University deadline day: 'Covid has changed my whole future'

It's deadline day for anyone deciding whether to accept their university offers.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service - UCAS - said earlier this week that more than 65,000 applicants have yet to make up their minds.

Being in the middle of a pandemic means those choices are more complicated than usual.

While university is still an exciting idea for some, others feel unsure about the prospect of a first year affected by online learning and social distancing.

• Coronavirus: Should I go to university this year?

Abigail Coe, who is still planning to go to Manchester Metropolitan University, says she feels worried.

"Covid-19 has changed my expectations of what the university experience will be. We won't get freshers or nightlife, the social aspect seems almost non-existent.

For 17-year-old Abigail, university was actually a back-up plan. She had wanted to get a journalism apprenticeship and start working once she left school.

But the coronavirus outbreak meant some media companies, like lots of others, have stopped recruiting.

"The lack of job opportunities has pushed me into studying in the autumn," she tells Newsbeat.

"So the pandemic has changed my whole future."

Abigail feels the "freedom of adulthood" she would have had at university has been taken away.

"I fear I'll be stuck at home in my first term doing lectures online.

"I was really looking forward to joining societies and clubs like hockey, but how can a Zoom call give you that experience?"

Homam's looking forward to becoming a medic

Covid-19 has altered 20-year-old Homam Naser Al Din's university choice. He had received an offer from Keele University, which he was keen to take, but it required an IELTS English test.

"Unfortunately the test was cancelled due to the pandemic which meant that I had to firm my offer with Hull York Medical School instead," he tells Newsbeat.

He says his main concern is about the practical side of studying medicine.

"My friends and I are quite worried about the hands-on experience and activities required in a medical degree, especially if the two metre restrictions are still in place."

But he has had emails from the university about what the start term will look like.

"I know there will be a mixture of online learning and activities in smaller groups. We just have to get on and deal with whatever may happen."

Molly Scales, from Glasgow, has decided to decline all her offers and also thinks the experience will be diminished because of the pandemic.

This also means the 17-year-old can reapply for her top choice university, from which she was rejected.

"I personally find face-to-face learning much more useful than online teaching," she says.

But, she continues: "Deferring has made me rather anxious, especially as one university admitted that competition for places may be fiercer next year."

Professor Wyn Morgan, Vice-President for Education at the University of Sheffield, says some people deferring or rejecting offers means there might be more places than usual this year.

"There are more places available at some of the world's best universities, giving school leavers a unique opportunity.

"In contrast, 2021 will be an incredibly competitive time to enter university, so applicants wanting to defer should think carefully before they do so."

18-year-old Catherine Prior is feeling more positive. If she gets the grades she needs, she plans to go ahead and study biological natural sciences at Cambridge.

"I am trying to keep in mind that although the first term or so may be disrupted we will still have second and third year to make up for the lost time. Many uni students I have talked to have said it's better in the later years anyway because you actually have friends," she tells Newsbeat.

Some students have complained about a lack of clarity from universities over issues like how accommodation will work.

However Catherine, from Essex, says she feels relatively well supported.

"I have had emails with positive encouragement that the university experience will be as normal as they can make it, and that they want lectures to start as soon as they can but they are limited by the government guidelines.

"We have been told that face-to-face teaching should still go ahead, just in a socially distant form.

"I am still holding out hope because there is some time until October and the situation is changing so quickly.

"I don't yet know what is happening with accommodation but I completely empathise with the university that it is hard to know what is the appropriate action, and it all depends on if there is a second wave."

Overnight classes

It's not just people about to go to university in the UK who are taking difficult decisions.

Isobel Roberts, a first-year civil engineering student at Bristol University, was looking forward to heading to Sydney for a year.

But because of the pandemic, the Australian border is closed to international students.

Isobel was offered the chance to do classes online from the UK but has turned it down.

"Some of the courses may have to be taken in real-time, meaning I would be studying in the middle of the night, which is completely unfeasible in the long term," she tells Newsbeat.

"Covid-19 will decimate the university experience."

Courteney Sheppard, a senior customer experience manager at UCAS, has some advice for young people still making up their minds about their offers.

"When you have as much information as you need to make the right decision for you, log into Track and choose your firm and insurance choices before 6pm UK time.

"It's important to remember the reasons you chose to go to university before coronavirus, as they'll still be valid in the future."

"Take some time to talk things through with those people whose opinions you value the most. That could be your teachers, parents or friends.

"You can also speak to an expert UCAS adviser on the phone, on social media, and speak to current students through our website."

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