Yahoo Finance Students demand tuition fee refunds: here's how to complain
Tens of thousands of students have signed petitions demanding refunds for lost teaching time as a result of a lecturers’ strike over pensions.
Members of the University and College Union, representing lecturers and other academic staff, are walking out for up to two weeks in protest over plans to close down their lucrative final salary pension scheme.
The union claims the proposals will cost its members £10,000 a year in retirement.
But many of the one million students affected by the strike are angry at their loss of contact time with teaching staff - and believe they should be refunded some of the fees.
Hannah Morrish of The Student Room, an online forum, said: “With tuition fees in excess of £9,000 a year, students feel it’s unfair that they are the ones who will ultimately pay the price for missed tuition.”
Students at London universities are demanding refunds of £1,260 per person for the lost teaching time - pointing out that the action is taking place so close to final exams.
But protests are not restricted to London. Georgia Davies, 21, is a student at the University of St Andrews and estimates the strikes could cost her £768 of face-to-face time with a lecturer.
The National Union of Students is supporting lecturers, calling them the “cornerstone of the university experience, but president Shakira Martin said: “With some students even demanding refunds, it’s vital that institutions now get back to the negotiating table as a matter of urgency.”
What students need to do if they wish to claim
For students who do seek a refund, the first port of call will be the university in question via its internal complaints process.
Some universities, including Manchester and Warwick, have already stated publicly that they will not pay compensation to students.
Claims for mass refunds of tuition fees are unprecedented and controversial. Students will still retain access to libraries and other facilities during the strike, and so putting a financial figure on any "loss" is difficult.
Experts have suggested that there will be little chance of recompense, comparing the situation to teaching time lost to staff illness.
The figures arrived at by London students and Georgia Davies, above, are worked out on the basis of attributing a value to the total number of lectures in a given year, and then working out how many will be missed.
If a complaint is unsuccessful students can appeal to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA), the higher education ombudsman. The OIA said students could have a case if "teaching which is set out in the course prospectus is not delivered", or if the university hasn't acted "reasonably" to minimise disruption.
As in other industries where ombudsmen act as arbitrators, an adjudication on one lead case can often set a precedent for others in similar circumstances.
The ombudsman can be contacted via oiahe.org.uk.
Burdened by increasing levels of debt as a result of fees, students are becoming more likely to challenge universities over value for money.
There is also a wider culture of litigation and complaints against academic institutions, lawyers claim.
Last year, Faiz Siddiqui unsuccessfully sued Oxford University claiming the 2:1 classification he received had held him back from a career as a high-flying lawyer. The case was thrown out earlier this month with a judge saying he “may have simply coasted”.
Are you a student affected by the strikes? Or are you striking over the loss of your pension scheme? Contact sam.meadows@telegraph.co.uk
