Vice-chancellors blame A-level fiasco for pushing them to maximum occupancy
- Coronavirus – latest updates
- See all our coronavirus coverage
As increasing numbers of UK universities wrestle with Covid-19 outbreaks, experts are warning that student halls are too full to be safe. But vice-chancellors have reacted angrily to government attempts to blame them for the crisis, saying ministers pushed them to take extra students at the last minute after the U-turn on A-level grades, with no regard for social distancing.
The reopening of universities has so far resulted in reports of coronavirus cases at more than 60 institutions, with entire halls locked down at Manchester Metropolitan and Glasgow universities and thousands of students self-isolating in their rooms.
