Dear students,

Thank you to all those who were able to attend the Student Q&A sessions last week and for submitting your questions to myself and my colleagues. While I and my management team have been speaking with students and your Students’ Union representatives across this year, we were all grateful to hear from so many of you and so directly this way.

I am also grateful to your Students’ Union Development Officer Madeleine Fox for chairing the event and posing your questions, as well as the Officer team for their commitment, insight and engagement with all of us during this very difficult period.

I look forward to attending further Q&A events with our students and would encourage you to complete the Students’ Union’s feedback form to help shape these sessions

Summary of responses and FAQs

If you were unable to attend these sessions, we have published a summary of our responses to the main question areas, alongside a more detailed set of Covid-19 FAQs for Students.

Government ‘roadmap’

The government’s ‘roadmap’ due on 22 February will give us the first indication of when more students might return for in-person teaching. We are working with the Department for Education to encourage them to permit as many students to return as is safe to do so while the pandemic remains and the vaccination programme rolls out.

We will communicate the details of what the ‘roadmap’ will mean for students at the University once it is published next week. Please check your University email accounts, Current Students webpages or social media and MyNottingham app alerts - or you can visit our Covid-19 Communications archive.

Covid-19 testing

As much as the national vaccination programme is the key to reopening the country from lockdown, regular testing is the key for more students to return to the University. If you are in Nottingham, please make regular use of our Test to Protect facilities which are sited on campus and in Lenton.

Thank you for your commitment, your patience, and your sheer hard work in keeping up your studies in the current circumstances. We are listening and will continue to listen to ensure we can best support you now and as the situation changes over the coming weeks and months.

Best wishes, Shearer

Professor Shearer West
Vice-Chancellor