During Term 1 of the academic year at University of Nottingham, students were being given a one week 'grace period' (i.e. an extension to coursework deadlines) to complete assignments. These were being given for assignments with deadlines up to the last day of Term 1 (18th December 2020).

In the words of a member of academic staff in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering:
"This grace period supports students where their physical or mental health has been affected by the pandemic – through a positive test and illness, being required to isolate, economic impacts, or the broader impact of moving households, studying and adapting to changes in restrictions in Nottinghamshire."

With the introduction of a national lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of a new variant of COVID-19, many students will be further impacted by having to adapt to a working environment away from campus. Consequently this will have adverse effects on students' mental health and wellbeing, and students will not be able to produce work to the same quality standard.

To that extent, I am calling on the schools and departments within the University of Nottingham to re-introduce the coursework grace period for deadlines coming up in Term 2, i.e. deadlines from Monday 11th January 2021 onwards.