THE coronavirus crisis in Scottish student halls was an "accident waiting to happen" according to a BBC investigation.

BBC Disclosure found that some universities did not reduce capacity in halls, despite knowing the need for physical distancing to stop the spread of coronavirus.

It found that while some universities cut the number of students by as much as half, St Andrews University, the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, in Glasgow, operated their halls at full capacity.

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Eight others would not tell the BBC whether or not they cut numbers to allow physical distancing.

Professor Stephen Reicher, who advises both UK and Scottish governments, told the programme that the risks were pretty clear, saying: "In many ways, this was an accident waiting to happen."

Prof Reicher said he and others spoke publicly about the need for widespread Covid-19 testing when students returned but this was never done.

After they had packed into student halls, hundreds then tested positive for the virus and thousands more were told to self-isolate.

The situation became so bad that St Andrews University, which had "strongly recommended" students return to the town, asked them to observe a "voluntary lockdown".

So far, there have been 1,500 positive tests among students in halls, 10% of all cases in Scotland since September 19.

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The programme also investigated claims that the move was financial.

In May, at the height of the pandemic, the Scottish Funding Council predicted losses of up to £500 million for the sector but universities are thought to have performed better due to higher than expected numbers of students.

The investigation also found that the Scottish Government changed guidance on remote learning overnight, which a union claims pressured students into returning.

Disclosure heard that as late as August 31, draft government guidance for Scottish universities said "work and study that can be done remotely must be done so".

However, University and Colleges Union (Scotland) says this was changed to instead focus on "blended" or "hybrid learning" and asked institutions to make "reasonable efforts" to facilitate remote working.

The guidance was changed overnight without the knowledge of the University and Colleges Union (UCU) and published on September 1.

The UCU believes the change was made to allow universities to market more face-to-face teaching and bring students back to campus.

Carlo Morelli, from UCU Scotland, said: "That means that students are being told that they cannot complete their degrees and study, remotely. They will miss too much of their studies if they don't come to campus.

"And if you're telling students they have to come to campus, then they're going to have to take up the accommodation that's offered to them. So the push was from the universities to get students to come and take up their place in accommodation."

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Edinburgh University did not reduce the capacity of its halls but its vice-chancellor, Prof Peter Mathieson, said the decision to bring students back was not financial.

"It was a decision driven by our belief that we want to provide the best possible student experience that we can," he said.

Higher Education Minister Richard Lochhead MSP said the advice was that testing capacity should be focused on students who had symptoms of Covid-19.

Mr Lochhead said: "We've done our best. I accept we'll look back on this and think we've made mistakes, because we're all dealing with a very difficult situation, where there are no easy options.

He added that there were no "hidden agendas" that led to the blended learning guidance.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland said: “The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland does not own or operate any student accommodation.

"We have a lease agreement with a purpose-built student accommodation provider for 164 ensuite rooms in a recently opened facility.

"To date we have received no reported cases of Covid in our leased accommodation.”

Disclosure: Covid On Campus is on BBC One Scotland, Monday at 7.40pm