London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Students returning to university in England from 17 May

Students returning to university in England from 17 May

Students on all university courses in England will return "no earlier than 17 May", the government has announced.

About a million students, taking courses taught online since Christmas, will be able to go back to university campuses.

Since the start of the year, only students on hands-on courses have been allowed in-person teaching.

But the wait of another month to fully open was described as "hugely disappointing" by Universities UK.

Universities Minister Michelle Donelan, in a written statement, said the timing was a "cautious approach to the easing of restrictions" and "the movement of students across the country poses a risk for the transmission of the virus".

Tattoos but no tutors


University leaders had been lobbying for all students to go back in April - saying it was unfair to keep restrictions on campuses when shops were open.

Students would be "bitterly disappointed" at the slow return to university, said Vanessa Wilson, leader of the University Alliance, describing it as "nonsensical".

The mid-May start is likely to raise further questions about refunds on tuition fees and rent, for a reduced term before the summer break.

Graham Galbraith, vice chancellor of the University of Portsmouth, said delaying for another month until after 17 May was "unfathomable".

"That this date is after many universities will have finished their teaching year shows a government with a cavalier disregard for details. This isn't good enough," he said.

Students on practical courses have already been able to return

"Students can now buy a book on British history in Waterstones and discuss it with a tattoo artist," - but they cannot go into a university and discuss it with their lecturer, said Prof Galbraith.

Covid testing


About half of students have been on courses only being taught online - but from next month all students will return to a mix of face-to-face and online classes.

Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, the National Union of Students' vice president, said: "We are pleased that the government has finally remembered that students exist."

But she warned that students would need support after so much disruption - including paying rent on accommodation they were not allowed to use.

The UCU lecturers' union, which opposed an earlier return, said it would be more "honest" to accept that many courses would stay online until the autumn.

"Restarting in-person activities in mid-May, with only weeks of the academic year left, makes absolutely no sense as most lectures and seminars will already have finished," said UCU leader, Jo Grady.

Students will be offered Covid testing on campus when they return - with an initial three tests under supervision, after which students will be asked to take tests at home.

There will also be an additional £15m for student hardship support this year, announced the universities minister.

*  In Wales, students returned this week, with a mix of face-to-face and online study.

*  In Scotland, some students have had in-person classes, but from 17 May universities will "return to a more blended model of learning". Although some universities in Scotland end their term in late May.

*  In Northern Ireland, hands-on courses have been taught in-person, but other courses are expected to remain online for the rest of the term.

'Forgotten' in lockdown


The 17 May timing aligns the return of students with the next phase of ending the lockdown - when pubs will open indoors and cinemas and theatres can open.

Unlike the mass return of England's school children in March, universities in England have had a patchwork return - prompting criticisms that students were "forgotten" in the plans for leaving lockdown.

Students on courses which required hands-on training, such as medicine and some sciences, had some face-to-face teaching last term.

But students on courses such as the arts, humanities, business and law had been waiting for a return date - which will now be about five months after they left for the Christmas holidays.

There are some other universities which have already decided to stay online for all this academic year.

Even without in-person teaching, many students seem to have gone back to their university accommodation - with a survey from the Higher Education Policy Institute suggesting about two thirds of students had been in their term-time addresses.

Labour's shadow universities minister, Matt Western, said: "Just a week before thousands were hoping to return to campus, they have been let down with yet another late announcement and no explanation of the reasons for this delay."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×