00:00 The isolation, especially when measured against the expectations that we've been led to have,
00:07 was incredible. Universities like UCL put you under an enormous amount of pressure to
00:12 get all of that work done in one year and to have that pressure and no social environment
00:20 to let off that pressure and then to share with others was really, really difficult from
00:25 an emotional perspective.
00:28 Thousands of university students at more than 100 UK universities are taking part in action
00:33 against their institutions seeking damages. They've joined after paying between £9,250
00:40 and £40,000 per year for reduced timetables and lessons that were cancelled or moved online
00:46 during lecturer strikes and the coronavirus pandemic. If successful, students are estimated
00:52 to win compensation of about £5,000 for UK students and several multiples of this figure
00:57 for international students who paid much higher fees.
01:01 What you pay for, for a regular university course, not an online course or a distance
01:05 learning course, a regular university course, you expect to receive and you deserve to receive
01:11 in-person teaching and access to facilities like libraries, laboratories and study spaces
01:19 on campus. And during COVID and when the lecturers have been on strike, that is not what has
01:24 happened. Classes have been cancelled, teaching has been moved online for whole terms of the
01:29 time often and access to things like libraries have been restricted or the libraries have
01:35 just been closed during COVID.
01:37 What has the response been like from the universities and those organisations? Have they been willing
01:42 to work with you or has there been a lot of pushback here?
01:44 There's been a hard pushback. The very first claim which we've issued is against University
01:49 College London and at that court hearing UCL is seeking to block the claim from proceeding
01:55 in court and they're saying that students should be forced to go through their own complaints
02:00 procedure first.
02:02 Representatives at UCL wanted students to use their own internal complaints procedure
02:07 but the students disagreed. Now a judge has ruled in favour of those students. UCL has
02:13 four months to engage in settlement discussions and if the claims are not settled, they will
02:18 continue onwards to a trial.
02:21 Students in this country, whether you believe in that model or not, are made to be consumers.
02:25 They purchase education as a service and we believe that we have rights to receive that
02:31 service as it was promised, just as any other consumer. And so we're very pleased that the
02:35 judge has seen that and allowed these claims to proceed in the courts, which is the proper
02:40 forum to deal with them.
02:41 John Taylor Casey, on behalf of UCL, one of the major universities involved, said in written
02:46 arguments that procedures for complaints already in place were fair, transparent and accessible
02:52 and a court case was not warranted. He also said it was implied UCL was targeted for a
02:57 pilot group claim because it was wealthy and profited from students' fees. He warned more
03:02 claims would follow.
03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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