Brazil had the highest percentage saying their mental health suffered, at 76%, followed closely by the United States (75%), Canada (73%) and the United Kingdom (70%).

At 25%, Italy had the lowest number of students who said their mental health had suffered, followed by Russia (29%), China (38%) and South Korea (39%). Kenya, the only African country among the 21 countries in the survey, mirrored the global average with 56%.

According to Lila Thomas, the head of Chegg, between 20 October and 10 November 2020, her company had commissioned Yonder Consulting Limited, the London-based market research and opinion polling firm to undertake a survey on the lives, hopes and fears of university students around the world in the age of COVID and beyond.

As Thomas pointed out, Chegg’s survey appears more like a scorecard that details obstacles and challenges that the current university undergraduate student population is going through in their universities and countries during and probably after the COVID-19 pandemic.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel in that, despite mounting learning challenges and pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and by widening economic disparities, 56% of the students surveyed still felt optimistic and ready for future challenges in the years ahead.

But the snapshot findings of the Jisc survey of 27,069 higher and further education students in the United Kingdom also found that areas such as well-being, mental health and staff digital skills need more attention.

Sarah Knight, Jisc’s head of data and digital capability, said: “We hope this data pulse helps universities and colleges see clearly where students are benefiting, and where they could be better supported.”

Between October and December 2020, 21,697 higher education students and 5,372 further education students from 11 universities and four further education colleges took part in Jisc’s digital experience insights student survey.

The surveys seek to support the sector in adapting and responding to the changing situation as a result of COVID-19 policies.

The surveys will continue to run until 30 April 2021, but this first snapshot of results shows the swift work of colleges and universities in moving learning online has been predominantly well received by students.

Among those surveyed, 81% were studying online, 72% of them from home.

Both higher education and further education students surveyed noted the huge benefits of flexible learning, with lecture recordings proving helpful for note-taking and scheduling learning around other aspects of life. Some students enjoy the comfort and convenience of studying at home, as well as feeling more in control.

Learning online (ironically) has made it easier to get support from staff. They’re more likely to encourage us to talk to them and it is a little easier than having to find them physically on campus.

Students enjoyed a range of different online activities and were positive about being able to access lecture recordings and participate live online.

Analysis of free text responses in the survey was particularly revealing and highlighted how being able to watch sessions again helped students to study in ways that better met their learning needs, improved their understanding and encouraged further independent study.

For instance, recordings enabled them to catch up if they missed the live session, manage the pace and take notes. They also made it easier for students for whom English is not a first language to hear and understand the lecture.

Some of the more engaging activities were less well used and there are opportunities to embed activities like the use of small group discussions for peer support and collaboration, quizzes or polls, and online research tasks into curriculum design, the survey found.

This initiative will contribute to the recovery of the physical University in the wake of the pandemic, and is an important signal of Cambridge’s ongoing commitment to the performing arts.

The CMP heralds a step-change in music of all genres for outreach and inclusion, and for wellbeing across collegiate Cambridge. Maintaining a tradition of excellence, it will also seal the University’s position on a world stage for music performance.

The CMP will be a seedbed of experimentation and innovation. A radical commitment to diversity will offer more opportunities to more students than ever before, to explore new styles of music-making and performance.

The Centre will open at the end of the year; in the meantime the search is on for a new Director to take up their post in early autumn.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen J Toope, said: “At a time of unprecedented stress for the performing arts, I am proud that Cambridge is creating a new Centre for Music Performance. A step-change in the visibility, breadth, reach and role of music performance, it will nurture the highest aspirations of the very best performers, besides offering a wonderful array of opportunities to those with previously limited experience. In the long run the Centre will be a stimulus for interdisciplinarity, research excellence and all-round personal development. I am thrilled to see the CMP go ahead at Cambridge.”

The Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education), Professor Graham Virgo, said: “This is one of the many ways Cambridge University is expressing its commitment to outreach, inclusion and diversity. We expect this Centre to build on our excellent array of musical endeavour to draw more students into the cultural life of the University, building their skills and confidence and supporting their wellbeing.”

Dr. Anthony Freeling, Chair, Colleges’ Committee, and President of Hughes Hall, said: “The Cambridge Colleges are well-known as a seedbed of musical life; the Centre for Music Performance will not only support this but enhance its connectivity and visibility so that more students are attracted to, and can fully enjoy, the proven benefits of music performance.”

Chair of the Faculty Board of Music and 1684 Professor of Music Katharine Ellis said: “The Faculty of Music is delighted to see the new Centre for Music Performance come into being. This new hub will be a game-changer supporting musicians right across the University, from soon-to-be professionals to those for whom music offers precious release from the stresses of intensive study. It will be a beacon for Cambridge’s already rich musical life and will enable students to access its variety more readily than ever before. We look forward to contributing to the CMP’s success.”

