PurposeWhile blended learning has been proved to be successful in learning outcomes, the landscape of blended learning has changed under coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Hence, the present study aims to explore first-year university students' perceptions of wholly blended learning during the pandemic, through the three constructs in the community of inquiry (CoI) instrument, namely teaching, social and cognitive presences (CPs).Design/methodology/approachSurvey data (N = 449) were collected from the 2020 Fall Cohort in Hong Kong for quantitative analysis. Reliability and validity of the CoI model is examined, followed by correlation and independent-samples t-tests.FindingsFirst-year students perceived overall low teaching, social and CPs with social presence (SP) scoring the highest. Findings also indicated that teaching presence (TP) significantly determined CP and SP; SP was a mediating variable in CoI. Students' gender and prior learning experience (online/blended) were not associated with perceptions of presences.Practical implicationsStudents today are more familiar with technology-based communication, and staying up to date in educational technology is crucial for teachers. Trainings in online teaching should be provided to teachers. Also, interactive technology should focus on improving peer interaction.Originality/valueThe proposed study is novel in that it used the CoI model among first-year students in Hong Kong during the pandemic. Findings are valuable to higher education in understanding students' perception of bended learning and in addressing issues.