Q&As: General Student Queries

If you are struggling financially or facing hardship as a result of the current situation related to Covid-19, you may be able to access short term financial support from the Money@CampusLife hardship fund by applying for the Short Term Assistance Grant (STAG).

We are pleased to announce Swansea University will offer a rent reduction to students in University Halls (Bay Campus, Beck House, Singleton Campus and HSV) who have been asked to remain at home and not return to Swansea due to Covid restrictions.

Eligible students will be asked to apply for a rent reduction from the period of 4th January to the 15th February 2021. Invoices will be postponed for students in University Halls until the 6th May. Please note, if you are in University Residences during this period you will not receive a reduction and can pay through your intranet account.

However, this does not apply to students who are based off-campus within private accommodation or residing in accommodation arranged through Swansea Accommodation Services (SAS), which is a letting agency jointly run by the University and the Students’ Union. Although students living in SAS properties have made these arrangements via the University, the properties are owned by private landlords. Neither SAS nor Swansea University has the power to reduce or refund rents on private accommodation. The University is legally obliged to pass any rent payments to the landlord, as any other letting agent is required to do.

We understand this is disappointing and if students need any financial help and advice they can seek support here.

We recognise that students are concerned about the impact of coronavirus on their studies during this period. The University took major steps in altering its delivery to ensure that teaching, learning and assessment continued, ensuring you could continue your studies, meet the learning outcomes on your programmes and achieve the necessary credit to ensure that you may be awarded your degree or progress to your next level of study.

Major efforts by University staff have ensured there is wide-ranging support for active learning and progression, resources can be accessed, assessments can proceed where appropriate or offered with alternative arrangements and wellbeing and employability support is available.

Therefore in common with other Universities, Swansea University will not be issuing tuition fee refunds.

Graduation 2020 and Summer Graduation 2021

Reluctantly, the University has taken the decision to postpone all 2020 graduation ceremonies and the summer 2021 ceremonies due to the ongoing Covid outbreak.

We realise that this will be a disappointment to those of you who were looking forward to celebrating your achievements, however our intention is to reschedule the events when it is safe and appropriate to do so and those eligible will be notified once new dates have been arranged.

Please be assured that this postponement does not affect the time frame for the completion of studies.

Swansea University’s Library Staff have been working hard alongside Estates & Facilities Management to put in place safety measures to begin a phased return to services at our Libraries (for students and staff only). Working within Welsh Government and University guidance, we have opened the following libraries at designated times for Request and Collect only:

1. Singleton Campus Library 
2. Bay Campus Library

This service is currently open to current Swansea University Staff and Students only. You will need to present your University ID card to enter the Library and check-out your reserved items. Please be aware that the Libraries will not be open for general use or study spaces at this time.  

Please refer to the University’s Coronavirus Guidance before travelling to campus.

To read more about the Request and Collect Service or to find the most up-to-date information on library access, visit the Libraries webpage or email customer services.

Students who purchased an annual bus pass for the academic year 2019/20, but left Swansea may have unused credit from end of March until the end of the academic year.  We are pleased to inform you that we have had an offer from First Cymru which will see all affected students compensated for their lost credit.

The offer for our students is as follows:

1. Students returning in September 2020 and have unused credit (i.e. the last term) will only pay for term 1 and 2 and be credited with term 3 via the Mticket app. 
2. Students returning in January 2021 with unused credit (i.e. the last term)  will  only pay for term 2 and get credited with term 3 via the Mticket app. 
3. Students not returning this year, but deferring until September 2021 will have the same credit based on the above scenarios.

All credit will be added automatically via the Mticket app so students will not need to contact First Cymru.

Non returning Students

Students who are in their final year, and not returning to study at Swansea and have unused credit for the whole of the last term will be dealt with on a case by case basis. These students should contact Jayne Cornelius the Sustainable Travel Officer who will forward your details on to First Cymru for a resolution. 

Please note, due to staff working remotely MyUniHub will not be able to accept any application forms, documents or correspondence by post at this time. Please use the online forms provided when submitting requests.

Swansea does not tolerate discrimination or harassment. We take all allegations of abuse and harassment very seriously. 

Students who have any concerns should please contact advice@swansea-union.co.uk or report it here. 

If you had to return home early in light of the Covid-19 situation, you can make a claim for additional travel costs incurred. 

Complete the insurance claim form. Remember to save a copy before you forward to insurance@swansea.ac.uk  Please do not send it directly to UMAL our travel cover providers.

What you need to include:-

1. You must ensure that you complete all relevant claim costs on page 3 and sign the form;
2. Provide your original travel itinerary and costs for outbound and inbound travel, including date of booking and dates of travel;
3. Highlight the additional costs incurred, but note that there is no cover if you hadn’t pre-booked your return;
4. You need to seek any refunds available and provide full detail of these. Remember, taxes on a non-refundable flight are often still refundable. Unless you provide such information, your claim cannot be considered;
5. For any trip which was curtailed prior to 24 March, please provide confirmation of reason for curtailment. i.e. curtailed or cancelled conference/placement/elective;
6. For cancellations prior to 17 March, (depending on place of travel), please provide confirmation of reason for cancellation. i.e. cancelled conference/placement/elective;

Please note that, in respect of curtailment, there is no cover for lost or unused accommodation costs

Travellers do need to pursue airlines and travel agents for refunds or vouchers for unused flights home. The travel cover with UMAL applies after all refunds and vouchers have been obtained, even if there is a delay in airlines processing these. Even if the outward flight has been made and this means the flight is not refundable, the relevant taxes and charges are refundable.

Airlines facing significant cash flow issues are making this very difficult for people seeking reimbursements.

Wherever possible UMAL will try and settle claims with these features now, with an agreement on refund of fares and taxes, rather than have these claims open for months. 

The following costs cannot be considered as our travel cover providers have only extended our curtailment cover on a discretionary basis to provide cover only for the additional costs incurred in respect of a flight home:

1. Reimbursement of a flight cost when there was no return trip booked back;
2. Reimbursement of original trips as well as the additional return trip;
3. Reimbursement of train/taxi/coach fares from the UK airport to home when that cost would have in due course been incurred in any event;
4. Personal excursions or costs for weekend return home or travel not taken or used during the placement period;
5. Shipping belongings home;
6. Reimbursement for rent, rent deposit or penalties.

We’re looking forward to welcoming you back to your studies at Swansea University in September. We understand that you may have questions about how you will be taught this year and about what your student experience will be like. We have made some changes to the way that we teach this year, with more activities taking place online than usual.

We will be sending you more information in the lead up to enrolment and the new term, so please check your emails regularly. You can also find updated information about teaching format, teaching hours and the student experience in the 'my account' section.