The student life has fallen far short of expectation over the last year In the first of a three-part series on how the pandemic has affected university life, Helen Chandler-Wilde explores how the current cohort of university students have suffered They were so desperate that they pinned pleas for help in the windows: “SOS”, read one; “Send food”, read another. All 500 students in Parker House, Dundee, were confined to their tiny bedrooms for two weeks after an outbreak of Covid-19 in the halls of residence last September. It was a particularly severe lockdown. The safety-proofed windows only opened a crack, so fresh air was at a premium. The laundry room was shut down, so students spent two weeks in dirty clothes. If they wanted to use their kitchen, they had to book a slot on a rota so they did not cross paths with their flatmates.