University students in the UK are not freely allowed to defer enrolling for the next school year.
University students in the UK at a crossroad
Several university students in the UK are concerned about how schools are barring them from deferring their enrollment for the next school year. Amid the threat of coronavirus, some universities are not patronizing students from deferring the next school year’s enrollment.
Freya Saddler, one of the numerous university students in the UK that expresses disappointment over the recent announcement of her alma matter on deferring for the academic year 2020-2021. Saddler is enrolled under the Musical Theatre program at the University of London. She wishes to defer for the next academic year, citing that her mental health is affected by the lack of interaction by doing classes online from home.
Unfortunately, the University of London is among the universities in London that do not allow student’s deferral due to COVID-19 reasons not related to severe health illnesses.
Universities fear that if a huge number of freshmen defer proceeding to the next academic school year, the university population will end up being overpopulated, which is not allowed in top universities in the UK.
Financial Crisis
Financial experts see the move of barring university students in the UK to defer their studies as a financial strategy by universities to keep up with the financial loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With almost a 100% shutdown on enrollees from international students this academic year, universities want to maximize the most out of their local enrollees.
Deferring from enrolling for the academic year 2020-2021 without the approval of the university might result in serious sanctions such as slot cancellation from the program the student is enrolled in. Citing COVID-19 reasons will be an immediate denial of the deferral request.
Universities should consider that this pandemic has affected mostly those considered as disadvantaged students. Students working part-time to sustain their studies are greatly suffering in this situation. The pandemic led to lots of jobs lost, and now, they are torn in finding ways to earn for their enrollment this coming academic year or risk the chance of suffering the consequences of deferring their studies.
Education experts propose that universities should make an individual assessment on students who requested deferral options before deciding whether to approve or decline them.
