Undergraduate and Postgraduate long Covid statistics

The request was partially successful.

Dear Bishop Grosseteste University,

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request the following information on the number of undergraduate and postgraduate students impacted by long Covid at your university.

How many postgraduate and undergraduate students were recorded to have had long Covid at your university at any time in the period between September 2020 - September 2021?

How many postgraduate and undergraduate students from your university:
a) Deferred their studies citing long Covid as the reason
b) Took a leave of absence until the following academic year citing long Covid as the reason
c) Permanently dropped out of their course, as a result of developing long Covid

What were the five longest periods in days that postgraduate and undergraduate students took a leave of absence from their course due to long Covid in the time period between September 2020 - September 2021?

Does your university offer any specialised support for postgraduate and undergraduate students living with long Covid? If so could you please provide details of these services.

What plans, if any, are in place to improve the support available to postgraduate and undergraduate students who have long Covid at your university?

Yours faithfully,

Grace Pritchard

FOI Team, Bishop Grosseteste University

2 Attachments

Dear Grace,

 

FOI REQUEST – regarding long covid statistics, (Bishop Grosseteste
University)

Emailed and received by the University: Friday 19^th November 2021 @ 12:55

 

I acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information request asking about
long covid statistics and support at the University. A copy of your
request is attached below. The request will be handled under the terms of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which means that you can expect to
receive a response from us within 20 working days or by 17th December
2021.

 

Please contact me if you have any queries about this email or about the
progress of your request ([Bishop Grosseteste University request email]). If you are dissatisfied
with any aspect of the service you receive in relation to your request,
then please write to Stephanie Gilluly, Registrar and University
Secretary, Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln LN1 3DY
([email address]). If you are not content with the
outcome of a complaint or internal review, you have the right to appeal
and the process for this will be provided within our FOI response.

 

Kind regards,

 

Nadine Cook

 

Nadine Cook

Information Compliance Officer

Part time Monday-Friday, usual hours 9-2.30.

_________________________________

 

 

Bishop Grosseteste University

Longdales Road

Lincoln

LN1 3DY

_________________________________

 

Phone:     (01522) 583797

Email:       [email address]  

Website:  [1]www.bishopg.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

FOI Team, Bishop Grosseteste University

FOI REQUEST (329)– regarding long covid statistics, (Bishop Grosseteste
University)

Emailed and received by the University: Friday 19th November 2021 @ 12:55

Acknowledged: 22nd November 2021

 

Dear Grace Pritchard,

 

I write in response to your recent Freedom of Information request relating
to long covid statistics, at the University.  A copy of your full request
is attached below. Where any information cannot be provided, the reasons
are explained.

 

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request the
following information on the number of undergraduate and postgraduate
students impacted by long Covid at your university.

 

 1. How many postgraduate and undergraduate students were recorded to have
had long Covid at your university at any time in the period between
September 2020 - September 2021?

Partial response: less than five students were recorded to have had long
Covid at the University, between September 2020 and September 2021.

 

2.           How many postgraduate and undergraduate students from your
university:

a)           Deferred their studies citing long Covid as the reason  -

b)           Took a leave of absence until the following academic year
citing long Covid as the reason

Partial response: less than five students have deferred their studies/took
leave of absence – we use the term ‘intercalated’ (meaning to suspend or
interrupt their programme of studies for a prolonged period), until the
following academic year, citing long Covid as the reason.

c)           Permanently dropped out of their course, as a result of
developing long Covid

Response: no students have withdrawn from studies, as a result of
developing long Covid.

 

3.           What were the five longest periods in days that postgraduate
and undergraduate students took a leave of absence from their course due
to long Covid in the time period between September 2020 - September 2021?

Information withheld: the University does hold information relating to the
length of time students have been absent from studies (intercalated) due
to long Covid. However, due to the low numbers this is withheld under
Section 40 (2).

 

4.           Does your university offer any specialised support for
postgraduate and undergraduate students living with long Covid? If so
could you please provide details of these services. 

Response: the University offers support to all students experiencing any
health related or personal circumstances affecting their studies. Support
is not currently specialised to long Covid. Assistance is made available
via Student Advice, who would assist with ensuring all access needs are in
place and provide support and signposting to help with medical needs.
      Bishop Grosseteste University’s Students Union (BGSU), provides
signposting information in relation to students’ medical support needs. In
addition, we offer dedicated counselling services to students.

 

5.           What plans, if any, are in place to improve the support
available to postgraduate and undergraduate students who have long Covid
at your university? 

Response: the University plans to continue to embed existing methods for
supporting students with long Covid. These include our Code of Practice
for Support for Study which allow for adjustments to be made which are
tailored to individual student’s needs . Any issues with long Covid would
be dealt with under our existing mechanisms for long-term health
conditions, including the Disabled Student’s Allowance (DSA) where
applicable.

 

Information withheld under Section 40(2) – Personal Information

Some information is partly withheld under Section 40, part 2 of FOIA
(2000) – the exemption for personal information about persons other than
the FOI applicant. It is the University’s policy to consider withholding
information where there are fewer than five individuals in a group and
where the information requested has been deemed to constitute personal
data. This is in accordance with the terms of the exemption whereby
information relating to an identifiable, living person or persons is
exempt from disclosure if disclosure would contravene any of the
principles set out in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (2016)
or the Data Protection Act (2018). A disclosure made under FOI constitutes
a disclosure to the world at large. Taking account of all the
circumstances relevant to this request, the University deems that to
disclose the precise number of students who have declared long covid
linked to intercalation and the number of days absent, during the
specified time-period, would be likely to enable identification of persons
involved as the numbers are very low. This would be likely to contravene
their expectations of confidentiality.

 

Please contact me if you have any queries about this email or about the
information provided ([Bishop Grosseteste University request email]). If you are dissatisfied
with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to
make a complaint or ask for an internal review, then please write to
Stephanie Gilluly, Registrar and University Secretary, Bishop Grosseteste
University, Lincoln LN1 3DY ([email address]). If you
are not content with the outcome of a complaint or internal review, you
have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner.  Generally,
however, they cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
complaints and review procedures provided by the University itself.  The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF.

 

Kind regards,

 

Nadine Cook

 

Nadine Cook

Information Compliance Officer

Part time Monday-Friday, usual hours 9-2.30.

_________________________________

 

 

 

Bishop Grosseteste University

Longdales Road

Lincoln

LN1 3DY

_________________________________

 

Phone:  (01522) 583797

Email:   [email address]  

Website:             www.bishopg.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections