From June to September this year i-graduate ran a worldwide survey of local and international students about their study experiences during COVID-19. The survey targeted students who had been expecting to be studying on-campus in face-to-face mode, but due to COVID-19 had been required to suddenly switch to study online. Over 24,000 higher education students (15,000 local; 9,000 international) enrolled at 42 institutions across 11 countries responded to the survey.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the Higher Education sector over the last few months. Institutions and networks continue to react swiftly to an ever-changing situation, and as the case with many other sectors, have been developing new ways of working with strained resources.

There’s little doubt that the world of skills training and work has altered dramatically over the past few months. Many training providers have managed to adapt their practices and deliver apprenticeship frameworks online to great success. And as restrictions start to ease, and educators and employers alike turn their thoughts to the future, there will be a necessary re-alignment in working practice. So how do you get your Apprenticeship delivery back on track this autumn? 

The events of 2020 have rapidly shaped the way the world lives, works, and learns and getting staff and students back on campus safely is the goal for universities everywhere. Never before have any of us faced such a challenge - knowing what to do if there is a positive case and dealing with it promptly and professionally. 

The Coronavirus is having a huge impact on higher and further education, as well as economies and lives across the globe. The education landscape changed, virtually overnight, when on 23^rd March 2020, the UK followed many other countries into ‘lockdown’ in an attempt to slow the rate of infection of Covid-19.

The downturn in demographics and numbers of people going to university and college, competition from international markets, and high dropout rates means that UK institutions need smart ways to demonstrate and deliver the Student Experience they have on offer if they intend to meet increasingly ambitious recruitment and retention targets.

There’s little doubt now that enrolments for colleges and universities are going to look very different this year. Luckily, although there is nothing ordinary about 2020, educational staff are rising to the challenge and seeing it as an opportunity to push through much needed change and create a new kind of student experience this year and beyond.

For anyone returning to university, the apprehension and unknows that Covid-19 presents will likely be playing on student minds. Indeed, Student Minds, the UK’s student mental health charity and Headspace in Australia, have been providing unprecedented levels of dedicated support to both students and staff to help them through this period, and publishing up to date  guidance and resources on a regular basis.

With the latest update stating colleges will begin to reopen to provide face-to-face contact from June 15^th for some students, to help them prepare for exams next year, it is now obvious that for most students, the rest of the academic year will need to be studied at home.