‘We all sort of struggled through it together’: students’ lived experiences of university life during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes to the student experience. Thus, there is a need to centre students’ lived experiences in pedagogical research which explores the effects of the pandemic on student life. The current study aimed to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted undergraduate students, with a focus on students’ educational experiences, social interactions, and mental wellbeing. Open-ended questionnaires were disseminated to undergraduate students across the UK (N = 53). A student-centred reflexive thematic analysis identified four dominant themes that each relate to students’ lived experiences of Higher Education during COVID-19. These were: variations in motivation during the pandemic, the importance of personal connection, a disconnect between university and the student, and students’ development through adversity. These themes broadly demonstrate the variability in student experiences during the pandemic and, crucially, highlight the need for future education provision to centre personal connections, including between students and their institutions. Lack of interaction with staff and peers, as well as barriers to support, led to feelings of detachment from university. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.