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In November 2020, footage emerged of students tearing down fencing which had been erected at the University of Manchester’s Owens Park campus. The pandemic proved difficult for universities and the striking images of campus unrest made national headlines.
Back then, students said they should not have to pay full rental and tuition fees in a term when they were locked down and told to work from home due to Covid-19. Now, two years on, they are seeking legal advice.
A group of more than a thousand students want compensation from the university for the way they were treated during the pandemic and, predating Covid, staff strikes.
We’ll be concentrating on that story in today’s newsletter. But we'll also be looking at the changes to Manchester visible in a classic ITV drama, and three Greater Manchester buildings that are up for awards.
Not what they paid for?
More than a thousand University of Manchester students are asking for damages over the way they were treated during staff strikes and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Solicitors representing 1,222 current and former undergraduate and graduate students have written to vice chancellor Dame Nancy Rothwell proposing action against the university.
They claim the university breached the terms of its agreements with students to provide in-person tuition and appropriate facilities to support their learning.
The letter sent on behalf of the students says this happened during the academic years 2017-18, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 when industrial action by university staff took place and later, during the university’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The group of students say they suffered loss and damage as a result of the breaches of contract, as services they paid thousands of pounds for were only partially provided.
They have invited the university to admit liability for breach of contract and agree damages. Otherwise they say they will seek action in court.
It’s part of a multi-million pound group legal action against 18 UK universities, led by Student Group Claim.
The university declined to comment, but Universities UK - which represents vice-chancellors and principles - said it is proud of how universities adapted during the pandemic. It said it could not comment on individual institutions or cases.
A really negative impact
Georgia, a University of Manchester studying a PGCE in primary education, says she was excited to start her course, but that excitement soon soured.
“Although the university warned us that our experience would be slightly modified due to the pandemic, we were assured that we would still receive all the training we would need to become confident and highly qualified teachers,” she says.
“Fundamentally, placements were completely different to a normal school environment. “There were much smaller class sizes and lessons were delivered online which was a completely different experience to the one we would be expected to thrive in after qualifying.
On top of this, I never met any of my lecturers or tutors even though I completed the course over a two-year period. All teacher training was provided over zoom and some training was cancelled. In this instance, the university asked trainees to organise this training themselves through staff at placement schools, which made me question the quality assurance and standardisation of the training we were receiving.
“The stress and anxiety I suffered as a result of the pressures of the course and the way it was being delivered caused me to have serious mental health problems. Any pastoral support I received was delivered by staff members in placement schools, whilst it was difficult to get acknowledgement and advice from my university tutor - supposedly my main support system at the university.
“I don’t believe that the service I received from the university is representative of the experience that I paid for and, ultimately, it has had a really negative impact on the start of my career.”
'HMP Fallowfield'
The University of Manchester made national headlines in the Autumn of 2020 when angry students protested against lockdown measures imposed at halls of residence.
In November of that year furious students tore down ‘lockdown fencing’ during a protest against the university's decision to ‘pen them in’ during the pandemic.
The students claimed that the fencing was installed without warning and branded the student accommodation ‘HMP Fallowfield’. The University apologised and said the fencing would be removed the next day.
Pictures from the night of chaos, which showed protesters gathered at the Owen’s Park campus, in Fallowfield, were shared nationwide.
A few days later, a group of students occupied Owens Park tower in protest at being told to pay full rental fees in a term when they were locked down and told to work from home due to Covid-19. The ‘UoM Rent Strike’ group of around 15 people barricaded themselves into the top floor of building and refused to leave until they could speak to the Vice Chancellor.
During that protest, another group called Student Action for a Fair Educated Response, started an on-campus protest calling for a reduction in tuition fees.
That event was met with what one MP termed
, who gathered in large number with several police vehicles sent to the area.
At the time the university said it was engaging with elected Students’ Union representatives about the issues highlighted by protestors and said it is ‘fully committed to freedom of expression’.
Letter of Claim
Student Group Claim claim there was a ‘material difference’ between what students paid for and what they actually received from 2018 to 2022.
They say students’ losses ‘should fall on the shoulders of the universities, which can afford to bear that burden, rather than falling upon students who cannot’.
Student’s pay £9,250 per year for undergraduate courses, and more for graduate courses. International students pay up to £40,000 per year.
Student Group Claim say letters before claim have been sent to 18 universities - including University College London, Leeds, Birmingham and Cardiff - seeking damages on behalf of current and former students. They believe successful action could lead to compensation of around £5,000 each for students.
University College London was the first to receive a Letter of Claim. An application for a Group Litigation Order from 3,500 UCL claimants will be heard in the High Court next February.
Shimon Goldwater, solicitor to Student Group Claim says universities promised in-person tuition and access to facilities in return for 'substantial' fees and this was not provided during strike action and the pandemic.
“Students have often taken out substantial loans to pay for a package of education and experiences which they did not receive,” he said.
