Students demand more support and reduced tuition fees over the quality of online learning

Students frustrated by their university experience this year are threatening strike action to protest the quality of their online tuition.

This comes on top of a recent rise in rent strikes by students protesting having to pay for empty student homes they are mostly barred from returning to.

Students are now threatening to take drastic action over the poor quality of the online delivery of their degrees. A group at the London School of Economics (LSE) is demanding a partial refund of a third of their tuition fees in protest at the lacklustre quality of online tuition.

The campaign calls for better support for students and a cut in tuition fees of a third to recognise that this academic year is not normal.

Kit Digby from LSE spent £15,000 on her international history master’s course. She said that online learning is an “isolating” and “uninspiring” experience and that the key aspects of university of “community and facilitation of discussion” have not been possible online.

George Burrows from Plymouth University described his experience of online learning as “a waste of time”, saying “I think it’s distasteful that the government really think they can charge £9,000 for an online course”.

Students at other universities have raised similar concerns, with law student Aisha Animashaun from De Montfort University saying that she is “struggling” due to the lack of contact with teaching staff.

Any idea that universities and the government have any regard for student welfare is a complete and utter lie, and one they’re not doing very well at hiding that at the moment

–Ben McGowan, Manchester Rent Strike Organiser

Ben McGowan from Manchester University helped organise their rent strike, and he is now hoping to see tuition fees reduced as well.

He said: “Any idea that universities and the government have any regard for student welfare is a complete and utter lie, and one they’re not doing very well at hiding that at the moment.”

Rent strikes around the country have also been linked to discontent over the quality of online learning. There are now rent strikes at as many as 50 universities, including Manchester, Bristol, Oxford, Sussex, and Warwick, with students calling for refunds for accommodation left empty by travel restrictions in the third lockdown.

A recent National Union of Students survey found that 69% of students are now worried about their financial situation, with 22% saying they have struggled to pay rent within the last four months.

Discontent over accommodation fees have expanded to include wider frustrations over how universities and the government are handling students during this academic year. 

This comes as the Russell Group has told its members that a ‘no-detriment’ policy is unneeded this year, while 22 of the 24 Russell Group Students Unions have signed a letter calling on the Russell Group universities to reinstate some form of safety net provisions for students again this year.