COVID-19: University students could be eligible for compensation for lost teaching time
Some complaints were rejected because students had not raised their issues with their university first.
Thursday 26 November 2020 13:11, UK
Higher education students whose teaching suffered due to the first coronavirus lockdown could be eligible for compensation.
A watchdog has recommended hundreds of pounds be paid to some students who lost out, after receiving almost 200 complaints.
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) has published of 10 cases to show how it handles different scenarios.
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One university was told to pay a student just over £1,000 after a month of teaching and a final project worth 60% of a module was cancelled.
The OIA said the institution had not taken "sufficient steps" to mitigate disruption.
In another case, it ruled that a complaint was justified as the university had "not engaged" over concerns about the loss of face-to-face teaching.
But the watchdog could not consider a number of complaints as some students had not raised their issues with their university first.
Some demanded tuition fee refunds after lessons were moved online, but these were rejected as the OIA said the universities had taken the necessary steps to ensure students could still be taught.
Universities UK (UUK) has said it has made "extraordinary efforts to ensure that no student has to put their education on hold".
A spokesperson said: "Universities have also endeavoured to communicate with students as soon as possible about any course variations; but the need to respond very quickly to national and local changes in official guidance has at times affected the usual timescales for such information.
"Given the disruption caused by the pandemic, it is understandable that some students may feel their experience of university has not been as they would have hoped.
"If students have a complaint, they should speak to their universities in the first instance."
In June, thousands who missed out due to the lockdown were urged to sign up to "mass action" to win compensation.
The National Union of Students (NUS) has demanded debt relief and refunds for people whose studies were disrupted.
It is calling for a more simplified complaints process, claiming students have been "passed from pillar to post" and that some institutions have disregarded their concerns.
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The OIA has said it is only now starting to receive complaints about the current academic year.
Students have up to 12 months to lodge a complaint, but must first air their grievances with their university.
Independent adjudicator Felicity Mitchell said: "We recognise that many people in providers have been working incredibly hard to minimise disruption and to support students, and that students and those who support them have faced very real difficulties.
"We are acutely aware that there are limits to what is reasonable or even possible in this context. But students must still be treated fairly.
"It is to providers' credit that we have not so far seen any cases where the student has been directly academically disadvantaged because of the disruption, but it is also important that providers deliver what was promised or something broadly equivalent to it.
"Providers have done better in some cases than in others at finding ways to make up for the learning students missed out on."