Ryan Dunleavy, solicitor to Student Group Claim added that 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,” he said.
What the university says
The University of Manchester said: “We are aware of the matter and have no comment to make.”
They directed us to Universities UK - a group of vice-chancellors and principles which describes itself as the ‘collective voice of 140 UK universities’.
Universities UK 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.”
Celebrating urban landscapes
The Oglesby Centre, RHS Garden Bridgewater’s welcome building and the Tower of Light have all been shortlisted for the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust’s 2022 Building Beauty Awards.
The awards celebrate buildings, engineering structures and urban landscaping schemes that add beauty to Britain’s environment. The overall winner receives a £10,000 cash prize and will represent the UK in the race to be crowned the world’s most beautiful new building at the World Architecture Festival in Lisbon, in December.
Both Manchester’s Oglesby Centre, which houses rehearsal, performance, education and ancillary spaces for the Hallé Orchestra and choir, and Salford’s RHS Garden Bridgewater welcome building have been shortlisted in the Building category.
Tonkin Liu’s Tower of Light and Wall of Energy, in Manchester city centre, has been nominated in the Little Gem category.
'I am too much'
It’s impossible not to think of Cracker when you think of the late, great Robbie Coltrane.
The actor - who passed away last month aged 72 - played Fitz, a brilliant but self-destructive criminal psychologist drafted in by Greater Manchester Police to help them solve a series of grisly murders.
Damon Wilkinson has been looking back on the series which placed Manchester firmly front and centre. Filmed mostly in and around south Manchester, with Fitz said to live at the fictitious address of 15 Charlotte Road, Didsbury, this article shows how the city has changed dramatically since the 1990s.
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Weather etc
- Thursday: Cloudy changing to sunny by late morning. 12C.
- Road closures: A665 Bolton Road in both directions closed due to resurfacing work between Wordsworth Avenue and Unsworth Street until November 4.
- A575 Walkden Road Southbound closed due to gas main work from Mesne Lea Road to Kingsway until November 6.
- A665 Devonshire Street Northbound closed due to gas main work from A6 Stockport Road to Hellidon Close until November 4.
- Trains: Special timetable operating on TransPennine Express and Avanti West Coast due to shortage of train crews.
- Trams: Revised service on Manchester Metrolink due to overrunning engineering works at Piccadilly Gardens. Some Metrolink services are operating with changes until the end of November when the works can be finished. Bury and Altrincham services are not operating into Piccadilly station. Ashton services are operating to Crumpsall via Victoria. Eccles services are only operating to Deansgate.
- Trivia question: Robbie Coltrane gained national prominence starring as criminal psychologist Dr Eddie 'Fitz' Fitzgerald in the ITV television series Cracker. But it also launched the career of which Salford-born actor?
Manchester headlines
Internal review: Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) has launched an internal review after a row broke out about a message sent to staff during Diwali. This year, the festival took place on October 24 and an email sent that morning, from ‘EmbRACE Manchester’ to MFT employees, made reference to the 'insidious growth of Hindu right wing nationalist ideology'. One Hindu staff member slammed the message as ‘hurtful’, while several people directed tweets at the MFT account, voicing their anger. EmbRACE recalled the email and apologised. MFT described the content of the original email as ‘inappropriate’, issued an apology and has launched an internal review.
PIP: Thousands of disabled people in Greater Manchester have had their benefits stopped during extended hospital stays under a rule that charities say penalises the most vulnerable. Figures obtained by the BBC Shared Data Unit show that thousands of people in the region have had their Personal Independence Payment (PIP) suspended in the last three years - and the numbers are increasing. Between February and April 2022, a total of 2,140 payments were suspended due to extended hospital stays across the ten boroughs. During the same time period in 2021, 1,820 payments were suspended, while in 2020 it was 1,470.
Liquidation: The company that was behind Didsbury restaurant Saints & Scholars has entered liquidation, owing more than £150,000. The liquidation of Didsbury Village Ventures Ltd is being overseen by Dow Schofield Watts Business Recovery. The company was run by sole director Colin Lowes and operated the restaurant in Wilmslow Road. It’s understood that Saints & Scholars remains open and a new company is to take over the running of the venue. More here.
Ev0: Proposals to construct a futuristic low-carbon office building in Didsbury, which would have space for around 955 employees, have been formally submitted. The six-storey Ev0 development is being spearheaded by Bruntwood Works and has been earmarked for land at Didsbury Technology Park. If approved, the building would include 82,000 sq ft of office space and sit between the Sir William Siemens House, Spire Hospital and Bruntwood Works' Ohm building. A completion date has been pencilled in for autumn 2024.
Worth a read
Daniel Fincham has been speaking to reporter Paige Oldfield about alcohol abuse that dogged his life since his teenage years.
In this feature, he describes his first sip as ‘love at first drink’ and explains his road to recovery.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: Christopher Eccleston.
