The Student take on COVID-19

As universities are forced to close campuses to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, we spoke to Lewis, a Second Year Computer Science Student at Cardiff University, to understand what this means for those studying for degrees that will no longer have lectures to attend.

What's the latest guidance you've had from your university about what the ongoing COVID-19 situation means for you? Do you feel well informed? 

The latest guidance we’ve had from the university is to continue labs and lectures remotely and that exams will either be taken remotely or will be replaced with coursework. Personally, I do not feel the university has done enough to make sure students know what to do to prevent the spreading of COVID-19 and to inform the students of the precautions that should be instated to stop people getting ill.

How do you feel about the prospect of having six months out of university?

Due to the fact that a lot of the course has now swapped over to remote learning I personally feel that my work should not be massively affected by the prospect of missing six months of university.

What will be the biggest challenge you're dealing with as a result?

The biggest challenge I am currently dealing with as a result of COVID-19 is that I am not able to meet up with testers and researchers which has meant a couple of my modules have now been harder than would normally be needed.

How do you think your lecturers are feeling at the moment?

Moving all teaching to remote learning must have been a stressful time for lectures since all the work was made to be shown in a lecture or a lab in person instead of over a camera.

Are you getting enough support to continue studying independently? 

The support we have received to continue working has been massive due to the fact that all the information and work is now on the internet ready for us to work with at home.

And apart from studying, what will you be doing with your time off?  

Now that a lot of public spaces have been closed down it has meant that the morale of (our student) house has significantly decreased  but I still try to remain healthy by continuing with exercise and also spending time with my flatmates to improve mental health.