I’m a uni professor – half of my students don’t turn up, but not why you’d think

Growing numbers of university students now learn by watching recordings of their lectures or studying the course material instead of actually attending them. Many cite the cost of living, caring responsibilities and the need to work for their lack of in-person learning, but academics argue this can affect their university experience – and their grades. Academics also say that low attendance often correlates with students’ use of AI, which can summarise hours long lectures into handy notes, but fails to provide the deeper understanding of the topic. Lectures ‘averaging about 50 per cent attendance’ Following Covid, lecture attendance plummeted, with half of seats often empty and students preferring to watch on their screens. Dr Mark Shanahan, research fellow and former associate professor of political engagement at the University of Surrey, told The i Paper: “In my area, we are probably averaging about 50 per cent attendance. “I have colleagues who start at the 50 per cent mark and maybe drop to 30 per cent by the end.” The Covid pandemic is widely seen as being the turning point for the shift to learning from home. Mark Shanahan, research fellow and lecturer, says he has about 50 per cent attendance in his classes (Photo: Dean Whiting/Mark Shanahan) Dr Shanahan said this has lead to “a generation who are less socialised and less willing to engage directly in studies”. “That doesn’t go for all students by any means, but there are more and more students who we see far less often.” The pandemic, also had a devastating impact on education with many facilities closed or restricted. Andrew Moran, professor of politics and international relations at the London Metropolitan University, said: “The legacy of the Covid years, where many schoolchildren were pretty much left on their own to study, has meant that the some of the connection between educators and learners has been broken.” David Andersen, an associate professor in US politics at Durham University, described the attendance in lectures post-Covid as “horrible”. The Covid pandemic is widely seen as the trigger for large numbers of students learning from home (Photo: Getty Images/ E+) AI is ‘doing the work for them’ A 2025 report by the Higher Education Policy Institute and Kortext found that 92 per cent of students used an AI tool in their university studies, something Dr Shanahan said is more prominent with students who don’t attend lectures. Professor Andersen said that AI has fundamentally changed how students approach university work and also how universities need to teach them. “Students no longer have to attend lectures, read or pay attention to the material and can ask AI to produce quality work for them. “It is like everyone can now hire a personal assistant to do the work for them, and then still receive their degree. Not all students are doing this, clearly, but the number relying upon AI is growing rapidly,” he said. “While AI and the internet has made access to previously limited information and communication skills readily available, students still have to know how to think. I believe that universities are still the best institutions for training thinking. “If they don’t figure out how to teach and assess that quickly, you have to start wondering where the next generation of expertise is going to come from.” Students’ personal circumstances Although AI may be a tool used by some and therefore, lessen the need for in-person lectures, many students juggle part-time work and caring for family members alongside their studies. Some students also simply prefer to learn through their own methods. A student, who asked not to be named, said they had an average attendance of 20 per cent across their three year engineering degree at Loughborough University, but still graduated with a 1:1. They preferred instead to learn from uploaded lecture slides, online resources and AI chatbots. “I personally do not perform well from lectures, I prefer learning at my own pace,” they said. “It was often easy for me to lose focus if I’ve understood the current topic, only for the lecturer to move on and for me to get lost later as I wasn’t focused.” The 21-year-old added that a three hour commute, AI and the ability to reach his lecturer via email meant that attending lectures “had little benefit over independently learning from home”. How is it affecting students? While some students still excel in their studies despite being absent from the lecture hall, Professor Andersen said his students “rarely watch past the 15th minute, missing most of the material”. It also can take away from the traditional university life. Shanahan said: “For commuter students and those who don’t turn up to lectures, they’re not getting the full student experience because it is as much, if not more, outside the classroom than in the classroom. Shanahan says that many students now are averse to trying new things (Photo: Halfpoint Images/Getty Images/Moment RF) “It’s the friendships you make, the conversations you have, the new things you try. Post-Covid, we have a generation of students who are far more averse to trying anything new. “The more usual model that I see now is the student who arrives on campus on the bus, walks from the bus stop into my building, goes to class, comes out of their last class (…) gets back on the bus and goes back home.” How universities are adapting Moran said that some universities are leaning into online learning by providing more online material, which can particularly benefit disabled or neurodiverse students. Meanwhile, at Surrey, Dr Shanahan said that staff try to pack all of their learning into two or three days to try and reduce the amount of commuting students have to do. Other universities have begun to lessen the amount needed online to encourage attendance. Regardless of how universities are attempting to keep attendance high, it is clear that full lecture halls are a thing of the past.