@polarisera I have no idea what it's like in the UK, but I did meet a woman in 2021 who worked as some sort of pastoral support in a UK university. She admitted that the students had been told that there would be in-person tutoring and lectures until the places were filled and the money was in; then the students were told that everything would be on-line. She knew about this lie, but did it anyway to keep her job.
I suspect several grifts are going on.