University strikes: Students handed nearly £3m in payments for lost teaching hours during walkouts

Universities have handed out nearly £3m to students for lost teaching hours from strikes in recent years.

Students were paid as much as £4,500 in tuition fee refunds but most of the elite institutions did not offer any financial compensation to students disrupted by walkouts in 2018 and 2019.

At one university, final-year students were given Amazon vouchers rather than cash as a “goodwill” gesture after hundreds logged complaints about missed lectures and seminars.

The figures come as the latest round of walkouts come to a close. Third-year students have had lessons cancelled in their freshers year and have been hit twice by strikes this academic year.

At least 18,500 students have been awarded payments worth more than £2.9m for university strikes that took place in 2018 and last year, according to data obtained by The Independent.

But only 11 universities, out of 66 institutions which responded to freedom of information requests, have given out cash despite widespread demands from students for refunds.

It comes after universities were brought to a standstill in 2018 when University and College Union (UCU) members staged 14 days of strikes in 65 institutions in a row over pensions.

Last year, students faced eight more days of strike action at 60 universities over pensions, pay and working conditions and a further 14 days of walkouts have taken place in recent weeks.

Now figures obtained by The Independent show that 16 of 20 Russell Group universities that responded to the request did not offer any money despite facing numerous complaints.

Nick Hillman, director of think tank Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), said he was “surprised” by the low number of universities that had offered payments to students.

“I am sympathetic to students who make financial claims to cover missed lectures and seminars,” he said. “On the face of it, anyone who pays for something they are not getting has a moral and legal right to recompense.”

But he acknowledged that offering compensation is not a simple process and universities will have already tried to make amends to help affected students.

“My biggest worry is not financial. It is about gaps in students’ knowledge from which they might suffer long-term disadvantages,” Mr Hillman said

Thousands of requests for compensation and complaints have been logged to universities across the UK, the figures show. It comes after students have set up petitions calling for refunds.

At King’s College London (KCL), more than 500 students had their tuition fees partially refunded because of the strikes. More than £640,000 was awarded to students, ranging from £122 to £4,500 each.

And yet in other institutions, only a handful of students were given one-off payments. University College London (UCL) paid out just over £6,000 to eight students after they submitted complaints.

Jess, a former UCL master’s student, said she sought compensation after she missed out on around half of her teaching time in her final term but her request was refused.

She told The Independent: “The main impact it had was on my stress levels. It meant limited access to academic resources and less chance to see tutors.

“This limited what we could confidently study and made me, and others, far more worried about the quality of our work.”

The English graduate added: “It also created immense frustration because I’d saved for so long to attend and I essentially missed a big chunk of the MA I’d spent the money on.”

UCL said refunding tuition fees in respect of industrial action is not part of its policy. Payments were made to students who complained they were disadvantaged without appropriate mitigation.

Students at other universities, including Loughborough, Roehampton and Essex, did not receive tuition fee refunds but were instead offered “goodwill” payments for cancelled lectures and seminars.

Essex University allocated £180 to students who had more than 17 teaching events cancelled during the action in 2018. Students who missed out on between one and eight events received just £40.

And Sussex University established an ex gratia scheme to provide payments to students that suffered distress from strikes in 2018 and 2019. So far £1.1m has been paid out to thousands of students.

The University of Edinburgh also set up an opportunity fund, made up from money not spent on salaries during strikes, which provided more than £1m to 4,410 students affected by industrial action.

At Kent University, nearly 5,000 final-year students in 2018 were offered Amazon vouchers after the university received 500 complaints about disruption.

Other universities, which have not offered any payments, said they have carried out other actions to mitigate the impact on students – including adjusting coursework and exam timetables.

Some institutions have used the money withheld from striking staff to go towards student mental health support.

But many of the universities which responded to the request did not set out how they had minimised disruption or how withheld salaries would be spent on students.

Jo Grady, general secretary of UCU, said: “Students have shown phenomenal support for staff throughout the strikes, and understandably want to hold their institutions to account for the disruption they have faced, so it’s no surprise they are seeking compensation.

“Students should demand transparency from their institutions on finances and how pay withheld from striking staff is being spent – these are significant sums that should be used for the benefit of students and staff.

“We would also urge students to put further pressure on vice-chancellors by asking what specific actions they are taking to help end the disputes and avoid any further disruption.”

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students (OfS), said: “We expect universities and colleges to do all they can to avoid disruption for students, and to minimise the impact of industrial action on their studies.

“That means that they need to think about how best to make up for missed teaching and make clear to students how they will respond if examinations or assessments are affected.

“We require universities and colleges to comply with our regulatory conditions during industrial action as at any other time. That means that they must do all they can to mitigate against the impacts of this action, and keep students informed at every stage.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Students rightly expect to get a good deal for their investment in higher education and in the event that any student was seriously affected by strike action we would expect universities to take appropriate action, which could include compensation.”

A spokesperson for Universities UK said: “We understand that missed teaching time is unsettling. The specific approach to putting things right will vary by institution.

“If students feel their studies have been negatively impacted and alternative arrangements are inadequate, they should complain through their university in the first instance.

“If students are not satisfied with the response from their university they are able to escalate their complaint to the relevant Ombudsman for their country.

“In some cases, students may be entitled to a partial refund or financial compensation. This would be where there is evidence of a breach of contract where the university has been unable to put in place reasonable alternative arrangements, for example.”