The University of East Anglia (UEA) has extended its rent rebate for students not living on campus in lockdown with no in-person teaching planned until after Easter.
UEA vice chancellor David Richardson has informed students that there will be no face-to-face teaching until April 26 at the earliest, with the exception of some practical courses.
As a result the university has extended its original offer of an eight-week rent rebate to 12 weeks for students who are unable to occupy their on-campus accommodation due to current lockdown restrictions.
The vice chancellor told students in an email: “We will be continuing with largely online delivery of our taught programmes to undergraduate and taught postgraduate students for the second four weeks of the semester, up until the Easter break.”
He added that the university hoped to be able to “provide in-person learning and teaching on campus for the third semester”.
Mr Richardson was one of seven university vice-chancellors that wrote to the government calling for interest on student loans to be scrapped for 15 months.
The majority of UEA students will have experienced little to no face-to-face tuition since the beginning of the academic year, with lectures and seminars being entirely online for most courses.
First year student, Maria Aleksic, said: “It’s a bit annoying that I haven’t had one in-person lecture since the start, and there is no chance of having one until after Easter. Online learning isn’t great as technical difficulties can happen and I think it makes me focus less, so it isn’t worth the £9,250 we pay for.”
Amy Sullivan, a UEA psychology student, said: “The quality of the teaching isn’t there. We’ve had lectures disconnect halfway through presentations, poor audio and technical difficulties. It’s not worth nine grand.”
Despite facing difficulties with online learning, students are thankful for the 12-week rent rebate.
First year student Holly Moore said: “The rebate is good as the university is recognising the struggle faced by students and they’re trying to help with that.”
The government last month announced an extra £50m for student hardship funds in England, on top of £20m agreed in December.
The extra funding will be distributed by the Office for Students (OfS) directly to universities, which will prioritise the students most in need of help.
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