Accessibility statement

Coronavirus update: 16 March 2020

Posted on 16 March 2020

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Charlie Jeffery, emailed all staff and students to make them aware of a number of developments, including a move to online teaching.

Professor Jeffery emphasised that, in a situation which is evolving rapidly, the health and wellbeing of our staff and students is our main priority.

With this in mind, a number of changes are being made to the way that the University operates at this time:

  • All teaching from the start of the summer term on Tuesday 14 April will move online
  • Our residences and colleges will remain open
  • All examinations and assessments for the remainder of this academic year will move online, with the exception of all first year examinations which have been cancelled
  • Post Offer Visit Days and Widening Participation Residentials will be delivered online
  • Out-bound international travel for staff will only be authorised in genuinely exceptional circumstances
  • Staff with vulnerabilities to underlying health conditions should move to home-working immediately
  • We will implement social distancing measures, including split team working between home and campus along with a significant extension of home-working and a general shift to conducting meetings remotely via tele- or videoconference
  • We will assess whether events involving significant numbers of people visiting our campus should go ahead

The University's Covid-19 contingency planning groups are meeting daily to discuss the ongoing situation, and will continue to provide updates as necessary by email and on the coronavirus web pages.

Professor Jeffery finished by thanking members of the University for their "understanding and cooperation in a period in which the shared sense of community and compassion that marks out this University will be all the more important".