Students tackle uncertain future

Scottish university students have spoken about the challenges they have faced completing the final leg of the academic year in lockdown.

Those finishing coursework and completing dissertations have had to do so in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis, with graduates now facing an uncertain future post-pandemic.

Lewis Macmillan, 23, has just finished his final year studying business management at the University of Glasgow. Before lockdown was announced, he moved back to his home on the Isle of Lewis to self-isolate with his family.

Although doing remote learning, Mr Macmillan praised the university’s handling of the crisis by introducing a no detriment policy, which meant classifications would not be affected by the pandemic.

He said: “I was back home which wasn’t ideal to get my work done, but so long as I passed this year, my GPA wouldn’t be affected by any grades I got beyond 15 March.” Mr Macmillan said he was optimistic about his career prospects post-lockdown as he felt less restricted with the jobs he could apply to, with many interviews now done online.

He said: “There are definitely less job opportunities, so I’ve been applying but not expecting quick replies.

“But I have had interviews via Zoom and have been able to apply to further away places knowing I won’t have to leave the island and travel 200 miles or down south for a first stage interview.”

Caitlyn Dewar, 26, has just completed her MSC in strategic communication and PR at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh.

With face-to-face teaching suspended, Ms Dewar could only meet with her dissertation supervisor virtually.

“If I’d have been able to get on campus and dedicate the time, I’d have probably produced something better than I did and gained more from it personally,” she said. for.” Comparethemarket.com reported 23 per cent of families who have children living at home struggled to pay bills over the past week, down from 29 per cent a week earlier.

Meanwhile 76 per cent of families with children have managed to save an average of £414.

A quarter of households with children said they had to dip into savings, 10 per cent have taken on loans from banks and 11 per cent have borrowed from friends and family.

The study also found people were becoming increasingly worried about going back into public.

For the fifth week in a row, the number of people who say they would not be confident going to restaurants, cafes, pubs and cinemas rose, from 53 per cent to 54 per cent.

Ms Mcentee said: “The government has announced more details on its timeline to reopen the country for business, but the nationwide hesitancy to get back out into society could have a significant impact on the UK’S economic recovery.

“Even if financial confidence is tentatively increasing across households, this will do little good for the wider economy if it doesn’t translate into the spending in retail and hospitality sectors which have been so heavily hit by the pandemic.”

Private renters are meanwhile more likely to have fallen behind with housing costs than those with a mortgage since the start of the coronavirus crisis, a separate study has revealed. One in eight private renters have fallen behind compared to one in 12 mortgaged home owners, said think tank Resolution Foundation. The figures, from a survey of more than 6,000 adults, highlight how the pandemic has exacerbated Britain’s housing divide.

One in five private renters have been furloughed or lost their job since the crisis began, compared to around one-inseven mortgaged home owners, although home owners are more likely to have had their hours and pay reduced, said the report.

Private renters face higher costs in the first place, with their average pre-crisis housing costs estimated to be 32 per cent of their family’s income, compared to 11 per cent among mortgaged homeowners, said the report.

Almost one-in-four private renters had no savings in the run-up to the crisis, compared to one-in-eight home owners, the foundation said. The body said many people living in private rented accommodation had been forced to cut back on basic spending or, in the case of young people, to move house.

Lindsay Judge, principal research and policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Britain already had a huge housing divide before coronavirus struck and the current economic crisis has only widened that gap.

“People living in private rented accommodation have found it harder to meet their housing costs than homeowners in recent months.”