Thousands of students have launched a multi-million-pound group legal action against UK universities, including Cardiff University, over Covid and strike disruption. They claim universities broke their contracts to provide a certain set of services in return for tuition fees.
If successful, students at university during the pandemic are estimated to win compensation of around £5,000 each, with international students potentially winning significantly more - something that could cost institutions huge sums of money.
Students' pay £9,250 per year for undergraduate courses in England, £9,000 for undergraduate courses in Wales. Graduate courses cost more and international students pay up to £40,000 per year.
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The group action is being handled by law firms Asserson and Harcus Parker. In a statement, lawyers said: "During the Covid-19 pandemic and strike action by university staff (from 2018 onwards), universities across the UK breached their contracts with students, failing to provide them with in-person tuition by cancelling classes or moving them on-line and denying or severely restricting physical access to campus facilities like libraries, study spaces and labs."
To date nearly 20,000 students from Wales and England have joined Student Group Claim to seek compensation over disruption during strikes and Covid with more signing up every day, said the lawyers. Solicitors have teamed up with the Student Group Claim members to claim financial compensation from universities through no win, no fee group court claims.
Letters before claim have already been sent to 18 universities seeking damages on behalf of current and former students at those institutions - these include Cardiff University. The Student Group Claim, represented by Asserson and Harcus Parker solicitors, is for all students whose time at university was affected by strikes or the pandemic.
“Like any other consumers, they deserved compensation when they received substantially less valuable services than those for which they paid," lawyers added. "Notwithstanding the significant cancellations and changes made during strikes and the pandemic, often for months on end, universities have largely failed to offer financial compensation to students.”
Lawyers added that in exchange for tuition fees, universities were contracted to provide in-person tuition, facilities and services to students, but from 2018 to 2022 there was “a material difference between what students paid for and what they actually received”.
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Letters before claim have already been sent to 18 universities seeking damages on behalf of current and former students. On February 2 2023, the High Court will decide whether to issue a Group Litigation Order for the first group claim which is against University College London. If this is successful, similar orders are likely to be made for the other student groups for litigation against their respective universities.
On October 19, 2022, Letters of Claim were sent to a further 17 universities, including Cardiff University, pursuing similar claims. Announcing the action lawyers acting for students said: "No other service provider would get away with cancelling a service or replacing it with a lower-value substitute without offering a price reduction.
"Access to state-of-the-art facilities and world-renowned in-person teaching are decisive factors when choosing a university. However, notwithstanding the significant cancellations and changes made during strikes and the pandemic, often for months on end, universities have largely failed to offer financial compensation to students."
They said students understood universities sometimes had to close campuses and could not necessarily stop lecturers going on strike. But students’ losses – disruption to courses and access to facilities – should fall on the shoulders of the universities, not the customer.
Shimon Goldwater, solicitor to the Student Group Claim and a partner at Asserson said: “When you pay for a service, if you did not receive what you paid for, you deserve compensation. Universities promised students in-person tuition and access to facilities and other services in return for substantial fees.
“During strike action and the pandemic they failed to provide this but still expected to be paid in full. Students have often taken out substantial loans to pay for a package of education and experiences which they did not receive. We want to ensure students get fair compensation for the disruption to their academic lives and their ruined university experience.”
Ryan Dunleavy, partner at Harcus Parker, added: “These universities are often huge, wealthy institutions that pushed the financial impact and burden of Covid and of their own staff striking onto their customers, the students.
“Unlike the universities, a significant number of which increased their income over the pandemic period, those students largely survived on limited financial means and loans. Despite this, universities generally took few steps to compensate students for the subpar services they delivered in these periods."
The lawyers also claimed that universities “thrived financially during the Covid period”. They calculated that the 18 universities being challenged earned a surplus of more than £1 billion during the 2020-21 financial year, collectively hold more than £16.3b in net assets, have increased student numbers and together received at least £54m in government furlough payments.
"We received a fraction of the experience we should have"
Daisy Olyett, 21, a former media, journalism and culture student at Cardiff University, explained why she had joined the claim. She said from the start of the academic year 2020-21 it was clear Covid was going to "drastically change" the way students studied. "We expected the university to support us with these changes but many members of staff had little sympathy for students who were struggling to adapt."
“Our university experience that year consisted of sitting in our bedrooms reading re-used PowerPoints and applying for extenuating circumstances. All of the students at Cardiff university knew there was nothing to be done about the pandemic, but we struggled to see what (apart from lecturers’ salaries) our £9,000 that year was going towards.
“We are only asking for a proportion of our tuition (fees) back from this year since we received a fraction of the experience we should have , but the university has repeatedly ignored these requests and has done little to show real care for student experience.”
Universities respond:
Asked to respond to the legal action Universities UK, which represents institutions, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic threw two years of unprecedented challenge at the higher education sector and our students, and we are proud of how universities adapted and managed in adverse circumstances.
“During some periods of lockdown, universities were not permitted to offer teaching and learning as usual and instead universities adjusted quickly and creatively to ensure students could learn and graduate.
“We are not able to comment on individual institutions or cases. Universities continually look to improve, and raise standards if students are not getting the learning opportunities they deserve.”
Cardiff university and Universities Wales were approached for comment.
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