"The biggest difference is that there are no more online seminars"

How UK students feel about returning to University since COVID

With summer ending and COVID restrictions being lifted students have begun their first week of university. Globally, the pandemic had a massive impact on everyone, but especially on students, who had to adapt to a new way of learning.

Since everything was closed, first-year students were not able to participate in the usual freshers' welcome such as parties, going out to meet new people, and discovering new places that was done in previous years.

Jamie Melbourne, a second-year journalism student at BCU, is optimistic about the upcoming year. "This year, I feel like I'm experiencing university in a proper way, since I'm actually attending classes instead of just staying on the internet.

"You are likely to get distracted if you have online classes."

Jamie has been able to interact more with his peers as well as his teachers since returning to campus.

Jessica Djabi a second-year business and finance student, anticipates a better year. She believes face-to-face seminars are more effective.

“The biggest difference is that there are no more online seminars. We don’t have to wait until our teachers answer our emails. We can ask them questions between classes.

“ I commute to campus so I need to wake up early to get the train, which can be annoying at times especially when I get late, but I do like the fact that now all my classes are face-to-face.”

Furthermore, as this year progresses it will be interesting to see if students continue to feel hopeful about the year or if their opinions change. It will be interesting to see how students deal and adapt to being on campus after spending a year online.