Final-year students fear impact of Covid-19 on grades

ONS survey reveals stark differences between third-year students and those further from graduation

Around two-thirds of students in their third year or above are worried that the pandemic has had a significant impact on their academic performance, a far higher proportion than in the rest of the student population, a survey has suggested.

A total of 67 per cent of such respondents to the Office for National Statistics’ Student Covid-19 Insights Survey said the coronavirus had had a major or significant impact on their performance, compared with 48 per cent of the student population as a whole. The vast majority of undergraduate students in their third year began their studies in 2019-20, the first year of the pandemic, and have therefore experienced disruption to their education in each year of their degree.