Here’s exactly which students could claim money back from their unis over Covid and strikes

Yes, if you were a student at a UK uni during the Covid pandemic or strikes, you may be able to claim huge amounts of money as compensation. University College London (UCL) is believed to have just paid out £21 million to about 6,500 students and grads who believed they hadn’t got their money’s worth during this era. Here’s a much closer look at which other uni students could now get money back from their unis in relation to the Covid pandemic and strikes.

Students could get compensation if some things disrupted their degrees

More than 170,000 current and former students have joined an organisation called Student Group Claim. This is the group that just reached a settlement with UCL out of court in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic impacting students’ experience. The uni stated: “UCL admitted no liability but agreed to settle so the matter could be resolved amicably and without further expense, which would have meant diverting valuable resources away from teaching, research, and supporting our students.”

Student Group Claim is encouraging people to sign up if Covid-19 or strikes impacted their teaching.

The group’s point is that people paid unis for in-person teaching, plus access to facilities such as libraries, labs or studios. Their website argues: “Universities breached their contracts with students from 2018 onwards, in response to strikes and then Covid-19… Students can claim financial compensation for these breaches of contract.”

The group reckons that as online courses often cost less than equivalent in-person classes, students shouldn’t have paid the same amount for their degrees if lectures were online, and they couldn’t use certain facilities.

Strikes at the University of Glasgow campus

The lawyers also argues: “Under English law, if a university promised you a certain number of weeks of teaching and provided a smaller number of weeks, for example due to strike action by lecturers, you are entitled to compensation for the cancelled teaching weeks.”

Here’s the full list of 36 UK unis which the Student Group Claim is coming for

After the settlement with UCL, Student Group Claim sent out pre-action letters to 36 UK unis. The letters warn these unis the group is seeking compensation for students from particular academic years. These 36 unis are:

• University of Bath
• University of Birmingham
• Birmingham City University
• University of Bristol

A University of Bristol student during lockdown

• Cardiff University
• City St George’s, University of London
• Coventry University
• De Montfort University
• University of East Anglia (UEA)
• University of Exeter
• Imperial College London
• University of Kent
• King’s College London (KCL)
• University of Leeds
• Leeds Beckett University
• University of Liverpool
• Liverpool John Moores University
• London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
• Loughborough University
• University of Manchester
• Manchester Metropolitan University
• Newcastle University
• University of Nottingham
  

  Notts students in lockdown

• Nottingham Trent University
• Northumbria University
• University of Portsmouth
• Queen Mary University of London
• University of Reading
• University of Sheffield
• Sheffield Hallam University
• University of Southampton
• Swansea University
• University of the Arts London (UAL)
• University of the West of England Bristol (UWE Bristol)
• University of Warwick
• University of York

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Student Group Claim’s pre-registration form does list a multitude of other unis, although the group has not yet sent them pre-action letters. The University of Cambridge, Durham University, the University of Oxford and the University of St Andrews are noticeably not on the list.

Student Group Claim’s site lists unis such as: Aberystwyth University; Anglia Ruskin University; Aston University; Bangor University; Bath Spa University; the University of Bedfordshire; Birkbeck, University of London; the University of Bolton; the University of Bradford; the University of Brighton; Brunel University of London; Buckinghamshire New University; Canterbury Christ Church University; Cardiff Metropolitan University; the University of Lancashire (formerly known as the University of Central Lancashire, or UCLan); the University of Chester; the University of Chichester, Cranfield University; and the University of Cumbria.

Lancs students in 2020

Other UK unis on the form include: the University of Derby; the University of East London; Edge Hill University; the University of Edinburgh; the University of Essex; the University of Falmouth; the University of Glasgow; the University of Gloucestershire; Glyndŵr University; Goldsmiths, University of London; the University of Greenwich; the University of Hertfordshire; the University of Hertfordshire; the University of Huddersfield; the University of Hull; Keele University; Kingston University; the University of Lancaster; the University of Leicester; London Metropolitan University; London South Bank University; Middlesex University; Oxford Brookes University; the University of Plymouth; Roehampton University; and Royal Holloway, University of London.

The final unis on this form are: the University of Salford; SOAS, University of London; Southampton Solent University; the University of South Wales; St Mary’s University, Twickenham; the University of Staffordshire; the University of Suffolk; the University of Sunderland; the University of Surrey; the University of Sussex; the University of Strathclyde; Teesside University; the University for the Creative Arts; the University of Wales Trinity Saint David; the University of West London; the University of Westminster; the University of Winchester; the University of Wolverhampton; the University of Worcester; York St John University.

Yes, students could still get money from their unis if the Student Loans Company paid the fees

The University of Bristol library during the pandemic

International and UK students can both join the claim. The money would be compensation for a breach of contract, not a refund on tuition fees. So, the money would go to the student, regardless of who paid for the tuition fees.

There are other ways that students could get money back from their unis

If you do win compensation through Student Group Claim, then 35 per cent of that money goes to the law firms.

It is also possible for students and grads to get compensation by making a formal complaint to that uni directly. If they hit a brick wall, they could complain about that to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. Four years ago, almost 450 Royal College of Art students got £600,000 of compensation for classes being online, according to Wonkhe.

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