St. Andrews and Covid plans for fall 2020

For those parents with students studying in the U.K. any thoughts on St. Andrews’ plans for September? I was looking at their Covid info and it seems like everything will be online: lectures pre-recorded and tutorials via zoom or a similar platform. Is that your understanding? The website references dual mode teaching but in my book it’s really all online. Also no discussion of testing which isn’t surprising since the U.K. never really got up to speed on their testing availability.

There is so much more than that…daughter is entering 1st year. Dorms/Halls opening 24Aug to facilitate the students quarantine for 14 days before Orientation Week; Food/Internet and emotional support for this two weeks will be provided to the student - room/board/support being done at no cost; Larger lectures will be done online and recorded for future reference (lecture halls will be near impossible to socially distance); Smaller tutorials/classes will be face-to-face but also online to support non-resident students.

They have not released plans for Freshers Week; arrangements for delivery of packages from Amazon and the like can be done through the Hall. If the quarantine hall is not the ultimate hall of residence, then the school will assist with transferring from the quarantine hall to the residential hall.

The school is also reaching out to the local community in terms of employing students - as the school knows that work has been unavailable for many. The school is there to support the student and is not making provisions for parents, completely understandable.

Luckily my daughter has been twice before and will ultimately survive as long as she has a bottle opener/corkscrew and Luvians continues to deliver… she is viewing this as a grand adventure. Now the larger problem becomes getting there from the US.

Congratulations to your daughter! What course is she studying? My daughter will be a second year. I did read all the info but most doesn’t apply to her as she is living in private accommodation with a few friends. Mostly I’m just surprised given what many of the US school are choosing to do.

Thank you She! She is currently IR only, but thinking of adding Italian as a second. The larger lectures being done remotely with the smaller being face-to-face is very workable.

I think the social aspect of all schools is going to be a challenge - organized functions, private gatherings in Halls and private accommodations are going to catch the eye of the school administration/wardens/landlords. As you may be seeing many US schools are going to follow the Notre Dame model of face-to-face through Thanksgiving; remote through Xmas break and then back to face-to-face in Jan…

What is your daughter studying? Had she seen StAs before taking the leap? School support for non-Hall students will be readily available via ASC. What Hall did she live in last year, and how challenging was it to find a flat this year? Any words of wisdom as a parent for dropping off 3,000 from home (Boston)?

PM’d you ?

My understanding is that right now the plan is that lectures will be online, and that tutorials will be primarily in-person, with an online option for students who cannot, or do not wish to, come in person. Tutorials are small, with fewer than 10 people mostly, at least for my child, so I think they can socially distance in them.

For third and fourth year students, at least for my son, all classes are tutorials (which are rather minimal by US standards in terms of contact time) and there are no lectures, anyway.

@Dodgers1 Do you have any concerns that there’s no plan for any testing?