Closed petition Establish a Public Inquiry into the Chaotic Return to University in 2020

Closed on 26 April 2021

A public inquiry is needed to investigate why the start of academic term 2020/21 resulted in: students being prevented from leaving accommodation, overworked academic staff, concerns about university finances, all without clear steer or support from Government.

Several factors contributed to the chaotic start of university term, most obviously the Covid-19 virus.

We must, however, understand the other factors to prevent such damage in future, including but not limited to:

- Need for universities to compete for student fees
- Underfunding of research, which led to overreliance on overseas student fee income
- Role of private accommodation providers
- Structure of university governance
- Lack of coordination between sector-wide bodies and government