© Alamy
University students may have to live in halls of residence with others on their course
and keep within physically distanced social bubbles when campuses reopen in September.
Under plans being discussed at a number of universities,
students would mix only with others on certain courses and year groups to minimise the infection risk from coronavirus. On campus, students and staff would move around in a one-way system.
Liz Barnes, the vice-chancellor of Staffordshire University, said the bubbles would allow students to access campus facilities
while restricting the number of people they interact with. "It applies wherever they are on a campus," she said.
University leaders are anxious to assure prospective students that they will not receive an inferior education, amid fears of a potential £760m shortfall in funding if an estimated one in five students defer over coronavirus uncertainty.
Speaking at a briefing outlining Universities UK's guidelines for exiting lockdown, its chair, Julia Buckingham, the vice-chancellor of Brunel University, said universities would not shift wholly online but planned to offer students a "blended" education, combining some online lectures with smaller face-to-face tutorials. At her university, the proportion of online learning will vary in line with government guidance on physical distancing.
Comment: A French commentator provided pertinent information on the Adama case noted above: