We asked London students how they’re bringing in the new year and this what they said

Here it is. Finally. The end of possibly the worst year to ever grace our precious lives, and the start of one that might end up being just as bad – but hopefully not. It has been so god-awful, so traumatic and so depressing that most of us will even be too scarred to watch the worldwide 2020 blockbuster when it comes out in a few years.

So, how does one adequately celebrate the end of this tragic year? With a global pandemic that is ending up to be more serious in the UK now than it was back in April, the answer should be, in truth, not a lot.

But the Tab London, being the curious bunch that we are, decided to find out exactly what your thoughts are this NYE, and here’s what over 500 students had to say:

In terms of whether students will actually be celebrating at all, it was almost a 50/50 split, with just over half of respondents saying that they do plan on bringing in the new year in some way or another.

However, these celebrations are likely to be very intimate affairs, with a vast majority intending to keep to their household or family, and only 15% branching out of their immediate social bubble. Seemingly for students a lot of these plans will take place at home, as the majority of respondents will be outside of London for NYE – understandable due to the apocalyptic state of the tier 4 capital over the last few weeks.

While students are exempt from the Tier 4 travel rules, many people will undoubtedly not feel the need to rush back to uni at the soonest opportunity, what with the risk of infection being much higher than before and the misery of being stuck at home yet again.

Some people, especially those currently in the south-east of England, will unfortunately already be stuck in Tier 4. For these students, we asked what rules they’ll be following out of Boris’ lottery of joy, and, for the greater part, students said they will continue to follow the strict lockdown rules of tier 4. The next most popular answer being supported by 10% of students was not mixing indoors with people outside of the household, possibly due to the relatively safe accessibility of firework displays in the open. With 46 and 35 votes respectively, the next two answers were ‘no rules’ and ‘rule of 6’, from people planning to meet up with friends or even larger groups this NYE.

For those who admitted to having plans larger than within the household or family, a ‘thing with friends’ was the most common alternative, as opposed to a party or rave. However, an equal amount of people answered these latter two options, and while they might be a small percentage we can definitely expect some ambitious celebrations this New Year’s Eve, with comments like “huge motive” and “indoor party” indicating that things may not be all so smooth going into January. Some people really just want 2020 to end with a bang, I guess.

However, on the other side of the spectrum, a lot of students in the survey felt pretty passionately about avoiding Miss Rona this new year. “Hospitals are at breaking point because of Covid, wish the public could see this” one respondent stressed, while another said, “2021 is longer than one night. The sooner I can ‘get back to normal’ the better for me and my family.” Risking one night for some crazy NYE celebrations could obviously have a lot of consequences, and for the other half of respondents who don’t have plans, a general sense of frustration at those who won’t be abiding by the rules was clear. When asked why they don’t have plans, similar responses cropped up, such as “to follow guidelines and pay back our NHS?” and, put very simply, “because there’s a pandemic lol”. Had no idea mate.

Out of the respondents who will be sticking to lockdown rules, there was also a large feeling of melancholy that pretty accurately echoes how this whole year has felt to be a student. With a combined majority of people saying that they’re not celebrating because they’re either “too sad” or “can’t be bothered”, responses such as “gonna be shit” and “how can we even celebrate if we’re following the rules?” indicate that perhaps a proper NYE will have to wait until 2021. Tier 4 is also a scarily looming prospect, with one frustrated respondent admitting “my idea of celebrating means going out, tier 4 doesn’t really allow for that”, and another saying “it’s tier 4 so I can’t actually do anything or see anyone.” Don’t remind me guys, it’s too depressing.

Whatever students are deciding to do for New Year’s Eve this year, I just sincerely hope that we can celebrate ten times harder when this is all over, and that next year’s NYE will be the crazy blacked-out mess that we all deserve. And to 2020, bye bitch we won’t miss you xxx