COVID-19 having huge effect on university industry income

With A Level results day approaching on Thursday, second thoughts around the prospect of leaving home during the pandemic are coming to light. As many as a third of students admitted they may not attend university this September due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and new research from Swansea University has revealed a huge amount of compassion toward students entering and graduating from university this year.

The research found that more than half of people (52%) would choose not to go to university in the current climate and 52% of adults said they understood students’ anxieties surrounding the pandemic. A further 4 in 10 (41%) said they admired students for attending and almost a third (31%) said they believed that this generation of students have been hit hardest due to the pandemic.

Although the risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19 is a major factor in choosing not to attend university, health concerns may not be the sole reason; as many as half (51%) of people said they didn’t expect the university experience to be the same due to social distancing regulations.

Having said this, the research also showed that more than a quarter (26%) agreed that attending university would still be a worthwhile experience. In addition to this, more than a fifth (22%) thought it was more important than ever to get a degree due to the pending recession.

Aston spoke to Mark Garratt, director of recruitment Swansea University to discuss more about the research and advise students on navigating this next chapter of their lives.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash