Cambridge lectures will be online only next year

The University of Cambridge has announced that all lectures will be online-only for the next academic year.

In a statement, the university said that as social distancing was likely to continue to be required, it has “decided there will be no face-to-face lectures during the next academic year”.

“Lectures will continue to be made available online, and it may be possible to host smaller teaching groups in person, as long as this conforms to social distancing requirements,” the university said.

The news comes after the University of Manchester confirmed that it would keep all lectures online for at least one semester when the next academic year starts.

Cambridge said it was “constantly adapting to changing advice as it emerges during this pandemic”.

“This decision has been taken now to facilitate planning, but as ever, will be reviewed should there be changes to official advice on coronavirus.”

Meanwhile, the University of Bolton’s vice-chancellor, George Holmes, has written to students about plans for a “Covid secure” working and learning environment to ensure that the campus is fully opened in September.

To ensure that students are able to “study and engage in person regularly with other students and staff”, the university is installing “airport-style walk-through temperature scanners at every building entry” and making face masks compulsory “for the foreseeable future”.

There will be “regular socially distanced face-to-face tutorials, laboratory experience, access to arts studios and specialist facilities”, as well as a new scheduling system that will mean fewer students on campus at one time. Laboratories will be adapted over the summer so they can be used while social distancing is in place, Bolton said.

In the announcement, Professor Holmes said there would also be a bicycle loan scheme so students could avoid public transport and “a rigorous cleansing programme throughout all university buildings”.

The university will also transform large spaces into “learning zones” that feature tables with plastic dividing screens to allow communication between people facing one another, Professor Holmes said.

anna.mckie@timeshighereducation.com