YOUNG people’s futures must not be held back by “government incompetence” Labour warns today, as a “digital poverty” survey suggests that poor students are being left behind. 

University students’ ability to learn during the crisis has been affected by a lack of access to laptops and the internet, a survey released today by the Office for Students (OfS) shows. 

Of 1,416 students surveyed, 52 per cent reported that their learning was impacted by a slow or unreliable internet connection during the lockdown. 

Almost one in 10 respondents said that their learning was “severely” affected, while 18 per cent did not have access to a computer. 

The higher-education regulator warned that this lack of access to technology puts young people at risk of being “left behind.”

OfS chair Michael Barber said: “As today’s polling shows, there remain a significant number of students whose access to remote education is being disrupted — sometimes severely — by poor access to core digital infrastructure. 

“And there remains critical progress to be made in closing persistent gaps in broadband speeds between urban and rural areas.”

Mr Barber added that students must not be left behind in the “rush for online innovation” as digital learning becomes increasingly embedded in higher education. 

Labour’s shadow universities minister, Emma Hardy, described the findings as “unacceptable.” 

She said: “Government incompetence simply cannot be allowed to hold back young people’s futures.

“Having failed to address digital poverty for pupils when schools closed, the government must learn from these mistakes and ensure that no university student is unable to access the education they deserve.” 

The poll precedes the launch of a major review by the OfS of the relationship between digital poverty and university students’ experience, looking in particular at the impact of the lockdown. 

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “Remote and online learning has to be the default position of all universities if we are to avoid the risk of a major health crisis. 

“Government and universities need to put students first and invest in their digital infrastructure to make sure no student is left behind while learning remotely.”

In April, the Sutton Trust educational charity found that in the most deprived schools, a third of students did not have adequate access to an electronic device. 

Sutton Trust CEO James Turner said: “Given that fair access to higher education is key to expanding opportunity, it is crucial these inequalities are addressed — especially as online learning is only going to become more important post-Covid.

“Government, universities, business and charities all have a part to play.”

Labour called for a national strategy to close the attainment gap which would be monitored by an independent body.

Shadow education secretary Kate Green said: “Parents need a cast-iron guarantee that any child who has fallen behind will get the support they need to catch up. 

“We need independent oversight and transparency, to compare the gap between pupils in different parts of the country and against the pre-Covid generation.”

Researchers claim that the lockdown has made the impacts of digital exclusion and poverty worse for those affected, especially the most disadvantaged. 

Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research acting director Dr Gemma Burgess described digital exclusion as a “new form of social deprivation.”

Dr Burgess told the Morning Star: "More than a fifth of people in the UK lack digital skills or access to the right technology, and increased working, learning and interacting online during the pandemic has widened the gap for those who lack digital skills or access, excluding them yet further.

“We need to put improving digital skills and access at the heart of post-Covid recovery and education plans in the UK, or we run the risk of too many students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, being left behind in a digital world.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said it had worked with the OfS to help universities to use their 2020/21 funding to help students in financial difficulty.