How has Long COVID impacted on student educational attainment and experience?

Long COVID (LC) describes ongoing illness suffered by individuals who have contracted COVID-19 and recovered but continue to be sick with a wide range of chronic symptoms. Even if the initial illness due to COVID-19 is mild, a person can still suffer from LC effects. Because of this, the incidence in younger people, where disease effects tend to be milder, is similar to that found in elderly people who are more likely to have had underlying health conditions which exacerbate the disease severity. As this condition will impact younger people, this will affect many people (18–24-year-olds) who will be participating in Further (FE) and Higher (HE) Education. Therefore, FE and HE institutions will need to examine their approach to managing these students, as complications due to their health conditions may require specific accommodations to be put in place to ensure they have an inclusive educational experience.

The aims of this project are to gain an understanding of the issues facing students with LC, and to see if these are specific to LC sufferers, or issues which are already commonly faced when managing other physical and mental health conditions that students have. If the former, then specific guidelines for best practice for managing health issues in LC students will be needed, and if not, then current guidelines will still need to be adapted. This will be achieved by recruiting & interviewing students who have LC as well as students with other health conditions which can be part of the LC symptom umbrella but where the conditions were not knowingly brought on by LC. We will also get the perspectives and concerns on LC of the general student population who don’t have LC or other health conditions through running an online focus group event, as these will also be valuable when formulating any guidelines.

The outcome of the project will be a series of recommendations to help in formulation of local University of Bradford guidelines on best practice for managing LC students which will also be shared with other FE/HE institutions.

How to apply

Applications can be submitted through the University of Bradford web site.