Portsmouth students say they feel neglected and angry during lockdown as many pay for accommodation that lies empty

Most students have been asked to stay at home, with some still paying rent for accommodation they are not using.

Courses are running remotely but students say this means they do not have full access to university resources.

The government has asked students who haven’t returned to their university to ‘stay where they are’ except for some courses, including medicine.

University of Portsmouth students who spoke to The News have told of their frustration and disappointment, with many feeling that their experience has been ruined for the academic year.

The institution previously said it was ‘disappointed to have to pause most face-to-face teaching’ when lockdown was announced.

‘I’m paying rent still’

Nik Davies, 23, is a final year film production student who went home over Christmas and is now staying home in Chichester.

He said: ‘I decided not to go back (at the start of the year), I know a couple of my friends did but I decided to stay at home due to tier four.

‘Now after lockdown, I’m staying here for the foreseeable future’.

‘I’m paying rent still for a place that I’m currently not living in and I’m not having the social interaction either, it’s disappointing’.

Nik is renting a flat in Harry Law Hall, one of the cheapest options for Portsmouth students, which costs £2,187 for the spring term.

He added: ‘As far as I can see we should get a discounted rate, and we shouldn’t have been encouraged to return’.

‘We started our term a week later in October and they reduced our rent by £100, I don’t understand why they could do it then but can’t do anything about it now’.

The lockdown will affect Nik’s studies, as his course requires practical work that the lockdown will restrict. He said: ‘Being on a film production course we’re meant to be making our graduate films this term, our 15-minute short films.

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‘For my production specifically, we need a lot of night-time shoots, we know we’re going to need more than six people outside and on the streets’.

‘For film production students, this is why we come to uni, the degree is great but the graduate film is what we will show employers, it shows the best of our abilities.

‘There’s a big worry that we’re not going to be able to do it.

‘We’ve also got to raise money to make these movies, but people are less willing to give than last year’.

‘I came back – we're not supposed to’

Another student, who does not want to be named, said she broke government rules by returning to her student house in Southsea that costs her about £400 a month.

She said: ‘I’m now back at my uni house, I was going to stay at home but for me, it was better overall to come to uni even though obviously we’re not supposed to.

‘I had the Covid test done, which was negative, I’m not going out apart from going to the shops to get food so I’m doing the right thing to stay safe and everything.

‘There are three of us in the house, one of us has moved back home.

‘It’s tricky not being able to see people and having made that decision to move back here and not see my family for a while but for me and my studies it was the best thing for me.’

When asked about her studies, she added: ‘I was doing online work from March all the way through until the end of last year, I did five or six assignments during lockdown.

‘I’m used to the way teaching is delivered now. But it can be quite hard to motivate myself when I’m stuck in the same building 24/7.

‘There’s an online learning platform, they have different module sections, it’s really useful the way they’ve broken it down

‘They have reading lists and most of the books are now online which means I don’t have to trek to the library.

‘They did mention doing lab work after the lockdown but those spaces have been prioritised for veterinary, medical and dental students.’

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She said she wants tuition fees to be lowered this year.

She said: ‘The universities have to make money somehow, I get that, but surely not £9,250 where we’re literally paying for the same experience as an Open University course.

‘We’re not getting that in-person experience, we’re not getting those face-to-face lectures, the lab work, the practicals.’

Campaigning student wants protections

Destiny Karakus, 21, studies politics and international relations and is the democracy and campaigns elected officer at the University of Portsmouth Students’ Union.

Since the lockdown, her living situation has been complicated alongside her studies, she said: ‘I’m in London at the moment and can’t travel back to my accommodation.

‘I’m still paying rent, It makes me feel very angry because why am I paying for somewhere I’m not actually staying in, somewhere I’m not able to travel to?

‘I’m doing a placement year so I’m still doing assignments but it’s not as much as a full-time student would have, I still feel I could’ve done better if I had access to the library and all the facilities the university offers, that is what I’m paying tuition fees for.

As an officer in the student union, she has worked on campaigns to address the concerns of Portsmouth students since lockdown.

She added: ‘We’ve started our campaign, it’s called Value for Money, and it calls for a reduction in tuition fees, rent relief and contracts.

‘We are continuing to make sure that the university is upholding the no-detriment practices so that the learning and grades of students aren’t negatively impacted by the pandemic.

‘A lot of students have contacted us, they’re complaining about the fact they’re not even allowed to travel to university. As the union we feel we need to represent students as best we can.

‘Students are extremely agitated, they feel like they’re being neglected and not understood. We feel like our voices aren’t being represented on parliamentary grounds like we’re being pushed to the side.

‘Students have been scapegoated and blamed for Covid-19 because we travelled from different cities to university, that pressure that has been put on students is extremely unfair.

‘It really has impacted our mental health because we have so many deadlines and we’re already stressed from the academic efforts that we need to put in and on top of that to be locked in a house, not being able to socialise, it gets extremely draining.

Destiny has advocated another campaign called #ForgottenStudents which allows southern student unions to come together as a ‘collective’ and a ‘figurehead’.

The campaign fights for private rent refund policy, tuition fee reduction, no detriment policy, an end to digital poverty and securing of the graduate job market.

She added: ‘Students are really engaging, they feel like this is what they needed and they can see that we’re fighting for what they want us to fight for.’

Portsmouth Student Union launches petition for rent rebate

With concerns over the potential duration of restrictions the city’s Student Union has launched a petition calling for a rent rebate for the period accommodation is not used.

The petition statement, which has so far received more than 500 signatures, stated: ‘We demand immediate action from the University of Portsmouth on an injustice that threatens to severely impact our students. We are deeply concerned about the financial impact and inherent unfairness on students who are continuing to pay rent for their term-time accommodation despite being unable to return.

‘It’s obvious that Portsmouth students will be losing money paying for accommodation we cannot even travel to or use. This cannot continue.’

One of those to sign the petition was criminology with psychology student Sonia Osinska, 19.

Sonia, who is still paying £99 a week for her Bateson Halls room, said: ‘I’ve been at home since the start of the second lockdown in November. I did not want to return for the short period before Christmas as I was concerned about potentially transmitting Covid to family members at home.

‘I don’t feel I should be paying the full fees for my accommodation and the university should be offering students some form of rebate. If I had known my university experience was going to be like this then I would have deferred until September.’

City councillor supports rebate petition

The campaign has the full backing of Portsmouth city councillor Cal Corkery.

Cllr Corkery said: ‘I fully support the students’ campaign. It cannot be right or just that people are having to pay for accommodation they are now legally unable to get to and make use of. Whatever time is missed then students should receive a rebate on this.’

With thousands of the city’s students staying in private accommodation, Cllr Corkery also believes the university ‘has a role to play’ in pressurising independent landlords to ‘do the right thing’ and allow students to escape contracts and be refunded for periods of non use.

Cllr Corkery added: ‘Landlords should still be entitled to the mortgage holiday scheme so they don’t need to keep this money from the students’.

Responding to the situation a university spokesman said: ‘The health and wellbeing of our students remain our top priority.

‘We recognise the financial impact of this situation on our students and are looking for an equitable solution. This includes working with the Students’ Union to make sure students are informed about the University’s Student Support Fund which provides help for those students facing financial hardship.’

The university’s response follows in from an announcement by Unite Students, one of the UK’s largest purpose built students accommodation providers, who’ve said students unable to reside in their accommodation will only be able charged 50 per cent of their rent between January 18 and February 14.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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