Hundreds of students in Nottingham have joined calls demanding compensation from their university for 'not receiving what we paid for'. University of Nottingham is one of the 18 universities which have already been issued Letters Before Action - with more expected to be sent in the coming months.
Just under 2,000 students are seeking financial compensation from University of Nottingham, claiming their studies have been disrupted by Covid-19. They are among 75,000 students nationally who have joined a first-of-its-kind consumer group action.
But if the litigation is successful, UK students who were at university during the pandemic are estimated to receive around £5,000 each in compensation – with international students potentially winning significantly larger sums, the Student Group Claim reported. For context, UK students pay £9,250 per year for undergraduate courses, while international students pay up to £40k per year, said the Student Group Claim.
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Ellie Cardwell, a former student at University of Nottingham who graduated in June 2022, said that students "did not receive the service we paid for and we deserve compensation". She added: "Not receiving all the content that you have been promised is unfair. And then paying for it and not receiving it is obviously the cherry on top."
She graduated with a First in Modern Languages, however she said she does not feel confident to apply for jobs because she is not 'fluent enough'. "We just felt so unprepared because of the lack of of actual time speaking those languages."
Her degree was four years, however she spent a year studying in Wales before deciding to transfer to Nottingham. Ms Cardwell, who started her studies in 2018, said she studied Spanish and Chinese languages, and was supposed to spend a year abroad practicising her language skills.
Ms Cardwell's tuition fees were £9250 a year. She said: "My year abroad was just under £2000, but I still paid that fee. I paid what I had to pay but received a much more reduced service than what I was promised."
She should have started her year abroad in September 2020 - when the world was at its height of the pandemic. Ms Cardwell was looking forward to studying the first semester in Spain until December, and then the second one in China from February until May, 2021.
"The semester in China was cancelled in October or November", she added. "We did understand why that happened - it just could not be helped. But the issue is that we still paid the full amount for the year abroad experience."
She said that students were given the option to have full access to online classes, including reading exercises and comprehension tasks. Ms Cardwell said: "That was the option they gave us unless you could find a better option for yourself and the university agreed for it. It was different for everyone and it was also expensive.
"If you did not find yourself an option, you would have to do this online university which was not enough to prepare for your final year basically. So it was just staggering. As a language student, that was just absolutely not at all what we were expecting to achieve."
She opted to go abroad and work in Spain, which is a member country of the European Union. The former student added: "But then, not only did you have coronavirus >Covid to contend with, it was also Brexit as well. We had no support. It was all up to you [the student] to do all the research."
Ms Cardwell has continued her studies in Spain until February, studying Chinese classes online which "was really not great", she added. "I still enjoyed university. I enjoyed going to lectures - but I do not think enough was done to ensure that we got the most out of what they could offer, even if it was not in the conventional way."
She added: "I got a First in my degree - but I do not think I have got the oral capacity that I should have - which is hindering me now when I am applying for jobs. I am just massively behind everyone when it comes to oral skills. I do not think that the university helped us enough to resolve that problem."
If she were to go back in time, Ms Cardwell said she would have reconsidered the course she was applying for.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Student Group Claim said the number of students claiming their universities breached their contract has grown from under 20,000 to over 75,0000 students since October. They added: "UK students pay £9,250 per year for undergraduate courses and more for graduate courses. International students pay up to £40k per year. Like any other consumer, they believe they deserve compensation when they received substantially less valuable services than those they paid for."
A spokesperson for the University of Nottingham said: “The University of Nottingham is one of a large number who have been contacted by this firm of lawyers. The university’s view is that its pre-existing complaints resolution procedures, which incorporate the statutory Ombudsman scheme for students, are the best means to resolve any such queries. We are committed to delivering the best possible student experience, which includes resolution of any concerns by the proper and usual channels.”
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