Advice for parents and guardians

University can be a really big change for many students and it’s normal for some students to feel home sick, lonely or a little bit anxious. We have a full range of extracurricular activities to complement their academic calendar, to help them setting in and meet new people.

Testing, tracking and self-isolating

COVID-19 is something we’ve taken very seriously as a university. That's why it's really important that if you suspect that your child may have symptoms of Coronavirus that they know what to do, not only to protect themselves but to protect those around them.

As well and supporting the NHS Test and Trace campaign we also have our own NTU Coronavirus tracking form for students. If you son or daughter's circumstances change and they have to self-isolate, it’s important they get the right support. Ask them to complete our quick and easy tracking form to tell us if they are self-isolating, that way we can offer them the appropriate help and support they will need – but they must complete the form to get our help.

When a student fills in the tracker it will let their Academic School know when they started isolating. This can then be used as evidence if they need to submit a Notification of Extenuating Circumstances (NEC). It can also help them to access food delivery. On the form, students living in University halls will be asked if they require a basic food provision – like a small grocery shop. They will also have access to emotional support. They can ask for Student Support Services to stay in touch throughout their self-isolation to check that they're coping ok.

Learning and teaching in term one

Our courses still include active, collaborative and experiential learning. We know this helps our students to succeed and is why our on-campus sessions will focus on practical and small group work.

Our blended approach for Term One 2020/21 is the product of our commitment to the safety of our students and staff and will mean there are some changes. The increase in online teaching is just that – lecturers will be doing as much teaching as usual, but now in online classrooms as well as physical ones.

Live webinars, demonstrations and individual / group study can now take place online. This allows us to minimise the number of people moving around our campuses at any one time to keep our students, colleagues and community safe.

For those students that have not had much experience learning online, they are encouraged to take our Online Learning at NTU tutorials, which they can access via NOW, our online learning platform. There are tutorials for both new and returning students, to help them develop strategies for success, as well as showing them how to use the main online learning software.

Student email communications

We email our students frequently with updates about the measures we've put in place and what we expect of them in return, to ensure the safety of our staff and students here at NTU and to protect the wider community.

To keep you in the loop, here are the emails our students have received each week as we approached the new academic year (please note: the timeline may vary slightly for new students depending on when they enrolled).

Register for updates

You can now sign up for regular updates from us about life at NTU. We’ll send you a snapshot of what's happening on campus, including the latest information relating to our handling of the current Coronavirus situation.