The return of students and staff to Oxford this week has been severely disrupted as volcanic ash has again forced the cancellation of flights in and out of the UK.
The flight ban is causing huge problems for those finalists who are due to sit official University examinations in 0th week. Other Universities, including Cambridge, have now postponed examinations till later in the term.
However, Oxford has stated that all examinations will continue to be held as timetabled.
Modern Language oral exams are taking place this week, despite numerous candidates being stuck overseas. A spokesperson for the Faculty of Ancient and Modern Languages commented that “All those unable to attend [their examinations] have been referred to the proctors”.
All undergraduates are due back in residence this Thursday. But it is anticipated that many international students, as well as those holidaying abroad, will be unable to return in time to sit their collections which are being held on Friday and Saturday.
Colleges are currently trying to determine how many students and members of staff will be missing from the University.
St John’s College is among those worst affected by the flights ban. Its President, Finance Bursar, Director of Development, Chaplain, Alumni Officer, Organ Scholar are all stranded overseas. Several members of its choir are unexpectedly stuck in the US.
The disruption is not just affecting academic work at Oxford. Former Bond man Roger Moore’s appearance at the Oxford Union was scheduled for this week.
The Union assure members that the talk will still go ahead this week, as he was able to reschedule his flight from Paris.
Oxford Earth Science finalists have also fallen ironic victims to the volcano which is preventing their return from a Greek volcanism fieldtrip.
A facebook group for stranded Oxford students has been set up by St Anne’s student Kai Alexander Mueller. One member of the group wrote, “No idea what will happen with my collections, or whether my college will charge me for this week’s residence (I wouldn’t be surprised).
“Generally, I think that both university and College could be a bit more helpful, because clearly I’m not the only one who has this kind of problem (I guess around 25% of students will be affected in some way, either because they’re international or because they can’t get back from holiday on time).”
The University did not offer any comments regarding the situation but stated that updates will be submitted to the student gateway website.
Students who are unable to return to University have been advised to contact their College Office or Department Course Administrator. Those unable to sit an examination are also instructed to notify their college immediately.
Many are now embarking on journeys via rail, coach and ferries. Services are however in high demand as an estimated 150,000 Britons attempt to struggle home.
Following a meeting this morning with the emergency planning committee Cobra, Gordon Brown announced that he will use three Royal Navy ships to pick up stranded British citizens.
Details of the government’s rescue plan are still emerging, but it is thought HMS Ark Royal and HMS Ocean will both be docking in France whilst HMS Albion will head to northern Spain where it is already due to pick up 220 troops. The Defence Minister, Lord West has talked about the possibility of picking up around 3,500 people across the fleet.
Such news, along with recent speculations that the volcano’s activity may be declining, has prompted some cautious optimism.
Second year Somerville student Matt Waksman remained upbeat, despite being stranded in Jerusalem. He said, “I’ll just have to catch up on collections and work when I’m back, there’s nothing I can do and I haven’t received any official advice from Oxford.
“At the moment I’m planning on getting to Rome next week and hoping to get home from there. More promising is Brown’s announcement that they will fly UK Citizens stranded outside of Europe to Spain, where they will be picked up by the British Navy.”
Flight restrictions were this morning extended by air traffic control service Nats to 1am on Tuesday. The announcement comes five days after ash from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland first contaminated the atmosphere.
