Doncaster student says she feels robbed of university experience as she completes her degree from home

Thousands of students have finished their degrees at home this year with the pandemic cutting their final year short - a young woman from Doncaster shares her experience of the underwhelming finish to her education.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Bethan Hammand-Jones is a 21-year-old fine art student from Intake.

She has just finished her degree with Sheffield Hallam University but instead of celebrating with her classmates in the Steel City she has spent the last two weeks alone in her home finishing her dissertation.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
Bethan Hammand-Jones, in her garden holding her dissertation.Bethan Hammand-Jones, in her garden holding her dissertation.
Bethan Hammand-Jones, in her garden holding her dissertation.

“We all worked so hard but I feel like I was robbed of the experience.

“We had only been back in uni for one week after the month-long strike before it closed for Covid-19.

“Our last year was an absolute mess and we missed out on the peak of our degrees.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Bethan celebrated the completion of her degree with a socially distanced drink in the garden with her mum but says she is sad that she has not been able to share the joy with her friends from university.

Art by Bethan Hammand-Jones.Art by Bethan Hammand-Jones.
Art by Bethan Hammand-Jones.

She said: “We have lost out on a lot of opportunities because the shows couldn’t take place,” she continued.

“They are always great exposure and there were possible work opportunities at them which sadly we have missed out on.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But Bethan has not let this get her down, she has in fact started her own small business where she is selling her art.

Art by Bethan Hammand-Jones.Art by Bethan Hammand-Jones.
Art by Bethan Hammand-Jones.

She says business is busy and there is a high demand for the line drawings she has been creating at home.

“It would be such a shame if we couldn’t, nothing can replace that cap and gown moment,” she said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Our last year has already been bad enough it would be gutting if that was taken away from us as well.”

Bethan completed her dissertation at home this week - she celebrated with a drink with her mum in the garden.Bethan completed her dissertation at home this week - she celebrated with a drink with her mum in the garden.
Bethan completed her dissertation at home this week - she celebrated with a drink with her mum in the garden.

You can see Bethans work on her Instagram here.

Editor's message: Thank you for reading this story. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues. The Star is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. You can subscribe here www.thestar.co.uk/subscriptions for unlimited access to Sheffield news and information online. Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.