Frances, 19, from Newcastle, had been looking forward to starting a design degree at the university of Northumbria last autumn.
By the end of her first semester, however, she had major doubts about having made the right choice.
“There’s aspects of my degree I really enjoy, but overall it’s not what I expected,” she said. “I’ve been shocked by the casual attitude my peers have to attendance. A lot of people on my course only show up for submissions or presentations.”
Frances is one of scores of current UK students who shared with the Guardian how they feel about attending university lectures and tutorials, amid reports that students’ attendance has fallen off a cliff.
About half of the students who got in touch said they were regularly skipping classes, with many saying they were hardly attending at all.
A lot of students pointed to financial difficulties forcing them to prioritise paid work over studying, a lack of enthusiasm for the format of lectures, low motivation to get up and go in, and the perception that attending classes was unlikely to improve their grades.
Frances is now deliberating whether to transfer to a university closer to her home town, as she has found it hard to meet people on campus.
“The unsettled atmosphere is making me question if the course is right for me. Some people have made friends, I think, but it’s hard as you don’t know who will show up, and when you might see them again.
“There’s a bit of a feeling that there is just box-ticking going on [among students], and getting a degree at the end of it.”
Dozens of students who responded to an online callout said it was financially impossible for them to attend all university classes.
“I aim to [attend classes], but the cost of living is forcing me to work instead,” said one 20-year-old student from Sheffield, who wanted to stay anonymous.
“I’d prefer if all lectures were recorded, but many in-person lectures are a one-time-only opportunity, causing me to fall behind. However, I’d rather pay my rent and ensure I can live. The maintenance loan hasn’t risen in line with inflation, it doesn’t even cover my rent, let alone food, clothing and transport.”
Another 22-year-old student at a university in the north of England said: “With the cost of living crisis, student life is merely a shadow of what it once was. The choice between being hungry and getting a good grade is very real.”
Ellen, a longstanding lecturer in Middle East politics at a prestigious university in southern England, was among university professors who reported that attendance in their classes had nosedived this academic year.
“It started getting really bad this year,” she said. “On a good day, attendance is 30%. It’s quite shocking, I’ve never seen anything like this. This year, I’ve failed more students than in my entire career put together, as the quality of their work is suffering throughout because they’re constantly absent.”
Conversations with students about their attendance, Ellen said, had given her the impression that many young peoples’ attitudes towards university education had fundamentally changed. “The word ‘expect’ comes up a lot. One student said to me: ‘I pay high fees, I’ve bought this degree.’ There is a sense of entitlement, it feels very disheartening.”
Claims that the cost of living means students’ paid work commitments frequently clash with their timetables are, Ellen believes, excuses that do not fly in the case of her students.
“I teach at a Russell Group uni, and most of my students are richer than I am, but if they needed to, they could schedule bar work around the perhaps 12 hours of contact time per week they have.”
Recording sessions so students can watch them later is unfeasible, Ellen said, as she wants students to feel safe to participate in complex and sensitive political discussions.
She saw no other option but to fail a fifth of her first-year students this year, and feels sorry for the students who come in.
“Those who do attend feel disheartened, like they were cheated, for example in a group presentation. They also worry they’re seen as too studious and uncool.”
Ben, 20, a second-year Leeds university geography student, said the reasons for his frequent absences from class are varied. “On the whole my attendance is quite poor,” he said.
“Firstly, attendance isn’t recorded. This means there is no sense of panic if I miss a lecture, and I can access the online lecture whenever I want. I also believe I’ll be entering a saturated job market after graduation, and I see very little point in prioritising my degree if it’ll land me in a 9-5 job that barely covers bills in this cost of living crisis.
“I’d much rather enjoy the experience of living by myself and being in a new city. I also have no exams, only coursework, so I don’t need to retain any information from lectures,” he added.
A number of students said personal or mental health reasons prevented them from regularly going in for lectures or tutorials.
Ella, 21, a second-year student at Bristol university who works part-time at a cafe, said she aimed to attend all her lectures and seminars, but usually missed about half of them.
“I found that I still get a good grade if I access the material online, although I do learn more if I go in and participate in discussions,” she said. “Sometimes I won’t go because I feel too anxious, or tired, or because I haven’t done the preparation work, which makes me worry I’ll be picked on, or because I’m simply unmotivated or feeling low.”
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Having done her final year of college the year after lockdown, half in person and half online, all the A-level exams Ella sat ended up being weighed as mere fractions of her final grade.
“I think this period really changed my perspective on the importance of going to classes,” she said. “I had forgotten what it felt like turning up early in the morning every day, and having to work on top of uni to pay bills has definitely made it harder to have enough energy.”
Scores of students said their motivation to attend and contribute to classes was suffering because they perceived the quality of the lectures to be quite low, partly because few other students were participating, creating a vicious cycle.
“I attend all tutorials and try to go to all lectures, but my attitude can be quite poor,” said Mary*, 18, who studies history at LSE.
“Lecturers enforcing attendance and deadlines more strongly would definitely help. I’m more motivated to go if other students show up. I did a group project this year with someone I’ve never met because he’d not turned up in almost two months, which was demoralising.
“The first time I missed an assignment, I was quite stressed, but then was just told it was optional to extend the deadline. I’ve missed a lot of assignments since.”
Mary was one of many students who felt that exposure to the world of work was more important than attending lectures, and that university felt quite transactional.
“People say, ‘I’m not here to develop any skills’, I think few people feel that classes are a learning opportunity. I know that people prioritise internships and other opportunities over coursework. There’s a real sense of, ‘oh, we have to be here’, that you can do better things with your time. My learning experience is definitely negatively impacted by all this, I’m disappointed.”
While many respondents said they would like to improve their attendance, some accused universities of failing to understand that having to attend on-site classes every week was no longer feasible or desirable for many young people.
One person, who wanted to stay anonymous, said that their student experience at UCL had been marred by his department’s strict 75% minimum attendance rule in response to poor attendance.
“[If you fall below this], punitive and strict measures are implemented,” they said, “with some students being asked to leave.”
Universities should, the student added, make attending classes remotely as acceptable as attending in-person.
“A minimum attendance rate of 75% is unreasonable and harms students’ mental health. The current undergraduates no longer learn that way: They took all of their A-levels during Covid, so are more accustomed to doing some learning in-person and some learning online.”
David, 21, a fourth-year law student at Leeds university, also said he regularly finds himself in rather empty classrooms.
“Before Covid, it all felt a lot more sociable. Now, there seems to be an atmosphere of apathy and general plodding through the content,” he said.
“I think my uni has dealt with the challenges of the pandemic rather well, but leaders must know poor attendance and participation in classes are a problem, and should acknowledge and address it.”
In David’s view, inflated cohort sizes due to many students having chosen to defer for a year in response to the pandemic are partly to blame.
“My course has gone from 420 students in year one to over 700 students in my final year. I believe this has led to more thinly applied support and contact time with professors, and a worsening quality of education.
“I don’t think pointing fingers will work though; everyone has a role to play, universities, students and lecturers.
“Maybe all this is just a symptom of the craziness of the last four years. If everyone could snap out of it now, that would be great.”
*Name has been changed