University College London (UCL) has been given eight months to strike a deal with pandemic-hit students over their tuition fees or face potential legal action.
Nearly 1,000 current and former students are bringing a claim against UCL with thousands more wanting to join the legal action, alleging the university breached their tuition contracts.
Their lawyers argue UCL broke “promises” over its services during strike and coronavirus-affected years between 2017 and 2022.
Undergraduates and graduates, who can pay from £9,250 to £25,000 in fees per year, say they “have had enough” and are entitled to compensation over cancelled teaching days, tuition moved online and restricted access to facilities such as libraries and laboratories, a judge was told at a hearing at the High Court in London in May.
In a ruling on Monday, Senior Master Barbara Fontaine said the case should be put on hold for eight months to allow time to see if some of the students can settle their damages claims against the university.
She said the students’ bid to join their claims for damages together should be stayed for that period, and she encouraged the students and the university “in the strongest possible terms” to engage in alternative dispute resolution.
The university argued at the May hearing that if a group litigation order is granted, it could lead to costly cases being brought against 17 other universities.
The legal team behind the students’ High Court action claims more than 120,000 students have registered so far to be part of potential litigation against other institutions.
Professor Kathleen Armour, UCL’s vice-provost, education and student experience, acknowledged that students had faced “challenges and disruption” and said supporting their education and wellbeing was “always UCL’s priority”.
She said: “Throughout the pandemic we prioritised the health and safety of our whole community and followed UK Government guidance, working tirelessly to make our campus and all UCL premises as safe as possible so that a high-quality academic experience could continue to be provided.
“We respect the right of our students to complain and seek redress if they feel that they have not received the support they expected from us.”
Shimon Goldwater, solicitor at law firm Asserson who is working on the Student Group Claim, said in a statement: “We are hopeful that UCL will now engage constructively in settlement discussions as students have been proposing for many months so that compensation payable to students can be agreed, rather than having to be decided in court.”
