Covid-19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Volatile variant means University of Auckland classes stay online

The university says the Delta variant means further alert level yo-yo'ing this year can't be ruled out. Photo / Dan Cook, RNZ

The country's biggest university will keep all its Auckland teaching online for the rest of the year, even if the city's Covid-19 restrictions are eased.

The University of Auckland said on its website and in an email that the Delta variant's volatility meant more impromptu alert level changes were possible in future.

"As in previous lockdowns, we know that a degree of certainty is far preferable to the disruptions caused by opening and closing our campuses at short notice," the university said.

"We have therefore made the decision to remain in online teaching and learning mode for the rest of Semester Two, regardless of alert level."

The university said this would allow students and staff to plan for the rest of the semester, especially for exams starting at the end of October.

All exams will be held online, apart from a small number of exceptions for final-year courses leading to professional registration.

This applied to the university's Semester Two, Quarter Three and Quarter Four exams.

The university said its Tai Tokerau campus in Whangārei had decided to stay at level 3 for the rest of this week.

That meant all teaching and learning at that campus would be conducted online and all staff would work from home, apart from those authorised to be on campus.

Meanwhile, some senior secondary school students will be eligible for support, education authorities said today.

Schools outside of Auckland returned today, after 16 days in lockdown.

The lockdown meant students would not have been eligible for Learning Recognition Credits (LRCs) to reflect time spent away from the classroom.

Eligible students can get the credits at a rate of 1 LRC per five credits achieved through assessment, up to a cap of eight LRCs at NCEA Level 1, and six LRCs and levels 2 and 3.

"Although students in Auckland continue to do the hard mahi in lockdown, those who returned to Alert Level 2 this week have also been significantly impacted by the loss of 16 days of classroom learning time," NZQA chief executive Grant Klinkum said.

The lower cap reflected the shorter amount of time spent away from school.

Students who were disrupted for 20 school days will meet thresholds for changes to endorsements and University Entrance.