The Chair of the Cambridge University Musical Society (CUMS) Trustees, Dame Fiona Reynolds, said: “CUMS has carried the flag for excellence in music performance at Cambridge for many years. During that time we have nurtured a host of young people for whom music is life-giving, from world-leading professional musicians to skilled amateurs. The CMP is the opportunity we have been looking for to take this to the next level, offering more students than ever before the opportunity to work with each other and professional artists from a wide range of genres in an atmosphere that fosters creativity and innovation.”

The study surveyed 2,806 university students living in the UK in June 2020 and found that the universities of Aberdeen and Exeter were the best in the UK student city for providing support during the crisis.

Have current students’ degrees been affected?

A quarter of students believe that coronavirus has had a negative effect on their ability to achieve their degree qualifications. Students at Plymouth University and the University of Sheffield felt that their degrees were most affected, with 39 and 35 percent respectively agreeing that the pandemic has affected their ability to achieve their degree qualification. 

Conversely, only 13 percent of students at Exeter felt the same way. This may be related to the fact that students at Exeter voted their university the best for communication, as observed above.

Value for money in doubt 

Shockingly, only one in 10 students believe they’re receiving value for money for their education during the pandemic. Scottish students felt they were getting the best value for money, with the lowest scoring city, Brighton, only achieving two percent in this indicator.

Despite almost all education being shifted online, less than two-thirds of students across the UK have been provided with free online learning resources. This is despite the UK government announcing that UK students will pay the full £9,250 annual tuition fee even if universities are still closed in the autumn. 

Almost 30 percent of universities have provided access to online counselling – despite this, a staggering 73 percent of students are unsatisfied with university mental health support, according to the same NatWest study.

The report, conducted by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and Kaplan International Pathways (Kaplan), also found that international students are also finding graduate jobs in sectors with acute skills shortages – debunking the idea that they could be taking jobs that would otherwise be held by UK students.

The amounts don’t take into account tuition fees, which also inject billions every year into the economy. The report found that EU students contribute £1.2 billion, while non-EU students contribute £2 billion, and contributions also varied across different study levels, with master’s graduates contributing the most, at £1.6 billion.

UK Universities: #WeAreInternational

The report was welcomed by both the National Union of Students (NUS) and the #WeAreInternational campaign, which was launched in 2013 by the University of Sheffield to celebrate and emphasize the importance of diversity in the university’s student and staff, in response to concerns from international students about negative media coverage and some political statements on immigration in the UK.

Within this campaign, the university points out that the contribution of international students goes far  beyond their financial value, with their research demonstrating that these students are also well ingrained in the city’s life, working and volunteering in hospitals, charities and schools as well as enriching Sheffield’s culture with music, food, dance and language events throughout the year.

A spokesperson for the UK-wide #WeAreInternationalcampaign said: “This report underpins the case to reinstate the competitive post-study work rights for which students themselves have long lobbied.

“Far from the idea that international students who undertake a period of work after their courses should be discouraged, we now know international graduates are a national asset. It is in our interest and theirs to make sure our visa system reflects that.”

From academic faculty at world-renowned universities and EdTech startups, to Chief Innovation Officers and tech developers, the conference attendees and speakers are the people best placed to provide insight into the future of education.

This year, Imperial College Business School is co-hosting the event, and so we thought it apt to find out a little more about the ways they are using technology to transform the student experience.

Imperial offers a number of graduate programs from master’s degrees and PhDs to MBA programs. But the main thing the business school prides itself on is its innovative ethos and its STEM-driven technologies.

The Dean of Imperial College Business School Francisco Veloso told us: “We started investing in technology for education a few years ago. That has been present on the courses delivered to our community. The flexibility is quite important.

“For example, when we delivered accounting digitally to the students across Imperial, subscriptions went up 30 percent.

“It’s because all of a sudden if you’re a civil engineering student, [studying accounting] is no longer competing with your structures because you can take it online.” 

Collaboration is key to success

To give one more example of how Imperial College Business School have embraced technology, the school recently joined a group of leading business schools to launch a new digital learning platform to create a more flexible learning experience. 

By combining faculty expertise with cutting-edge technology, the platform hopes to meet growing demands from executives and students for a more flexible, bespoke and globally accessible learning experience.

Known as the Future of Management Education Alliance, the platform aims to transform the future of management education. As the first platform of its kind in the business education sector, Imperial and its partners are hoping for great things.

This new alliance will enable partner schools (Imperial, ESMT Berlin, BI Norwegian Business School, the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, EDHEC, Business School and Ivey Business School), to enhance the student experience through face-to-face, experiential and online learning methods.