appropriate mitigation is in place.
- Official government guidance for higher education
Under these rules, a typical lecture theatre with a capacity of 240 people will only be able to seat about 60 students safely, even if they all wear a face covering and the ventilation is great.
The government is not making things easy for universities. Changes to rules are typically announced no earlier than one week in advance, and higher education has been given no priority in the roadmap out of lockdown.
What will things look like next academic year?
The short answer is that nobody knows.
Cases have been going down for months now (more or less, don't look at the most recent data too much if you want to stay an optimist) and almost every adult will have been vaccinated by the end of summer. In a couple of weeks we will know whether the end of social distancing will go ahead on 21st June as planned - it is not yet clear what exactly that would mean for universities, but it is likely capacities in general will increase.
It is possible, however, that there will still be some restrictions in place in autumn and winter. Another wave is not entirely out of the question, especially if some new Covid variant develops, and so it would be foolish to rely on all restrictions being lifted and not have a back up plan if social distancing (or even another lockdown) is reintroduced.
Has the College decided about teaching for next year yet?
Current guidance is that departments should be timetabling for 1m+ social distancing, where the "+" refers to extra measures, e.g. good ventilation or wearing face coverings. In reality, this means most large lectures would not be able to take place, but students would be expected to be on campus for labs, tutorials, and other smaller-group teaching.
The final decision about exact safety measures that need to be followed next year, and therefore what teaching activities could take place in person, has not been made yet. Discussions about this are still ongoing and we are being consulted to make sure student view is represented.
What is the Union doing about this?
From what we are hearing here in the ICU, students are fed up with online education and really want a proper in-person experience. We have been lobbying the College to listen to students a bit more and try and do as much in-person as possible. Specifically, we have been advocating for the following:
- The College should not be introducing additional restrictions on top of the government guidance; i.e. if there is no social distancing recommended by the government in October, the College should not be introducing their own and they should allow lectures to go ahead at full capacity
- The College should be planning for no restrictions being in place, with a back-up plan in case there are restrictions, not the other way around. This is because we believe that if the default plan is that there will still be social distancing, the departments are unlikely to change their timetables to include full-capacity lectures, even if they become allowed.
- The College should be ready to go back online if necessary at a short notice, because if restrictions are put in place the notice will be short and College needs to be ready for that to ensure the student experience does not suffer. This inevitably means exams will have to be online at least in December/January because there is no guarantee there will be no restrictions in place in the winter, and it is too risky to rely on in-person exams (exams are really not something you should be changing last minute).
What are the challenges with planning for next year?
In our meetings with the senior academics in the College, they, in principle, agree with us and have expressed a desire to maximise in-person teaching next year across all different elements of teaching. However, the steer right now from the College's safety department has been to plan for some social distancing measures still being necessary next year.
Furthermore, there are issues around timetabling that keep cropping up. Putting together a timetable is, apparently, a very complicated affair, and putting together two based on two different scenarios is almost impossible, at least with the timetabling software the College uses. This means that the College are hesitant to plan for no restrictions as they're worried they'll end up with a timetable that doesn't work if things don't go so well and there are still restrictions next academic year.
Will I need to be in London next year?
Yes. Unless there is another lockdown which would prevent in-person teaching, the College will expect you to be in London and attend some teaching on campus. If you are an international student it is especially important that you don't delay your return to the UK next year, as this could affect your visa.
What about PhD students?
If your PhD is lab-based, chances are that you have already been coming in to do your experimental work. From next year, as long as the government restrictions permit this, PhD students are expected to be allowed back on campus fully, including access to office space. It is possible that some research meetings will still be held online while other will be in person again, so if you've enjoyed the flexibility of working from home it would be best to talk to your supervisor about how often they will expect you to be on campus next year.
We understand that many of you are eagerly awaiting more news about teaching next academic year. While online teaching certainly has its advantages, being on campus is an important part of the student experience which we have all been missing over the past 15 months. We are lobbying the College to make sure the plans they put in place for next year are in the best interests of students. If you have any further thoughts about this, please get in touch with Michaela, your Deputy President (Education), at dpeducation@imperial.ac.uk.