Extend the grade safety net to the 2020/21 academic year at UCL

In regard to discontinuing the no-detriment policy, UCL have said: "Rather than apply mass adjustments which some students might not need, we are focusing our support on those students who need help."

UCL, there are not "weak" students who can't cope with lockdown and "strong" students who can. NOBODY wants to be studying in isolation, and it is a struggle for anybody to work to the same degree without basic social contact or the support normally provided by campus life. Providing fast-food counselling for the most vulnerable does not come close to a solution.

One student says: "The no detriment policy put in place last year was marketed primarily to deal with the fact that some students were now no longer studying or sitting exams in conditions as favourable to their learning as at UCL. Why have they made the assumption that the same people in troublesome conditions in April are suddenly in excellent circumstances that have no affect on their studies?"

UCL is not 'open' this year - access to library books, conversations with teachers, and the social support of university life are severely restricted during the pandemic. The treatment of students should reflect that.

We demand that the exact same no-detriment policy of 2019/20 be extended to the 2020/21 academic year in recognition of the significant mental and physical challenges of studying in isolation that have not changed.