Edi Uni won’t give adjustments to students unable to return next semester

Edi Uni has announced there will be no learning adjustments made for students who fail to make it back to Edinburgh in Semester Two. Furthermore, students who are required to quarantine upon arrival into the UK will have to cover the costs themselves.

This marks a change in policy to that of Semester One, in which students who were not able to return to campus were given adjustments in the form of online tutorials, lectures and classes.

The Uni also previously offered to cover the hotel quarantine costs of students travelling from Red List countries.

In an email to all Edi students from the VP Students Colm Harmon, he wrote: “You will not be able to apply for any adjustments if you can’t make it back to campus in time for the start of your programme – so please make sure you take this into consideration when making your travel plans.

“If you’re travelling internationally, please be aware that increased Covid-19 travel restrictions have been announced. Please factor in any self-isolation period you may have to complete before Semester Two teaching resumes.

“All travellers to the UK must now complete at least two days of self-isolation until they receive their results from a Day-Two PCR test.

“Additionally, travellers on the UK’s travel Red List will need to pay for managed hotel quarantine, and anyone who isn’t fully vaccinated will be required to self-isolate for 10 days at their term-time address on arrival into the UK.”

These announcements were criticised by the President of EUSA, Ellen MacRae, who tweeted: “Completely unfair that students won’t be offered any adjustments if they can’t make it back to Edinburgh in time for the start of Semester Two – ESPECIALLY if the Uni isn’t offering students financial support for quarantine costs as travel restrictions continue to change in the UK!”

Speaking to The Edinburgh Tab, Ellen said: “There is funding for students coming to Edinburgh for the first time but not for those who might go back over the holidays. I think this is incredibly unfair when the University’s messaging for so long has been encouraging students to go home for the winter break.

“I’m very concerned for students’ mental health as their winter break plans may have been dramatically altered and they will have been looking forward to a break with friends and family, or just out of Edinburgh.

“The Sabbatical Officer team is really pushing back on this and I hope we will be able to secure more funding to give students the confidence to return home over the winter. We’re also encouraging the University to expand the support it is planning on offering over the Winter break to students who are staying.”

These latest updates and announcements can also be found here.

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