A Thousand Students and Alumni File Suit Against UCL for Lost Teaching

900 students and alumni have filed suit against UCL for disrupted teaching due to COVID-19 and strikes. The High Court will decide whether students can sue collectively, or if individuals must first use UCL’s own internal procedures. The case was originally set for the 2nd of February, but has been postponed. 

Both current and former students are making the claim that UCL has failed to meet its teaching obligations and are seeking compensation for breach of contract. They also argue that UCL has unfairly denied them access to campus facilities during the pandemic. 

Around 75,00 students from 18 universities have joined the campaign Student Group Claim, including LSE and KCL. UCL is the first university to seek compensation as part of the campaign, and if successful, similar litigation orders will be made by students nationwide. 

Each student would receive around £5,000, Student Group Claim state if the claims are successful. Universities in the UK could lose almost 500 million pounds if that is the case.

Student Group Claim is hoping that the High Court will grant them a Group Litigation Order. This allows multiple claims to be managed collectively if they relate to a common issue.  

However, UCL’s lawyers have argued against a group litigation order as students shouldn’t ignore existing complaints procedures. Student Group Claim’s lawyers have stated in defence that denying the use of the courts is a breach of a fair hearing under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

Student Group Claim are using legal firms Asserson and Harcus Parker, to support their litigation. Ryan Dunleavy, Partner at Harcus and Parker told BBC News London that “All we’re doing is asking them to pay back what they overcharged the students. We’re not saying pay back everything the students paid”.  

The case here highlights the disproportionate impact of the COVID pandemic on young people, in fact, only 22% of students who applied for a refund previously were successful. 

The case here has highlighted how COVID and the cost of living crisis have disproportionately impacted students. Indeed, in 2022 only 22% of UCL students who applied for a refund were given compensation for loss of teaching during the pandemic. UCL’s previous failure to fairly address student’s complaints is likely to have spurred the 3,500 students who are now taking the university to court.