'Exhausted' Bournemouth student's pandemic post goes viral

Kiera Murrell said she was "exhausted and drained" in the online post on Monday

A university student's emotional account of her plight during the coronavirus pandemic has been widely endorsed on social media.

Kiera Murrell, 20, said she was in tears after receiving no support from Bournemouth University since March.

Her Twitter post, recounting students' social isolation and "zero feedback" from lecturers, has been liked more than 175,000 times.

The university said it had offered students "significant support".

Ms Murrell, a psychology undergraduate, shared a photo of herself in the online post on Monday.

She wrote: "I am so exhausted and drained. I have spent my afternoon crying into a Terry's chocolate orange because I have received not a single bit of support since university moved online in March, just like everybody else on my course.

"Please tell me how I'm supposed to improve or better my work with absolutely 0 feedback apart from a few sarcastic emails from lecturers telling us to figure it out."

Ms Murrell said thousands of students could relate to her struggles

The second year student added that some of her friends had not been home in months because of the pandemic, were living alone and needed better support.

She later said the response to her post revealed that "thousands of students can relate and understand the struggles... Students' voices are finally being heard".

A spokesman for Bournemouth University (BU) said: "Throughout the pandemic, significant support has been put in place to support students and their learning.

"Messages have been sent to students on a very regular basis and a range of information and guidance is available on the BU website and student portal.

"We would encourage any student needing support to contact our AskBU service or their academic adviser."