Students Affected By Strikes Or The Pandemic Could Claim £5,000 Compensation

Thousands of students are eligible. Let's dive into what's happening.

Around 20,000 students across the country have launched multi-million-pound group legal action against several UK universities over disruption to their studies as a result of strikes and COVID-19.

If the claim is successful, UK students who were at uni during the pandemic could potentially win £5,000 compensation, each. There's the potential for international students to earn more, too.

How are students claiming money from universities?

Millions of students and recent graduates can join the Student Group Claim. If enough do, then universities may have to collectively pay out hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation.

Plus, it's a no-win, no-fee situation, and leading solicitors throughout the country have joined to help the Student Group Claim to support.

TikTok creator @kian.tamblyn is one of many students educating others on the social platform about this claim:

TIKTOK — MANUAL UPLOAD REQUIRED: Open TikTok

How much are students paying in tuition?

UK uni students pay £9,250 per year for undergraduate degrees, with Master's and international students often paying far more than this, often needing to take out a postgraduate loan.

Like any other customer claims, Student Group Claim argues students deserve compensation "when they received substantially less valuable services than those for which they paid".

Ultimately, unis are contracted to give students in-person tuition and access to facilities and other services, in exchange for fees. However, the group claim argues that "from 2018 to 2022 there was a material difference between what students paid for and what they actually received", as a result of the pandemic and strikes.

Plus, during the pandemic, universities increased their income as online lectures allowed them to cut costs. In fact, Universities are now pushing to make 'blended learning', a mixture of learning from home and some in-person seminars more common. However, there's been no talk of lowering the tuition fees to match this.

Which unis are having claims made against them?

Letters before the claim have already been sent to 18 unis nationally, to seek compensation for damages on behalf of their current and former students.

These unis are:

• University of Birmingham

• University of Bristol

• Cardiff University

• City, University of London

• Coventry University

• Imperial College London

• King's College London

• University of Leeds

• University of Liverpool

• London School of Economics

• University of Manchester

• Newcastle University

• University of Nottingham

• Queen Mary, London

• University of Sheffield

• University College London

• University of the Arts London

• University of Warwick

Whilst these are all being treated as separate claims, they all relate to the same background and are very similar.

In February next year, the High Court will decide whether to allow the 3,500 UCL claimants to bring their claims together against UCL, as a group. If successful, similar orders are likely to be made for the other student groups for litigation against their respective universities.

If you feel strongly, want to make a stand and potentially get compensation for your affected studies, visit the Student Group Claim website.