One of Scotland’s leading universities has had to rent out a cinema complex for lectures.
Undergraduates at Glasgow University will attend the Grosvenor Picture Theatre, in the city’s West End, for daytime classes. High numbers of student enrolling this year has created a shortage of lecture theatres and study areas, and sparked an accommodation crisis.
And last week it emerged that some students may have to drop out of courses. They have been told not to enrol if they don’t have digs. Glasgow University Student Representative Council (SRC) has blamed senior university management for recruiting too many students.
It also said the university ignored a request last year to keep a lid on student numbers. An SRC spokesperson added: “We would like to express our disappointment at the university’s approach.
“After the accommodation crisis across Glasgow last year, the SRC lobbied the university to commit to a moratorium on student numbers. Despite this, it now seems over-recruitment has contributed to the creation of a similar situation.
“We will continue to work to encourage the university to take a stronger approach to managing student numbers.”
Rinna Vare, president of the SRC, said it was aware of the decision to use the Grosvenor for lectures and added: “We will continue to demand the university control student numbers in the future to avoid crises like this. We believe they should have foreseen this issue.”
The Grosvenor, in Ashton Lane, has two screens and was recently refurbished to include tables and luxury leather armchair seating. Their website states the cinema and both screens are for hire for private use. They charge the public £650 to hire one screen for a day but it is not known what the university is paying.
During the pandemic, some cinemas were converted for use as courts. Mary Senior, of the University and College Union, which represents lecturers across Scotland, said she would be looking for assurances that the cinema meets health and safety standards.
She added: “I’m surprised the university is not looking at the option of delivering these lectures virtually. It is also a desperate situation when students are being advised to defer or even withdraw from studies due to the unavailability of accommodation.
“The rampant commercialisation of higher education, the pressures to attract more international students, along with the additional student intake, is fuelling this disaster.”
A Glasgow University spokeswoman said: “We are making use of a few teaching rooms close to campus while refurbishment work is under way across the campus. This includes space at the Grosvenor Picture Theatre.”
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