The Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics (MMLL) Faculty has filed a formal complaint to the University, as the Sidgwick Site lecture block lift has been out of order for nearly a month.

MMLL students were alerted by a Faculty email that the lift on the Sidgwick Site lecture block had failed and was unlikely to be fixed by the end of the following week on Friday 24 January.

The lecture block has five floors, with 20+ steps between floors.

Five days later, the MMLL faculty office informed students that the lift was still out of action.

In both emails, MMLL professional services said they were “fully aware” that the situation was unacceptable, offering their “sincere apologies”. Students with accessibility needs were told to reach out to the faculty if they had any concerns about how the lift closure might affect them.

Classes and lectures with attendees with accessibility needs have been relocated to accessible spaces in other buildings, such as the English Faculty building.The MMLL faculty forwarded an update to students which it had received from the Education Space Team on 6 February.

The update read: “We have received an update that the lift in the Sidgwick Lecture Block is being replaced and will take about 2.5 weeks. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause, if you require an alternative venue with stair free access for any of your cohorts, please do get in touch and we will assist wherever possible.”

The MMLL Faculty explained that they understood this to mean that the lift should be repaired by the week commencing 24 February, though added that they would send a further update “to confirm this when we receive concrete evidence that the work is in progress”. The email continued: “This is affecting students from every faculty on the Sidgwick Site.”

Sidgwick Site is home to various faculties, such as Music, English, Divinity, History, Law, Criminology, AMES, and Classics.

The MMLL faculty also revealed that it had made a formal complaint to the University, “to ask that [the lift] be repaired or replaced”.

One MMLL student with accessibility needs praised the MMLL Faculty for their response to the lift closure, saying they had been “very proactive in relocating all of my classes to accessible rooms”, adding: “They were in contact with me before the broken lift had the opportunity to affect my lectures.”

Another MMLL student, who has difficulty with the lecture block stairs due to an ongoing health issue, told Varsity that they did not want to try to get the location of their lecture moved due to concerns that the Faculty might not be able to facilitate the change. Instead, they have dedicated 15 minutes to taking the stairs up to their lecture. They added: “I think the MML[L] Faculty is trying their best.”

The lift also broke down for a brief period in October 2024.

A University spokesperson said: “The lift has an intermittent fault which the University’s Estates Division is working to resolve as quickly as possible. This has taken longer than we would like due to waiting time for parts. To ensure that those who need to use the lift can get around the building, lift engineers have been on site when required to swiftly resolve any issues should they occur.”