A Statement from your Elected Officers

As you are aware, the recent announcement of a national lockdown has meant that most students will be transitioning to fully online learning for the foreseeable future. We acknowledge that this is a difficult and challenging time for many of you who have remained optimistic and have continued to follow the coronavirus government guidance since the pandemic began. We want to firstly and foremost thank you for continuing to voice your concerns and share your experiences with us; your feedback is extremely valuable to us and is important for us to make impactful decisions to your student experience.

We are disappointed that the government has yet again failed to acknowledge the many implications the sudden announcement of a national lockdown has for students' learning environment and personal circumstances, as well as student welfare. 

As a Students’ Union, we pledge that we continue to represent the voice of students’ rights, needs and wants, to ensure that YOU are getting the very best out of your learning experience in what is a challenging time for many. Therefore we wanted to give you an opportunity to update you on the actions we are taking to provide everyone with transparency on what we are doing for YOU: 

• We have sent a letter to the University Executive Board (UEB) requesting that they support us with providing rent relief for students in halls of accommodation, and also to support us with lobbying private landlords and halls of residence providers to offer rent relief to students in their accommodation.
  
• We have heard your thoughts on tuition fees and we are working as an Elected Officer team to see how we can best support you, and we will continue to provide you updates on this
  
• We will also continue to make sure that the University are upholding ‘No Detriment Practices’ so that your learning and grades are not negatively impacted by the pandemic
  
• Continue to have discussions with senior staff at the University to make sure that online learning is as best and as accessible for all students as it can be, by listening to students feedback

If you have any questions, email us at electedofficers@upsu.net. 

If you have any concerns that these changes will affect your course, the Advice Service is open remotely Monday to Friday, 10am - 4pm. Get in touch with our advisors by emailing advice@upsu.net or phoning 023 9284 3478. 

SIGN THE PETITION FOR RENT RELIEF