Case Summaries

Industrial action - CS021903

Case summary February 2019 | Not Justified

The student was on the first year of a BA programme at the time of the industrial action. They complained to the University that they had paid for seminars and lectures that had not been provided.

The University said that to mitigate the effects of the industrial action on the student it had:

    Put in place additional teaching;
Incorporated material into later sessions;
Scheduled additional drop in sessions for students;
Offered study support sessions with mentors and tutors;
Provided additional online material, including videoed lectures;
Made available special online tools;
Identified subjects that were not taught and removed them from assessment; and
Adjusted assessment weightings.

The University nevertheless had accepted that the industrial action may have caused distress and inconvenience to students. It had therefore set up an ex gratia fund. The University considered the student’s complaint and offered an ex gratia payment of £130. The student accepted the offer as compensation for their distress and inconvenience.

The student complained to us asking for a refund of tuition fees.

Outcome: Not Justified

We decided that the University had demonstrated that it had tried to minimise disruption for the student and to put things right. It had given the student some money from its ex gratia fund. The University had recognised the academic impact and the missed learning opportunities and had taken steps to remedy both.