Undergraduates unhappy at lectures being held in a local church with no internet access

Angry students at the University of Glasgow have blasted the decision to make them sit through lectures in a 19th-century church.

Politics and psychology scholars, some who are paying £19,000 a year to take their degree courses in the Scottish city, have to park themselves on old wooden pews at Wellington Church for two hours while lecturers stand at the lectern delivering modules rather than sermons. And the church also has no internet access, which is another bone of contention.

The church, a short walk from the uni library, will be used until Christmas, suggest timetables. And that news has not gone down well with the undergraduates.

Students are filing into the church to sit on the pews as their lecturers deliver their classes from the lectern usually occupied by a priest (© The Tab / SWNS)

Second-year student Evan told student newspaper The Tab: “There’s no eduroam extension (student WiFi) so I have to use my data and hotspot to take notes on my laptop which sits on my knees since it doesn’t fit on the tiny little ledge for the bibles. When it’s sunny the light comes right through the stained glass and you can’t see the projector screen.

“Love that I’m paying £19,000 a year as an international student for that."

Another student had the opposite view, though, claiming it was “pretty cool” and added: “It was unexpected, but a nice twist.”

Alongside there being very little room to rest any laptops or books, students have said there are big queues to get into the church as the space, which can hold up to 1,000 people, only has one entrance through which students can come in. The church website suggests it’s still functioning as a normal church as well as an impromptu University of Glasgow lecture theatre.

Multiple students setting up their own personal hotspots within the church to be able to use the internet on their laptop (© The Tab / SWNS)

A spokesperson for the University of Glasgow said: “Our ongoing campus redevelopment plan has recently added a state-of-the-art learning centre and the Advanced Research Centre to our learning and teaching capacity. We are making use of a few teaching rooms close to campus while refurbishment work is underway across our campus.”

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