Quote Originally Posted by hopelesslyoptimistic View Post
Having kids in that age bracket agree to disagree - the treatment of students at university IMO was nothing short of disgraceful - not only Matt Hancock’s targeting of them for criticisms but also that they had to pay full tuition and in many cases full accommodation fees whilst largely being imprisoned in halls and not getting lectures or tutorials.

Science students typically get at least 20 hours a week in labs most got less than that in 3 terms.
I worked with University of Portsmouth on their student admin systems both before Covid hit and during the year it impacted students. The policy on accommodation wasn't one formed by government, it was done on an institution-by-institution basis (I know this as I have contacts at Southampton, with whom I also worked and their policy differed substantially from that of Portsmouth, driven by student demographics, type of courses offered etc, no "one-club-fits-all policy could have worked). Was it all good? No, not nearly =good enough, but then you could say that about just about every facet of how this pandemic has been dealt with (with possibly, here in the UK at least, the exception of the vaccination programme)

Hancock is an ar5e, and his subsequent conduct just goes to prove it, so any criticism from him can be discounted. What the universities and other education establishments do now won't depend on a blanket policy, that's not possible, given the diversity of educational provision (again, I have some knowledge as a governor at a local specialist primary), what they need is a support structure that responds by confirming acceptance of what they need in a timely fashion and equally timely provision. we won't know if either is in place and effective until the end of the first semester/term, at least.