The impact of COVID-19 on UK higher education students: experiences, observations and suggestions for the way forward

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-09-2020-0396
• Published date: 05 August 2021
• Date: 05 August 2021
• Pages: 1172-1193
• Subject Matter: Strategy,Corporate governance
• Author: Muzammal Ahmad Khan

The impact of COVID-19 on UK higher

education students: experiences,

observations and suggestions for the

way forward

Muzammal Ahmad Khan

Abstract

Purpose –This study aims to examine the experiencesof UK higher education students and the impact

that emergency-imposed changes had on their learning, teaching and assessment (LTA) during the

lockdown. It reflects on the views of students on how these changes impacted their education and

personal circumstances.It makes suggestions, based on student observations,on how educators might

supportstudents’ LTA learning experiences more effectively.

Design/methodology/approach –The study uses an anonymous online questionnaire, imposed by

lockdown and closureof universities, to gather the views of HE students across the UK on how COVID-19

and lockdown affected their education and personal circumstances. Using a cross-sectional study,

participantswere asked to complete several questions,providing quantitative and qualitativedata which

is analysedfor the study. A total of 349 participants took part in the questionnaireand data were analysed

descriptively.

Findings –Key findings suggest thatthe use of online virtual classrooms as a substitute fortraditional

face-to-face LTA has its positives and its negatives. The most significant positives are the ‘‘flexible

assessments’’ and ‘‘digital content’’ and, in contrast, one of the significant drawbacks is the lack of

interactions,this being true for both male and female students. However,as compared to females, males

found to be missing ‘‘the campuslife’’ more during the lockdown. Finally, the majorityof student felt that

there was a lack of support from the university and teaching staff during the lockdown. Universities’

governance must take control of how this issue is driven forward and learn from the experience of

students.

Originality/value –The study makes three contributions: firstly, using students’ views to open a fresh

debate on LTA approaches during the pandemic; secondly, examining the impact on student

experiences due to the changesintroduced because of lockdown; and finally, suggesting strategies to

be implementedby HE management based on the opinions of participatingstudents.

Keywords Higher education, COVID-19, Student Support, Lockdown, Digital learning

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

The world is now accustomed to life with COVID-19. Tragically, infections have risen to

almost 200 million worldwide with almost 4 million deaths (correct as of 12 June 2021)

recorded and it continues to rise (WHO, 2020). New variants in the virus are materialising

and vaccination against the disease is gaining pace, albeit more so amongst the world’s

wealthiest nations. Everyone is learning to adapt to a “new normal” (Carroll and Conboy,

2020) and this is no less relevant to students in higher education. A recent study suggests

that teaching institutions were unprepared for such a sudden shift to emergency remote

Muzammal Ahmad Khan is

based at School of

Business and Creative

Industries, University of the

West of Scotland, Paisley,

UK.

Received 18 September 2020

Revised 25 January 2021

12 March 2021

14 June 2021

Accepted 21 June 2021

Author would like to thank the

two anonymous reviewers who

contributed significantly to the

improvement of this paper.

Author would also want to thank

the educators that assisted him

in getting the survey out to the

students. Finally, he would want

to thank students for their active

participation in this research; it

means a lot to hear their

valuable insights.

PAGE 1172 jCORPORATE GOVERNANCE jVOL. 21 NO. 6 2021, pp. 1172-1193, ©EmeraldPublishing Limited, ISSN 1472-0701 DOI 10.1108/CG-09-2020-0396

teaching (ERT) (Schuck and Lambert, 2020), therefore students, regardless of their level of

study, nationality, age, gender, occupational background, or any other category,

were affected by changes to their education that were imposed in response to COVID-19.

These included academic changes such as the introduction of new learning methods, the

imposition of online teaching,the cancellation of lectures and tutorials, the use of alternative

assessments and grading methods and adjusting to new technology. External and internal

pressures, such as home schooling, isolation, confinement, stress, anxiety, lack of clarity,

financial worries, employmentconcerns, loss of jobs, etc., added to these stresses.

In the UK, a dramatic shift in educational practice since the start of the pandemic (Watermeyer

et al., 2020) has been evident. In terms of COVID-19 impact, the UK has become the second

most affected country in Europe with over 4.5 million infections but has the highest number of

deaths. The UK applied extreme measures to stop the virus, and during the early pa rt of the

pandemic, its government advised that there should be a “limit (t o) social contact as much as

you can”, suggesting that “you can still work but we are asking as many as possible to work

from home” (BBC, 2020). Although this study concentrates on the UK, Higher E ducation

Institutions across the globe have adopted e-learning as a replaceme nt for traditional face-to-

face teaching (Dhawan, 2020;Fulton, 2020). The UK HE sector continues to encounter

uncertainty, with many students unable to attend university due to lock downs and travel

constraints, and with no end currently in sight (Crawford et al.,2020). A postponement o f face-

to-face teaching has resulted in the cancellation of lectures, tuto rials, seminars, graduation

ceremonies, and open days, leading to modification of exam ination and other assessment

arrangements (Zhu and Liu, 2020). Early uncorroborated stories suggest that lives were

disrupted with many forced to work from home, and some required to home s chool their

children due to school closures (Zainuddin et al., 2020). It is suggested that the withdrawal of

freedoms that were taken for granted has left some struggling with physic al and/or mental

health issues (Lee, 2020;Pfefferbaum and North, 2020). Early research, including Cao et al.

(2020) indicates rising signs of anxiety among students due t o the rapid changes to education

brought by the pandemic. Similarly, Kundu and Bej (2021) find that students were not

prepared for the abrupt changes which brought online teach ing, with many feeling anxious

and uncertain as they struggled to adjust to changes, perhaps highlighting a deep di gital

divide between the most technically and least technically aware student s, and between those

with adequate and inadequate access to suitable technology reso urces. Burns (2020)

highlights that the students are falling behind in their learnin g due to lockdown measures and

enforced online education. Tan (2021) finds that many students lose motivation and that some

are unable to perform effectively using online learning methods. Sundarasen et al. (2020)

suggest that female students had significantly higher levels of anxi ety during the pandemic.

Although several studies now explore the impact of covid-19 on students, there is little

existing evidence that examines the impact on gender when exploring how these rapid

changes have been perceived by male and female students. Therefore, it is important to

consider the effects of COVID-19 on the student learning performance and to hear the

perspectives of these “early impacted learners” so that educators can reflect on the early

support provided and consider how the online experiences of future student learners might

be improved.

This paper aims to examine the impact of the emergency-imposed changes on students’

LTA. Emphasis is placed on the experiencesof students in the UK based Higher Education

Institutions (HEI) and includes the experiences of undergraduate and postgraduate

students, whether domestic or international, it examines gender-related perspectives to

ascertain whether perceived differences exist. To achieve this aim, the key objectives of the

study are:

䊏to consider the gender-based reflections of students on the aspects of the changes in

LTA that followed the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown based on gender;

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