Nearly three in 10 university students had no in-person teaching between 25 February and 7 March, according to new data.

       In figures published by the Office for National Statistics, 27% of students in England had received zero hours of in-person teaching in the previous seven days, a similar rate to late November 2021, when 24% had had no in-person teaching.

       This was much lower than the rate in late May 2021 when 77% of students in England had had no face-to-face teaching over the past seven days.

       More than a third of students reported that their mental health and wellbeing had worsened since the start of the Autumn 2021 term

       Tim Gibbs

       Students reported higher levels of loneliness than the general adult population, with 17% reporting they felt lonely “often or always” compared with 7% of the adult population of Great Britain.

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       And over a third of students – 36% – said that their mental health and wellbeing had deteriorated since the start of the autumn term in 2021, a statistically significant increase on findings in late November 2021, when 28% of students reported this.

       For students who enrolled at university during the 2020 to 2021 academic year, 45% said that their academic performance had improved since the start of the autumn 2021 term, compared with the previous academic year.

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       The findings also showed that the majority of students had been vaccinated at least once against coronavirus, with 92% reporting they had had one dose of the vaccine at least.

       Out of students who had had at least one dose, 71% had had the booster (65% of all students).

       Most students who had not had a booster reported that they were likely to have one, or had an appointment confirmed.

       Nine in ten students – 91% – said they would get tested if they developed Covid-19 symptoms, and over half (62%) of students said that they would stay at home for at least five days if they developed symptoms of Covid-19.

       Tim Gibbs, head of the student Covid-19 insights survey, said: “Latest insights from our student survey reveal more about the impact of the pandemic on this group.

       “More than a third of students reported that their mental health and wellbeing had worsened since the start of the Autumn 2021 term.”

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       “This is significantly higher compared to results from November 2021,” he said.

       “It is encouraging to see that a majority of students reported that they have received a booster vaccination, hopefully offering some protection from the virus,” he added.