Almost a third of university courses still involve online learning, with some students complaining of paying thousands of pounds a year for a ‘glorified streaming service’.
Universities moved almost entirely to remote learning during the pandemic, with lectures delivered over Zoom or as pre-recorded videos.
But despite all social distancing laws now being abolished, a survey found universities are still providing online contact hours alongside face-to-face teaching.
Figures from 50 of 160 universities who responded to a freedom of information request from the BBC showed 28 per cent of courses were still being taught in a ‘hybrid’ way in 2022-23, compared to 4.1 per cent before Covid.
Freddie Tyzack, who is in his first year studying Economics at the University of Bath (pic), said a third of his contact hours were now delivered online.
Freddie Tyzack, who is in his first year studying Economics at the University of Bath, said a third of his contact hours were now delivered online.
“It’s not good value for money at all. It’s just like watching a YouTube video,” he said.
“When it’s online, you’re in your room and you’re on your own, you can just sit in bed and watch and then think, ”that’s that done – I can go back to sleep”.’
The 18-year-old said he was told not all students could fit into a lecture theatre because his course was oversubscribed.
A spokesman for the university argued a hybrid approach was more inclusive and benefited students.
“If any student has concerns about their course, then we encourage them in the first instance to speak to their director of studies or personal tutor,” he said.
The BBC found more than 3,500 of the 12,569 courses at the 50 universities which replied to its FOI request were being taught in a hybrid format this year.
Prof David Latchman, vice-chancellor at Birkbeck, University of London and a representative for Universities UK, urged universities to consult with their students over what kind of learning they preferred.
“Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but I still think that face to face is a better learning experience,” he said.
“But I think the way that it [blended learning] can help people to keep up and keep going is tremendously important.’
Universities received a record number of complaints during the pandemic following the introduction of remote classes.
Many claim that ‘blended’ learning – a mix of face-to-face and online – is better for students as it allows them to rewatch lectures.
But data from the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) tells a different story.
The body received 2,763 complaints from students in 2021, up 6 per cent on 2020 levels and 17 per cent more than in 2019.
The OIA said ‘some students found that they weren’t getting the learning experiences that they reasonably expected’, affected by the ‘cumulative impact of the pandemic and industrial action’.
It also found that some students had struggled with technology, ‘especially in online timed exams’.
A number found it difficult to make the technology work at all, while for others poor typing skills had affected their performance.
The overall financial compensation awarded to students in 2021 was £1,304,379, ‘significantly higher than in previous years’.
The biggest single payout was just over £68,000, while 63 students received more than £5,000.
The proportion of complaints relating to the pandemic had risen since 2020, at 37 per cent of complaints, compared with 12 per cent in 2020.
In total, 27 per cent of complaints were seen as ‘justified’.
The Government has pledged a crackdown on remote learning last summer.
Yesterday universities minister Michelle Donelan said: ‘I have been very clear that students deserve quality, transparency and value.
Students deserve a fair deal and it is good to see this process working with compensation payouts increasing to over £1.3million and more complaints upheld than ever before.’