Students from seven universities have started petitions demanding a partial tuition fee refund, in anticipation of a planned nationwide strike by the University and College Union (UCU).
Running eight working days from November 25 to December 4, the UCU strike will affect 60 universities and an estimated 1.1 million students across the UK. Petitions have been started by university students at Sussex, Exeter, Loughborough, Liverpool, Bangor, UCL and East Anglia, calling for their universities to refund eight days of tuition fees to them.
The UCU conducted two separate ballots for a strike from September 9 to October 30, one over issues with pay and working conditions, and another over increases to USS pension contributions. More than 7 in 10 of UCU members polled voted for a strike in both ballots. 79% voted to strike over pensions, and 74% voted to strike over pay and working conditions.
Speaking to The Independent, UCU General Secretary Jo Grady said: “It should be little surprise that students paying exorbitant tuition fees are worried about the impact of avoidable strikes on their studies and are seeking to hold their universities to account.”
Students previously called for refunds during the last national university strike, organised by the UCU in February and March 2018, over changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension scheme which would have reduced the amount staff would get in retirement. Staff at 61 universities went on strike for 14 days. 126,000 students and supporters signed petitions calling for tuition fee refunds following the 2018 UCU strikes.
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA), which is the final decision-maker for all student complaints, ordered some universities to partially refund some students as they had not sufficiently replaced learning lost as a result of the strike. Refunds were given based on the cost of the teaching hours missed, even at universities which made students sign contracts waiving their right to hold the university liable for changes to their programmes or the removal of content from their examinations.
The OIA has released a response to the 2019 strikes, calling on universities to reduce the impact of the strike on students, which “includes both minimising any academic disadvantage and making up for lost learning opportunities.”
Felicity Mitchell, the independent adjudicator, said: “There were many good examples of how providers tried to reduce the academic impact of the industrial action that took place last year. But it’s just as important to make sure that students don’t miss out on learning opportunities, and some providers did not always do this as well.”
The Office for Students (OfS), which regulates higher education institutions in England and Wales, has also released guidance for students, as well as a response to the initial 2019 UCU strike announcement. It warned providers that it would “seek to identify higher education providers who have failed to systematically protect the interests of students in the case of significant industrial action.”
OfS CEO Nicola Dandrige said: “It is not for the OfS to take sides in industrial disputes. But we would urge universities and colleges to do all they can to avoid disruption for students, and to minimise the impact of industrial action on their studies.”
“We will be monitoring the situation closely and will take action where we find that registered providers have failed to comply with the requirements of the regulatory framework to protect the interests of students.”