Does anyone know what it will be like studying at Edinburgh?

With Covid and all, is everything gonna be online, what about societies? I'm an international student, so I'm not entirely sure about how everything will be, ngl would be a bit disappointed if I end up sitting in front of the computer for all my classes

Reply 1

TinySheep

Hi there. As far as we can tell, restrictions appear to be lifting and staying lifted due to the UK's decent vaccination scheme, so if all goes well then classes etc. should be in person by then. Societies will likely depend upon the individual club, but they also appear to be going ahead. Much of the population has been vaccinated and term will be in September, so there's plenty of time.

University of Edinburgh

Reply 2

Blue_Cow

Original post by QuackStepBack

You will still be spending a decent amount of time behind a computer screen. Do not expect a return to normality i.e. all scheduled events being in person.

If you are that concerned, take a gap year.

Reply 3

BrutusofBritain

Yep, I agree with @Blue_Cow here. They aren't expecting class sizes of more than about 20 to be able to meet in person and for many rooms it may be less due to covid restrictions. The space that's available to use is going to be at a massive premium so it's going to be a case of how important the uni thinks it is that your teaching is in person (eg. labs or for language oral classes may be more important than other classes).

They're saying it'll be a hybrid approach still. Last year that meant online for most things. They aren't going to be having hoards of students in lecture theatres for a good while yet.

Reply 4

Blue_Cow

Original post by QuackStepBack

Might be of interest to you - this is part of the latest email sent out to students about next year:

Being in Edinburgh

We expect that you will be with us here in Edinburgh and that you’ll be able to have a much more normal university experience than you’ve had this past year. We have listened to your feedback (and the helpful criticism) of your experiences in this year, so that all of our Schools are committed to offering you as much in-person teaching as we can safely deliver within the guidance we must work to, and we are planning to deliver more timetabled activity to bring structure to your learning schedules.

Ongoing restrictions

We do expect that some Covid-19 restrictions will have to continue, such as physical distancing, face coverings and hand hygiene measures. The extent of these requirements has not been set at this time, and we are in continual dialogue with the Scottish Government towards getting that clarity. We expect regular testing will form part of the experience this year, as we’re already seeing in the rest of the UK. We will update you as soon as details have been confirmed.

Teaching and learning

The rules on physical distancing for the University sector have the greatest impact on what we can deliver on campus and in-person. For the majority of students there will be a mix of in-person and digital teaching, but we expect overall there will be more in-person teaching for students than in this current academic year. The amount of in-person teaching will vary from programme to programme and depends on the discipline and the stage you are at in your studies, and will be influenced by our capacity and of course by the latest Covid-19 restrictions.

At this point, we expect that all large lectures/classes will need to be delivered digitally. We should have greater capacity for smaller group teaching (such as seminars, workshops, tutorials and lab work) on-campus, as well as smaller in-person lectures.