Campus closures have left many students in limbo
Young lives on hold Anne Dawson learns how RTS bursary students have been coping during the crisis
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‘I
t’s all a bit of a mess, really,” says Charlotte Humphreys. “I was living in south London, which had the most cases of Covid-19 in the UK, so I packed some of my most important stuff into Ikea bags and left. “I’m paying £700 a month for a room I’m not living in, my stuff is at four different addresses and I’m staying with my Dad, who has a terminal lung condition. I bought a car, an absolute banger, for £275, because I need to get shopping for my Dad.” Charlotte is coming to the end of the second year of her course at London’s University of the Arts. In common with many other RTS bursary students, her home life is, at the best of times, not without its challenges, and this is not the best of times.
Alicia Newing, studying film and television production at Hertfordshire University, was looking forward to graduating (she’s on track for a First) and taking up a six-month contract at post-production company Clear Cut, now postponed indefinitely. “Be prepared for an outpouring of emotion,” she says, as we agree a time to speak. When we do talk, she is surprisingly calm as we discuss her final-year project. Alicia and her group have invested so much time and energy in it, they are trying to complete it remotely – despite it no longer forming part of their assessed work. “I’m going to continue applying for jobs, but the likelihood is that most places won’t hire anyone for at least a few months,” she says. “Especially when there’s so few shows in
