Multiple Manchester universities facing legal claims from students over Covid disruptions

Multiple Manchester universities are currently facing legal claims from students over disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic.

Student Group Claim, which represents over 170,000 students across the UK, says it has issued pre-action letters to 36 UK universities.

This includes both the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University.

The group leading the legal efforts alleges that students did not receive the education they paid for due, with less access to in-person education and facilities.

The group is operating under the claim that online degrees typically cost between 25 and 30 per cent less than in-person courses. Subsequently, Student Group Claim is referring to English consumer law, arguing that if a consumer pays for one service and receives a service of a lower value, they are entitled to compensation.

Student Group Claim recently had major success for this cross-university claim, after University College London (UCL) agreed to pay an estimated £21 million settlement to approximately 6,500 students and graduates.

The collective says that UK undergraduates had their courses “ruined by online teaching and closed facilities” after borrowing large amounts of money to fund their degree.

“They now find themselves saddled with eye-watering debt from fees paid for an educational expeience that they did not receive,” the group said. “We are helping them seek fair financial compensation through the courts.”

University of Manchester graduate says she feels ‘let down’

Georgia Johnson, who began a PGCE at the University of Manchester in 2020, told the BBC she feels “completely traumatised by the whole experience” after Covid-19 impacted her studies.

Georgia felt well-supported during her undergraduate degree pre-covid, however she went onto struggle with her mental health during her postgraduate course at Manchester

She claims she did not receive the same amount of support due to the pandemic, and says she had to take a year out of her studies due to her mental health.

Much of Georgia’s course was carried out over Zoom, or in reduced bubbles in schools.

She felt this was “a very unnatural experience of what school is like,” and found her course “frustrating.”

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“I had to do a lot of my own professional development so that I felt ready,” she says.

“I just didn’t feel confident and I felt really anxious about going into the classroom.”

Rather than immediately gaining a teaching job post-graduation, Geogria became a teaching assistant in 2022 as she did not feel confident in her future career path.

Georgia is now a teacher, and feels she benefited from the support of one mentor at university – however, she joined Student Group Claim with the belief that her course did not deliver on what she was promised.

Students at Manchester can still sign up

Uni of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan students are still able to sign up to the collective by filling out a form on the group’s website which tests their eligibility.

Some other universities whose students can join the claim are the University of York, Cardiff University and the University of Exeter.

The claim is open to both UK and international students, and 35 per cent of any money won in the claims will be given to the law firms involved.

This isn’t the only way students can get money back – they can also complain to the university directly. If that doesn’t succeed, there’s also the option to complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.

In response to a request for comment, the University of Manchester referred The Manchester Tab to a comment from Universities UK, which says the pandemic was an “unprecedented challenge” that forced the sector to “adapt to a fast-changing situation.”

“During some periods of lockdown, universities were not permitted to offer in-person teaching as usual, and instead they adjusted quickly and creatively to allow students to complete their degrees.”

Manchester Metropolitan University declined to comment. 

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