Over 150 students complain over Newcastle University’s compensation scheme

Nearly £2.5 million was paid out

2 hours ago

Over 150 Newcastle University students have formally complained about the compensation scheme set up after months of strike action earlier this year.

The scheme, which closed in July, offered payouts ranging from £100 per affected module for home students to £200 per module for international students. The maximum was £600 and £1,200 respectively, if all six modules were hit by strike disruption.

In total, the university handed out around £2.4 million to just under 11,000 students.

Despite this, a Freedom of Information request has revealed that 152 students still raised complaints as they were unhappy with the scheme.

The strikes took place between March and June after the University and College Union (UCU) pushed back against a plan to cut £20 million from Newcastle’s wage bill, the equivalent of around 300 full time jobs. More than 2,700 teaching sessions were lost during the action.

The dispute ended once the savings were achieved through voluntary redundancies rather than compulsory ones, and a deal was reached between staff and management.

However, the disruption may return as the UCU is planning a UK wide strike ballot in October over a pay offer that fails to keep pace with inflation.

A Newcastle University spokesperson said:

“We offered students compensation for missed teaching due to industrial action, which is in line with the latest directions to the sector from the Office for Students (OfS).

“Funds that were saved from unpaid salaries due to industrial action were redirected towards the compensation scheme. For each student, the offer was based on the number of modules that have been impacted and the tuition fee paid.”