Why 'deferring' shouldn't be the answer

During this coronavirus crisis, I’ve seen universities promoting the idea of deferring studies. These will not be named [University of York], but I am truly shocked that universities with such high acclaim, being Russell Group, would be so blatant.

York's change of policy: 25th March and 18th May 

Lack of resources does not only affect disabled students: students on mostly practical courses; STEM or Computing in particular but not exhaustively, will not have access to their labs, their specialist computer software, or even potentially equipment. People from the working classes especially do not have a financial safety net to be able to purchase equipment or supplies in this emergency. Foreign and exchange students have had to return to their home countries. Every single subject has been changed, everyone is a bit lost.

So when I focus on disabled students, this is only because I have spoken in depth about the changes with my disabled friends. My friends who have had to suddenly transition from studying in a controlled environment that they’re used to, to studying in a very intense time, on their own, facing exams without their additional requirements, executed in a completely new way.

When I speak of friends, they are across the country- Scotland and England combined- attending both Russell Group and ‘standard’ unis. Their experience has been shockingly similar across the board.

I have access to a scribe during my examinations, in case my wrists seize after hours of typing. I get extra time in my examinations because I have to take breaks, and sometimes I have to type much slower to avoid said seizing. This has been in place since I was at Primary School. My disability would not enable me to fairly take an exam without these requirements, because my disability tries to get in the way.

So can I imagine having to take an exam online, without a separate room, invigilator and scribe?

Not a chance.

I’m sure there has been an effort to accommodate disabled students in exam situations, but telling someone who is used to a scribe to use dictation software they’ve never worked with before is a disadvantage- especially if you have a disability that will lead to, say, panic attacks if you sit in an exam situation. To explain, I have a friend who is unable to practice with past papers because that is too similar to the exam itself and so they avoid putting themselves in that situation until the moment they absolutely have to. Trying to learn how to use new software they’ll only use again during their exam? Seems a bit too close to the past paper situation to me.

Not only this, disability services across universities are working remotely, first year students may have left materials at university and travelled across the country to be at home, and the disabled student has to not only worry about exams and studies, but also [1] are they at higher risk from the virus and so have to shield? [2] have they had a bereavement? [3] family worries [4] distractions- ie, children or siblings [5] shopping, living, furlough etc during this really weird time.

So I haven’t been surprised to hear that my disabled friends have been really struggling- especially the students who have been told they have to shield, and can’t leave the house or shouldn’t be coming within 2m of their own families. In. Their. Own. Home. The lack of routine has made it hard to manage all aspects of life: remembering to take medications, which causes symptoms. Symptoms, which make it harder to study, which means bad grades, failed module. Failed module? Not great for the degree average.

And deferral doesn’t sound so bad does it? It’s a break from uni. “What I wouldn’t give to have a break!” someone told me when I started mine in hospital in November, after I was told I was to be fed through a tube, maybe for the rest of my life.  

But medical leave takes with it a whole host of issues. Practical, such as funding, accommodation, any jobs, adjusting from and then readjusting to studies, bank accounts and discounts. As well as personal: my identity as a student is on hold. I’ll watch my classmates and friends graduate a year before I do. I grapple with the idea that my disability has taken away even my ability to study every single day, and I feel like a failure, even though my medical leave puts me in the best position to continue the most challenging part of my degree when I’m ready and able to, and I’m not a failure for being sick.

There is nothing wrong with deferring, there is no time limit on graduating, but because of my illness, I now have to do this behind everyone I’ve studied with until this point. I can’t help but resent my disability for this huge knock to my confidence and idea of self.

There’s a sort of stigma surrounding deferrals, so much so that I had to speak to three different people before I started mine. Saying “well, just defer a year!” as a general rule without speaking to those three different people, acting as if its not a big deal to just put life on hold for a year, holds the negative connotations of not being worthy of being a student. ‘everyone is finding it tough, if you struggle worse than us and have to sit out a year, that’s on you’?  that’s hardly fair.

It’s not fair to penalise students who rely so much on their routine, make them graduate without their best friends, because there is only so much you as an institution can do from beyond a screen. As I resent my disability, they’ll start to resent their university- a place they chose to spend money on, make memories at, and take on as their home.

This crisis is not the fault of universities, and staff have been working flat out in an attempt to offer a similar level of support as they would on campuses. But digital learning and digital support just isn’t the same- if we had wanted to learn from home there are universities specifically tailored for this. It should never fall on the student to make a decision with life altering consequences because a university doesn’t want to implement a system that will pass these students automatically: I do understand that this takes away from the effort students put in, and results in a ‘watered down’ degree. But if Harvard Law can implement a good faith mandatory pass system every other university in the world is capable of implementing a similar safety net that will only affect this year, not the rest of someone’s degree. You’re not that special.

Deferring studies is a huge decision, and changes your life, sense of self, purpose, and keeps you away from your friends. Do more to ensure that your students only need to do so when every option has been exhausted first.

Thankfully York have now reached this conclusion themselves, but for any other university suggesting deferral, uh… don’t. Do more for the students who are putting themselves into debt to have your name beside their own.