Social media highlights: 2021/22 academic year

A reflection on the academic year via social media highlights from our online communities. From COVID-19 to culture shocks, 2021/22 has been another challenging, yet exciting and inspiring year for all our students and staff!  

1.    Marcus Rashford receives honorary degree at Old Trafford 

We were proud to share this prestigious award for Marcus’ ongoing charity work and well-publicised campaign against child poverty off the field, as well as his outstanding sporting achievements on the pitch. 

2.    Welcome back to campus! 

With lots of Welcome and #BackToUni content, we welcomed new and returning students back to the University campus in September!

3.    Culture shocks  

One of our student content ambassadors, international student Dorsa, shared some of the culture shocks students may experience when moving to the UK. 

4.    New University Chancellor announced 

April saw former Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England, Nazir Afzal OBE, announced as the new University Chancellor. Nazir will take over from our current Chancellor, Lemn Sissay OBE on 1 August 2022.

5.    How to self-isolate in student accommodation 

We couldn’t round up the academic year without at least one mention of COVID-19. Aidan, a student content ambassador at the University, recorded his isolation experiences in a video blog. The content was praised in SPARK, an industry marketing report, for 'conveying a sense of belonging and community - a reassurance to incoming students'. 

6.    Bienvenue à Manchester! 

Through clever photo editing, Netflix UK introduced Emily (from the hit Netflix show, Emily in Paris) to the wonders of England, including Stonehenge and London Bridge – and our University campus.

7.    Breaking records  

Our students notched up an incredible 15,294 hours of volunteering over the academic year. This was recognised by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham during #StudentVolunteeringWeek.

8.    Celebrating our graduates 

Although COVID-19 got in the way and delayed some graduation ceremonies, it meant we were able to catch up with graduates this spring.  On TikTok, students shared their stories, with one video being our most watched piece of content on the platform so far.  

9.    REF 2021 results 

In May we were incredibly proud to have retained fifth place in the UK for research power in the Research Excellence Framework 2021. 

10. Exam season in full swing 

On social media, one of our students quizzed their fellow classmates on why they were in the library at 5am. It’s an interesting watch! 😅 

Connect and keep up-to-date with the University’s main social media channels via the directory.