COVID-19 and the move to online teaching: impact on perceptions of belonging in staff and students in a UK widening participation university

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated campus closures at short notice, with teaching and assessment moving online. Understanding the impact of this upon belonging from both staff and student perspectives, and exploring whether demographic or study characteristics have an impact, was needed to inform future educational provision. This paper describes the findings of a bespoke questionnaire collecting quantitative and qualitative information administered online to staff and students at a UK university with a strong widening participation focus. A total of 208 students and 71 academic staff responded. In both groups, a fall in belonging was observed in the early stage of the pandemic.