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Statement: UCL ceases all face-to-face teaching with immediate effect

13 March 2020

UCL has been working on plans for some time to ensure the safety of our students and staff, and to uphold our academic standards, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Today, UCL’s Academic Committee confirmed that face-to-face teaching will be suspended for the rest of the academic year and all assessments scheduled to take place in exam halls will be replaced by online alternatives.

The university has updated students about these changes and is working with staff across the university to provide support for delivering alternative teaching and assessments.

UCL is also today strongly recommending that all staff with a pre-existing health condition, or who are close to someone who has, start working from home if possible. If staff are not able to work from home, they will be granted special leave.

The university has separately also agreed to release all clinical academics from their UCL responsibilities if they wish to support NHS services during the current crisis.

UCL President & Provost Professor Michael Arthur said: “These are absolutely unprecedented circumstances for us as a university community. The outbreak of COVID-19 is requiring us to work at speed to find a way through the challenges of keeping our community safe whilst continuing as far as possible to teach, study, research and collaborate.

“At present, we are planning for every contingency, including the provision of critical services, and the ongoing care of our students here in the UK as well as overseas. The measures announced today are necessary for the wellbeing of the UCL community and our families. These are extraordinary times, and as such, require an extraordinary response.”

Detailed measures for students include:

  • All face-to-face teaching will cease with immediate effect as the university moves as much teaching as possible online from Monday 16 March until the end of term two.
  • All teaching in term three will be delivered online as far as possible.
  • UCL will seek to significantly reduce the amount of further formal assessment for first-year undergraduates this year to reduce the burden on staff.
  • Alternative forms of assessment will be put in place for all other taught students, such as open book assessments and further coursework, to enable students to complete assessments away from the university.

Further information about advice for staff and students can be found at www.ucl.ac.uk/coronavirus. This page is updated regularly and contains the most up-to-date information as it becomes available including the latest advice and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about coronavirus.

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