In guidelines released on Tuesday, the government has made clear that students are not allowed to return home from 5 November to 2 December.
This is coupled with student extra curricular activity being forced to halt, with the banning of indoor physical activity and the gathering of individuals from more than one household.
Students’ Union President Patrick O’Donnell told York Vision: “I am disappointed that there appears to be no exemptions for universities to enable students to take part in some kinds of education, social and physical activities”.
“YUSU are doing everything we can to support students, through moving all our events online and continuing to lobby the University to ensure students get the support they need”.
“I want to thank all our students for playing the part to look out for each other, and to remind you that we are here to help in whatever way we can”.
The government guidance given to Higher Education Providers emphasised the importance for institutions to “protect” the mental health and wellbeing of their students.
In response to recent calls for the refund of tuition fees, the guidelines have explicitly stated that “where universities wish to charge maximum fees, we expect the quality, quantity and accessibility of provision to be maintained”.
Both Performing Arts courses and extracurricular activity have been encouraged to seek out alternative methods of teaching and assessment, as studies have indicated that “cumulative aerosol transmission from both performing in and attending events is likely to create risk”.
The Library and other bookable study spaces have been permitted to remain open for educational purposes, with social distancing to be heavily enforced.
If you would like to read the government guidelines for the Higher Education Sector, click the link here.